Cricket 1911

A pril 15 , 19 1 1. CR ICKET : A W EEK LY RECORD OP THE GAME. 61 valuable in the Triangular contests. The tour had shown that Trumper was the finest bat in the world, and Sherwell’s wicket-keeping was a revelation. There was no one in Australia to touch him. Australia owed her victories to the consistency of her great batsmen. Mr. Fitzgerald praised very highly the Australians’ sportsmanship. He also said that the South Africans had not really a true ‘ ‘ googlier ” —one able to turn both ways. The South Africans would have been in a much better position with a first-class fast bowler. The financial results were very satisfactory. Zulch considered that the Australians on their present form would win the Triangular Tests. Hordern was the greatest living ‘ 1 googlier ” in the world. The members of the team were agreed on the superiority of the Australians. Llewellyn departs for England immediately. T h e cable which tells of the arrival of the South African team at Durban does not inform us whether the projected match between them and the Rest of South Africa, which was intended to round off the Currie Cup Tournament just finished at the Natal port, will take place. There may be too many difficulties, and in any case the tourists could not put into the field a fully representative team, as Faulk­ ner, Schwarz and Llewellyn would all be unavailable. A l e c H e a r n e , Geeson and Atfield arrived in England by the Balmoral Castle on Saturday from South Africa, after fulfilling coaching engagements, and said the failure of the South Africans in the Australian Test matches had occasioned much disappointment in South Africa. Hearne spoke in terms of the highest praise of a lad of eleven, named Fairless Nicholson, whom he considers the finest boy cricketer he has ever seen. He has a fine repertoire of strokes and stands up well against the fastest bowling. Mr. J o s e p h E c c l e s , of Preston, has been appointed to take the place of Judge Parry on the Committee of the Lancashire County Cricket Club. P r in c e A r t h u r o p C o n n a u g h t will preside at the coming-of-age dinner of the London Playing Fields Society which will be held at the Savoy Hotel on May 3rd. Through the efforts of the Society (the offices of which are at 49, Par­ liament Street, S.W.) space is now available for 5,500 cricketers, 450 lawn tennis players and 1,452 footballers. M r . B . M e a k in , who has been invited to undertake the captaincy of Staffordshire, was in the Clifton Eleven in 1902 and 1903, being captain in the latter year. He was contemporary with A. E. J. Collins (the six-hundreder), R- P. Keigwin and B. S. Ramulu, and was an all-round performer. Whilst batting is now his iorte, it was due quite as much to his bowling as to his skill as a run-getter that he got his colours at Clifton, for whereas he was second—to R. P. Keigwin— in the bowling figures in 1902 he was clearly the best with the ball in the following season, although his leg-breaks were at times expensive. He made his first appearance for Staffordshire in 1904, but has not assisted the side regularly. The year before last, when he headed the County’s batting averages, he scored 4 v. Worcester­ shire, at Wolverhampton ; 1 v. Cheshire, at Crewe ; 13 not out and 32 v. Notts. 2nd X I., at Stoke ; 122 v. Northum­ berland, at Newcastle ; 27 v. Durham, at Sunderland ; and 47 and 21 not out v. M.C.C. and Ground, at Lord’s— eight innings, twice not out, highest score 122, average 44'50. Last year he was not seen on a single occasion in the Stafford­ shire ranks, and that the County suffered through his absence is indisputable. Mr. Meakin, who is a free run- getter when set, has made many fine scores whilst on tour with the Old Cliftonians, his highest being 207 against Blue Mantles at Tunbridge Wells in August, 1905, when J. H. Curtis made 133 and G. C. Wall 120, and the total reached 651. Meakin, who hit thirty-two 4’s, and Curtis scored 231 for the first wicket. E s s e x , like several other first-class counties, will be under the leadership of a new captain during the coming season, for Mr. J. W. H. T. Douglas, who has been for several years one of the most useful members of the team, Photo by] [Eaiokins, Brighton. Mr. J. W . H. T. DOUGLAS (Essex). has consented to undertake the duties in succession to Mr. McGahey. The latter, it is understood, will continue to assist the side as often as possible. Two well-known cricketers in Mr. B. S. Foster and the Hon. C. N. Bruce proved successful in the challenge round of the Amateur Doubles Rackets Championship at Queen’s Club last Friday. They were the holders of the title, and defeated the challenging pair. H. W. Leatham and H. A. Denison, by four games to two. Foster was by far the best of the four players, the Old Malvernian showing brilliant form in the court, while his partner, who is handicapped by ill-health, was generally safe. The score was ; 0-15, 9-15, 15-6, 15-7, 15-2, 15-12. W o r c e s t e r s h ir e , like Surrey, Essex, Yorks and Leicestershire, will be under a different leadership this year, Mr. H. K. Foster (whose probable retirement was announced exclusively in Cricket last year) being succeeded by Mr. G. H. Simpson-Hayward, a fellow Old Malvernian. The new captain has no easy task in following such a leader as “ H. K .,” whose good sportsmanship and fine generalship had become almost proverbial. There is, by-the-way, a