Cricket 1909

470 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Dec. 21, 1909. NOTICE TO OUR RE&DERS. C ricket w ill be published monthly during the W inter as follows :— No. 827.— O C T O B E R 28th, 1909. No. 828.— N O V E M B E R 25th, 1909. No. 829.— D E C E M B E R 21st, 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 series sent post free to any part of the world for 9d. C ricket is the only paper in the world solely devoted to the game. Weekly, A p ril to September. Monthy, October to March. T eems of S obsckiption : — 3/9 per annum. P ay ab le in advance. Cricket: A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. M e . L a c e y also announced that they had recently received letters from Ind ia asking i f an all-In d ian team w ould be welcome in 1911. Th e follow ing year had also been suggested, but that w ould be an im possibility. In reply,he (M r. Lacey) had pointed out that a South A frican team was due here in 1911— provided the T rian g u lar contest fell through— and possibly that w ould m ilitate against the success o f their tour. It seemed to be an im portant element in the case that they should receive some guarantees on this side. Th e M .O.C. were prepared to guarantee .£200, and lie had no doubt that some o f the other counties would be able to help to a certain point in that direction. H e proposed issuing circulars asking w hat the counties w ould be pre­ pared to do to assist in this direction, and he felt confident that they w ould do all in their power to m ake the tour a success. A t their m onth ly m eeting at L o rd ’s on the 13th inst., the Comm ittee of the M .C .C . approved o f the suggested altera­ tion in L a w 54, and it w ill therefore be subm itted to the annual meeting o f the C lub in M ay. A s the law stands at present, the in n in gs cannot be declared before lunch-tim e on the second day. T h e annual report o f the W orcester­ shire C ounty C ricket Club shows a loss of .£360 on the year’s w orking, and that the receipts at the match played for the benefit of B ow ley amounted to only .£60. Th e membership shows an increase of 69, m aking a total o f 1359. Th e W orcester­ shire comm ittee hope to reduce the annual loss by playing more matches at populous places like Stourbridge. Last year the total gate receipts were £'885. “ E v e n to-day I enjoy a good hard game,” said the Bishop of Lo n d o n in addressing a m eeting o f m en at the G u ild h all, “ but I th in k we ought to play our games ourselves and not pay a shilling to w atch someone else play.” T h e balance-sheet of the C ornw all C ounty C.C. shows a gain on the season’s w orkin g o f £ 1 1 7s. 6d. T h e expenditure, w hich amounted to .£252 13s. 6d., included the sum of .£171 for match expenses. T h e amount received in subscriptions was £159, from match receipts £'44 18s. 3d., and from the Test matches £45 18s. lOd. I t is good to hear that G. L . Jessop has recently been showing very good form on various golf courses, for it is indisputable evidence that he has almost, if not quite, recovered from h is serious accident at Leeds last season. Cricketers in a ll parts of the country w ill unite in hoping that his im provem ent in health w ill continue, and that next summer he w ill again be found in his best form . T h e annual report o f the Lancashire C ounty Cricket Club reveals a very satis­ factory state o f affairs, for after reducing the capital account by £‘533, there is still a profit o f £'261 on the year’s working. D u rin g the year 117,745 people paid for adm ission to the ground, the receipts being £4,897. Paym ent to players amounted to £1,618, and amateurs’ expenses totalled £'546. The Lancashire and Y orksh ire match at M anchester next A ugust w ill be set aside for the benefit of Sharp. Some years ago £>20,000 was paid for the O ld Trafford G round, and of this amount £7,000 has been repaid. A t the annual meeting of the M in o r Counties C.A., at L o rd ’s on the 7th inst., M r. P. J. de Paravicini, on behalf of the Association presented M r. R . H . M a lle tt w ith a silver tea-service and tray, the latter suitably inscribed, as a m ark of appreciation for h is m any years’ service as honorary secretary, first alone and afterwards in conjunction w ith D r. J. E a rl N orm an. Th e presentation coincided w ith M r. M a lle tt’s tw enty-fifth attendance at the annual m eeting at L o rd ’s. T h e L o rd M a y o r o f Lo n d o n (the Rt. H o n . Sir Jo h n K n ill, Bart.) and the Sheriffs (M r. R a lp h Slazenger and M r. Jam es Iloll) were present at the annual smoking concert o f the G u ild h a ll Cricket and Athletic Club, held in the G ran d H a ll at the Criterion on the 3rd inst. T h o se who had been looking forward to the captains o f the first-class counties doing something to attract attention at their annual m eeting were not dis­ appointed, for, assembled in solemn con­ clave at L o rd ’s on the 6th inst., they passed the follow ing ambiguous and not very dignified resolution :— “ That this meeting of county captains, having regard to the best interests of the game, while recognising the valuable services that have been and are rendered to ihe game by the leading organs of the Press, desires to express its regret that a certain section of the Press exploits tho game in an un­ worthy manner.” The terms are— perhaps intentionally— so vague as to deprive the resolution o f any im portance w h ich m ight otherwise have attached to it, but it w ould seem that this condemnation o f an unspecified section of the Press m ay be attributed to the super-sensitiveness of some players to criticism . In any case, the resolution appears to have had no more effect upon anybody than had the curse o f the Abbot of Rheim s. It is only righ t to add that some of the captains refrained from voting. M e . S p o f f o b t h , speaking at a dinner held at the A u th ors’ C lub on the evening of December 6th, referred to the Test TUESDAY, DEC. 2 1 s t , 1909. ^pabtiinit (Stfsstp. The bstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. O w in g to the C hristm as holidays, the December num ber o f C ric k e t is published on the 21st of the month, instead o f on the 30th, as o rig in ally announced. I n opening the annual meeting o f the county secretaries at L o rd ’s on the 7th inst., M r. F . E . Lacey, w ho presided, said that the C ricket Comm ittee o f the M .C .C . had considered the answers that they had received in regard to the alteration o f L a w 54, enabling a declara­ tion to be made in a three-day match at any tim e on the second day. Th e answers that were received were all favourable except one, and in conse­ quence of that the C ricket Comm ittee proposed to recommend the adoption of the alteration to the G eneral Comm ittee the next week, and, i f it were approved, as he had no doubt it w ould be, the matter w ou ld come up at the annual meeting on the first W ednesday in M ay. I h e a e that it has been decided to hold a bazaar at W orcester next summer in aid o f the funds o f the County Club. F o r several reasons it is to be regretted that it was not resolved to embark on a pageant, if only for the reason that bazaars are almost played out. Furtherm ore, few cities have a more th rillin g history or a fairer site for a pageant than Worcester. A t L o rd ’s on the 7th inst. repre­ sentatives of some of the counties met inform ally and in private to discuss the question of pooling gates, recently raised by L o rd Cobham at the A n n u al General M eeting of theWorcestershire C ounty C.C. N o action was taken, and nothing was allowed to transpire as to the proceedings. Something, however, m ay yet come o f the idea, for in principle it appears quite just. In the case of W orcestershire, for intance, they plav bright, sporting cricket and attract big gates when playing Surrey, Yorkshire, Lancashire, &c., away from home, but when meeting them on their ow n ground receive very poor support. I adm it it is a w ide question, but am hopeful of seeing poetic justice done ere long. Th e struggle of the less populous counties is becom ing so acute that the discussion m u s t be faced in earnest before m any more seasons have passed.