Cricket 1909

3 12 CR ICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A u g u s t 5, 1909. MARQUEES & TENTS (ANY SIZE.) As supplied to King’s Dinner and Royal Visit to Fulham Park. F O R S A L E O R H I R E . Estimates free. Send for Illustrated List of Garden, Bathing, and Fancy Tents, post free. Established 120 years. H. J. GASSON, Government Contractor, RYE. “ O V A L B A . ” R E I D ’ S O V A L - W H I T E . The celebrated preparation for cleaning Cricket and all Buff Leather Goode, Warranted not to rab off or cake. As used at Ken­ nington Oval, and highly recommended by K. 8 Ranjitsinhji, Dr. W . G. Grace, O. B. Fry, Lord Dalmeny, Australian XI., 1905, G. L. Jessop, Ac.. Ac. P a ck e d in z in c boxes, 6d. per box. J. J. REID, 878 , Kennington Rd., London. LAWS OF LAWN TENNIS. WAISTCOAT POCKET EDITION. O N E P E N N Y . 163, Upper Thames Street, London. Giichet: A W E E K L V R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THUESDAY, AUGUST 5 t h , 1909. ^ p a M U n n ( f o s s t p . The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Samlet. T h e record of the Australians is now as fo llo w s :— M atches played, 26 : won, 11; lost, 3; drawn, 12. T h ey have won the toss 15 times and lost it 11 times. Y e r y regrettable w-as it that their m atch at H u ll last week against a com ­ bined Y o rksh ire and Lancashire team should be ruined by rain, for it was a game w hich m ight have proved as in ­ teresting as any on their programme, the Test matches alone excepted. The first meeting o f the sides, at M anchester in June, met a sim ilar fate, to the great disappointm ent o f thousands o f enthusiasts and o f the cricketers themselves. B u t enough was seen at H u ll on Th u rsday to convince everyone that the presence of Spooner and Rhodes in the E n g la n d team for next week’s Test m atch at the O val is essential. T h e Australians, by-the-way, w ill be able to enter upon the match w ithout feeling that a great amount o f responsibility attaches to the occasion so far as they are concerned. T h ey have already won two o f the three Test matches decided this season, and even in the u n likely event o f defeat being th eir lot at the O val they w o u ld s till retain the Ashes in virtue of their success against the M .C .C .’s team eighteen months ago. It w ou ld be a great th in g for them if they could w in at Kennington, and thereby prove successful in three of the four games played out this year, and they m ay safely be relied on to make every endeavour to p u ll o ff the match. A t the tim e of w ritin g nothing has been allowed to transpire concerning the constitution of the side w hich w ill represent England, but not more than two, or at the most three, changes m ay be expected from the one w h ich did duty at Manchester. W h eth er H irs t w ill be chosen again is very doubtful, w h ilst it is tolerably certain that W oo lle y w ill be included. In the event o f fine weather being experienced C arr w ill, of course, be given a place. T h e receipts fo r the Test m atch at M anchester have been officially announced as .£3,153 6s. T h e Edgbaston game realised .£1,430, and those at L o rd ’s and Leeds .£2,743 and £3,COO respectively. A t H u ll, on Saturday, M . A . N oble had a sm all cyst removed from the righ t eye. Th e operation was performed by M r. A. K . Thom son, w ho is accom panying the team round the country. W r it in g in the P a l l M a l l G a z e tte , Dr. Poidevin says :— “ Of course, it is only in three-day or time­ lim it cricket that the declaration of the innings is largely called for. To my mind, playing against the clock is not real cricket; but it is a defect in the game as playel in England. Those who have had much ex­ perience of playing cricket matches to a finish, as they do in Australia, w ill unhesi­ tatingly, I fancy, vote for this m ethol ns the real cricket method. It does net produce slower cricket, but it gives every player an opportunity of playing his natural game all the time, whatever it may be.” “ It is natural cricket, not forced, and everything that a player does contributes something for good or the reverse towards the final result. Tbe play is far keener. In the case of tbe time-limit cricket it is more often than not well known long before the match is halfway through what tbe result w ill be, and the keeness naturally sub­ sides. There can be no doubt, I think, that cricket is a game to be played to a finish.” “ Stopping in the middle of a match is much the same sort of thing, in a lesser degree, as would be stopping the Derby or the Grand National three furlongs from bome, or a golf match at the fourteenth hole, and calling the result a draw. However, in England, the three days’ habit, I suppose, has been too long established to be made the subject of revision and correction. Australian methods in this respect stand upon a higher plane.” T h e r e was an ideal finish to the match at W orcester between Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, the latter, set 253 to win, p u llin g through by the narrowest possible m argin— a wicket. B o th sides played very praisew orthy cricket, and it was due chiefly to a fine in n in gs of 75 by Cuffe, his highest score in an inter-county match this season, that the home side were successful. W h en Gaukrodger went in, last man, two runs were still required, and, after B u rn s had obtained a single, the new-comer put Parker through the slips to the boundary. I n n o c e n t : “ W h y do they call it the hat-trick ? ” C y n ic : “ Because it ’s done w ith a bow ler .” — T h e L o n d o n M a g a z in e . T h e S u r r e y E v e n in g E c h o tells a story of a village um pire on the occasion o f a match played on a field w ith a rather tall hedge on one side. Num erous appeals against a certain batsman were answered in h is favour, although some o f them were for flagrant cases o f lbw or caught at the wicket. T h e answer “ N o t o u t” had been repeated w ith monotonous succession till the players were suddenly surprised to hear “ N ow you’re o u t!” after the batsman had made a good h it out o f the ground over the hedge. “ Out ? ” came the surprised (Juery. “ Y es,” was the rejoinder ; “ and don’t you forget it. I ’ve got cucum ber and tomato frames t'other side o f yon hedge!” A l t h o u g h they took the field w ithout B lyth e in their m atch w ith E ssex at Leyton, and lost the services o f E ield er early in the game, K e n t came w ith in measurable distance o f gaining a very substantial victory ow ing to a fine innings H. 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