Cricket 1909

426 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t . 23, 1909. entry in to first-class cricket, at a some­ w h at advanced age, o f M r. D . W . Carr. F o r several years he had been w ell-know n as a club cricketer, and the num ber of people w ho claim to have “ discovered” h im is both rem arkable and amusing. H e cannot, in the n atu ra l order o f things, expect to take part in the first-class m atches for very m an y seasons, but the success w ith w h ich he has met proves h ow valuable a good “ googlie ” bowler can be to a side. H e frequently had even the best batsmen in trouble, and, although he had a few off days, his record of ninety-five w ickets for 18'27 runs each was very notew orthy. It w ill be in te r­ esting to see w hether his success w ill prove the means of inducing m an y players to adopt the style. F ro m the score w h ich appears on page 418 it w ill be seen that he took fifteen w ickets for 84 runs in a m atch against odds at G rantham at the end o f last week. M e . P. F . W a r n e r , w ritin g in the W e s tm in s te r G a z e tte , says : “ T h e season ends w ith a feeling o f disappointm ent. T h e Australians defeated us in the Test matches, the weather has been vile, there have been some unpleasant incidents, and judging by the com position o f the m ajority o f C ounty elevens, the amateur is gradually disappearing from the game, and h is dis­ appearance is to be sincerely regretted. B u t there is ground for the b elief that the counties are alive to the evils w h ich w ould follow on h is complete extinction.” A t T re n t B rid g e on Th u rsday last twenty-three C rim ean and In d ian M u tin y veterans played a m atch against twelve ladies on behalf o f the soldiers and local charities. C o n c e r n in g the less serious form s o f cricket the F ie ld rem ark s: “ It is so long since a team of clow n cricketers, in clu d ­ in g some o f the m ost famous players of the day, used to travel in the provinces that a revival m igh t perhaps be ventured upon w ith prospects o f a profit, especially at H astings and places where the le g iti­ m ate dram a seems to have lost its attractions. I f the old business o f using a h o llow bat designed to in trap the ball and a piece o f string enabling the bow ler to retrieve the ball and disappoint the striker were to fa il to charm , an in ­ genious manager m igh t attempt a travesty o f “ googlies ” and swervers. T h e top hat m atch w h ich is occasionally repeated m igh t also be replaced by som ething in the nature of a cricket pageant, in the course o f w hich, not only the costumes o f different ages could be instructively exhibited, but also the bats and wickets, and an attempt m igh t be made to re­ produce for an hour or so each corres­ ponding style of play, w ith the appropriate m anner of bow ling.” L a s t Thursday it was discovered that the house of M r. Charles Robson, the H am p sh ire cricketer, who lives at The Best, H ill Lane, Southampton, had been broken in to w hilst he and his fam ily were aw ay on holiday. A n entrance was effected at the rear of the premises, and the house was com pletely ransacked. T h e two C ard iff professionals, Preedy and N ash, have severed their connection w ith that club and w ith Glamorganshire. T h e form er has secured an engagement for seven years at Exeter and w ill qualify for Devon, w h ilst N ash is in negotiation w ith the W orcestershire authorities. I t has been decided to hold a special General M eeting o f the M elbourne Club in order to consider the advisability of g iving authority to the Comm ittee to make the financial arrangements necessary to provide for the construction of new b u ild ­ ings and other improvements. Th e C om ­ m ittee propose to ask for authority to borrow .£15,000 on debentures, to be expended in providing increased accom ­ m odation for members and fo r the public, and in clearing off (if the Com ­ m ittee th in k fit) the balance of the lia b ility on the form er issue of debentures. Imm ediately after the conclusion of the special General M eeting another w ill be held fo r the purpose of considering, and, i f approved, passing an alteration to B u ie 2. The Comm ittee propose “ That for the figures ‘ 3,500 ’ there be inserted the figures 14,000.’ ” The alteration, if carried, w ill perm it 500 additional fu ll members to be elected. A p r iv a t e letter just received acquaints me w ith the death o f M r. Charles Butler, the Fa th e r o f the Tasm anian B ar. H e played cricket very m any years ago, w hen B u tle r’s Paddock in fiam pton-road was H o b a rt’s ch ie f cricket-ground. I notice that his name appears in the Southern Tasm anian— now Tasm anian— C ricket Association handbook for forty years. Tw o o f h is sons, Messrs. E . H . and C. W . B u tler, gained distinction as cricketers. B oth, moreover, have played the game in En glan d, and in 1877 the form er appeared for the G entle­ m en against the Players at P rin c e ’s. A t H o b a rt in M arch , 1882, he took six w ickets w ithout a ru n being made from h im in a m atch between the N o rth and South of Tasmania. There have been no more whole-hearted supporters of the game in the beautiful island than the members of the B u tle r fam ily. M r . L y n d h u r s t O g d e n , of Toronto, w ritin g to me on the 9th inst., says :— “ W h en in E n g la n d this year I saw Surrey v. Notts, Surrey v. Middlesex, and the fifth Test match, but in neither of the matches did the fielding came up to that o f the Irishm en in the m atch against Toronto. It was the finest display ever seen here. Unfortunately, the attend­ ance at the m atch was very poor : an E x h ib itio n , held simultaneously, drew a paying crowd o f 140,000 in one day.” M r. Ogden, by the way, crossed the A tla n tic w ith the Irish team and tells me that they practised on deck every day. T o M r. Sydney Young, Secretary of the Associated C ricket Clubs o f P h ila ­ delphia, I am indebted for the follow ing interesting n o te :— “ I do not know whether this is a recprd, but thought it might be of interest to you. In the match between the inter-State Cricket League (with headquarters in Philadelphia) and a team of the Associated Cricket 01ub3 of Philadelphia (the governing body of Philadelphia cricket), played at the grounds of the Philadelphia Cricket Club on Septem­ ber 6th, H. C. Haines was bowling and John H . Mason, Captain of the A.C.C. team (and President of the Associated Cricket Clubs of Philadelphia), who was playing short slip, caught three men from Haines’ bowling off successive balls. As far as I know, this is a record iu Philadelphian cricket, and I thought it might not have occurred in English cricket.” Speaking from m emory, for at the time o f w ritin g I am far from m y books, I can recall only half-a-dozen instances o f a sim ilar event being chronicled during the last twenty years or so. T w o of them were in connection w ith Australian cricket and the other four w ith E n g lish . W a l t e r L e e s w ill sail in the near future for South A frica, having secured an engagement at Johannesburg. G. W . C l e g g , the w ell-know n M e tro ­ politan club cricketer, obtained his 300th w icket o f the season w hilst playing for Lo n do n P a v ilio n against Neasden on the latter's ground on the 15th inst. H is record for 1909 shows 305 wickets for 8'GO runs each and 1,548 ru n s w ith an average of 43. D u r in g the past season B . J. Stace, playing for the H astings Bovers, com ­ menced sixteen innings, was not out five times, and, w ith 261 as his highest score, made 1,133 runs w ith an average o f 103. Th e next highest figure for the side was the 42 of J. W . Nason, the Cambridge Blue. A c o r r e sp o n d e n t o f the B o m b a y G a z ­ e tte makes the follow ing comments on a m atch played at B h u j on August 27 and 28, in w hich P rin ce V ija y a ra jji d istin ­ guished h im s e lf:— “ The ever-monotonous Bhuj was aroused once more from its lethargy by the advent of the Rajkot Rajkumar College Cricket Team on Thursday last. A cricket match was played on Friday and Saturday between the Visitors and Prince Vijayarajji’s Palace Team, ably captained by Major Jacob, the Political Agent. The home team, having won the toss, elected to go in. The Prince was in good form and scored 74 in splendid style, to the great delight of his subjects, crowds of whom had assembled in the maidan to witness the performance. On the side of the visitors, Mr. Turner, their Yice-Principal, also played very well and contributed 77 in good form. The Prince, with his usual generosity, was “ At Home,” the State Band being in atten­ dance and playing delightful a irs : thus two very enjoyable days were spent. The game resulted in a draw in favour of the home team.” T h e Palace team scored 193 and 172 and R ajkum ar College 204 and 85 for eight wickets.