Cricket 1911

November 18,1911. EUGBY FOOTBALL A^D CEICKET. 579 Pavilion (3ossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. —Hamlet. T the annual general meeting of the Wellington (N.Z.) Cricket Association there was very serious discussion as to ways and means. The balance-sheet shows a debit of £211 19s. 9d.—which would be quite a small matter to an English county club, one may remark, but is a serious affair to an organisation which receives so little in gate-money. Wellington had no home match at all in 1910-11, though her eleven played out games with Auck­ land, Canterbury and Marlborough provinces. “ Wages ” account for £322 odd, and no doubt the greater part of this went in payment to J. V. Saunders, the Australian X I. man of 1902, now coach to the Association. T h i r t y per cent, of the net profits of the Plunket Shield match (at Christmas) with Auckland on the Auck­ land Domain produced £66 16s. 5d., by no means a bad result. There is a strong feeling that the rules for these matches are faulty. Under the present system the side holding the shield has always the advantage of playing at home, the challengers being forced to travel. At the meeting of the Wellington North District Club Mr. A. F. Wiren, an old player and well-known supporter of the game, spoke strongly on this point, and with good reason. F i v e provinces are now considered as first-class in New Zealand—Auckland, Canterbury, Hawke’s Bay, Otago and Wellington. It is thought that a regular com­ petition in which each of these meets the other four once a season is by no means impossible, and it is certainly desirable. Mr. Martin Luckie, a member of the Wellington Association’s Committee, stated that Wellington would be quite prepared to go North one year and play Auckland and Hawke’s Bay, and go South next and play Otago and Canterbury. W e l l i n g t o n , as a central province, is better placed than Auckland or Otago for such arrangements as this. Indeed, there might be some slight difficulty in fitting in the matches. But what seems quite a feasible scheme may be outlined thus:— A u c k l a n d — to play Otago and Wellington at home ; Can­ terbury and Hawke’s Bay away. C a n t e r b u r y —to play Auckland and Hawke’s Bay at home ; Otago and Wellington away. H a w k e ’s B a y — to play Auckland and Wellington at home ; Canterbury and Otago away. O t a g o —to play Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay at home : Auckland and Wellington away. W e l l i n g t o n —to play Canterbury and Otago at home Auckland and Hawke’s Bay away. Our New Zealand readers may smile at the notion of anyone thousands of miles away mapping out such a scheme ; but we only offer it to them for what it is worth, and out of a real interest in the fortunes of the game in the land of the Silver Fern. I t is possible that a Tasmanian team may visit New Zealand during the season of 1911-12. If so, it will not be the first Tasmanian tour in Maoriland. In 1883-4 a side which included Kenneth Burn (of the 1890 Australian team), George Gatehouse (wbo once scored a century for Tasmania v. New South Wales), Harold Hale (later of Cambridge University and Gloucestershire), Vere Harris (who after­ wards represented Western Australia once or twice), Tom Kendall (whose bowling helped to win for Australia the first of the long series of Test matches), J. G. Davies (now Sir George Davies, K.C.M.G., Premier of the Tasmanian Legislature), and other good men toured the two islands. Against Otago at Dunedin Gatehouse scored 26 not out and 54 not out, carrying his bat right through the second innings. T h e absence of D. R. A. Grehs, C. E. Dolling, L. R. Hill, L. W. Chamberlain and A. W. Wright from the South Australian team against the M.C.C. side weakened it beyond doubt ; but it also enabled places to be given to H. P. Kirkwood, who showed great promise for the State in a few matches directly after leaving school, but then was sent to an up-country branch of his bank, and C. Backman, who is highly thought of as an all-round man in Adelaide club circles. G e h r s , brilliant batsman as he is, may not find it easy to get a place in the Australian team. Clem Hill, Trumper, Bardsley, Armstrong, Ransford, Macartn'ey, Hordern, Kelleway and Whitty may all be considered certainties; there must also be a fast bowler—Cotter, Scott, or McLaren ; and a wicket-keeper—Carter, Gorry, or Carkeek, one fancies. This leaves only one place to fill, and among those in the running, besides Gehrs, may be mentioned E. R. Mayne (South Australia), B. J. Kortlang, T. J. Matthews, D. Smith and A. Kenny (Victoria), E. P. Barbour and B. V. Minnett (New South Wales), and C. B. Jennings and Alan Marshal (Queensland). There are others ; but at present their chances may be reckoned small. W a r w i c k s h i r e ’s only new matches next season will be those with Middlesex. Essex and Somerset would also have liked to play the Champions, but the Warwickshire Committee could not see its way to extend the programme so greatly. Cricket at Edgbaston in 1911 was a distinct success financially. We hear that Frank Field will have his benefit next year. M r . E d w i n F i n n , who was appointed Mayor of Lydd last week and thus entered upon his thirtieth year as the town’s chief magistrate, was a useful club cricketer in his youth. He is 77 years of age. A somewhat similar record was held by the late Mr. William Tunks, who was Mayor of St. Leonards, New South Wales, for eighteen consecutive years. He was of commanding stature, and in the cricket- lield wielded a bat with an iron handle. I t will be interesting to see what measure of success will attend the efforts of S. E. Gregory this season, for he has taken pains to get himself in condition and has been reported keen to win his way back into representative cricket. He captained Waverley against Sydney District on September 30th, the opening date of the Sydney Premier­ ship matches, and was the highest scorer in the match with a very good innings of 96. Over twenty-one years have passed since his first visit to England, but there are good judges in Australia who consider it not unlikely that he may be seen in this country again next year. O u r contemporary, the Adelaide Register, recently celebrated its seventy-fifth birthday, and, in congratulating the paper up»n its completion of such a term of useful and noteworthy work, we add the hope that it may long con­ tinue to flourish. When the historian of South Australian cricket enters upon his task, he will probably discover the columns of the Register to be his most prolific source of information. E v e n to those who never had the pleasure of seeing him perform, the news that J. B. M. Mackay has definitely given up the game will be heard with regret. In a letter to a member of the Sydney Morning Herald Staff, he said :— “ I shall not be taking part in first-class cricket any more, much as I would like to. I find that my eyes are not yet well enough (although much better) for me to think of taking the game up again, so I have given up all idea of ever playing again. I have just made all arrangements to go to Roma, Queensland, and settle on the land there, so shall not be in Sydney again for some time. Apart from my eyes, I am quite well. P.S.—Hope our chaps knock the cover off the Englishmen.” It was nothing less than a tragedy that a motor-cycle accident should rob the game of so gifted a player. Everyone will wish the genial “ J. R. M.” good- luck in his new venture.