Cricket 1909

Dec. 21, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 471 matches played in this country last season. H e repudiated the suggestion of “ nerves,” and felt sure that the question o f nerve was the least concern of either the members of the home team or o f the Australians. A t an extraordinary general meeting o f the members o f the Leicestershire C ounty C.C. held at Leicester to consider the financial position o f the Club, M r. C. E . de Trafford, who presided, stated that the loss on the year’s w orking was £G00, and that the C lub was in debt to the extent of £'1,000. A fter a long dis­ cussion it was resolved to charge for ladies’ tickets. It was decided that the matches to be played be not less than nine home-and-home. A decision was also arrived at that a number o f guaran­ tors be secured. L o r d H a w k e ’ s recent pronouncement in favour o f splitting the Cham pionship into D ivision s has compelled the attention of a ll concerned in cricket to be directed to that subject, and critics capable of judging the signs o f the times are already counting on the probability of the County Com petition being modified in this direc­ tion at a much earlier date than that prophesied by Sir H om e G ordon in C r ic k e t last December. U n d e r these circumstances the appear­ ance in this issue o f an article dealing w ith the effects o f a D ivisio n al system as deduced from past matches m ay be regarded as timety. The particular system assumed is that w hich was aired in these colum ns last w inter, and recently, and w h ich w ill be summ arized in a few b rief rules post-scribed to the article now appearing. T h e w riter (“ H .P - T .” ), as the result of a very m inute investigation, concludes that from a playing point o f view the change w ould be in every w ay advan­ tageous. The paying point of view could o n ly be definitely settled by practical ex­ perience o f such a scheme in w orking; but it w ould be very remarkable if any­ th in g that benefited the game in other respects were to injure it financially. M e . L . G. W r ig h t has definitely decided to retire from first-class cricket, and his resolve is sure to prove an im ­ portant event in the history of Derbyshire cricket for he has rendered excellent service to the County fo r w ell over twenty- seasons. A t his best he was a very fine batsman, and the m anner in w h ich he m aintained his superb fielding at point must often have been the envy o f men a great m any years his junior. A t times he kept w icket really well, and I can recall seeing h im do so once for the G en­ tlemen against the Players at the Oval and m aking more than one very good catch. T h e Selection Comm ittee appointed to choose the sides to represent South A frica in the forthcom ing Test matches against the M .C .C .’s E n g lan d team is composed o f J. H . Sinclair, M u rra y Bissett and S. J. Snooke. T h e annual report o f the K e n t County C.C. mentions that the county, under M r. D illo n , has again w on the Cham pionship ; and refers to the batting o f A. P. D ay and J. R . M ason and the bow ling o f D . W . C arr and B lythe, besides the record last- w icket partnership by "Woolley and Fielder. The list of members now numbers 3,858. B lyth e w ill receive £1,505 from his benefit, and the whole sum w ill, at h is request, be invested. Th e season’s workings show a credit balance o f £1,068 3s. 9d., the receipts am ounting to £8,016. In addi­ tion to £1,000 invested in Canada Three per Cent, stock, there is a balance of £3,744. N e x t season the Devon and Somerset W anderers w ill tour in K e n t and so break fresh ground. D u rin g th eir sixteen tours to date they have play ed 100 matches, of w h ich they have won 50, lost 31 and draw n 19, and have visited the Isle o f W igh t, the Isle o f M a n (twice), the Channel Islands (twice), the L a k e D istrict, H o llan d , Paris, Ireland, Somerset, N orth Wales, the Eastern Counties, E a st Y o r k ­ shire, Lancashire, Sussex and Liv erp o o l and D istrict. W h ils t in K e n t they w ill play the follow ing matches :— June. 16.—v. Royal Garrison Artillery, at Dover. fl7.—v. Atlantic Fleet, at Dover. 1*20.—v. Worcestershire Regiment, at Dover. 22.—v. St. Lawrence, at Canterbury. f23.—v. Northumberland Fusiliers, at Dover. 25.—v. Hytlie, at Hythe. ■fDenotes a two-day match. D u rin g the tour the headquarters of the club w ill be the H o te l B u rlin g to n , Dover. S e v e e a l correspondents have been kin d enough to draw m y attention to the fact that in last m onth ’s G o ssip I stated that M r. H . K . Foster had left E n g lan d for the Straits Settlement. It should, o f course, have been M r. M aurice — “ M . K .”— whose departure, by the way, the newspapers appear to have allowed to pass unnoticed. T h e annual general m eeting o f the Somerset County Cricket Club w ill be held on Jan uary 8th, and the financial statement, now being prepared, w ill pro­ bably be the best ever presented to the members. O n ly £20 has been lost on the year’s working, and the sum of £308 w ill be received as the share o f the Test matches, so that the C lub w ill begin next season w ith a gratifying balance in hand. L a st season the Scottish C ricket U n io n lost £56 on the m atch w ith the G entle­ m en o f Ireland at Perth, but there was a surplus o f £56 16s. on the game w ith the Australians at Baeburn Place. Although £1 5s. 9d. was lost over the representa­ tive matches, there is s till a balance in hand o f £73. M r. H u g h Tennant has been elected President o f the U n io n in succession to M r. Leslie B alfou r-M elville. C ric k e t readers w ill be glad to know that M r. J. N. Penteiow is contributing a series o f articles on the history of South African cricket to the colum ns of T h e S p o r tin g L if e . Th e first article was published on Thursday last. D e . J. E a e l N o r m a n , at the annual general meeting of the H ertfordshire County C.C., at the St. Pancras H o te l on Tuesday last, announced that during the year the balance in hand had increased from £266 9s. 9d. to £301 0s, 6d. The m atch against Lin co ln sh ire at H itc h in was allotted as a benefit to Coleman, who had been handed a cheque for £112 7s. 6d. I n an endeavour to im prove the status o f N o rfo lk C ounty cricket the Comm ittee o f the C ounty C.C. have resolved (1) to encourage the game in towns and villages, and (2) to bring in to existence new clubs and new competitions. M r. J. H erb ert Farm er, whose devotion to the game is well-known, has, as the representative of E a st N orfolk, prom ised that, i f a Cup Com petition is acceptable in h is division o f the county, he w ill suitably inaugurate it. In a circu lar w h ich he has issued he rem a rk s: “ O ur desire is to foster and encourage good village cricket for its own sake— to create a healthy, sporting spirit of village em ulation.” A ll good cricketers w ill h eartily w ish h im and his co-workers every success in their laudable endeavour. A t the A n n u al General M eeting of the H am p sh ire C ounty C.C. it was stated that Capt. G reig and M r. A . C. Johnston were expected home next year, and that they w ould probably assist the county. I t was also hoped that M r. W . H . B . E van s w ould be available for some matches. Sir George Cooper was re­ elected president and M r. E . M . Sprot captain. T h e follow ing umpires have been nom inated to stand next season:—- A . J. Atfield, H . Bagshaw, J . Blake, J. Carlin, C. E . D ench, G . P. Harrison, B. W . Mason, J. Moss, F . Parris, W . Richards, F . G. Roberts, A . E . Street, W . V in in g , J. E . W est, W . A . J. West, G. Webb, A . A . W hite, T. Brow n, H . W ood, R . G. B arlow , H . W alm sley and W . Flow ers. I t is almost certain that the Board of C ontrol w ill send an A u stralian team (composed of players who were not in the side w h ich visited England) to N ew Zealand imm ediately after the inter-State matches are played. It w ill be possible to get a very strong team together, and the tour should do m uch to encourage the game in the D om in io n besides providing the younger players of Au stralia w ith experience of im portant match playing. A s u p p o r t e e o f cricket in W est A u s­ tralia has offered a gold trophy to be awarded by the W . A. C ricket Association to the w inner o f a hard-hitting com peti­ tion. H e suggests that the competition be open w ithout any entrance fee to any cricketer belonging to a duly established and recognised club and during com peti­ tion matches. Com petition to be judged on points computed as follows in propor