Cricket 1909

O c t . 28, 1909. CR ICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 443 critic says :— “ N apier’s performance w ith the ball w ill go down in the history of the Presidency matches as the finest ever witnessed. H is 14 overs and 9 maidens for 17 runs and 9 wickets beats a ll the previous bow ling records on either side. To find anything like a parallel to the Quetta bow ler’s m arvellous feat one must go as far back as 1895 when the Parsee trundler B illim o ria took 8 wickets for 11 runs. The Quetta demon bow ler was sim ply unplayable and w ith the single exception o f the Parsee skipper (Meher- hom ji) all the other batsmen were entirely at sea w ith his really wonderful off-breaks. Iu the Parsee second innings he took 5 wickets for 28 runs. I t m ay be said w ithout the slightest fear of exaggeration that he practically won the match for his side.” Th e fu ll score o f the game w ill be found on page 448. B . J a y a k a m , who made an occasional appearance on E n g lis h grounds a few years ago, played an innings o f 122 for Bangalore G ym khana against Bangalore B ifle Volunteers on September 18th. It was his first match o f the season. Lieu t. L o v e made 104 in the same innings, w h ich amounted to 328. Th e G ym khana won easily by 267 runs. T h e T im e s o f In d i n states that “ The scheme for sending an Indian team to E n g la n d has been revised, and a repre­ sentative eleven w ill probably go W est for a tour in the summer o f 1911 or 1912. It m ay be remembered that efforts were made to send a team in 1906, and a prom ise by Prince K . S. R a n jitsin liji, now H . H . the Jam Sahib, to captain the eleven was actually obtained, but the pro­ ject fell through ow ing to several o f the best Indian players being unable to get away, and also to the difficulty o f raising sufficient funds. T h is tim e there is likely to be no financial obstacle. H . H . the Gaekwar of Baroda, M r. W . J. Tata, M r. R atan J. T ata and M r. J. M . Fram jee Patel are taking a lead in the matter and M r. Patel, who is the prim e m over of the undertaking, is already corresponding w ith L o rd H a rris and M r. M a cL a re n about the contemplated visit. Tw o E n g lish tours have been made by Indian teams in past years and, although in the first every match was lost, m uch more gratifying results rewarded the second visit, and it almost goes w ithout saying that a team o f the best Ind ian cricketers going to E n g lan d now would be able to enter upon a high-class fixture list w ith every chance o f doing great credit to themselves and their country. W e understand that a form al m eeting o f those most keenly interested in the pro­ posal w ill soon he held to place the prospective arrangements on a regular footing, and it has already been agreed to bring out a first-class E n g lis h professional cricketer to coach the players in Bom bay this cold weather.” M b . F . F . K e l l y , w ritin g from N ew Y o rk , sends me tw o items of interest. “ A . C u rry,” he points out, “ bow ling for Queen’s C ity v. Stanley Barracks at Toronto on August 21st took all ten w ickets in an innings for 31 runs. H . J. H e 3 gate’s batting figures for O ttawa this year are 8-5-135-532 177’33.” D u r in g their recent tour in Am erica the G entlem en o f Irelan d played seven matches, of w h ich they won 3, lost 2 and drew 2. B o th their defeats were at the hands o f the Gentlem en o f Philadelphia, who won very easily on each occasion by an innings. In the match at H averford J . B . K in g took all ten wickets for 54 runs in the first innings and did the hat- trick in the second. T h is is the th ird occasion on w hich he has obtained all the w ickets in an in n in gs : at B ro o klyn in 1896 he took ten w ickets (all bowled down) for 20 runs for B elm ont v. M an- hatten, and at Ph ilad elp h ia in 1899 had an analysis o f ten for 39 for Belm ont against Germ antown. H e is beyond question the finest cricketer Am erica has yet produced. F o u r teams representing the Gentlemen o f Ireland have n ow visited Am erica. Th e tours prior to that o f this year took place in 1879, 1888 and 1892. T h e result o f last m onth’s match against Baltim ore was thus announced in the N e w Y o r k H e r a l d :— “ The G entle­ men of Ireland, cricketers, in the second innings to-day defeated the A ll B altim ore team by two runs and ninety-nine wickets. W h en play began to-day the score was 215 to 77, in favor o f the Irish team. The local team scored 141 runs in their second innings and the visitors followed w ith five runs, losing only one m an and having nine wickets left.” T h e E m p o r ia , G a z e tte , an Am erican publication, defines cricket as “ A sort of interm inable com bination o f charades and drop-the-handkerchief, w ith about as m uch “ go ” in it as casino played by educated elephants.” M r . N . C. T u f n e l l , of E to n and C am ­ bridge, has been chosen as second w icket­ keeper for the M .C .C . team w hich w ill leave Southampton on Novem ber 6th for South A frica. T h is w ill not be his first experi­ ence o f touring, as he visited N ew Zealand in 1906-7 as a member of the side sent out by the M .C .C . In the seven matches in w h ich he kept w icket this year for Cambridge he caught eight and stumped sixteen, the m ajority of them off L o c k ­ hart's bowling. H u tch in gs, A. P. D ay and F r y were asked to make the trip to South A frica but declined for various reasons. w hich visited E n g lan d this year and the Best o f Australia. T h e follow in g paragraph purporting to be a cable from Lo n d o n appeared in the Z e e lia n a n d D u n d a s H e r a ld (Tasmania) o f August 30th :— J. J. Hayes, of New York, winner of the Marathon race at Shepherd’s Bush Stadium, London, last year (covering 20 miles 385 yds in 2 hours 55 minutes 18 2-5 seconds) has completed 2,000 runs, in which he was placed first, during the present season. A C ric k e t reader, in draw ing m y atten­ tion to the matter, rem arks :— “ The performance of E rn e st H ayes, o f Surrey, in being the first batsman to make 2,000 runs in E n g lish first-class cricket this season, is insign ifican t w hen com ­ pared w ith this reported feat o f M r. J. J. Hayes, of N ew Y o rk, in w inning, on an average, about six M arath on races a day, (Sundays included) for the past twelve months. (That is assum ing that the ru nning season extends over the whole year). It is rather a p ity that the cable did not in fo rm us as to the number o f races in w h ich M r. H ayes competed unsuccessfully during the same period, in order to give us some fair criterion as to his stam ina.” A t a m eeting o f the Canterbury (N.Z.) Cricket Association held on August 16th it was announced that a letter had been received from the N ew Zealand Cricket C ouncil, stating the terms on w h ich a visit from a second eleven of A ustralia w ould be financed. O n the m otion of M r. H . W y a tt it was resolved that the Association contribute .£100 towards the guarantee funds to cover the proposed tour o f the team. O n the m otion of M r. J. Y o u n g it was decided that a challenge for the P lu n ke t Shield be issued to Auckland, the match to commence on the 29th January, 1910, provided Auckland retains the shield at that date. C a p t a in G r e ig and G. G. N apier had a great deal to do w ith the Presidency’s w in by an innings and 71 runs over the Parsis on the Poona ground last month. O f the form er’s score of 33 the B o m b a y G a z e tte remarks :— “ Th e outstanding feature o f the day’s batting was the b rillia n t innings of Greig. Though it did not ru n up to big figures, it was still one o f the finest ever played by him . A charm ing exhibition o f scientific batting, it was immeasurably superior to any other batting display o f the day, superior even to Cooper’s innings. It was a treat to w atch the superb confidence w ith w h ich he treated all Parsee bowling. The straggle between h im and W arden was exciting in the extreme. It was a tremendous fig h t between E u ropean resourcefulness and Parsee astuteness, presenting the spectators w ith a rare cricket treat. H is partners at the other end were fallin g like ninepins before W ard en ’s bowling, but he never seemed to he troubled by the huge leg-breaks of the prem ier Parsee trundler and continued his b rillian t career quite im perturbably.” C o n c e r n in g N ap ier’s bow ling the same A s p e c ia l interview w ith D r. Pavri, the Parsi captain, on the subject of the visit w ill be found on page 445. K e n t , s i t t i n g b o u r n e . g o r e c o u r t Cricket Club (Est. 1839) requires for season 1910 professional to bowl and do the ground work. Good references essential.—Apply R. S. Jackson, Junr., nigh Streot, Sittingbourne.