Cricket 1910

5 ^ CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pril 14, igto. H. GRADIDGE C d c h e t : A WEEKL V RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THURSDAY, APE IL 14 t h , 1910. | 3 a l ) i l t u t i ( B o s s t p . The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. W it h the next issue of Cricket will be presented the annual illustrated Supplement containing the fixtures for the com ing season. In the same number will appear a review and com ­ plete statistics o f the English tour in South Africa. A b o u t ten days ago the reports current concerning the health of Dr. E . M. Grace were so alarming as to cause all cricketers to open their newspapers on the following morning with no little trepidation. It must, therefore, have come as a most welcome relief to find that the facts of the case did not justify the rum ours; that, in fact, “ The Little D octor” had not “ offered a chance ” after all, and so will not have his innings summed up at present. All those who know him will unite in hoping that he will be seen on the cricket-field for many more years, and, after his retirement from the game, find time in which to write his reminiscences at his leisure. A t their meeting in the Pavilion at Lord’s on the 4th inst., the M.C.C. Committee sanctioned the appointment of a sub-Committee of the Counties to go into the question of finance in connection with the County Championship. All the other resolutions passed a fortnight before by the Advisory Committee, including Lancashire's proposal to count wins alone in the Championship, ignoring both losses and drawn games, were referred to the Cricket sub-Committee of the M.C.C., and will be dealt with shortly. I n o t ic e that The Observer, sticking to its guns with its usual pluck, still supports the “ coup ” of Lancashire, but points out that the editor of Wisden, “ Wanderer,” and the cricket editor of The Field oppose it. I f what an authority Fays three times is consequently right, what three such authorities say once surely must be. To me the Lancashire and Hawke schemes seem as different as black and white, and I cannot imagine how anyone can support both. Of all the counties, Northants alone seems to have the courage to support a straightforward and outright scheme of fair scoring and promotion by merit— at present. It is, I believe, far otherwise with the public. I t h in k that those who are throwing such slights on “ mathematics” (save the word 1 ) are overlooking the fact that the Championship is the competition at the distinctively national game of the Anglo- Saxon portion of our population who, if they are not admirers of logic and order and arithmetical justness, have suddenly deteriorated. Shinty, or hurling, or any pastime of the more impulsive peoples of the kingdom might conceivably flourish in innocence o f rules and numbers, but never cricket so long as it is the game of the method-loving Englishman— the man who uses his freedom to multiply his rulers and restrict himself with laws and taxes. Cricket is essentially a child of the English genius and, in a sense, a branch of applied mathematics; the devotion of mental recreation and mus­ cular exercise to the registration of numbers, whether figures on a telegraph board or notches on a stick. Without this result and accompaniment the Englishman would regard his sport, how ­ ever delightful, as so much waste of time. And if the Championship is ever awarded in defiance of arithmetical justice one consequence is pretty evident— that the word “ Champion” will lose its present significance. The Anglo-Saxon, with his loyalty to rule, will own that So-and-so are “ Champions ” right enough but, basing his judgment on a comparison of "the whole records of the teams, the best eleven o f the year was undoubtedly Whoever-it-may-be. W e who indulge in the derivative amusement o f compiling cricket statistics are only continuing with our brains an exercise to which the persons we treat of have deliberately applied their bodily energies. This, one will surely agree, is very obvious. But how curious it is that people should produce a new method of reckoning along with a disparagement of the art of reckoning correctly ! T e n members of the M.C.C. team in South Africa— Mr. N. C. Tufnell, Captain Wynward, Hobbs, Bhodes, Denton, Blythe, Woolley, Buckenham, Thompson, and Strudwick— arrived at Southampton on the morning of the 2 nd inst. on board the Union-Castle liner Armadale Castle. All were in the best of health, except Strudwick, who suffered severely during the voyage from an attack o f malarial fever, but was sufficiently well to journey to his home. S p e a k in g o f the grounds and the effect of the matting wickets on English batting and bowling, the members o f the team said that the ball got up much higher on matting than on English wickets, and was much more difficult to play. This, com ­ bined with the fact that they had to meet “ googlies ” as well as a rising ball, made matters very difficult for men used to grass wickets, and much handicapped their play. As to the loss o f the rubber, the opinion was expressed that in this the English were decidedly unlucky. The view was also expressed that the South Africans were not quite so good a team as when they came to England last. From a financial point of view the tour was a complete success. D u b in g the tour o f the English team in South Africa, Captain Wynyard acted as special correspondent of the Band Daily Mail, of Johannesburg, and, in commenting on the match against the Transvaal at Pretoria, severely criticised the state of the ground and the arrange­ ments made for the accommodation of the Englishmen during play. The subject was discussed at length at a meeting o f the Pretoria District Cricket Union on March 7th, when it was resolved that delegates should bring the matter up for discussion at the next meeting of the Transvaal Cricket Union. The incident created much feeling in local cricket circles. Before sailing from Cape Town, Captain Wynyard telegraphed the follow ­ ing message to the editor of the Band Daily M a il :— “ I am writing to President Pretoria District Cricket Association that, subject to your approval, I am prepared to meet his wishes in the matter of withdrawing those statements which have apparently given offcnce where 110 offence was Used by all the Leading Players. Made In Mama, ■mail Mom ., tr Callege, 8, 5, i, * I sizes. P r i c e L ls tfl F r e e o n A p p l i c a t i o n . And SONS, Manufacturers o f all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, and all British Sports. PATENTEES AND SOLE MAKERS ^ OF THE Of all First-Class Outfitters H and Dealers. Rebl&dlng a Speciality. Factory; A r t iller y P l a c e . WOOLWICH.