Cricket 1909

24 CR ICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF TH E GAME. F e b . 25 , 1909 H. GRADIDGE And SONS, Man ufacturers of all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, an d all British Sports. Used by all the m Leading L f Players. ^ Made in Men's, Small Men’s, or College, 6, 5, 4, A 8 sizes. P r i c e L is t s F r e e o u A p p lic a t i o n PATENTEES AND SOLE MAKERS OF THE Of all First-Class Outfitters and Dealers. Reblading a Speciality. Factory; A rtillery P lace , WOOLW ICH . C R IC K E T L IBR AR Y F OR .SALE.—Valuable Cricket Books: Set of “ Scores and Biographies,'114 vols., 1744 to 1878, price £S ; “ Scores and Biographies,” vols. 1 to 4, £1 lfls. Cd ; Complete set of “ Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack,” 1804-1008, bound in half-green morocco ; Duplicates of “ Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanacks ” for 18(55, ’67, ’68,’ 60, ’70, ’71,’ 72, 76, ’78, to 190S, viz , 3o0 vols,, cheap; F. Lilly white’s Guide,” 1849 to 1866, aboyt 100 issues also many rare books, includ­ ing “ Love’s Poem,” 1770, Lord Charles Russell’s “ Recollections of Cricket,’ etc., etc. Address: A. J. G aston , Preston, Brighton. C r i c k e t : A WEEKL Y RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON E.C. T H U B S D A Y , F E B . 2 5 t h , 1909. Pavilion Gossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. B o l d advertisement deserves to be given in Gossip to the remarkable scoring of Vernon Bansford in first- class matches in Australia during the past season. In the six matches in which he appeared he played the follow ­ ing innings :— Victoria v. South Australia, at Adelaide 2 and 131 Victoria v. N.S.W., at Melbourne .......... 94 Victoria v. South Australia, at Melbourne*171 and 30 Victoria v. N.S. W., at Sydney..................182 and 110 The Australian XI. v. Rest, at Sydney... 21 and *9 The Australian XI. v. Rest, at Melbourne 75 * Signifies not out. This gives an aggregate of 825 runs for eight completed innings and an average of 103’12. It will be seen that in the return match with New South Wales, at Sydney, he made two separate hundreds. T h e Australian team which is to visit England this year has been chosen as follow s;— M. A. Noble. B. Hartigan. V. Tiumper. P. A. McAlister. H. Carter. W. Carkeek. C. G. Macartney. W. Fardsley. A. Cottar. S. E. Gregory. W. W. Armstrong. W. J. Whitty. V. Ransford. A. J. Hopkins. J. A. O’Connor. From a private source I learn that N. H . Claxton, of South Australia, will also be visiting this country during the summer and that he will pre­ sumably play for the side if necessary. Laver will accompany the team as man­ ager and be available as a player when required. Noble has been elected captain and McAlister vice-captain and treasurer. The latter, in conjunction with Dr. Poidevin, will also represent Australia at the International Conference at Lord's. The suggestion that a Conference should be held, with equal representation from England, Australia, and South Africa, was first officially made by Dr. Poidevin at a meeting at Lord’s last February. E v e r y w h e r e it is recognised that the side will be very strong in batting and fielding, but in some quarters doubt has been expressed as to its ability to dismiss its opponents at a reasonable cost. With this latter opinion I am quite unable to agree. The team of 1905 did not contain a left-handed bowler, but the coming one will include two, Macartney and Whitty, and in addition there will be Noble, Cotter, Armstrong,O’Connor,Hopkins, and Laver. I f Englishmen are disposed to regard the attack lightly it is more than probable that they will experience a rude awaken­ ing at no distant date. A l t h o u g h Hill has adhered to his resolve, expressed in England in 1905 and repeated in Australia a year ago, not to visit this country as a member of the team, the side, with Vernon Bansford and Warren Bardsley available, will not be weakened to any extent in consequence. Both the young players named are, like Hill, excellent left-handed batsmen and fine fieldsmen, and, unlike the South Australian, have enjoyed a very successful season. Neither, however, has had H ill’s experience, but it will be surprising if both do not greatly distinguish them­ selves at an early date in the highest grade of cricjset. E n g lis h m e n will be very pleased to welcome McAlister, who has played an important part upon the Australian cricket stage during the last decade, and who would have been chosen for the trip ere this had his skill met with the recognition it merited. He is one of the soundest judges of cricket Australia has ever produced. T h e choice of Carkeek as understudy to Carter has caused not a little surprise in England, where it was generally thought that the position rested between Gorry, of New South Wales, and Dodds, of Tasmania. The latter’s wicket- keeping in good - class matches in Tasmania had been spoken of very highly by the critics, and he had scored 6ii in the North v. South match at Hobart and 58 against Bendigo on the same ground. Furthermore, when chosen to play in the trial match at Melbourne for the Best against the Eleven, he proved his worth by carrying out his bat for 80. T h e differences which arose between the Board of Control and some of the leading players, concerning the division of the profits from the tour, gave rise to very voluminous and, in many instances, very bitter criticisms in the Australian Press. Some of the articles, in fact, attacked the Board in a manner so lacking in sports­ manship and fair-mindedness that they reflect anything but credit upon Australian journalism. _____ _ T h e advance guard of the M.C.C. team about to undertake a short tour in Egypt left Tilbury on board the B.M.S. Omrak on Friday last. The remainder of the party will join the boat at Marseilles to­ morrow. The fixture list is as under:— M akch. 4.—At Port Said, v. Port Said. 8.—At Cairo, v. Military. f9.—At Cairo, v. lvhedival Sporting Club, f l l .—At Cairo, v. Egypt. 15.—At Alexandria, v . Alexandria, t H i, —At Alexandria, v . Egypt. ■|19.— A t Cairo, v. Egypt. 22.—At Cairo, v. Civilians. t Signifies a two-day match. The duties of leadership will be under­ taken by G. H. Simpson-Hayward. I t is announced that, in response to their application to receive a touring team during 1909-10, the South African Cricket Association have been informed by the M.C.C. that they will do every­ thing in their power to send out a good side in December next. This foreshadows the postponement of the South African tour through Australia until 1910-11, and of the Triangular Tournament until 1912 at the earliest. T h e annual report of the Warwickshire County C.C. shows a loss of .£242 on last year. Of this sum, however, .£‘174 has been written off for depreciation. The Committee state that lack of public support is almost entirely responsible for this unsatisfactory state of affairs, and that they hope that the playing o f the