Cricket 1910

CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 19 , 1 9 1 0 . and Ground and Yorkshire, at Lord’s, J. W . H . T. Douglas, who played for the former, won the Olympic Boxing Cham­ pionship for Middle-Weights in 1908 by defeating Ii. L. Baker, of Australia, in the final. One of the umpires, W. A. J. West, had also gained high honours in the ring, having been heavy-weight champion in 1885. I n last Saturday’s North Staffordshire League match between Burslem and I’orthill on the former’s ground, Gradley, of Porthill, took four wickets with con­ secutive balls. On the same afternoon, at Middlesbrough, J. H . Hall performed a similar feat for Saltburn v. Middles­ brough in a North Yorkshire and South Durham League match. I t will interest all Surrey cricketers to hear that W . H. Lockwood, whose all­ round play was of such use for many years to the county, still keeps up the game and with success. As recently as Satur­ day last, when playing at Trent Bridge for T. B. Cutts against Notts. Commercial, he made 111 of the 219 runs scored by his side and carried out his bat. He made three hits over the stand for six and seven 4's and with John Gunn ( 66 ) scored 119 for the first wicket. T h e Secretary of the Australian Board o f Control has received a cablegram from the South African Cricket Association stating that the South African team will arrive in Australia in November. The tour will last about four months. V e r n o n R a n s f o r d ’ s batting figures for the Melbourne Club during 1909-10 were 6 innings, twice not out, highest score 206, total 494, average 123-50. J. Leith was second with 100 for three innings and F. Vaughan third with 60-25 for nine innings, once not out. G. Hazlitt was first among the bow lers: he delivered 141 overs (42 maidens) for 342 runs and 26 wickets, which gives an average of 13'15 runs per wicket. P l a y in g for North Sydney against Paddington on April 16th, E. V . Minnett scored 152 not out and L . A. Minnett 107 not out. When stumps were drawn North Sydney had made 383 for three wickets. L a st week I mentioned the fact that Kenny Burn had made seven hundreds in Tasmania in matches between North and South. The following table, compiled by “ Nat Lee ” of the Tasmanian Mail, gives a list of all the three-figure scores ob­ tained in the match, and enables one to see how well Burn’s record compares with that of any other player :— F or the S ooth . K. E. Bum .. K. E. Burn .. K. E. Burn .. K. E. Burn .. K. E. Burn .. K. E. Burn K. E. Burn .. C. J. Eady C. J. Eady G. Gatehouse 180 G. Gatehouse ... 119 140 O. Douglas ... ... 104 130* O. Douglas ... ... 101 111 T. Tabart ... 130 106 W. Ward ... ... 115 101 H. H ale........... ... 108* 108 J. Hudson ... ... 107 187 D. Paton ... 107 125 J. Bingham ... ... 104 133 F or the N orth . J. Savigny ... 164 G. H. Bailey... .. 101 J. Savigny ... 134 L. Cuff .......... .. 133 J. Savigny ... 120 H. Pilbeam ... .. 122 E. A. Windsor ... 160 J. Arthur ... .. 117 E. A. Windsor ... 105* W. H. Savigny .. 113 E. A. Windsor ... 103 R. Sams................ .. 110* C. W. Rock ... ... 158 H. Wilson ... .. 106 C. W. Rock ... ... 113 W. Sidebottom .. 100 G. H. Bailey ... ... 139 H. O. Sm ith... .. 179* Barn played thirteen innings last season and obtained double figures every time. His scores were 87, 19, 28, 25, 35, 51, 12 not out, 53, 22, 30, 34, 81, 108. F rom the Cape Times :— At the meeting of the Pretoria Cricket Union, which discussed the question of players contributing to the Press :— Mr. Lewars: I think a rider should be added that in future visiting cricketers should not be allowed to write reams of piffle to the papers. A Voice: They can play cricket, but they can’t write. Another Delegate: Then Jack and I went in. I got out to a rotten ball which I should have hit for six. (Laughter.) The Pretoria players keenly resented the criticism o f their ground made in a South African paper by one of the members of the English team, and measures are being taken to get the M.C.C. to deal with the matter. T h e Oxford Authentics C.C. can now boast a membership of a thousand. To date the club has played 627 matches, of which they have won 279, lost 100 and drawn 248. The annual ball is to be held at the Empress Booms, Palace Hotel, Kensington, on July 4th. I t should be welcome news, alike for Hampshire and the public generally, that so fine a batsman as Captain Greig, will be available for county matches during a great part of the season. During his absence in India he has kept up the game, and his presence’ should add considerably to the strength of Hampshire, who, if all the best players were at command through­ out the summer, would stand an excellent chance of being found in the first three in the Championship table at the end of the season. N ot often can it have happened that a county has, within the short space of four days, lost two such fine cricketers, in what should have been the prime of life, as Leicestershire has just done in Tomlin and Woodcock. It seems only a year or two since they were to be found regularly in the team, when the one by his batting and the other by his bowling were often the cause of their side’s success over counties which were generally considered of greater strength. They and Pougher, whose benefit match at Lord’s was played this week, were chiefly responsible for the promotion of Leicester­ shire to first-class rank, and when at their best the three would have been worth playing in any county side. I n his recently-published article on “ The Humbug o f County Cricket ” Mr. C. B. Fry, whose views are for the most part some of those often expressed by the late Mr. Fred Gale, says one or two things with which some cricketers will be found to agree. But when he states that a County Cricket Club “ really has no con­ nection with any cricket in the county except that played by its own eleven,” one cannot see eye to eye with him. In order to develop the cricket in their res­ pective counties, most County Clubs arrange club - and - ground and second- eleven matches : they even establish a 1 ‘ nursery ’ ’ for the trainingof young players of promise, and are always glad to hear of any cricketer who bids fair to do well. Mr. F ry’s remarks concerning members of County Clubs are also open to objection: for instance, the statement that com ­ paratively few of them are genuine cricketers at heart is one, I think, with which not many people who are in a position to express an opinion will agree. I f the majority of amateurs who take part in county cricket are dissatisfied with the conditions which govern that parti­ cular phase of the game they might find a remedy in instituting inter - county matches between teams of gentlemen players. In the old days such a fixture as Gentlemen of Kent v. Gentlemen of Sussex provided much pleasure for those who took part in it, and for several years Gentlemen of Kent v. Gentlemen of Eng­ land was played in the Canterbury Week and also at Lord’s. There must be many amateurs who, not quite good enough for a place in the County eleven, would welcome the revival of such fixtures. W h e n Mr. Fry suggests that the whole scheme of county cricket is humbug one must, of course, respect his opinion, seeing that, as he has played for three counties, he has had ample experience to convince himself that it is so. And when he remarks that “ the game of cricket essentially, in its very nature, is entirely unsuited to a serial competition,” one may recall the fact that after the season of 1903 he proposed a knock-out com ­ petition for the counties somewhat on the English Cup principle. T h e Glasgow cricket authorities have made an interesting innovation by establishing a rule that persons entering the ground after 4.30 should be charged reduced prices of admission, with the idea of securing the patronage of those persons whose business precludes attendance earlier in the day, but who resent paying the full charge for the privilege of seeing one-and-a-half to two hours’ play. The suggestion is one which should commend itself to most county treasurers, as it might bring quite a number of the working and business classes to the ground and result in a considerable addition to the receipts. T h e welcome change experienced in the weather during the past week has made cricket a jo y to the players and spectators alike. Conditions have not everywhere favoured the batsmen, but on every ground on which a first-class match has been played— even at Brighton, where Hampshire cut so poor a figure