Cricket 1910

J u l y 7, 1910. CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 251 named Ekneligodde whilst keeping wicket for St. Thomas’ College against Negcmbo Town on the St. Thomas’ ground at Ne- gombo on June 3rd. In the course of a single over from Claude Orr he stumped four men, three of them—Y . T. Dickman, M. Sansoni and H . Bevan— off consecutive balls. Such a feat has been chronicled several times both in England and Aus­ tralia, and more than once a wicket-keeper has been known to stump four men off the reel. T he University match of 1910 will long be remembered, not only on account of Le Couteur’sremarkable all-round cricket, but also for the fact that the side which entered upon the game favourites should have sustained such a crushing defeat. The critics, almost without exception, considered that Cambridge were the stronger side and, given equal conditions, would win, but the “ glorious uncer­ tainty ” again asserted itself in a manner which was nothing less than remarkable. The Oxonians proved themselves the better team in all departments of the game, and it is not detracting in the least from the worth of their performance to state that their overwhelming victory was due in a very large measure to the poor cricket shown by their opponents. The tactics of Oxford were correct throughout, but Cambridge made several blunders in the field and lack of resolu­ tion caused their batting to go to pieces. W . A. B. w r it e s :—After the play in Sussex v. Kent at Hastings was over on Monday it was my privilege to see part of a cricket match between two schools for young ladies. In the field a very large mistress was arrayed in white, but the rest of the field wore a workwomanlike costume in dark blue. The very large mistress stood at the silliest point I ever saw, and was backed up by two swift­ footed, pig-tailed youngsters who might be described as flying silly-points. There were about four mid-ons, a bowler and a wicket-keeper, and the remaining two fieldswomen had scattered themselves. The bowling was underhand, the wicket­ keeper was an adept at stopping the ball with her skirt, and the batswomen some­ times hit the ball. And yet people say that cricket is not a game for girls ! K en t continue their triumphal progress, and, bearing in mind the fact that their latest victims, Sussex, were on Monday morning occupying second place among the counties, their success by an innings and 142 runs was somewhat remarkable. Kent won the first game between the sides this year— at Tonbridge —by 164 runs, but as Sussex had since beaten Surrey, Cambridge, Oxford, Somerset and Warwickshire in succession the supporters of the home side had some reason for considering that a closely- contested game might be seen. But, unfortunately for them, the Kent men were at the top o f their form and the bowling on the first day of Fielder, the batting of Hutchings, and the all-round cricket of Woolley brought about their downfall. W h en play commenced in this week’s match at Hastings between Kent and Sussex, A. E. Relf had taken 91 wickets this season and 997 during his career for Sussex in first-class matches. He did not succeed in obtaining his thousandth for the county, but he will in all probability do so in the match with Essex which commences to-day. Tate is the only player who has yet accomplished the feat for Sussex, the Lillywhites and Hides having flourished in days when the county’s programme was shorter than it has been during recent years. W ritin g to me at th6 close of Toronto Zingari’s match at Liverpool on Friday last, Mr. G. A. Brooking said:— “ The conditions of the wicket were so vastly different from what they experience at home that it is impossible to form a de­ finite opinion as to their ability. Lowns- brough, though he did not score so largely as South am, is a very capable bat, and Marshall and Henderson also showed promising form. Greening appeared to be the best bowler, but all five who went on range from slow to a little over medium ; there is not a fast bowler among them. They will probably feel this deficiency when the hard wickets come. Greening is a slow leg-break bowler, whilst Rathbun is the most speedy. Wright is a very good wicket­ keeper. Considering the cold wind, the side’s ground fielding was good, and the catching reached a high standard of ex­ cellence. Possibly nothing better has ever been seen on the ground than the effort which dismissed Blease in the second innings of Liverpool. Saunders, a younger brother of D. W . Saunders who was over here in 1887 with the Canadian team, had to run about twenty-five yards, then jump to knock the ball down with his right h and: at that point he over­ balanced himself and dropped in a sitting position, knocking his head against the low wall in front of the pavilion. Though the blow hurt him, he managed to grip the ball as it fell— a fitting climax to a most brilliant effort.” I notice at the foot of the card of the match the following :— “ Leighton Ferrie, scorer, and Kenneth Ferrie, spectator.” This would seem to be a new departure. Both the young gentlemen, I am told, are sons of Mr. Ferrie, of the 1887 team. Be that as it may, their hearts are evidently in the right place if their names are not.” Y o rk sh ire deserve high praise for the manner in which they pulled off their match with Surrey on Tuesday, seeing that on the previous day Surrey had gained what appeared to be almost a winning advantage. The County has been showing most varying form this season. One day they will be beaten by a side which the great majority of people would consider much weaker and almost immediately afterwards will play an up-hill game to perfection— as they did at Lord’s against Middlesex and at Bradford against Surrey. As on so many previous occasions, they owed a very great deal to Rhodes, who fairly carried his side to victory on the second day. A t Bradford on Monday Hobbs ob­ tained his 1,000th run of the season. When the match started he required 15 to reach a four-figure aggregate, and after making only 9 in his first innings he obtained the balance at the end of the day, when he carried out his bat. D uRiNG the last few days the controversy between the Australian Board of Control and the South African Cricket Association has again been brought into prominence. The former body repeated their decision not to guarantee any fixed amount in con­ nection with the proposed visit of a South African team to Australia— thereby acting, as I think, very properly— and the S.A.C.A. have expressed their determina­ tion not to undertake the tour. This would suggest that the South Africans are not now so anxious to play in Australia as at one time they appeared to be. In demanding a guarantee after the terms on which the visit should be paid had been settled, the S.A.C.A. put difficulties in the way of the scheme being carried through, and it rests entirely with them whether the tour— and the Triangular Tournament, on which they seemed to set their heart—shall take place. Farmore serious differences have been adjusted ere this without much difficulty, and it wo aid be premature to regard the proposed trip as improbable. W r it in g from Sydney on May 30th, F. A. Iredale, in a letter which appeared in yesterday’s Sportsman, said :— “ From advices which I have recently had from a reliable source in South Africa, it would seem that Australia is not alone in its trouble with the vexed “ amateur” question in regard to cricket and cricketers. The South Africans are having, and likely to have, some trouble regarding the so-called ‘ out-of-pocket expenses.’ to its players. While offering no advice either way to South Africa, it would seem a great pity if the money question should in any way interfere with the visit o f a strong South African team to Australia in December next. W e do not pretend now to say that we have far better cricketers in Australia than they have in A frica; still, it would be better for both countries if the South African side was a truly representative one, as then the result of the matches out here next season would be accepted in both countries as indicative of the relative merit o f the cricket in the respective countries. Australia, too, is very anxious to see the men who vanquished the last English side. Judging the feelings of the people in this country in regard to cricket just now, I feel sure that an unrepre­ sentative side from South Africa would be a dismal failure here. I am speaking from a public point of view. From a cricket point of view the players here are very anxious to see South African players, more especially the ‘ g o o g ly ’ bowlers. However, from all standpoints,