Cricket 1911

O c to b e r 28, 1911. RUGBY FOOTBALL AND CRICKET. 567 BIRTH. DIXON.—On October 3rd, at 27, Elm Avenue, Nottingham, the wife of J. A. Dixon, of a daughter. flbavilton (3ossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. I I S H o n o u r J o h n S y m o n d s U d a l , Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands since 1901, and previously for many years Attorney-General of Fiji, is about to retire from the public service. The learned judge is a member of the English Bar, having been called at the Inner Temple in 1875. His Honour, with whom a “ Chat ” ap­ peared in C r i c k e t of August 5th, 1897, has been a rare good cricketer in his time. H e has been a member of the M.C.C. since 1869, and,webelieve we are correct in saying, a regular reader of this journal since its first appearance, in the early part of 1882. I t is with much pleasure we notice that among the names placed upon the Commission of the Peace for the City of Nottingham is that of the ex-captain of Notts., Mr. John Auger Dixon. We doubt not that he will carry out his magisterial duties as thoroughly, and with as much satisfaction to all, as he did his cricketical. “ T h e F r u i t f u l V i n e ” is announced by the pub­ lishers. Whenever we have seen him he has taken about two hours to make forty.— Punch. U n e a s i n e s s was caused in some quarters last week by the statement in a contemporary to the effect that Mr. Warner was seriously indisposed during the journey through the Mediterranean. The report was, to say the least, an exaggeration, for in the course of a letter which we received from him from Port Said England’s captain said :— “ We have had a delightful voyage, and all are pretty fit.” The players were disappointed in not being allowed to land at the different ports of call, and were looking forward to their arrival at Colombo, where they had consented to meet a Ceylon team on the 21st. Writing from Port Said to a contemporary, Hobbs remarked :—“ At present I think a team from the blind school could beat us, but when we get ashore we shall soon pick up our form.” T he game duly came off on Saturday last, and was won easily by the tourists by 213 to 59. Hobbs made 45, F. R. Foster 36, Mead and Gunn 24, P. F. Warner 17, Vine 16 and J. W. H. T. Douglas 14 not out. For the home side W. T. Greswell scored 13 and V. F. S. Crawford 9. T h e r e will be no geographical divisions in the Second Class Counties’ Championship next season. So we have heard quite lately, from a source that puts the correctness of the news beyond doubt, though at the moment of writing no public statement has been made. This is, on the whole, good news. Glamorganshire and Surrey Second will both figure on the Staffordshire card, which will also include Durham and Northumberland. To what extent the other counties will allow themselves to be affected remains to be seen. F a i l i n g Berkshire, Staffordshire ought to find worthy opponents in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, both really good sides in 1911. There is Norfolk, too ; the East Anglian county, first in 1910, really ought to meet the champion shire of 1911. The match should draw both at Norwich and Stoke. Like Staffordshire, Glamorgan would prefer more powerful antagonists. They played last season Surrey Second, Wiltshire, Buckinghamshire, and their neighbours of Carmarthen and Monmouth. We believe they would gladly make fixtures with Berkshire, which county certainly had not a strong enough card this year. Staffordshire would like to play Kent Second, but cannot get games fixed up. P e r h a p s the best arrangement, leaving out of account difficulties in the way of travelling and finance, would be a first division composed of Staffordshire, Glamorganshire, Berkshire, Surrey Second, Kent Second, Durham, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Monmouthshire, and a second taking in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Cheshire, Buckinghamshire, Carmarthen­ shire, Devonshire, Cornwall, Dorset and Wiltshire, with a minimum of five home-and-home games for the first and four for the second division, and a system of promotion and relegation by merit. But, owing to the natural desire of county managements to fix up with their neighbours, this is not likely ever to eventuate. Probably we shall be told that our notions as to the strongest teams, having a right to first division honours, are little better than idiotic in some cases ; but we have based them on the form of the last three seasons, not on 1911 alone. Devon may be stronger than Monmouth, possibly ; but Monmouth has been winning more matches than Devon. Norfolk fared badly in 1911, but Norfolk was at the head of affairs in 1910. However, to labour the merits of such a scheme is too much like beating the air, for there are many considera­ tions weighing against it. T a l k i n g of programmes, we are sorry to see that the card for the Australian tour again includes several of those absurd up-country matches. The days of exhibition cricket of this type are over ; eleven a side should be the invariable rule in these times, for no one can take an NI. v. XV . match seriously. Another defect is the possibility of West Australia’s being left out in the cold entirely. T h e tour might well have begun in Perth. If the matches at Toowoomba, Maitland, Bendigo, Geelong and Ballarat had been omitted, the trip to Tasmania (to which the steamers sail from Melbourne) put before the third test, at Adelaide, instead of after it, the return game with South Australia immediately to precede or follow the third test (avoiding the long journey from Sydney to Adelaide after the last test), and the remaining matches set forward a little in date, the team might well have had a five weeks’ tour in New Zealand. There matches against Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago, and one game v. All New Zealand, or matches with Auckland and Canter­ bury (the strongest two provinces), and games with New Zealand at Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch, might have been played. Mr. Warner has suggested something of this sort before, and there can be little doubt the plan would have pleased him, while the educative effect upon New Zealand cricket—greatly improved of late—must have been considerable. But perhaps the Maorilanders will never be taken seriously till they have sent a team to England. They have to-day in Dan Reese, J. H. Bennett, L. G. Hemus, E. V. Sale, W. Brook-Smith, Dr. A. M. Howden, C. Olliff, D. Sandman, H. G. Siedeberg, Harold B. Lusk, J. J. Mahoney and W. S. Brice, the nucleus of a really useful side, though it might lack bowling stars. A m o v e m e n t has been set on foot to present Mr. H. E. Murray-Anderdon, the late hon. secretary of the Somerset County C.C., with a piece of plate in grateful recognition of his splendid services to the cause of cricket in the county for so many years. Mr. P. R. Johnson is acting as hon. secretary to the Committee. T h e final table o f the Scottish C ounties’ Championship stood th u s: SCOTTISH COUNTIES' CHAMPIONSHIP, 1911. Perthshire ............... F orfarshire........................... Stirlingshire.......................... Clackmannanshire Aberdeenshire Fifeshire ......................... One point for a w in - one point deducted for a loss—drawn games the club with the greatest proportion of points to finished games winner. Owing to a quarrel, the tw o counties at the top did not m eet- P. W. L. D. Pts. Per­ centage. s 7 0 1 7 100-00 7 5 0 2 5 100*00 10 3 6 1 —3 —33 33 10 2 4 2 —2 —33-33 10 1 4 5 —3 —00*00 9 1 5 3 —4 —66"66 ignored— reckoned