Cricket 1911

A pril 15 , 19 1 1. C E IC K E T : A W EEK LY EECOED OF THE GAME. 63 exceptional promise and Newman a probable candidate for Test-match honours in the near future. The last- named, who was born at Bitterne, near Southampton, as recently as November, 1887, obtained 156 wickets last year for just under eighteen and a-half runs each. He is rather above medium pace, and keeps such an excellent length that he is never easy to score off. M r s . B e e c h , playing in a Ladies’ A ssociation m atch at Broken H ill on February 2'2nd, scored 101 and took tw o wickets for 9 runs. One is tempted to enquire w hy she was not asked to play against the South A fricans in the last m atch o f their tour. In a Second Division Championship match between Buenos Aires and Quilmes, on the latter’s ground on January 15th, an event occurred of an unusual nature. During the Quilmes innings six were run for a bye. Two had already been run when the fieldsman threw the ball to the boundary at the other end of the field. A correspon­ dent asks, ‘ ‘ Are there many such instances on record ? ” At the moment the most important parallel which occurs to us relates to the match between England and X III. of Kent on the St. Lawrence ground in August, 1863. In that game the first ball bowled against Kent—by Grundy —went for byes, and seven were scored (including four from an overthrow). I t will interest many to know that efforts are being made to induce the M.C.C. to send a team to the Argentine Republic next year. Some time ago I heard a rumour —and I give it for what it is worth—to the effect that a side might go out under the captaincy of Sir T. C. O’Brien, Bart. O w in g doubtless to the wretched penmanship of the writer, the word “ folly ” appeared in line 14 of the first column of Gossip on page 42 of the last issue of Cricket. The word should have been play. Op the last hours of Mr. W. L. Murdoch, “ Felix,” writing in the Australasian, said :— “ The famous cricketer, W. L. Murdoch, died on Saturday afternoon, at about 5 o’clock, in Dr. W. Moore’s private hospital. When I entered the M.C.C. pavilion shortly before noon I greeted him while he was chatting pleasantly with C. McLeod and Harry Rush. In a few minutes I left to get round to my old spot beneath the tree. Coming back in the after­ noon, I had not been long seated in the balcony when the veteran scorer, J. Taylor, brought the sad news that the famous cricketer had been suddenly stricken by apoplexy in the M.C.C. committee-room, and that, in an unconscious condition, he had been taken to a private hospital. In the pavilion Dr. Ramsay Mailer, Dr. Dyring, Dr. Leary and Dr. Horne did what they could to restore him, but their efforts were of no avail. He had luncheon with the M.C.C. committee, and was sitting next to Major Morkham. Just after luncheon he put his hand to his forehead, and the Major said, ‘ What’s the matter ?’ ‘ Neuralgia, I think ; I have a pain here.’ These were the last words uttered by the grand old champion. He sank back unconscious, and remained so until the end came. In the history of Aus­ tralian cricket no sadder shock has ever been experienced than that we all felt when the sad news came back from the hospital that the great old warrior had gone to his account.” S e v e r a l of the South Africans who visited Healesville by motor-car on the eve of the fourth Test-match were entertained by boomerang-throwing and fire-making by several aborigines from Coranderrk. Enamoured of the possibilities of the Australian boomerang, which to them appeared a more puzzling weapon than the assegai of their native land, the cricketers insisted on being allowed to learn how to throw it. The result was that a large number of spectators were attracted by the unusual sight of six well-dressed young men and a portly gentleman of more mature years madly throwing boomerangs in the main street. The Melbourne Argus states that so delighted were the members of the team with their swiftly-acquired proficiency that each left Healesville with a boomerang as % souvenir. T h e New South Wales Association has voted 20 guineas for the purchase of a souvenir to be presented to Victor Trumper in recognition of his success as captain of New South Wales in regaining the Sheffield Shield, and of his great performance with the bat in the third Test match, at Adelaide. This recognition has been most thoroughly won. Victor Trumper started the season in a new role as captain of a side that needed re-building. At first he was not as happy in guiding the reins as could have been desired. But he quickly' got a grip of the side, and his leadership in the match with Victoria was as skilful as anything one has seen in inter-State cricket for many a day. R. B. M in n e t t ’ s batting was the feature of the match between University and Balmain at Beechgrove, Sydney, on February 18th. Going in against a total of 88 , Uni­ versity lost C. J. Tozer without a run and Fisher at 11. Minnett then went in and scored 58 out of 76 obtained whilst in, hitting two 6 ’s and six 4’s. The next highest score in the total of 122 was 13, and six wickets were down before Balmain’s 88 was passed. O n February 18th Sydney played Waverley on the University Oval, and, owing in no small measure to missed catches, batted the whole of the time available, scoring 421 for eight wickets. H. L. Collins (162) and L. A. Cody (138) sent up 276 for the first wicket, but the latter was missed ere making a run whilst Collins was let off four times. A whole-day match between teams representing the Advocates and Proctors of the Colombo Bar was played on the N.C.C. ground in Victoria Park on March 4th. The latter made 164 runs and won by 40. The high­ est score for either side was obtained by Mr. W. Sanson i, who made 72 for the Advocates. Mb. D. B. G u n a s e k e r e , who recently returned to Ceylon after a year’s absence in England, expressed the opinion, in the course of an interview with The Ceylon Sportsman, that a first-class Ceylonese team should do well against the second-class counties. Asked for his views as to the prospects of the Indian team, he said they would do very well against the minor counties, but he doubted whether they would have much of a say in their more important engagements. Having seen most of the Indian cricketers while in Bombay", Mr. Gunasekere’s opinion is worth having. I t was expected that seven teams—Western Province (the holders), Transvaal, Eastern Province, Griqualand West, Natal, the Border and Orange Free State—would take part in the Currie Cup Tournament, which was due to commence at Lord’s ground, Durban, on Monday, March 13th. The large number of sides competing would involve three matches being played daily and the Tournament continuing for a fortnight. The games were arranged as follows :— Monday and Tuesday, March 13 and 14.—Border v. Griqualand West, No. 1 ground; O.F.S. v. Transvaal,