Cricket 1910

A p r i l 1 4 , 1 9 1 0 . CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 57 intended. The incident will be reported to the Marylebone Club as a matter of course. T am anxious to remove subject of soreness between myself and Pretoria District Cricket Association before leaving for England.— W ynyard .’’ I cannot help thinking that it has been a great mistake for some o f the team to write at all for papers, and that the greater mistake has been made by the newspapers engaging them. It stands to reason that real criticism cannot be given under such circumstances, for very often a player would not w'rite what he really thought. L o r d H a r r is , in reply to a letter asking for his opinion on the recent Test matches in South Africa, says : “ Our cricketers in South Africa have done about as well as we expected. They were not so strong a team as we should have liked to send out, but they were the best we could get together. The best cricketers in Australia, certainly, and perhaps in South Africa, are quite as good as our best; but, of course, there are not so many of them. Just at the present we have struck a bad patch o f batsmen, which I have no doubt time will rectify, but we must get back to sound principles, which have been rather disregarded of late.” I t will be recalled that in the final Test-match against South Africa—on the Newlands ground last month—Hobbs played an innings of 187 and scored 221 for the first wicket in partnership with Rhodes, who made 77. Hobbs con­ tributed his impression of each day’s play to The Cape Times , and concerning his own performance said:— I must say I was none too comfortable at the commencement of my innings. In fact, I might have been out twice before I had scored ten. A hit to leg went dangerously near Zulch. Shortly after another went over the heads of the slips. Notwithstanding this, I was not accounted for until I had scored 187, when I trod on my wicket in playing a ball from Norton to leg. I gave two chances after I had passed 150. Personally, I was very pleased to be at one end when the record stand for first wicket partnership in Test matches was beaten. This, curiously enough, was made by members of the Yorkshire and Surrey elevens, to wit, F. S. Jackson and Tom Hayward. It also gave Rhodes great pleasure to take part in establishing a new record. I must say he started in his best form. He was absolutely safe throughout, giving nothing away. He never gave the semblance of a chance during Iris long innings. He was out to a pretty good one from Nourse, which hit the middle stump after striking his pads. Rhodes has not made many big scores this trip, but he has batted consistently throughout. As a first-wieket partner, I just love to go in with Rhodes. His influence is great, and he is such a splendid runner. Perhaps this is because we have got to understand one another so well. It gives one confidence to see such a safe bat at the other end. Rhodes and I would have preferred to have done this in the previous match, but still, it is of no use crying over spilt milk. As stated in the March issue of Cricket, the partnership of 221 is a record for the first wicket in Test-match cricket. A . J. A t f i e l d and F . Geeson, who have been coaching in the Transvaal during the past few months, returned with the majority of the English team on the Armadale Castle, reaching England on the 2 nd inst. Both have been re­ engaged for next season. M a jo r - G e n e r a l Jas. S p en s, C.B., the old Hampshire cricketer, has been appointed to the command of the Lowland Division of the Territorial Forces. The General, as many readers o f Gossip will be able to recall, was a prolific run-getter in his day. His highest score was 386 for United Services v. Nondescripts, at Ports­ mouth, in August, 1882. The total of the side was 734, to which the Nondescripts replied with 308 for four wickets. M r . K. G. M a c le o d , the Cambridge and Lancashire player, has been elected captain of the cricket section of the Fettesian-Lorettonian Club. As last year’s working o f the Essex County C.C. involved a loss o f only £'26 Os. 3d., no call will be made upon the guarantors. In presenting the annual report and balance-sheet, however, the Committee point out that but for the fact of the Club receiving £308 Is. 9d. as its share of Test match profits there would have been a heavy deficit. There is still a deficit left over from previous years o f £133 15s. 7d., and the Committee state that, in order to meet the expenses of the current year, it is absolutely necessary that a sum of £500 should be raised. The annual meeting o f the Club is to be held on Thursday afternoon, the 21st inst., at the Liverpool Street Hotel, Bishopsgate Street, at 4.30, and the usual three weeks’ practice at Leyton for the county team and other selected players will begin on April 16th. M r . F. C. T o o n e , the Yorkshire Secre­ tary has.issued a circular letter to local clubs calling attention to the proposal to commence county matches on Saturdays. “ It is felt,” writes Mr. Toone, “ that the starting of county cricket matches on a Saturday would very seriously jeopardise the position of many local clubs, and this, in turn, would undoubtedly have a detri­ mental effect upon the position of county cricket in Yorkshire. Seeing that so much depends upon the standard of our local cricket, every effort should be made to encourage local players, and to get as many young men as possible to actually participate in the game itself. The sug­ gestion referred to would, in the opinion of many, detract the local players from their clubs in order that they might “ ‘ spectate ’ at county cricket matches.” Mr. Toone further points out that the change “ would seriously interfere with the attendances at local cricket matches, and eventually with our young players, and, therefore, in the course of time, very seriously affect the position o f many clubs, and perhaps mean their entire abandon­ ment.” L a s t week Mr. Harry Jackson was appointed captain o f the Hounslow C.C. for the twenty-first season in succession. During the last forty-two years the club has had only two captains, Mr. F. Rouse*. who held the position before Mr. Jackson, having led the side for twenty-one seasons. Furthermore, the present secretary, Mr. R. J. Meek, has been in office since 1893 without a break. I believe I am correct in stating that the Thornbury C.C. has not effected a single change in its captain, secretary, or committee since the forma­ tion of the club over thirty-five years ago. M r. H . J. G o o d w in , the old Cam­ bridge cricketer, has offered to captain the Warwickshire eleven for at least one- half of the season. It is expected that the Committee will accept the offer, and either appoint a deputy captain for those matches in which Mr. Goodwin cannot take part, or make arrangements for the captaincy of the side from time to time. Mr. J. H . Phillips, o f Nuneaton, has been asked to act as deputy-captain, but cannot accede to the request. I t is with much pleasure one can chronicle the fact that the Bazaar recently held in Derby to free the County C.C. from debt proved successful in its object. It was opened on Wednesday, March 30th, by the Duchess of Devonshire, and the aggregate receipts for the four days amounted to about £1,900. S ir H om e G o r d o n , B a r t ., contributes an instructive article on “ The Coming Cricket Season ” to the April issue of *•The Badminton Magazine.” Referring to the opinions expressed by the counties on the advisability of adopting tho Divisional. system in the County Cham­ pionship competition, he says :— “ It is a curious commentary on the spirit in which first-class cricket is played to-day, that all the deliberations seemed to have turned, not on the point whether the proposals would elicit better cricket, but whether more people would pay, and whether memberships would be dimin­ ished. Of course, first-class cricket nowadays has to be a gate-money concern, run on practical lines — though a good many contemporary lines are decidedly unpracticable—but the complete way in which the spirit o f the game seems to be swamped beneath the financial burden, shows a marked loss o f sportsmanship.” A u s t r a lia n cricket will be strengthened in the near future by the decision of Mr. H . V. Hordern to return to his native land. Commenting on his resolve, The Am erican Cricketer remarks, “ Coming to America in 1906 he soon made a name for himself as a “ googlie ” bowler, and in a little over three years has taken over 600 wickets. Since the beginning of the 1907 season he has played in every international match, with the exception of the United States v. Canada match at Montreal. In addition, he has twice visited England, once with the University of Pennsylvania team and once with the Philadelphians. As he is a member of the team that will visit Bermuda this month, he will have paid three visits to the gem o f the Atlantic, while last year he was a member o f the team that visited Jamaica.” Before leaving Australia Mr.