Cricket 1912

94 CEICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. A p r i l 27, 1912. team won three out of four, the fourth game with M.C.C. being drawn, M.C.C. wanting 16 to win w ith one wicket to fall. M. B. Thornhill is the new captain ; he has a pretty tough proposition to encounter, for Kneller, Fredericks, and Mitchell, the best all-round m a i in the team, with several others, have departed. Magrath is the one bowler left, and should be very valuable to the side. The schools played are Brighton, Brighton G.S., Cranleigh, Hurstpier- point, and Lancing (A team). B e r k h a m s t e d , a school which has forced its way well to the front in recent years, had a good team in 1911, and should have a better one in 1912. Of its best men last season Knott is the only one who has le ft ; there remain West, an accomplished bat with many strokes, who got his colours in 1909, and has been for the past two seasons the school’s mainstay— Arnoll, the new captain, a reliable run-getter— Leslie, reckoned the side’s best bowler, though his wickets were taken at rather heavy cost— Pickard- Cambridge, a fast bowler with a natural off-break, and likely to improve w ith the bat— Johnston, a plucky bat and greatly improved field— and Thurlow, the eleventh man of 1911, useful all round, and likely to train on. Most of the second eleven are also available, and there are several of real promise among them. Centuries Abroad. T h e follow ing are some o f the latest hundreds obtained in m inor crick e t:— Jan. 15.— P. N. Fox, 1st Manchester Regiment v. South Lanca­ shire Regiment (at Umballa) .................... 115 „ 15. —A. K. B. Tillard, 1st Manchester Regiment v. South Lancashire Regiment ... ... ... ... 181 „ 29.—P. A. McAlister, East Melbourne v. Essendon ... 130 „ 29.—M. M. F. Dunn, East Melbourne v. Essendon ... 105 Feb. 2.—K. Bolton, Mr. Facy’s XI. v. Capt. R. W . Awdry’s X I. (Hobart) ......................................... (ret.) 104 „ 3 — S. E. Gregory, Waverley v. Gordon (Sydney) ... *162 ,, 3.—W. E. Pite, Waverley v. Gordon .................... 100 ,, 3.—J. N. Crawford, East Torrens v. Glenelg (Adelaide) 157 ,, 3.—C. Backman, Adelaide v. Sturt ... .........*120 ,, 3.—H. Hale, South Hobart v. East Hobart ......... 110 ,, 3.—E. R. Facy, East Hobart 2nd v. South Hobart 2nd *102 ,, 3.—A. Richardson, E. Hobart 2nd v. South Hobart 2nd *107 ,, 3.—J. C. Johnson, Colombo C.O. v. Bloomfield A & C.C. (Ceylon) ..................................................... *128 ,, 10.—M. Paternoster, Berwick v. Beaeonsfield (Victoria)... *192 ,, 10.—Newnham, Zingari v. Railway (Pretoria) ................*106 „ 10.—H. J. Day, N. Adelaide “ B ” v. University “ B ” ... *121 „ 17.—H. W . Edmondson, West Perth “ A ” v. Midland Junction “ A ” ... ... ... ... ... 103 „ 17.—L. W . Chamberlain, East Torrens v. North Adelaide 163 ,, 17.—J. N. Crawford, East Torrens v. North Adelaide ... 109 „ 17.—G. S. Down, Adelaide v. U niversity............................ 112 „ 17.—E . Brausch, Port Adelaide v. Glenelg ................*130 ,, 17.—N. L. Gooden, East Torrens v. Sturt ... ... 161 „ 17.— C. H. Robinson, North Hobart v. New Town ... *119 „ 17.—D. Bell, Prahran, v. South Melbourne ................*152 ,, 17.—J. Cohen, Prahran v. South Melbourne ... ... 120 ,, 17.—W . Dick, Carlton v. Richmond ... ... ... *147 ,, 17.—K. G. Hickmott, Christchurch H. S. v. Riccarton “ B ” ...................................................................213 „ 17.—E. R. Caygill, Riccarton v. St. Albans ................ 108 „ 17.—London, Canterbury College v. Sydenham “ A ” ... I l l ,, 17.—Wilkinson, for Wellington Central ... ... ... *100 „ 23.—E. L. Musson, 1st Manchester Regiment v. 2nd King’s Liverpool Regiment (at Lahore) ... *109 „ 24.— S. M. McKenzie, S. Launceston v. N. Launceston... 157 „ 24.—W. Hayes, Sydenham v. Riccarton (Christchurch N . Z . ) ...................................................... ................ 120 ,, 24.—Newnham, Zingari v. Union “ A ” (Pretoria) ... *101 Mar. 2.—E. Bryant, Subiaco “ A ” v. Midland Junction “ A ” (Perth) ...................................................................*118 ,, 2 .—Neethling, Pirates v. Kimberley .................*114 „ 2.— A. T. Lodge, St. George's College v. Rev. W . Brady’s X I. (Buenos Aires) .............................(ret.) 108 „ 2.—A. E. V. Hartkopf, Melbourne University v. Fitzroy *125 ,, 2.—B. H. Clark, Elsternwick Baptist v. Moorabbin (Melbourne) ... ... ... ... ... ... *207 Mar. 2.—Lanigan, N. Melbourne 2nd v. Collingwood 2nd ... 100 ,, 2.—N. Dean, Melbourne G. S. v. Wesley College ... 152 ,, 2. — D. Lawrence, Melbourne G. S. v. Wesley College ... 128 ,, 2.—E. A. Windsor, E. Launceston v. S. Launceston ... *110 „ 2. —K. Westbrook, W . Launceston v. N. Launceston ... I l l ,, 2.—L. R. Gill, W. Launceston v. N. Launceston ... *118 ,, 2.—A. Richardson, E. Hobart “ B ” v. W. Hobart “ B " 146 ,, 2.—R. K. Oxeuham, Nundah v. Toowong (Brisbane) ... *102 ,, 9.—D. A. Wilkinson, Dimbula 2nd v. Dickoya 2nd (Ceylon) ...................................................................102 ,, 16 .—V. S. Ransford. Melbourne v. Richmond ... ... 147 ,, 16.—C. H. Moyes, Adelaide University v. East Torrens... 180 ,, 16.—P. D. Rundell, Port Adelaide v. West Torrens ... 195 ,, 16.— G. Cheswass, Northcote v. N. M e lb o u rn e ......... *123 * Signifies not out. Corr^spond^nc^. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions of his correspondents. ] CHARLES DICKENS AND CRICKET. To the Editor of C r ic k e t . S ir , —Will you allow me to supplement the list of Charles Dickens’ references to cricket given in your columns last autumn, by the following extracts from his writings, which will, I think, prove of interest to those of your readers who are admirers of the great writer. In Chapter NY II. of “ The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” the Beverend Septimus Crisparkle is described as being a — “ Good fellow ! manly fellow ! And he was so modest, too. There was no more self-assertion in the Minor Canon than in the schoolboy who had stood in the breezy playing- fields keeping a wicket. He was simply and staunchly true to his duty alike in the large case and in the small. So all true souls ever are.” In the Christmas story entitled “ A Christmas Tree,” written in 1850, we read : “ Still, on the lower and maturer branches of the tree, Christmas associations cluster thick ................. cricket-bats, stumps, and balls, left higher up, with the smell of the trodden grass and the softened noise of shouts in the evening air ; the tree is still fresh, still gay.” In “ The Child’s Story,” published in 1852, it states : ‘ 1They had the merriest games that ever were p la y e d ............ They were active at cricket, and all games at ball.” In “ The Schoolboy’s S tory” we read th a t: “ One afternoon, an open carriage stopped at the cricket field, just outside bounds, with a lady and gentleman in it, who looked at the game a long time and stood up to see it played.” In Chapter III. of “ The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Appren­ tices,” is related the following amusing experience of ‘ Thomas Idle ’ (i.e., Wilkie Collins) one of the ‘ Two Idle Apprentices ’ “ While Thomas was lazy, he was a model of health. His first attempt at active exertion and his first suffering from severe illness are connected together by the intimate relations of cause and effect. Shortly after leaving school, he accompanied a party of friends to a cricket-field, in his natural and appropriate character of spectator only. On the ground it was discovered that the players fell short of the required number, and facile Thomas was persuaded to assist in making up the complement. A t a certain appointed time, he was roused from peaceful slumber in a dry ditch, and placed before three wickets with a bat in his hand. Opposite to him, behind three more wickets, stood one of his bosom friends, filling the situation (as he was informed) of bowler. No words can describe Mr. Idle’s horror and amazement, when he saw this young man— on ordinary occasions, the meekest and mildest of human beings—suddenly contract his eyebrows, compress his lips, assume the aspect of an infuriated savage, run back a few steps, then run forward, and, without the slightest previous provocation, hurl a detestably hard ball with all his might straight at Thomas’s legs. Stimulated to preternatural activity of body and sharpness of eye by the instinct of self-preservation, Mr. Idle contrived, by jumping deftly aside at the right moment, and by using his bat (ridiculously narrow as it was for the purpose) as a shield, to preserve his