Cricket 1910

88 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME A p r i l 2 8 , 1 9 1 0 . H. GRADIDGE And SONS, Manufacturers o f all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, and all British Sports. PATENTEES AND SOLE MAKERS ^ OF THE Used by all the Leading Players. Uad« In Man's, Small Men's, *r C*lle*e, 6, 5, 4, * I sizes. P r i c e L i s t s F r e e o n A p p l i c a t i o n . Of all First*Class Outfitters and Dealers. H e b la d in tr a S p e c ia lity Factory; A r t iller y P l a c e , W O O LW IC H . C r i c k e t : A IVEEKL V RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THU R SD AY , A P R IL 2 8 t h , 1910. © n s a t p . The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. —Hamlet. Mu. C. E. G r e e n ’ s views 011 cricket are so sound that the speech he makes at the Annual General Meeting of the Essex County C.C. is not only always anticipated with very great interest but invariably provides food for thought. In the course of his remarks last week he referred at length to the Divisional Championship scheme, which has been so ably advocated in Criclcet by “ H .P .-T .” during the last few years. Mr. Green said:—- “ It is very generally recognised that the present conditions governing the County Championship are unsatisfactory in many ways, but especially so owing to the fact that in consequence of the large number of counties included in the first class it is quite impossible to arrange for all the counties to play one another, which is, of course, the most satisfactory method.....................Under the Divisional scheme the counties would be divided into two sections, both to count as first-class. Surely matches which would thus be played between two counties of more equal strength, and which would be contending either to maintain their position in the A Division or struggling for promo­ tion from the B Division, would be far more inter­ esting and productive of keener cricket than the m ajority of matches as played under the existing conditions, when one often sees the Champion County and counties near the top of the list playing against counties occupying a very low position in the table. I am quite aware that most of the other counties are disinclined to agree to this scheme, for the reason that they fear they might possibly be relegated to the B Division, but surely, gentlemen, if a county is occupying a postilion which on its merits it is not entitled to it would be fairer in every way that this should be recognised. For the time being the scheme seems to have been rejected, but if the County Championship is to go on and be of real interest I am convinced that some such system will sooner or later have to be adopted.” Those who have been advocating the adoption of the Divisional system cannot but regard the fact that they have the support of Mr. Green as a very hopeful I f the method of scoring which will be used to determine the Championship this year should make the competition particu­ larly ridiculous, it may do the Divisional reform movement good. What a start Surrey will get if both next week’s matches are unfinished owing to rain 1 The first win, that would place another county at 100 per cent., would start them off at 88 per cent., and we should hear some “ What’s thises” at the Oval. T h e Rt. Hon. James Round, who has been elected President o f the Essex County C.Q., in succession to Mr. E. North Buxton, was in the Eton Eleven in 1800 with Mr. R. A. H . Mitchell, Mr. Philip Norman and the Hon. C. G. Lyttelton, and appeared tor the Gentle­ men against the Players in 1864, 1867 and 1863. In the match at the Oval in 1807 he caught three and stumped two and allowed only one bye in the Players’ innings of 249 : altogether, he assisted in the downfall of as many as eight of their wickets, three of the side being run out. W h a t ranks, so far as. I am aware, as the first individual hundred of the season was made by E. C. Kirk, the Surrey cricketer, at Catford Bridge on Saturday last for Private Banks against Townley Park. The score of the match will be found an another page. On the same afternoon E. G. Hayes played a fine innings of 50 for H onor Oak v. Bromley Town. M r . J. E. R a p h a e l , the Oxford and Surrey cricketer, sails from Southampton to-morrow on the R.M .S. Avon as a member of the Rugby football team which, under the management of Mr. R. V. Stanley, of Oxford University, is to play half-a-dozen matches in the Argen­ tine Republic. Mr. Raphael, who is an international footballer, will play three- quarter back. J. H. V in c e t t , of Sussex,, left Hastings on Saturday last to carry out an engage­ ment at Cambridge, where he will coach for a short time on the University ground.- O f recent years, says “ Long-Leg ” in the Sporting L ife , the ways of Kent have been held up as an example o f how td behave to all the remaining, counties— frequently quite unfairly. But while it is true that Surrey carried on what was virtually a “ nursery” of young players, nnder tbe direction of W . T. Graburn, long before Kent established their “ nur­ sery ” at Tonbridge, to Kent must be given the credit of setting the present fashion of, “ nurseries” and of d em on ­ strating the good fruit that the careful, training of. young players is capable of producing. The system employed at Tonbridge cannot be better described than in the words of Capt. W . McCanlis, who presides oyer the fortunes of the “ nursery” there. “ I arrive on the ground at 10.30 a.m., when all is.ready to begin at once. One or two nets, accord­ ing to our numbers, the off-wing of one being down to give facilities for practice. All who are not batting or bowling have to field. . .. . My endeavour is to induce the batsman to try his very best while playing, and to concentrate his thoughts on one fault. . . . In bowling I attach the first importance to length. To aid the bowlers in finding the length ball, I have a white­ wash line drawn across the pitch to aim at.” Such is the training in vogue at Tonbridge, of which we have heard so much during the past few seasons; Method, be it noted, applied to every­ thing. Each branch of the game in­ telligently superintended and instructed. Nothing left to chance. I t is officially announced by Mr. Toone, the secretary of the Yorkshire County C.C., that, in lieu of the Ireland fixture, which, as announced in last week’s Gossip, had been abandoned owing to the inability of Mr. S. H. Cochrane to raise a team, a match has been arranged in Scotland. It will be played at Perth on May 6 th and 7th, arid immediately after the conclusion of this game the team will travel direct to Northampton, where they open the Championship tournament. T h e M.C.C. Anniversary Meeting and Dinner will take place at Lord’s on Wednesday next, May 4th. The Annual General Meeting of the Surrey County C.C. will be held at the Oval at 5 p.m. on the following day. L ord A l v e r s t o n e , the President of the Surrey County C.C., who will take the chair at the latter meeting, has been Lord Chief Justice of England since 1900. He has recounted an amusing story of his younger days when he was Sir Richard Webster. On the way to h e Law Courts his cab was run into by