Cricket 1911

May 6 , 19 11. CK ICKET : A W EEK LY KECOKD OF THE GAME. 125 opening the innings, scored 44 of the first 61 runs made before falling to a catch at inid-on. He hit six 4’s, making some very powerful strokes in front of the wicket. The Observer, referring to the mania for cricket reform which has been so pronounced in certain quarters for some time past, remarks, “ One begins to think that it was a pity the Advisory Board was ever created. The County Secretaries, or their executives, don’t know their own minds for a month at a time. The old regime of drift and trust to the M.C.C. Committee spelt much more for the game than all the nonsensical regulations which the Advisory Board is endeavouring to set up. Cricket is cricket. If we are going to have a match of three days it should be determined by the common laws of the game : if we are to have points for a particular moment of the match, then why play three days’ matches at all ? . . . . All this tinkering about points makes the Advisory Board a laughing-stock in the eyes of the general run of cricketers.” The Advisory County Cricket Committee, it may be of interest to add, was formed by the M.C.C. in 1904, with the approval of the counties, to consider cases arising out of county and other cricket. The first meeting of the Committee was held at Lord’s on June 28th, 1904, with the Marquis of Granby> President of the M.C.C., in the chair. In an article entitled “ Golf v. Cricket” in Golf Illustrated, Mr. R. V. Ryder, the Secretary of the Warwick­ shire County C.C., says : “ I find, on looking up statistics! that there must be nearly 4,000 male golfers attached to Birmingham and Warwickshire clubs alone. Meanwhile, to keep the membership of the County Cricket Club from dropping below 1,500, it is necessary to make a personal tour of the constituency, so to speak, on a canvassing crusade. Many men who have done valiant things on the cricket field now dreain golfing dreams. We cannot complain. They have served long years in our ranks. But what of this taken from the notes of a well known golf scribe ? ‘ T h e --------- 1 ----- Golf Club, with a view to encouraging younger men to join the club, have decided to admit members between the ages of 18 and 25 without entrance fee.’ So the visions of our young men are in future to be golf, too. It is as plain as any pike-staff that the cricket legislator must bestir himself. A la garde, Monsieur le Golfer ! ” M y e r s , the Yorkshire cricketer, whose absence from the match with Staffordshire this week has been commented on, has accepted a post as coach at a school near Bath. The engagement is likely to last two or three months, during which time it is unlikely that Myers will be seen in county cricket. Mr. R. O. S c h w a b z reached England in the Otranto at the end of last week and was promptly interviewed for many newspapers. In the course of a conversation with a representative of the Sporting Life he remarked:— ‘ 1 Improved as we may be, and strong as the English elevens may be, Australia is so rich in talent at the moment that they would beat any of the English or South African teams, all things being equal.” I t must have com e as a disappointment to m an y when Donald K night, o f Malvern, was bow led by Sm ith w ithout a run in the practice gam e at the O val on M onday, for, although only sixteen years o f age, he has already done enough to make one believe that he possesses considerable genius for the game. On Tuesday he atoned for his first-innings failure by carrying out his bat for 50. It was a careful and sound innings, m arked by good footw ork. In 1908 this young cricketer had a very successful season as a m em ber o f the H ildersham H ou se E leven, o f St. Peter’s, K ent. H e had eleven innings, carried out his bat five times, obtained three hundreds and averaged 1 5 9 ! H e was then only fourteen years o f age. In 1909 and 1910 he was in the M alvern E leven and each season had an average of over 30. M b . R . A . Y oung , it is announced, is expected to turn out for Sussex in August, whilst Capt. K. O. Goldie and Mr. C. L . A . Smith also w ill make a few appearances for the county during the season. Sussex, by-the-w ay, is one o f the few counties w hich could put an amateur side in the field, if all or m ost o f the follow ing were available :— H . P . Chaplin, C. L . A . Sm ith, It. A . Y oung, K. O. Goldie, R . B . H eygate, P. Cart­ w right, J. W . W . Nason, J. L . S. V idler, W . H . Ram sbotham , C. L . Tudor, P. G. Fender and J. G. C. Scott. The bowling, how ever, it is true, w ould be weak. B ut w ith such right good professionals as the Relfs, V ine, K illick, Butt, Cox, L each and V incett they cannot well give places to m ore than three or four amateurs at a time. I t is said that Mr. F . R . Foster, w ho was expected to captain W arw ickshire this season, has announced his intention to give up coun ty cricket. Should the report prove to be true, E nglish as w ell as W arw ickshire cricket will be the poorer. A t L ord ’s on W ednesday the proposals concerning the tossing for choice o f innings and the rolling o f the wicket were n o t passed, being matters dealt with by the Laws and therefore subject to alteration only at a general m eeting o f the M .C.C. specially convened for the purpose. The required notice o f the proposed changes had not been given, and for the suggestions to have been agreed upon a two-thirds majority w ould have been necessary. The no-ball law, we are rejoiced to see, is to remain unchanged. The rule referred to has given satisfac­ tion for a num ber o f years, and the question o f its alteration w ould probably never have arisen but for the verdict given in a first-class m atch last season b y an um pire who was obviously ignorant o f the fact that the M .C.C. had given an official ruling to the effect that a batsman cannot be stumped off a no-ball. The following are some of the latest hundreds obtained in minor cricket: — March II.—E . E. Crawshaw,St. Albans v. Linwood(Christchurch) *122 „ 11.— A. Sims, East Christchurch v. Riccarton (Christ­ church) ... ... ... ... ... ... *113 ,, 25.—J. Barnett, Queen’ s College v. Friends’ High School (Hobart) ...................................................................*163 ,, 25.— S. McKenzie, South Launceston v. North Launceston *115 April 27.—E. J. Gunasekara, Downing Coll. v. Selwyn Coll. (Csmbs.) ... ... ... ... ... ... *134 „ 27.—H . Hands, Downing Coll. v. Selwyn Coll. (Cambs.) 100 ,, 29.—F. T. Mann, Crusaders v. Jesus College (Cambs.)... 117 ,, 29.—E . G. Forbes-Adam, King’s Coll. v. Caius Coll. (Cambs.) ... ... ... ... ... ... 108 ,, 29.—Benham, Drumpellier v. G re e n o ck ............................. *101 ,, 29.—J. J. Treacy, Pembroke (Dublin) v. Bective Rangers *115 ,, 29.—G. Dando, Richmond Asylum v. Catholic University School (Dublin) ..................................................... *107 May 2.—Ducat, Surrey Practice Match (Oval) ........ 130 ,, 2.—C. V. Dier, St. Catherine’s v. Pembroke 2nd (Camb.) *101 ,, 2. —G. P. Jordan, Corpus Coll. v. Jesus 2nd (Cambs.)... 100 ,, 3.— G. C. Dowling, Trinity 2nd v. King’s 2nd (Cambs.) I l l ,, 3.—B . S. Cumberlege, Emmanuel Coll. v. Sidney Coll. (Cambs.) ... ......................................................127 ,, 3.—G. B. Simpson, Trinity Hall v. Corpus Coll. (Cambs.) ................................................................... *103