Cricket 1909

Dec. 2i, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 473 oyster, as any remarks made m ig lit be perverted. The E n g lis h Press referred to us as hum an oysters. So we were, but we opened out on the cricket field.” T h e follow ing recently appeared in an Am erican p a p e r: — “ I was playing for the Sons o f St. George v. Yonkers a few m iles from here (New York) in 1904, and was a stranger to both parties. There was only one umpire, and I asked where the other was. B ack came the reply, ‘ W h at other ? ’ I said ‘ W e always have two in E n g lan d .’ 1Oh, w ell,’ said one o f the players, ‘ one is good enough ; this m an has w onderfully keen eyes, and we have only one at baseball.’ ” So far the E n g lish team w h ich is touring South A frica under the leader­ ship o f M r. Leveson-Gow er has fared excellently, but, w hilst heartily con­ gratulating them upon what they have accomplished, the fact should not be lost sight o f that they have not yet been called upon to meet very powerful opponents. Still, it is not easy to im agine in what way they could have done better, and the fine form they have shown should give them confidence for their future engagements. S u k r e y men w ill note w ith consider­ able satisfaction that H obbs led off w ith a couple of three-figure innings and that M r. B ird , who, unless I am much m is­ taken, is destined to make a name for h im self and play an im portant part in the future history o f his county’s cricket, also scored very w ell indeed in three of the matches. E xce llen t all-round form has so far been shown by the side, and their future doings w ill be anticipated w ith considerable interest. M o re than once I have referred in this colum n to the successful bow ling of L . D . Dalton, of Durban, and a recent South A frican m ail brings me news o f a good performance accomplished by him early in the present season. P la y in g for Zin g ari against W anderers at the Oval on Novem ber 6th, he took eight wickets for 20 ru n s— five w ith consecutive balls— in a total of 41. On the same day Nourse, g iving only one chance— when 79— scored 112 for G reyville v. Queen’s Park, and Sin clair H O forW an derers v.Wanderers A. The latter match was played in Johannes­ burg. Aubrey Fa u lkn er has made a couple o f hundreds in good-class club cricket and L . Strieker and J. W . Z u lch— one o f the best o f the younger batsmen— have also entered three-figure land. O n October 8th N. Beid, playing for Diocesan College v. Somerset W est on the latter’s ground at Cape Tow n, took all ten wickets in an in n in gs o f 40 for 13 runs in eleven overs. A r e c o r d for Japan was established in the three-day match between Yokoham a and Kobe w hich commenced at Y o k o ­ ham a on October 18th. In the first innings (85) o f the home side H . B. N ic h o ll took the whole o f the ten wickets in sixteen overs for 29 runs, but Kobe, although they obtained a lead o f 12 on the innings, lost the match by six runs. Th e fu ll score of the game w ill be found 011 another page. N e x t year a Challenge Shield, called T h e Spencer Shield, w ill be competed for by the Pa rsi clubs o f Bom bay for the first time. T h e Shield was presented by the E lp liin sto n e C.C. for the purpose stated in order to keep green the name o f the late M r. S. B . Spencer, who had been a Vice-President o f that Club, as w ell as a prom inent cricketer, for m any years. H e played for the Parsis several times and occasionallly captained the team during the absence of D r. P a v ri from Bom bay. M r. Spencer, who was a leading pleader of the H ig h Court and acted as one o f the Magistrates of the Bom bay Police Court, was also m uch interested in racing and owned several horses. H e died o f sun­ stroke at the early age o f 45 two years ago at Calcutta, where he had gone for the Calcutta Races. T h e Bom bay season opens in June and generally term inates at the end of September. Ow ing, however, to the great interest w h ich the institution of the Spencer Shield competition has aroused, the season o f 1910 w ill be extended to the last week of December. Th e follow ing prom inent Clubs are ex­ pected to take part in the to u rn am en t:— Elphinstone, Baronet, Jo h n B rig h t,Y o u n g Zoroastrian, Persian, Esplanade, Libe ral, A llian ce and Sassanian. I t has been decided that next year, when the T rian g u lar Tournam ent takes place in Bom bay, the team to play the H in d u s w ill be decided by tossing, the w inner o f the toss obtaining a bye. (It w ill be remembered that this season the Parsis beat the H in d u s in the first round, and that the m atch between the form er and Presidency was drawn). B u t if, as is hoped by the H o n . M r. E b rah im Rahim toola, the M ahom edans are adm itted to the competition, w h ich w ould thereby become a Quadrangular Tournam ent, this arrangement w ould fall through. The inclusion of the Mahom edans w ould be sure to increase the interest in the matches, provided a good eleven were got together from A lig a rh and other places. Th e Comm ittee w h ich has the m atter in hand has decided to include two or three Ceylon players in the com bined Ind ian team w h ich it has been suggested to send to E n g lan d in 1911. Selection w ill most probaby be made from T. Kelaart, R . E . S. M endis, D . L . de Saram and A . T. Pollocks. A ll four players named performed creditably when appearing in the matches at Colom bo recently against the Australians. The Comm ittee has opened a guarantee fund, and over 30,000 rupees have already been subscribed. R e a d e r s of G o ss ip w ill be interested in the follow ing letter, addressed by L o rd H a rris to M r. F ra m ji Patel on the subject o f the proposed v is it :— Dear Mr. Framji Patel. So far as Tpersonally am concerned, it goes with­ out ques tion that I should be glad to see a really representative Indian Eleven playing in England against the Counties, and you may be sure that I will do my best to induce support from M.C.C. and the leading Counties. I think that it would be wise to come under the ajgis of M.C.C., and I will put your letter before the Committee at an early date. My impiession is that 1012 has been selected as the year in which both Australia and South Africa may come to England. If so, it would be useless your coming then, and 1911 would have to be the year. Of course, I will let you know about this definitely when I write again. If I can secure the assistance of M.C.C. I shall then approach the leading Counties, but I am sorry to say that many of our Counties are in a far from flourishing state financially, and may hesitate before pledging themselves to a guarantee. Hoping that between us we may successfully engineer the visit, Believo me, Yours very truly, H a r r is . I n 1910 D r. M . E . Pavri, w ho has captained the Parsis in B om bay since 1889, w ill celebrate his tw enty-fifth year o f service as a m em ber o f the team . In order to m ark the event appropriately a movement has been started to present h im w ith a testim onial and an address from the general body of P a rsi cricketers. H e is the o n ly member o f the “ O ld G uard ” still taking part in the first-class matches in Bom bay. F . A . T a r r a n t arrived at Patiala in the m iddle of last m onth in order to coach the M ah arajah ’s team for the second season in succession. Th e side is reported to have im proved a great deal under his tuition, and, as the m ajority o f C ric k e t readers are w ell aware, H is H ighness has developed in to a very accomplished batsman. W . T. G r e s w e l l , o f Repton and Somerset, played his first m atch in Ceylon on N ovem ber 13th, when he turned out at R adella for U v a against D im bu la. H e contributed 1 and 13 to scores o f 02 and 140 for seven wickets (innings declared closed) and took five w ickets for 15 in a total o f 31. I n the m iddle of last m onth B. Jayaram , the w ell-know n Ind ian bats­ man, scored 141 for Bangalore v. Madras and 107 not out for Central College v. Bangalore G ym khana in successive innings. “ O u r club,” w rites the Cayuga (Guate­ mala) correspondent o f a W est Indian newspaper, “ is m aking things lively. Th e Secretary, M r. D. A. Turner, is taking m uch interest in the game and is becom ing a ‘ stone w all ’ before the wickets. Th e membership is growing. Am on g the latest additions are Messrs. Davis, Clarke and Grant. Th e Club is n ow in possession o f a new set out, all ‘ D u ke and Sons,’ costing nearly 850 gold, won by M r. H a rriso n for us at a raffling 3 weeks ago. T h e challenge has been accepted by the B elize cricketers, and the