Cricket 1910

4 4 0 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 2 7 , 1 9 1 0 . NOTICE TO OUR READER S. Six numbers will be published during the Winter, as follows :— No. 857.—THURSDAY, OCT. 27. No. 858.—THURSDAY, NOV. 24. No. 859.—THURSDAY, DEO. 22. No. 860.-THURSDAY, JAN. 26. No. 8 6 1 .-THURSDAY, FEB. 23. No. 862.—THURSDAY, MARCH 30. The above series sent post free to any part of the world for 9d. Cricket Office, 168, Upper Thames Street, London. Cricket: A WEEKL V RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.O. THURSDAY, OCT. 2 7 th , 1910. ^ a t J i l i n n © n a s i p . The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. Th e South African team sailed for Australia on the 8th inst. in the S.S. Commonwealth. Their visit is being anticipated everywhere with the greatest interest, for it is recognised that their tour will mark the commencement of a new epoch in the history of international cricket. In England there is still some doubt as to the exact constitution of the side, and even the number of players making tho trip is uncertain. It is believed, however, that the following sixteen will be found to have undertaken the tour :—P. W . Sherwell (capt.), T. Campbell, M. Commaille, G. A. Faulkner, M. Hatliorn, C. B. Llewellyn, A. D. Nourse, C. O. Pearse, S. J. Pegler, R. O. Schwarz, J. H . Sinclair, S. J. Snooke, L . Strieker, A. E. E. Vogler, C. G. White and J. W . Zulch. White and Sinclair sailed later than the other players and accordingly will not be available for the first few matches o f the tour. At the Union Club, Johannesburg, on the 1st inst., the team were entertained at a dinner presided over by Mr. A. Bailey, who, in the course o f a speech, said :— “ As far as Australia was concerned, their letter to South Africa in 1907 placed them in the position that they were absolutely right in refusing a guarantee.” A t a meeting of the Australian Board of Control in Melbourne C. H ill was chosen as captain in the Test matches, and with McAlister and Iredale will form the Selection Committee. It was rumoured in Sydney in the middle of September that Noble had decided to throw in his lot again with big cricket, and very many cricketers and followers o f the game outside Australia will hope that the report will prove true. As most followers of the game are pre­ sumably aware, several matches against odds— the majority of them in aid of charity— are played in the London dis­ trict, after first-class cricket is over for the year, by teams got together by county players. On the day upon which the last issue of Cricket was published, G. W . Ayres XV . (167) played on Wey- bridge Common against X X V . of Wey- bridge and District (198 for eighteen wickets). The bowling against the local side was opened by John Durant, a cen­ tenarian, who had never previously had a cricket ball in his hands. To his great satisfaction “ Johnson ” (otherwise Platt) was stumped off his second delivery, and the players crowded round the old man to congratulate him and shake his hand. Durant, who is an old sailor and wonder­ fully active for his age,, was born at Norwood, near Southall, in Middlesex, on February 2nd, 1810. Perhaps the County authorities at Lord’s will kindly note. T he late Sir John Pickersgill Rodger, K.C.M .G., whose death is notified on page 446, left estate of the value o f ±'9,122. Ju st published as a White Paper, the report of the retiring Astronomer Royal to the Board of Visitors of the Royal Observatory contains the statement that the June of 1909 was the coldest on record. The report on the “ summer ” of 1910 should provide reading of interest to cricketers. It was, perhaps, only what one might have expected in these degene­ rate days that, after the conclusion of the season, we should experience a long spell o f delightful weather. One result of the long-delayed summer conditions was that G. F. Hearne contracted sunstroke whilst playing bowls. P. W . C o b b o l d , the Eton, Cambridge, Suffolk and M.C.C. cricketer, has con­ sented to become Mayor of Ipswich. A c o r d ia l reception was accorded to Lord Hawke at Barnsley on the 12th inst., when he opened a bazaar in aid of the local cricket club. Alluding to national cricket, Lord Hawke said that next year, in view of the Triangular scheme, he hoped to see trial matches in the form of North v. South or Probables v. Possibles. He was moving strongly in the matter, and had asked the Board of Control to consider it [on November 7th] — for he thought they should be able to maintain their position and England should still be No. 1. They could not do that unless their youngsters got a chance of improving and playing in higher-class cricket than county cricket. It was not fair to take any man from a county team and put him straight into an England side and expect him to do brilliant work without some training on the lines he suggested. Appealing for support of cricket, Lord Hawke said it was being played throughout the world. He was pleased to see a letter a few days ago asking the Marylebone Club to send out a representative team to Nuremburg. “ I t is no paradox to say that the victories of the Law Court are won on the river and the cricket ground of the University,” remarks the Law Journal. F. P e a r s o n , o f Worcestershire, sailed on September 30th on the Ruapehu for New Zealand, where he will be coach to the Auckland Cricket Association during the winter. On the Monday before his departure he was entertained at a dinner given in his honour at the Worcester and District Conservative Club. A neatly- printed menu card, with an autograph photo of the guest, was provided. The menu included such items as caught cod and short-slip oyster sauce, long-leg boiled mutton, mid-off roast beef, late-cut roast pork, pavilion pudding, century custard, etc. Not the least amusing part of the menu was a memorandum, which said: “ Should any dispute arise among the diners as to who is the greatest admirer of ‘ Our D ick,’ it is requested that the matter be fought out on the green out­ side, so that no annoyance be caused to the rest of the company.” M r. H enry L u ff, the proprietor of the business of John W'isden and Co. and of W isden’s Cricketers’ Almanack, who died in July in his fifty-fifth year, left estate o f the gross value of ±35,604, with net personalty ±31,991. I t is stated that the Yorkshire County C.C. have under consideration the question o f dealing with the future of young county players, and that a scheme will be sub­ mitted for the abandonment, by agree­ ment between the counties, of the existing unsatisfactory method of according cricket benefits. The idea, which has everything to recommend it, has been mooted frequently, and in all probability will be agreed to by the majority of the counties. It is not right that a player, after assisting his county for many of the best years of his life, should be allowed to run the risk of his benefit being ruined by the weather. It is quite likely that the one granted to Rhodes at Sheffield next August will prove to be the last of its kind in Yorkshire cricket. In Gossip of August 18th I gave in chronological order the scores made this season to the 6th of that month by F. F. Boles, of the Spencer C.C., which plays at Wandsworth. Since then he has played the following innings :— Aug. 13.—Spencer v. Epsom...........121 ,, 20.— „ v. Ibis ............ 43 „ 27.— ,, v. Beddington... 56 Sept. 3. — „ v. Catford ... 68 ,, 10.—,, v. Bank of England 38 ,, 17.—Rev. J. C. Crawford’s XI. v. Purley ...................154 „ 24.—H. Lacy’s XI. v. Purley.. 0 For the Spencer C.C. he made 1,236 runs with an average of 56'18, and in all matches 1,830 runs with an average of 61. F o r the Leinster C.C. during 1910 R. H. Lambert’s batting figures w ere:— 29 innings, 3 times not out, highest score