Cricket 1911

i8 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. F e b . 2 3 , 1 9 1 1 . COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP REVISION. Less importance than would otherwise attach to them will attend the deliberations of the County Cricket Advisory Committee at its impending meeting to arrange the terms of next summer’s Championship, since it seems to be understood that the whole question will be re-opened in the autumn. But for this fact one would wish to protest against the innovation that has been pro­ posed, to award points for positions in the games at partial stages. The whole principle of this is quite out of keeping with that of the game. In cricket the final position is, and rightly should be, everything. The better players may risk or even concede much in the course of a game, conceivably with the very object of ultimate success. Not the least glory of the greatest teams in history has lain in their capability of retrieving a bad position ; and if a poor commencement is to rob them of the fruits of a superb recovery it seems that quite a different style of game will be encouraged than that which the illogical scheme of 1910 was tolerated for intending to foster. Just as a bold general may fall back to lure the enemy to his ruin, so the cricketer may find it judicious at some stage of the game to risk his own wickets or present the opponents with runs. One hardly desires to see teams inexorably bent on safety play (so far as batting and bowling are concerned) from the very outset of the game, and that is what points for a first innings would probably lead to. By next autumn the counties will perhaps be prepared to give the Divisional system its season’s trial in view of the exceptional con­ ditions of 1912 ; it is a pity that they cannot see their way to make the experiment now. At any rate an interest will be added to next season’s play if the eventuality is accepted that only the nine leading counties on the year’s reckoning may be selected to par­ ticipate in the following season’s actual Championship. Then there will be no need to shorten the play-time of m atches; no need to worry about points at all. Every county will play through a corresponding series of games in its own section of the competition, and its wealth of wins, or poverty of losses, or balance of one over the other will mean much the same thing as any sound proportional reckoning. Each county, too, will have a free hand in arranging as many more first-class county matches out­ side the competition as it pleases without suffering undeservedly from its imperial obligations. There seems to be a lurking fear that relegation to the lower (or Qualifying) Division of the Championship would, practi­ cally, if not nominally, put a club outside the pale of first-class cricket, and make the superior counties loth to give it dates. But the annual interchange of places, and the existence of an established second-class already in the Minor Counties, would prevent that. And the modern gate-born desire to have as full a first-class fixture list as possible would ensure that the professionals of no county would have to “ eat their heads off ” or suffer from the “ no play, no pay ” difficulty which gives concern in some quarters. All that would happen to first- class county cricket would be its development into a much wider and more elastic thing than the simple Championship, which never ought to have become its be-all and end-all. That competition should be only an orderly test to decide the best team of the year, and nine candidates are surely sufficient for the purpose. Nine others in a secondary com ­ petition would serve for their renewal. W ith regard to the suggested shortening of play-time in Championship matches to two days—and even one—those who imagine this vain thing, because they see other popular amusements limited to a furious hour and-a-half, forget that cricket would cease to be the game it is if it were contracted into a series of changeful spasms and bursts. And those who preferred cricked so revo­ lutionised would probably prefer baseball or rounders better still. As it is, a cricket match is by no means the most protracted of popular pastimes. An important billiard contest, for example, will extend over a fortnight of twenty-four “ sessions,” and a rowing or boxing match is, to all intents, a matter of months. The proper duration of any game is arrived at by slow and sure experiment. What would be said in the chess-world if it were proposed to closure games after an hour and-a-half of rapid manipulations and to award points for the best position at half-time? What if the boat race were stopped at the expiry of 18 minutes and the leadership at 9 minutes entered into the verdict ? What if the fattest head in the tenth round decided the business when both bruisers outlived a twenty-round contest ? H. P.-T. It is officially announced that the following propositions in addition to those already notified will be brought before the meeting of the Advisory County Cricket Committee at Lord’s to-morrow. Surrey propose that four points be given for a win ; otherwise a point for a win on the first innings. The points to be divided in case of a tie, and every match commenced to count in the percentage as a match played. Somerset will move that five points be given for a w in ; otherwise three for a win on the first innings, and if no result on the first innings the match shall not count. The points to be divided in the event of a tie. Yorkshire will submit the five resolutions recently adopted by them on the subject of two-day matches for 1912, and the payments to umpires and professionals as previously published. No notices of amendment have been received. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA SPORT* OF The second volume of this well written and splendidly produced work fully main­ tains the standard of excellence attained by the first, and higher praise it would be almost impossible to bestow. The subjects dealt with range alphabetically from Croco­ dile to Hound-breeding, and include such popular sports and pastimes as croquet, curling, cycling, deerstalking, dogs, fencing, football, golf and hockey. The illustrations are both numerous and excellent, and as the articles are written by well-known authorities the work must be regarded as the standard one on sport. Part 15 is a special hunting number—a very good number, too—whilst Part 16 deals, among other subjects, with lacrosse and lawn-tennis. A coloured plate is presented with each part. *The Encyclopedia of Sport. Vol. ii.: Price 10s. 6d. net. Parts 15 and 16 of vol. iii.: price, Is. net each. London : W. Heinemann, 21, Bedford Street, B.C. THE YORKSHIRE COUNTY C.C. THE QUESTION OF TWO-DAY MATCHES. Lord Hawke presided over a Committee meeting of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, at Sheffield, on January 80th, when the resolution passed in respect to two-day matches at the secretaries’ conference last December was discussed. It was resolved to recommend: 1. That in view of the proposed visit of the Australians and South Africans in the season of 1912 all first-class county matches be of only two days’ duration. 2. That the payment of professionals be a matter entirely for each county committee to decide. 3. That payment of umpires be left in the hands of the Advisory Cricket Committee. 4. That if the first resolution be carried into effect, the championship scheme be amended so as to allow of points being awarded for a win on the first innings; and 5. That the whole question be re-opened for discussion in September, 1912. THE CRICKETER’S DIARY.* The Diary issued by Messrs. Bussey con­ tains just the kind of information that the average follower of the game is likely to require during the season, and, as it is of a most handy size for the waistcoat pocket, the neatly produced little publication should be in great demand. In addition to the Fixtures for 1911 and the Laws, there are numerous tables dealing with last year’s cricket and the records of the game. *Tlic Cricketer’8 Diary for 1911. London : Geo. G. Bussey & Co., Ltd., 36 and 38, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. Price, 6d. and 3d. Postage, £d. THE CEYLON ALMANACK-. Mr. E. W. Foenander, of the Ceylon Sportsman , has published at the non-pro- hibitive price of a rupee a capital record of the cricket played in the island during 1910. He appears to have based his work on the plan of Wisden , and he is to be congratulated very heartily on the result of his efforts. There are several illustrations in the 144 pages of which the book consists. *Ceylon Cricketers' Almanack for 1911. Edited by E. W. Foenander. Colombo : Ceylon Sportsman. Price, one rupee. GEORGE LEWIN & Co., (Established 1869.) Club Colour Specialists and Athletic Clothing Manufacturers. OUTFITTERS BY APPOINTMENT To the M.C.C. South African XI., 1909-10 ; the Aus­ tralians, 1890, 1899 and 1902 ; Mr. Stoddart’s XI., 1894-1895, 1897-1898; Mr. MacLaren’s XI., 1901-1902; West Indian XI., 1900 and 1906 ; South Africans XI., 1901 and 1907 ; and M.C.C., Lancashire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex Counties, Wanderers, Stoics, Bromley, Sutton, and all Public Schools' Old Boys’ Clubs, and Queen’s Club.—Write for Estim ates F ree. Telegraphic Address: “ LeotAde, London.” Teleplume: P .O . City 607. 8, Crooked Lane, Monument, London Bridge, E.C.