Cricket 1909

A u g u s t 12, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 33 i U n io n delegates did not vote on the question o f giving tw o Test matches to the W estern Province, preferring to leave it to the other members o f the Associa­ tion to decide as they thought best in the interests o f South A frica n cricket. The Transvaal delegates announced that their U n io n w ould be w illin g to take as m any or as few Test matches as were allotted to them by the Association. O n Ju ly 16th the S.A.C .A. met again when the follow ing programme was unanim ously passed :— Arrive Capetown, Nov. 30. Dec. 4, Gand 7—v. Western Province, at Capetown. Dec. 11,13 and 14—v. Griqualand West, at Kimberley. Dec. 17, 18 and 20—v. Orangia, at Bloemfontein. Dec. 27 to 30—v. Transvaal, at Johannesburg. Jan. 1, 3, 4 and 5 (1910) -v . South Africa, at Johan­ nesburg. Jan. 8, 10 and 11—v. Natal, at Durban. Jan. 14, 15 and 17—v. Natal, at Maritzburg. Jan. 21, 22, 24 and 25—v. South Africa, at Durban. Jan. 27—Leave for East London by steamer. Jan. 29, 31 and Feb. 1—v. Border, at East London. Feb. 4, 5 and 7—v. Border or Queenstown, at Queens­ town. Feb. 11, 12 and 14- v . Eastern Province, at Port Elizabeth. Feb. 18, 19 and 21—v. Transvaal, at Johannesburg. Feb. 22, 23 and 24—v. Transvaal, at Pretoria. Feb. 26, 28 and Mar. 1 and 2—v. South Africa, at Johannesburg. Mar. 7 to 10—v. South Africa, at Capetown. Mar. 11, 12, 14 and 15—v. South Africa, at Capetown. On Mar. 16 the team sails for England. T h e above list had to be subm itted to the various centres for confirmation. T h o m p so n , o f Northants, is one o f the players w ho have been asked to make the trip to South Africa. M e . R . M . B e l l , w ritin g to me on the 8th inst., says: — “ W ith reference to the note on A . N . Jew e ll’s centuries (three in succession for Sutton) in this w eek’s C ric k e t , you are w rong when you say he made another for Surrey 2nd X I . v B e rk ­ shire, at Reading, as that was his brother, J. E . Jew ell. Y o u w ill, however, be interested to know that A. N. Jew ell made s till another century for Sutton v. E p som yesterday, and it was perhaps the best of all, as he never gave a chance and was prin cip ally responsible for Sutton’s victory, E p som m aking 210 and Sutton w in n in g w ith four wickets in hand.” M e . G e o b g e V a n d e e s p a a e , probably the most fam iliar figure among cricketers in Ceylon for the last quarter o f a century, w ill be in E n g lan d this m onth on a h oliday trip. P l a y i n g for W ater O rton v. Tam w orth on Saturday, T . H . W atson took all ten w ickets in an in n in gs for 12 runs, per­ form ing the h at-trick. H e obtained seven w ickets in nine balls. A . E . R e l f sails for N ew Zealand on September 16th in order to act as coach, for the th ird season in succession, to the E d en D istrict C.C., o f Auckland. T h e con clu d in g stage o f the m atch between Suffolk and Bedfordshire at B u ry St. E dm u n ds on Tuesday was fu ll o f excitement. T h e latter, set 127 to w in, had made 126 w hen the eighth w icket went down. G rierson failed, and R. W . Rice, the ex-Gloucestershire player, who had been confined all day to his hotel, was hurriedly sent for. There was no tim e for him to change and he batted in his ordinary attire, only to see B . L . Peel, who had played a fine game for 77, caught before the w in n in g h it could be made. I n the match between Charterhouse F ria rs and Old W ykeham ists, at Godal- m in g on F rid a y and Saturday, 94-1 runs were made for seventeen wickets, the form er declaring w ith seven down for 481 and the latter com pleting their innings for 463. 0. T N orris, going in first, scored 246 not out for the Friars, and C. W . L ittle and G. W . R icketts made 107 and 122 respectively for the O ld W ykeham ists. T h e qualification of S. G. Sm ith for Northam ptonshire has strengthened the side greatly, and the recent ru n of successes must be very gratifying to the C ounty’s supporters. O f their nine last inter-county matches as m any as eight have been w on— six of them in succession:— v. Notts, at Nottingham : won by 159 runs, v. Warwick, at Edgbaston : won by 51 runs, v. Kent, at Gravesend : lost by 125 runs, v. Hants, at Northampton : won by one wicket, v. Gloucester, at Northampton: won by nine wickets. v. Notts, at Northampton: won by seven wickets, v. Derby, at Northampton : won by innings and 95 runs. v. Leicester, at Northampton: won by innings and 111 runs. v. Hants, at Southampton : won by five wickets. N o longer can the side be described as “ Thom pson and ten others.” T h e pronounced success o f M r. M ason in this week’s m atch against Sussex at Brighton, makes one regret more than ever that the claim s of business prevent h im from playing first-class cricket throughout the season. H e is now in his seventeenth year of county cricket but his powers are apparently unim paired. W ith Carr, H u tch in g s and W oolley assisting E n g lan d at the Oval, it was thought that K en t m ight have some d iffi­ culty in saving the game against so strong a side as Sussex, but, although the side collapsed badly yesterday afternoon, it remains strong favourite for the C h am ­ pionship. R. B . H e y g a t e ’s splendid double success against K en t on the B rig h to n ground followed many good scores, his most recent in n in gs for the County being 86 and 5 v. W orcestershire, 71 and 3 v. Middlesex, G4 and 50 v. Surrey, and 08 and 119 v. Kent. H e was educated at Epsom College, where he and his brother, H . J., now in Canada, were prolific run- getters. C R IC K E T IN E X C E L S -H E - H A W ! I sat apart from haunts of men one night When I felt like it, and was up ti e pole, And from that pinnacle refresh’d my sight Watching the stars and planets circling ro ll; When this conundrum stole w i'hin my Hrain, (Which I alone resolv’d with wit profound): “ Can all these countless orbs exist in vain Or why does ev’rything go round and round ? ” Uncontradicted the solution came, Being alone, from my own Intellect: “ Nature must have design to play some Game And first her m ’ssi.'es moulded, I expect, Form ing majestic spheres from vapid siuif And whirling them the Lim itless around. The bowling stage is present, right enough, The batting is to follow, I ’ll be bound.” “ We with restricted vision see not all Nor know what further antics She’ll be at, Only behold the spinning of the ball And can’t conceive of the celestial bat. But, could our comprehension grasp the smash Of spheres when clouting staits !— See overthrown Proud Orion’s triple stamps with echoing crash !”— This put the stopper on and I came down. H .P.-T. JUDGE PARRY ON CRICKET. In the course of a letter which he has sent to the Press Judge Parry says:— “ Personally, I have seen some excellent batting this season. May I instance Mr. Hornby’s splendid innings against the Aus­ tralians, which was sufficiently masterful and artistic to remind me of the best days of the old masters ? “ It is a common failing of middle-aged old gentlemen to remind the younger genera­ tion that they are no good, and that all the old players were heroes. You might say with equal truth that Mr. Asquith and Mr. Balfour cannot compare with Mr. Gladstone and Lord Beaconsfield iu the field of politics, that the leaders of the Bar are nonentities compared with their great predecessors, and that we have no Sir Henry Irving. “ I am no great lover of Test matches, and I do not think the Australians have beaten England, though I understand they claim to have defeated ‘the Selection Commitiee. For myself, I think there is plenty of good cricket in the country, and I am not hopeless about the future. “ I do not think letters to the papers about the decadence of English batting any more helpful to cricket than little plans and para­ graphs illustrating how the fielders drop the catches. In my view, all good criticism, whether of drama or cricket, should en­ courage and not depress the performers. “ When I feel as hopeless about my countrymen as it is fashionable for everyone to be to-day I shall go and see a specialist, and I shall be relieved if Le decides it is only liver and not senile decay. There is plenty of cricket left in this country, and I see no signs of decadence or shortage. “ In an emergency I dare say we could play Australia from Quay Street, with a judge and a high bailiff in the team. But I don’t think it has come to that.”