Cricket 1911

May 6, 1 9 1 1 . C R IC K E T : A W EEK LY RECORD OF THE GAME 123 Mb. E. W. B a l l a n t in e exploded the myth that Wilfred Rhodes had a second Christian name, beginning with “ R ,” and has lately discovered that Dave Nourse is not “ David ” at all, his only “ fron t” name being Arthur. Long John Tunnicliffe is John, one believes, not John William. The mistake in this case appears to be due to his signing “ Jno.,” which the writer of these notes could easily make look like ‘ ‘ J.W.” — (or almost any­ thing else ! Addendum by compositor, approved by Editor). Mr. R. B . Brooks adopted the “ B ” by way of distinction from another R. Brooks. Mr. A. H. J. Haines, who played for Gloucestershire last year for the first time since 1901, is not entitled, unless by prescription, to the third initial ; he assumed it years ago, when living at home, to distinguish his correspondence from his father’s. W h e n Sir Arthur Hazelrigg resigned the captaincy of Leicestershire, the County Committee decided to ask Mr. John Shields to officiate in the first three matches of the season. The player named not unnaturally declined to be a captain on trial, and the Committee, recognising their mistake, have now requested him to lead the side throughout the season. Under these altered circumstances Mr. Shields has accepted the position. L e ic e s t e r s h ir e ’ s new skipper, Mr. John Shields, was born on February 1, 1882, at Galston, Ayrshire, and was educated at Derby School. He played his first match for the County v. Hampshire, at Leicester, in July, 1906, stumping one batsman and catching two, but had no innings; then he appeared at Worcester, in a match in which 1,425 runs were scored for the loss of only 16 wickets, Mr. C. J. B. Wood, Whitehead, Mr. V. F. S. Crawford, Bowley and Arnold all making centuries, and again had no innings ; his third game was against Kent, at Maidstone, when he stumped Humphreys off King, ending an innings of 122, and scored 0 and 4. In the following season he kept wicket in 17 of the 22 matches played by the county, making 14 catches and stumping 12 batsmen ; in 1908 he played in all but one or two matches, caught 33, stumped 8 , scored 33 and 25, both not out, v. Kent, 31 v. Northants and 27 v. Hants at Leicester, and 26 v. Derbyshire at Derby. During the last two seasons he has not been able to play so often ; in 14 first-class matches in 1909 he caught 18, stumped 10, and in 11 matches in 1910 he caught 13. Playing for Eleven of England against the Australians, at Blackpool in August, 1909, he accounted for five of the 17 Colonial wickets, and allowed only 10 byes in the grand total of over 700 runs. We hope to publish a portrait of Mr. Shields in the course of the next week or two. T h a t excellent batsman and fine field, Mr. S. H. Saville, has been asked to give Middlesex his help in as many matches as possible this season. But as he is sure to be wanted by Cambridge, it seems hardly likely the county eleven will see much of him before July. C r i c k e t at the Universities is already in full swing. The Freshmen’s match, both at Oxford and Cambridge, has passed into history, and more than one noteworthy per­ formance has been achieved in college games. On April 27th, Downing College, playing on their own ground, ran up 275 for one wicket and declared against Selwyn, who succeeded in effecting a draw by making 128 for seven wickets. The Downing score was made up thus :— D ow ning C ollege . E. J. Gunasekara, not out ......... 134 I I). E. K. Llewellyn, not o u t ............. 12 Byes, &c........................... 29 H. Hands, run out .......................... 100 — Total (1 w k t).......... 275 The partnership for the first wicket realised 238, and Gunasekara hit twenty-six 4’s and Hands seventeen. M r . R. H. S po o n e r , of Marlborough, Lancashire and England fame, has been appointed agent of the Earl of Londesborough’s Blankney estate, in Lincolnshire. Mr. B. H . H o l l o w a y , who was one of the M.C.C’s team which has recently been on tour in the West Indies, returned to England last week and on Friday turned out for Jesus College, Cambridge, against the Crusaders. He scored a patient 76, but P. J. Richardson, a Freshman from Clifton, was top scorer with 80. For Crusaders, F. T. Mann, with 117, was by far the greatest run-getter, but he was very fortunate. H e hit a 7, two 6 ’s and twenty 4’s. A t St. Margaret’s, Westminster, last week, the wedding was celebrated of Lord O’Hagan, the new President of the Essex County C.C., and Frances, only daughter of Sir Edward Strachey, Bart., M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture. The central approach to the church was lined by non-commissioned officers and men of the Essex Royal Horse Artillery, of which the bridegroom is an officer. The Duchess of Albany was present, attended by Lady Katharine Meade and Major the Hon. Edward St. Aubyn. Lord and Lady O’Hagan are spending their honeymoon in Italy. I n succession to the late Mr. Frederick Whitting, Mr. R. F. Scott, the Master of St. John’s College, has been elected President of the Cambridge University Cricket Club. For some time Mr. Scott has been an auditor of the Club. E. R. M a y n e , who played a faultless innings of 105 in Warne’s “ benefit” match at Melbourne last month, is a batsman who would have made a greater name for himself if he had been identified with the game in Victoria or New South Wales. Being a South Australian, he has very few opportunities of proving his worth in first-class company. Of his quality, however, there can be no doubt, and many good judges of the game consider it likely that he will be a member of the team which will visit England next year. U n in t e n t io n a l injustice was done to Gerald Hartigan, of the Border team, in last week’s issue, when H. W. Taylor, of Natal, was credited with the highest score in the Currie Cup Tournament at Durban. Hartigan’s 173 not out v. Eastern Province beat Taylor’s 173. Taking one con­ sideration with another, it is not too much to say that Hartigan was the most outstanding figure in the series of matches, always bowling well, and never failing with the bat. A study of the averages shows that (leaving out of account Ward, the Transvaal wicket-keeper, whose figures are a freak) only Jewell and Heather were ahead of the Border crack on average, and only Jewell and Taylor on aggregate, and that no one took more wickets than he did, though Samuelson’s total equalled his. A s p l e n d id all-round double—478 runs with an average of 47'80, and 41 wickets at 13-43 each. It looks as though a big mistake was made in leaving Hartigan out of the South African team. But, though he has been showing fine form at East London for the past six or seven years, it must be admitted that he has never in big cricket done anything on a level with these recent performances. In 1905-6 he shaped well for Fifteen of the Border against the M.C.C. team, and in the following season the members of Mr. Ivor Difford’sTransvaal side, which playedat KingWilliam’s-