Cricket 1909

442 CR ICK ET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 28, 1909. w ill be devoted to Staffordshire League cricket. T h e D erbyshire Comm ittee have acted in a firm m aim er, but very m any supporters o f the C ounty w ill regret that so popular and good-hearted a player w ill be seen no more in first-class cricket. W a l t e r H u m p h r e y s , the Sussex lob- bow ler o f form er years, recently won the challenge bow l presented by the M ayo r of H o ve for com petition among the members o f the H o ve B o w lin g Club. O w in g to finan cial reasons, it has been proposed by the Comm ittee of the L e ice s­ tershire C ounty C.C. that the fixture w ith H am p sh ire be not renewed next season. T h e suggestion has been strongly c riti­ cised in the County, and the matter w ill again be discussed before any definite decision is come to. T h e weaker clubs o f the Lancashire League have been agitating for the abolition of professionalism . Representa­ tives o f the clubs met on the 13th inst. for the purpose o f hearing both sides of the question, so that when the matter is brought before the A n n u al General M eeting they w ill be fu lly prepared to deal w ith the matter. It was show n that in 1908 only four o f the fourteen clubs made a profit from cricket alone, although tw o others finished on the righ t side fin an cially by extraneous efforts. T h e D u ke of D evonshire is takin g a practical interest in the w elfare of the D erbyshire C ounty C ricket Club, and on October 14th was present at a Comm ittee m eeting at D erby held to consider the arrangements fo r the large bazaar w h ich it is proposed to hold in the D r ill H a ll at D erb y next E aster in order to raise m oney for the Club. A t the meeting m entioned the Secretary announced that a very gratifying response had been made to the D u ke’s appeal for patronage. W . B a l d w in , a very prom ising cricketer o f 24 and a member o f the fam ily w hich g aveH . B a ld w in to the game, has accepted an engagement for next season w ith the A rbroath U n ited C.C. N e x t season Surrey w ill be obliged to take the field w ith ou t Rushby, who has accepted an engagement w ith the A ccrin g to n Club, w h ich takes part in Lan cash ire League matches. T h a t his absence is bound to handicap the C ounty team to no slight extent is evident from the fact that during the past season he took 119 w ickets in first-class cricket at a cost o f 16'04 runs each. I t is understood that his departure from Surrey is a sequel to his om ission from the return match •with the A ustralians at the O val in the m iddle of Ju ly . It was w ith considerable secrecy that the negotiations w ith A c ­ crington were conducted, the comm ittee o f the club being under agreement not to divulge the matter u n til he gave his consent. R ushby was born in 1881 and should therefore have m any years’ cricket before him . T. G . G r in t e r ’ s average for the season for Essex C lub and G round was 7 innings, 3 tim es not out, highest score 162 not out, total 575, average 143'75, w h ilst P. H . Slater’s figures lo r the W anderers were 5— 2 - 1 9 7 — 414— 138-00. A'r a m eeting o f the Y o rksh ire County C.C. Comm ittee at Leeds on Sept. 29th, it was reported that the net gates of the matches played in the county last season w e re :— Sheffield ... £884 Harrogate .. £228 Leeds ........ 246 Dewsbury ... 158 Bradford ... 1,624 Huddersfield 220 Hull ........ 326 Th e sum of ±1,858 was paid to the Australians and ±1,321 to the Advisory Board. Th e A n n u al General M eeting of the Y o rksh ire County C.C. w ill be held in Sheffield on N ovem ber 20tli. L o r d D a l m e n y , M .P ., gave evidence on Thursday last of his continued interest in the game by going to Glasgow to open a three-days’ bazaar held in St. A n d rew ’s H a ll for the purpose of clearing off the debt on the W est o f Scotland’s ground at H am ilto n Crescent. Th e ceremony was performed on the second and th ird days by S ir Jam es Guthrie, P .R .S .A ., and L o r d H e n ry Montague-Douglas-Scott respectively. Th e bazaar was a success in every way, and more than realised expectation so far as the receipts were concerned. E a r l y next season the Y o rksh ire eleven w ill again be seen at B ray, near D ublin, where they w ill meet a team representing Irelan d or the G entlem en o f Ireland. Th e last appearance of the C ounty team on the W oodbrooke ground was in August, 1S08, when tho Irish eleven were dis­ m issed for 49 and 108 and beaten in a couple o f days by ten wickets. T h e photographs for the next issue of W is d e n 's A lm a n a c k have been very hap p ily chosen. T h ey w ill be o f W arren Bardsley and V e rn on Ransford, the A u stralian left-handers, S. F . Barnes (which w ill occupy the centre position), and A . P. D ay and D . W . Carr, o f Kent. There w ill also be a special article from the pen o f L o rd H arris. T h e meeting o f the captains o f the first-class counties w ill be held at L o rd ’s on December 6th at 3 p.m. O n the follow ing day the secretaries meet at 11'30 a.m. to arrange fixtures for next season, and on the 8th the captains o f the m in or counties assemble at 11 a.m. to appoint um pires for 1910. I n a X I I . a-side match at Lausanne (Switzerland) on September 18th a drawn game was played between L a V illa (35 and 95 for seven wickets, innings declared closed) and Lausanne (54 and 66 for ten wickets). In the first innings o f L a V illa , M artineau took seven wickets for 13. T h e V icto ria n C ricket Association is seeking terms for grounds for inter-State and international matches. “ I t w ill be interesting,” says a w ell-know n authority on Au stralian cricket, “ to see if M e l­ bourne is to have its squabble.” M r . J o h n C o n w a y , whose death is announced, w ill always be remembered as the prom oter and manager o f the first A ustralian team w h ich visited E n g la n d— in 1878. “ N a t Lee,” the cricket chro ni­ cler of the T a s m a n ia n M a il, records an am using experience w hich fell to C o n ­ w ay’s lot during the tour. H e says :— “ The lustiness of his personality, and of his strong right arm, found amusing demon­ stration at a provincial ground in the Old Country. The Australians were quartered in a marquee, 1878 belonging to the pre­ pavilion days so far as many English grounds were concerned. W ith a characteristic want of knowledge in colonial matters, an impru­ dent spectator tried his idea of 1black-fellow ’ talk upon our boys. Sauntering into their enclosure, he begun, *You talkee lCngliss allee same ? ’ 1Certainly,’ replied Conway, ‘ and we act English, too.’ He thereupon seized the astonished Britisher and tossed him over the pickets.” F o r m any years he contributed cricket articles to the A u s tr a la s ia n and, under the n o m -d e -p lu m e of “ Censor,” w rote regu­ la rly for the S y d n e y M a i l. T h e V icto ria n E leve n w ill commence a match against Queensland at Brisbane on February 4th. T h e Q .C .A. offered 50 per cent, of the gross takings and the terms were accepted by the authorities in V ictoria, who could not, however, agree to the team p layin g at New castle either on the way to or from Brisbane, ow ing to the fact that the trip w ould have to last a month in order to perm it the game being decided on a F rid a y and Saturday. T h e N ew South W ales C ricket Associa­ tion, at its meeting on A u g u st 16th, fixed the follow ing dates fo r inter-State matches during the com ing season:— New South Wales v. Queensland, at Brisbane, December 10 to 14. New South Wales v. South Australia, at Adelaide, December 17 to 21. New South Wales v. Victoria, at Melbourne, December 24 to 29. New South Wales v. Queensland, at Sydney, December 81 to January 4. New South Wales v. Victoria, at Sydney, January 2t> to 29. New South Wales v. South Australia, at Sydney, February 7to 11. A t the same m eeting Messrs. E . H um e (Redfern), G. P. Barbour (Burwood) and F . A . Iredale (Gordon D istrict) were appointed a Selection Comm ittee. M r. M . A. N oble was nom inated, but was beaten in the ballot, from w h ich it is obvious that the m en chosen were not elected on their merits. I t is very regrettable that a m an w ho has done such splendid service for Au stralia should be subjected to so marked a slight. T h e N .S .W .C .A . have also decided to accord C. T . B . Tu rn er a testim onial match, to commence at Sydney on Jan u a ry 21st, 1910. A n effort w ill be made to arrange a m eeting for the occasion between the A u stralian team