Cricket 1911

AtJGtteT 26, ly il. CfilCKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. 467 this m ust p a rtly be attribu ted to the fact th at on three sides of the ground the boundaries w ere rath er short. M an y read ers w ill perhaps recall that it w as on the H in ck le y groun d seven years ago th at M r. R . T . C raw ford scored 50 ru n s from tw o consecutive overs, m ak in g 2 1 off A . D aven port and 29 off A . R u ssell. H e w as p la yin g for L eicestersh ire 2nd X I . v. H in ck le y at the tim e. A m a rria g e has been arran ged betw een S ir A be B a ile y , a w ell-know n supporter o f the gam e in South A frica, and M ary, only dau gh ter o f L o rd and L a d y R ossm ore. M r . C . B . F r y contributed to the last issue o f the F ield a letter in th e course of w hich he s a id :— A s, however, the response to your kind appeal has been so small, and as it is clear that in the time available no adequate sum can be raised to relieve the Mercury, I have definitely decided to inform the M .C.C. that I cannot go to Australia. I write now at once because I clearly foresee that if the matter is allowed to stand and the appeal, based on your kind wish that I should go to A ustralia, is allowed to continue, a fair sum of money m ay be subscribed, but not enough to ju stify me in leaving the Mercury for six months, in which case I feel I shall be put in a false position. When I consented to your appeal on behalf of the Mercury I had in m y m ind that the membership of M .C.C. runs into some 5,000, and that the committee of M .C.C. had not once but repeatedly pressed me not to refuse the invitation if there were an y fair chance of my being able to go. Such subscriptions as w ere received h ave, o f course, been returned. S id n e y B a rn e s accom plished an oth er fine perform ance w ith the ball on S a tu rd a y, w hen, p layin g fo r P o rth ill in the N o rth Staffordshire L e ag u e m atch w ith U tto xeter, he toojj six w ickets for six ru n s. H a r r y E a rd le y obtained the rem ain in g four fo r a couple, and, w ith five extras, the U tto xeter total am ounted to 1 3 . D e s p ite the g reat p ow er o f the sun and w arn in gs from previous y e a rs, m an y cricketers p ersist in tak in g the field bareheaded, and on M on day at C helten ham five o f the G lou cestersh ire team began the d ay w ithout a n y head covering. B y lu nch the num ber had fallen to three and, before th e W orcestersh ire in n in gs ended, to tw o. A ll through th e lo n g G lou cestersh ire inn in gs tw o o f the W orces­ tershire m en w ere hatless. F ash io n s h ave changed, says a cricket w riter, an d on the hottest d ay there are seldom m ore than th ree or fou r m en in a field in g team w ho w ear h ats w ith wide brim s. In the d ays o f the fathers of the present generation h ard straw h ats w ere often w orn, occasion ally b y fa llin g off at an in co n ven ien t m om ent, cau sin g the ow n er’s n am e to appear on the score card as h it w ick et. T he A u stralian s set the fashion o f w earin g w h ite linen h ats w ith w ide brim s, so w ide th at there w as excuse fo r the sm a ll boy w ho called out to the dim inutive A lec B an n e rm an , “ Com e out from un der th at h at. t can see yo u r fe et.” M r . C y r i l J . H . L o w e , o f the F ed erated M alay States, w ritin g to u s on J u ly 18 th , say s “ I suggest to the p ow ers that be th at J u ly 18 th should be celebrated as a great festival every year b y a ll lo vers o f the gam e through out the w o rld— a sort o f E m p ire d ay fo r cricketers— in honour o f th e m an who did such great th in gs w ith the bat and ball. I cull the follow ing lim erick on “ W .G .” from th e lo cal paper, The Straits Echo. “ W hat a wonderful fellow is Grace ! Behead him , he’s still in the race. If you do it again It is perfectly plain H e’s the best of the pack— the a c e ! ” Am on g th e m ost im p roved batsm en o f the season is u ndoubtedly A lfred E rn e st D ipper, the you n g p la y e r w hose portrait figu res on th is page. P erh ap s he m igh t score faster w ith ad van tage, but th at m a y c o m e ; certain ly he h as done really fine w o rk fo r G lou cestersh ire this season, and the la st few w eeks h a v e been fu ll o f honours for him . H e show ed considerable p rom ise, w ith ou t d oin g an yth in g rem arkable, in 1909 ; but la st season illn ess spoiled h is chances. B eg in n in g the p resent cam p aign w ith scores o f 2 5 and 62 v. N o rth an ts. at N orth am pton, in h is th ird m atch he ran up 68 v. S u rre y at the O val, and in the n ext show ed fine defence for 53 and 52 v. K en t at G ravesen d . A g ain st L a n c a sh ire at B ris to l a little later he m ad e 8 1 an d 2 5 ; ag ain st W arw ick sh ire at B irm in g h am he scored 39 an d 5 1 , an d, the side being v e ry sh ort o f bow lers, sent dow n as m a n y as 49 o vers (he h ad on ly bow led 18 overs in the p receding eleven m atch es, an d had not taken a w icket) fo r 1 5 3 ru n s and seven w ickets. A gain st L a n ca sh ire at M an chester h e bow led 60 o vers for 18 3 ru n s and six w ickets. A gain st H am p sh ire at Sou th am p ton on A u gu st 12 th h e m ade h is first cen tu ry (119 ) in big cricket ; three d ays later Photo by] [Haiolcins dc Co., Brighton. A. E. DIPPER. he follow ed th is up w ith 12 0 v. W orcestersh ire at C h elten h am an d three d ay s after that he had the satisfaction of com pleting; h is thousand run s. S t i l l quite you n g— he w a s born at D eerh u rst, n ear the p leasan t little tow n o f T ew k esb u ry, w here A vo n jo in s Severn , in N ovem b er, 18 8 7— D ipper should go far. H is bow lin g is right-han d m edium -pace, b y th e w ay, and he fields w ell. A t C helten ham on F r id a y last B ly th e p roved m ost con ­ clu siv ely th at he is still to be feared on a w icket to h is liking. In the tw o G lou cestersh ire in n in gs he dism issed fourteen m en at a cost o f 84 ru n s, an d , w h at is m ore, obtained all h is w ickets in the course o f a single d ay. T h is feat is one w ell w o rth y o f “ bold ad vertisem en t ” in Gossip, being, in fact, o f less frequent