Cricket 1909

40 CR ICK E T : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M arch 25, 1909. H. GRADIDGE And SONS, Manufacturers o f all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, and all British Sports. Used by all the y j Leading1 yk Players. ^ Made In Men's, Small Men’s, or College, 6, 5, 4, 4 8 sizes. P r i c e L ls ta F r e e o u A p p lic a t io n . Of all First-Class Outfitters and Dealers. PATENTEES AND SOLE MAKERS 0 OF THE t ' ■ s p s v Reblading a Speciality. Factory; A r t ille r y Place, WOOLWICH. C r i c k e t : A WEEKL Y RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON E.C. THURSDAY, MARCH 2 5 t h , 1909. Pavilion Gossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. —Hamlet A t a meeting of the Board of Control at Lord’s on the 17tli inst., Lord Hawke and Messrs. H . I). G. Leveson-Gower and C. B. Fry were appointed to select the England teams for the Test matchfes with the Australians during the coming season. It was in 1899 that a Selection Committee was first appointed for this purpose, and it is worthy of note that L ord Hawke has served on each occasion; in 1899 his colleagues were Dr. W . G. Grace and Mr. H . W . Bainbridge, in 1902 Messrs. Bainbridge and Gregor MacGregor, and in 1905 Messrs. J. A. Dixon and P. F. Warner. For the selection of the Test match teams to meet the South Africans the year before ■last the Committee consisted o f Lord Hawke and Messrs. H . K. Foster and Marsham. I t has been officially announced that Mr. H. I). G. Leveson-Gower will captain the team which the M.C.C. intend send­ ing out to South Africa next winter. This will be the second tour of a team through South Africa under the aegis of the M.C.C. In 1905-6 the side was led by Mr. P. F. Warner, and, although it contained several of the leading players of the day, lost four and won only one o f the five Test matches played. I n the early morning of the 4th inst. there was a serious outbreak o f fire in the Foregate, Worcester, at the Great Western Railway’s parcels office of Messrs. B. T. Smith and Co. The office of Mr. W . B. Burns, who carries on business as a coal merchant over the premises, did not suffer much. But unhappily an adjoining office, which is let to Mr. Jones Williams, the Secretary to the Worcestershire County C.C., was gutted. Mr. Jones Williams had in readiness for issue some 200 membership tickets—he had despatched 150 on the previous day — and all these were destroyed, which proved a matter of great inconvenience to him and caused delay in their delivery to members. Whereas he had hoped to be in advance with the coming season’s arrangements, he was handicapped, and had forthwith to seek for a new office. Many of the Club’s books were damaged also. A t 'a largely-attended meeting on the 8th inst., presided over by Sir John Kennedy, representatives of the leading clubs in Leinster unanimously resolved to form an Irish Cricket Union, and a committee was appointed to carry out the necessary arrangements. It is hoped that cricket in Ireland will receive a much-needed fillip as the result of the institution of the Union. T h e Northumberland County C.C. experienced a profit of .£149 on last season’s working. T h r o u g h the generosity of Mr. E . J. Morant, of Brockenhurst, and four other gentlemen, each of whom has promised .£'25 a year for five years, a nursery for young Hampshire cricketers is to be opened on the County ground at Southampton in April. The Morant family has long been associated with sport in Hampshire. The late Capt. Wm . Morant, of the Grenadier Guards, who died the year before last in his 78th year, was Master of the New Forest Foxhounds and at one time Captain of the New Forest C.C. It was his brother, Mr. John Morant, who advertised in the Church Times for a curate for Brocken­ hurst, Hants., who must be a good musician, violin or violincello preferred, the living being in his gift. To this some wag replied in the Guardian, or one of the other Church papers, with the following verse, which created much amusement at the time :— Hey diddle diddle, A priest and his fiddle Are wanted at Brockenhurst, Hants. Must be a good fellow, Play violin or ’cello; Apply to John Morant. It reminds one o f the curate-less Yicar who said: “ What the Parish wants is not a theologian, but a good fast bowler with a break from the off.” T h e Gloucestershire County C.C. have contributed £100 to the E. M. Grace Testimonial Fund. Other sums received include ,£21 from Mr. J. W . Arrowsmith and Mr. H . W . Beloe, £10 10s. from Mr. B. E. Bush, £10 from the Duke of Beaufort, £5 5s. from Mr. T . G. Matthews, £3 3s. from Mr. A. J. Bush and £2 2s. from Messrs. E . B. Haygartli, G. L. Jessop and W . 0 . Moberley. The Presi­ dent of the Fund is the Duke of Beaufort, the Chairman Mr. H . W . Beloe, of Sal- combe House, Clifton, and the Treasurer and Hon. Secretary Mr. J. W . Arrow­ smith, of 11 Quay Street, Bristol. S i r F o s t e r C u n l i f f e , B a r t . , will contest the by-election in East Denbigh­ shire as the Unionist and Tariff Reform candidate. As F . H . E. Cunliffe, Sir Foster, who is now in his thirty-fifth year, played for Eton, Oxford, Middlesex, and the Gentlemen. Another cricketer, J. E. Raphael, of Oxford and Surrey, is now contesting Croydon in the Liberal interest, and will know his fate on Monday next. T h e Duke of Devonshire has consented to allow himself to be nominated for the presidency of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club at the annual meeting of members to be held early in April. In thus identifying himself with the fortunes of the Club the Duke is following the example of his late uncle in 1893 and 1894. The balance-sheet unfortunately discloses an indebtedness of nearly £51,500, but by means of a bazaar in the autumn and efforts in other directions it is hoped to pay this off. T h e Hon. F. S . Jackson, speaking at a dinner to Mr. J. J. Oddy, M .P., at Bradford the week before last, used a cricket simile. He said at the last “ Test match ” the Conservatives struck a very bad wicket. Their opponents had most of the luck, but he also believed their party missed a good many chances. Perhaps the people also wanted to see the other side bat. (Laughter.) He admitted that the bowling of the other side was very good, but many people were now more than ever Convinced that some of the deliveries of their opponents were very unfair, and, if the umpires had not been deceived, would have been no-balled as shies, or as something that rhymed with that word. (Laughter and cheers.) They were now longing for the return match— (hear, hear)—and provided they had a fairly good wicket and fair “ do’s,” he