Cricket 1911

584 RUGRY FOOTBALL AND CRICKET. N ovember 25,1911. however, to find that Messrs. Laver, Carkeek and Maerow were unequal to the big task set them. Frank Laver does not often make big scores in first-class cricket nowadays, the second wicket-keeper of the last Australian team, though a useful bat, never was a heavy run-getter, and Macrow is played for his bowling. We ask pardon of Reuter for suggesting that Macrow was a “ bloomer.” He is only a new man, it seems, who had never played senior club cricket till the end of last season. M e . F r a n k F o s t e r ’ s innings, though not chanceless, must have been a very fine one indeed, and Hobbs and Ehodes did well with the bat, while Mr. Douglas and Kinneir put in some defensive work which it is possibly easier for us, thousands of miles away, to appreciate than for those who were condemned to watch it. The batting of the rest was very moderate. O n the home side the shining lights were Messrs. David Smith, impetuous and hard-hitting, and Bert Kortlang, a very difficult man to shift. It is a trifle inconsistent that Smith should be grumbled at as a reckless starter, while Kortlang, Douglas, and others who play the safety game are blamed for slowness. The man who can hit hard and often without a shade of recklessness is one in a million, a cricket genius. We cannot all be geniuses. Mr. Vernon Eansford seems to have shaped well in each innings ; but the double failure of the big man to whom Victoria looks for so much told heavily against the side. Probably Mr. Armstrong will make up for it in his next match, however. O t h e r points worth noting are that Mr. Norman Brown did quite well in his first match against English bowling, that Mr. Laver’s strained sinew does not appear to have been a serious matter—except in so far as his absence from the bowling crease for a time told against his side—and that Hobbs and Rhodes, by smart returns, each ran out one of the most dangerous Victorian batsmen—the Yorkshireman accounting for Smith, the Surreyite for Kortlang. F e w men playing cricket to-day have had a wider experience of the game than the last-named player, whose 74 was the highest score in Victoria’s first innings. An Australian born, he left his native country when quite young, and for some eight or ten years led a wandering life, which always included as much cricket as he could possibly get. We cannot pretend to be able to follow him throughout his wanderings; but a search in the volumes of the American Cricket Guide —a capital little annual, less well known in England than it deserves to be—shows that in 1902 and 1903 he was in California, scoring a century for Union Iron Works v. Pacific at Alameda in the earlier year, and another for San Francisco County v. Alameda in the later one. In 1904 he was in New York, where he played for the Columbia Oval C.C., averaging over 70 per innings and taking 129 wickets at a trifle over 6 each. In 1905 he had become a Bermudian, visited the States as a member of the Bermudian team which played matches in Philadelphia and New York, and figured second to J. B. Conyers in the batting averages, aggregating 344 runs in nine completed innings. The following season saw him back in New York, where he totalled 1,256 runs in all matches for Columbia Oval, and averaged only just under 70. His batting average in Metropolitan District League matches for the same team in 1907 was over 76 per innings ; he took nineteen wicket for 7 runs each, and also kept wicket! In that season he was one of the original signatories to the articles of association of the New York Zingari, which was formed on board the S.8. Tennessee on the night of August 9th, 1907, by a number of New'York cricketers return­ ing from a tour in New England. A t one time during the season of 1908 Kortlang was in England, and we believe it was then that he was put through his paces at the Oval but was considered too slow. By the way, the notion that Kortlang is a hitter is quite a wrong one. He can hit at times, of course; but aggression is not his forte. In 1908-9 he played in Sydney club cricket; in 1909-10 he had removed to Melbourne, and figured with great success in the Victorian team, and last season he again did well, though he did not gain international honours against the South Africans, as he had hoped to do. T h e following are some of the latest hundreds obtained in minor cricket:— Oct. 7.—Dr. Jas. Hughes, Paddington 2nd v. MiddleHarbor 2nd 175 ,, 7.—A. D. Watson, Sidney University 2nd v. Waverley 2nd 103 ,, 7.—E. McCarron, Adelaidev. West Torrens East (B Grade) *114 ,, 7.—M. A. Noble, Paddington v. Balmain ... ... ... 118 ,, 7.—E. P. Barbour, Sydney University v. Glebe .............. 109 „ 7.—W. T. Evans, Toombul v. Valley (Brisbane).............. 134 ,, 7.—S. J. Fennelly, North Brisbane v. Toowong.............. 114 „ 7.—Rev. E. F. Waddy, Central Cumberland v. Petersham 106 ,, 14.—R. V. Minnett, North Sydney v. Sydney ............ *109 ,, 14.—D. A. Gee, Middle Harbor v. Redfern ... ... ... 134 ,, 14.—B. J. Eolkard, Balmain v. Paddington ... ... *202 ,, 14.—Bowden, Prahran v. Essendon... ....................... 125 „ 18.—A. J. Atfield, v. Marrast College .......................*258 ,, 21.—H. P. Kirkwood, Adelaide v. Glenelg ... ... ... 101 ,, 21.—A. Christian, North Perth “ A ” v. Claremont “ A ” ... 122 ,, 28.—L. C. Davies, Sports Club v. Garrison (Colombo) ... 118 In addition to scoring 122 in 85 minutes, Christian took six wickets for 1 1 . © M t u a r u * M r . A. GEARY. Mr. Alfred Geary, who played in four matches for New South Wales against Victoria between 1877 and 1881, died in Brisbane on October 14th, aged 62. In the matches referred to he scored 30 runs in seven innings and took two wickets for 41. He was a left- hand bowler, and met with a good deal of success for the old Carlton C.C., of Sydney. M e . H. W . HEDLEY. Mr. Harry Hedley, who died in a Melbourne hospital on Monday last, had for many years contributed cricket notes to the Melbourne Age under the nom-de-plume of “ Mid-On.” He visited England in 1884 as correspondent of the newspaper mentioned, and made many friends. He contributed an article on “ The Future of Australian Cricket” to Lillywhlte’s Companion of 1885, and in 1888 published his “ At the Wickets. New South Wales v. Victoria.” In his younger days he was a very useful batsman, and in December, 1873, played for XVIII. of Victoria against Mr. W . G. Grace’s team. At that time it was said of him : “ Has no pretentions to style, but a hitter and quick scorer.” He was born on January 7th, 1848, and was therefore in his sixty-fourth year at the time of his death. THE TEST TBIAL MATCHES, 1911. The full accounts in connection with the Test Trial Matches have been issued by the M.C.C. It will be remembered that three special games were arranged, at Sheffield, Lord’s and Manchester, the one at Manchester, however, being abandoned, and that the Gentlemen and Players matches at Lord’s and the Oval were also treated as trials, and included in the general scheme. The trial games at Sheffield and Lord’s involved a loss of just over £117, but the Gentlemen and Players matches maintained their old attraction so well as to turn this loss into a net profit of £595 2s. Id. Of this sum 75 per cent, went in equal shares to the sixteen first-class counties and the M.C.C., 20 per cent, to the grounds where the matches were played, and the remaining 5 per cent, to the second-clas3 counties. The various shares naturally come out at very small sums, the first-class counties and the M.C.C. receiving a trifle over £25 each and the second-class counties either £1 10s. or £1 9s. lid . each. The 20 per cent, to the grounds yielded £56 18s. to Lord’s (two matches), £28 9s. Id. to Sheffield, and £28 9s. to the Oval. BOOKS RECEIVED. Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association, Season 1910-11. Annual Report and Balance Sheet. W ill any reader who has for sale a copy of George Giffen's “ With Bat and Ball ” kindly communicate with the Manager, stating price ? Printed and published for the Proprietors by M e r r it t & H a tc h e r , L td ., 167, 168 and 169 Upper Thames Street, London, B.C.