Cricket 1910

J u n e 2 , 1 9 1 0 . CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECO&D OF THE GAME. W h il s t referring to run-getting feats by Yorkshire players, the match against the North Hiding at Middlesbrough in June, 1885, has occurred to me. On that occasion Peel scored ‘213 and Hall 16G, the total of the side being 530. In no ac­ count of the match that I have seen has the number of runs the players named added in partnership been stated, but it must have been about 300. Particulars are not to be found in the official H istory or the annual handbook issued by the County Club. If any reader can furnish me with details I shall be obliged. W it h the inaugura­ tion of the cricket sea­ son has once more appeared the annual crop of wails and re­ grets for the decadence of the national game, says Mr. Warner in the Westm inster Gazette. At the same time the weeds grow up with the crop, a plea for this, a suggested alteration for that, and many another too familiar to need or excuse reitera­ tion. The critic, having lunched heavily at his club, and possibly hav­ ing enjoyed a short nap in the luxury of his chair, is conveyed to the comfortable pavilion, where he is horrified to find that there is a tea interval, and de­ rides (on paper) after­ wards the pusillanim­ ity of the modern cricketer and the un­ necessary delays result­ ing in drawn matches. How often is it decided that it is much too cold to watch cricket, with­ out a thought for the alert mid-off with a bruise through his good right hand stopping a swiftly propelled m or­ sel o f iced lead ! Or even the debutant bats­ man facing an express bowler on a lively wicket striving to ac­ quit himself with suf­ ficient credit to entitle him to the privilege o f another appear­ ance. O n May 25th A. R. Litteljohn, the Middlesex cricketer, took eight wickets in ten overs for 11 runs for Ealing against Ealing Postal. The hat-trick was included in the performance. L a s t year Northamptonshire were victorious in both their matches with Notts, winning - by 159 runs at Trent Bridge and by seven wickets at North­ ampton. On Saturday last they obtained another success, and no-one who saw the match will suggest that it was anything but fully deserved. To a certain point the advantage appeared to rest with Notts, who, going in against a total of 344, had ‘212 on the board with only one man out, but Northants afterwards carried everything before them and, dismissing their opponents for 79 in their second innings, won by 237 runs. W f . l l s , for the first time in his career, performed the hat-trick, his victims being such useful batsmen as George and John Gunn and Payton. He was born at Daventry on March 14th, 1881, and is WILLIAM BELDHAM. (Seepages 161-2.) medium-paced. In the match he took nine wickets for 127 runs, and Thompson seven for 76. Both men bowled excel­ lently, and brought about the success which the very useful run-getting by the side had rendered possible. Northamp­ tonshire batting has frequently proved most disappointing, and it is therefore worthy of special mention that the side scored 344 and 238 against Notts, al­ though Thompson failed to make a run in either innings. man, after describing the report presented as “ extremely satisfactory,” expressed the hope that the Yorkshire County C.C. Committee would subsidise them more largely in the future. Had the matter been allowed to rest there, the meeting would in all probability have passed off without attracting much attention from the outside public, but one of the share­ holders thought fit to urge the directors to “ take drastic action in regard to the County Cricket Committee, and inform them that unless they were prepared to give more adequate remuneration for the use of the ground, they should take their matches somewhere else.” But the falling- off in the Leeds Club’s percentage has been due to the decrease in gates, and it would surely be better to seek the reason why county cricket is not supported better at Headingley than to fulminate against the Yorkshire Committee. L ast -week, at the annual meeting of the Leeds C.A. and F.C., Ltd., the chair­ T h e London Playing Fields Society, which has now been at work for twenty years pro­ viding playing fields for the young clerks and working men and boys of London, and so providing a strong counter-attraction to various temptations, is making an appeal for .£33,000 to place it in possession o f an unen­ cumbered estate on its “ coming of age” next spring. The Society has acquired fields in the east, north-west, and south-west o f L on ­ don, and lets them to clubs which, while not able to pay the high rents demanded byper- sons who let for profit, can pay for the upkeep. Heavy liabilities have been incurred for pur­ chase money and the expenses of laying out and general manage­ ment, and as -the Society works for the poorest players it confidently appeals for help. Conations m aybe sent to the sec­ retary, Mr. 1’’. R. Bush, The Warren, Coombe Lane, "Wimbledon, S.W . M id d l e s e x beat Sussex at L ord’s on Saturday by 92 runs, but whilst Cox was batting in the final stage of the match a win for the visitors always seemed possible. Tarrrant, to whom the victory was chiefly due—he made 179 runs in the match for once out and took seven wickets—has probably never played a better innings than his 140 not out, and it is somewhat remarkable that he should have done so