Cricket 1909

4 5 6 CR ICK ET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME Nov. 25, 1909. NOTICE TO OUR R E A D E R S . C ricket w ill be pub’ished monthly during the W inter as follows :— - No. 827.— O C T O B E R 28th, 1909. No. 8'28.— N O V E M B E R 25th, 1909. No. 829.—D E C E M B E R 30th, 1909. No. 830.— JA N U A R Y 27th, 1910. No. 831.— F E B R U A R Y 24th, 1910. No. 832.— M A R C H 31st, 1910. The above seiies sent post free to any part of tbe world for 9d. C r'cke t is the only paper in the world solely devoted to the game. Weekly, April to September. Monthy, October to March. T eksis of S u bscription : — 3,9 per annum. P ay ab le in advance. A ll communications to be sent direct to the Offices of C ricket, 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C. Cricket: A W E E K L V R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THURSDAY, NOV. 2 5 t h , 1909. |3abttum (gnsstp- The a strac and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. T h e members o f the E n g lish team for South A fric a left Southam pton on the 6th in st on the R .M .S . S a x o n . T h e side is composed of H. D. G. Leveson-Gower (Surrey) (captain). F . L . Fane (Essex). G. H . Simpson-Hayward (Worcestershire). Captain E. G. Wynyard (Hampshire). M. C. B ird (Surrey). N. C. Tufnell (Cambridge University). Hobbs (Surrey). Strudwick (Surrey). Woolley (Kent). Thompson (Xortliamptonshire). Denton (Yorkshire). Rhodes (Yorkshire). Blythe (Kent). Buckenham (Essex). T h e follow ing is the programme o f the tour as fin a lly arranged by the South A frica n C ricket Association :— November 23 : Arrive at Cape Town. December 4, 6, and 7 : At Cape Town v. Western Province. December 10, 11, and 13: At Kimberley v. Fifteen of Griqualand West. December 15, 10, and 17 : At Bloemfontein v. Orange River Colony. December 21, 22, and (?) 23 : At Vogelfontein v. The Reef. December 27, 28, 20, and 30 : At Johannesburg v. Tho Transvaal. January 1, 3, 4, and 5 : A t J ohannesburg v . S outh A frica (First Test Match). Jauuary 8, 10, and 11 : At Durban v. Natal. January 14, 15, and 17 : A t Maritzburg v. Natal. January 21, 22, 24, and 25 : A t D urban v. S outh A fr ic a (Second Test Match). January 29, 31, aud February 1 : At East London v. Border. February 4, 5, and 7: At Queenstown v. Queens­ town and North-Eastern Districts Fifteen. February 11, 12, and 14: At Port Elizabeth v. Eastern Province. February 18, 19, and 21: At Johannesburg v. The Transvaal. February 22, 23, and 24: At Pretoria v. The Transvaal. February 26, 28, March 1 and 2: A t J ohannesburg v. S outh A frica (Third Test Match'. March 7, 8, 9, and 10 : A t C ape T ow n v . S outh A frica (Fourth T est Match). March 11, 12, 14, and 15 : A t C ape T ow n v . S outh A frica (Fifth Test Match). March 16 : Leave for England. Before the vessel sailed Capt. Tyson proposed the health of the team, Dr. Russell Bencraft seconding the toast. M r. Leveson-G ow EE, in reply, thanked the company for the good wishes that had been expressed in regard to the tour. T h e S a x o n arrived safely at Cape Tow n on Tuesday, w hen the players were accorded a welcom e by the M ayor. A x a m eeting held at the Dudley A rm s H o te l on N ovem ber 1st, it was unanim ously resolved to constitute the tow n a centre for W orcestershire County cricket. L o rd Cobham expressed the w illingness o f the County Club to play a num ber o f th eir matches in Dudley if suitable accommodation could be pro­ vided, and a scheme was sketched out in v o lvin g an expenditure o f ±‘4,000. T h is it was proposed to raise by debentures and shares, and £1,000 was subscribed in the room. M r . J. H . B r a in , ow ing to pressure o f business, has found it necessary to retire from the secretaryship o f the G lam organ C ounty .C.C. T h e other secretary, M r. H . B. Letcher, has also announced his in a b ility to continue his duties on account of his departure from C ard iff for Belfast. A t a recent C om ­ m ittee m eeting o f the Club Messrs. T . A . L . W h ittin g to n (Neath) and W . G. B ow den (Cardiff) were appointed their successors. --------- A l l w ho know h im w ill be glad to hear that the Surrey C ounty C.C. have decided to give S. Apted, their ground superin­ tendent, a benefit-match at the O val next season. Apted has been in charge o f the ground since 1888, and, as everyone knows, has been extraordinarily success­ fu l in preparing the wickets. N o ground- keeper in E n g la n d enjoys a higher reputation. S p e a k in g at the annual dinner o f the Y o rk sh ire Cricket C ouncil at Leeds on the 2nd inst., the H o n . F . S. Jackson said that no one could feel that in in te r­ n ational cricket E n g la n d had passed through a satisfactory season. N o Select­ ion Comm ittee could have had a harder task than the E n g lan d selectors were faced w ith. It was a m istake, especially in Test m atch cricket, to depend too m uch upon reputations in selecting a team. T h e m en w ith big reputations should know where to stop. H e could not quite understand w hy En glan d, w ith tw o or three good fast bowlers, should have entered any Test m atch w ithout at least one. H e hoped the m istakes comm itted in this direction w ould not occur in E n g la n d again. H e thought En g lan d were re ally beaten on their merits, but the A u stralian bowlers all came off at the rig h t time, and N oble’s captaincy had played a great part in the A u stralian s’ success. H irs t was feeling the effects of long years o f service, though he would still prove Y o rk sh ire ’s stand-by, w hile there was no one who should be chosen for E n g lan d before Rhodes. “ T h e happiest recollection I shall take w ith me,” said J . N . C raw ford before leaving for Australia, “ w ill be the mem ory o f the first S«rrey and Australian m atch at the O val this year, w hen I cap­ tained the Surrey team, and we beat the visitors by five runs." T h e death o f L u k e Greenwood recalls an am using story the old m an w'as fond of narrating concerning “ W .G .” In “ O ld E b o r’s ” interesting T a lk s iv ith O ld Y o rk s h ire C ric k e te rs the incident is re ­ corded in the follow ing words :— “ In one match ‘ W .G .’ thw acked me out of the field for six on the square-leg side. There used to be a practice in those days of g iving a sh illin g to those w ho returned the lost balls. A n old lady found this one, and toddled up w ith it to the wicket, as was the custom. She brought it to me, and I said, ‘ N ah, yon ’s h im that h it it; y o ’ m un go to h im for t’ brass ! ’ She crossed the w icket to ‘ W .G .,’ and gave him the ball, and he, m uch amused, paid the shillin g forfeit.” T h e L o n d o n C o u nty C o u n cil is pre­ pared to receive from cricket clubs located in the County of L o n d o n applications for the use o f res’erved m atch grounds at the parks and open spaces under its control during the season 1910. A pplications must be made on the printed form s which can be obtained gratuitously from the C h ief Officer, Parks Departm ent, 11, Regent-street, S.W ., to whom also the forms when filled in must be returned not later than December 1, 1909. “ I n certain circles in E n g la n d the triangular scheme appears to be regarded as settled,” says “ N o t O u t” in the Sydney B e fe re e . “ B u t it is far from that, as it has to receive the sanction of the Board of C ontrol for Intern ation al Cricket in A ustralia and o f the South A frica n Cricket Association. T h e more one considers the proposal the more one is convinced that the triangular contest is not lik e ly to be beneficial to cricket and cricketers in any way. M y m ain objection to it is that already quite sufficient inroads on the time o f leading players are made by first-class cricket, and that any further inroads w ill sim ply professionalise the game. I hope to see the B oard o f Control not agree to the triangular contest. L e t cricket be kept a game.” “ Y o u r real cricketer believes neither in Tests nor in C ricket Patrons,” says the O b se rve r. “ H e w ould be addressing self-appointed Patrons o f cricket in m uch the same way that Samuel Johnson addressed L o rd Chesterfield. Th e patrons of cricket are those w ho play the g am e; the bowlers, the fielders, the bats, the men out for cricket as a sport. L o rd