Cricket 1912

M a t 4, 1912. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 99 Cdcfcet: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 33 and 35, MOOE LANE, LONDON, E.C. SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1912. Communications to the Editor should be addressed to him at 33 & 35 Moor Lane, B.C. Advertisements, Subscriptions, <fcc., should be sent to the Manager, at the same address. The following are the rates of subscription to C r ic k e t :— Great Britain. Abroad. One Year ............................ 6s. 3d. ... 7s. 6d. The 24 Summer Numbers ... 5s. Od. ... 6s. Od. The 6 Winter Numbers ... Is. 3d. ... Is. Gd. NOTICE. Messrs. WRIGHT & CO., of 7, Temple Lane, Tudor Street, E .C ., are Advertisement Contractors for C R IC K E T , and will be glad to give their best attention to any Firms desiring to advertise in the paper. Scale of Charges will be sent on application. fliavnlton (Bosstp. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. W h a t a pity it is— I have said this before, I know— that in the cases of many of the schools their averages have not appeared continuously in “ Wisden.” Research therein fails to disclose in what year .Tohn Douglas first played for Felsted, for the Felsted averages are not in either “ Wisden ” or “ Lillywhite ” for the two or three years prior to 1900. The Essex captain of to-day, then seventeen, headed the batting table in that year— 565 runs, average 43'46, figures which make it tolerably certain that he was in the 1899 team. He also took 34 wickets at 17-55 each. I n 1901 he aggregated 515, averaged 64-37, and had 33 wickets at 16•15 each. In 1902—oh, confound it, “ Wisden ” has failed me again ! Not “ Wisden’s ” fault, of course. But I feel pretty sure Douglas had left at that time, for he played for Essex in 1902. “ Ken ” Mathews, the Essex, Sussex, and England hockey forward was in the Felsted eleven with him both in 1900 and 1901. Given more leisure, Mathews might have made a name in county cricket. 4 I t was in 1903 that I first saw Mr. Douglas play. The venue was the tree-ringed ground at Gloucester, where in dry weather batsmen used to get— probably still get— the kind of fiery wicket that suited old Fred Roberts. I remember the match well, remember seeing •Tohn Douglas seated between W. G. and Charles Robson, the cheerful of countenance, and remember hearing one small boy tell another in awed tones : “ That’s Douglas— that’s the b o x e r! ” C. J. Posthuma, that fine bowler from Holland, was playing for London County also, and Cecil Wood, and George Beldam, and W . W. Odell, and Braund, and Llewellyn. I cannot remember anything Douglas did. On looking up the score, I see he didn’t do anything. But he has made amends since. There has been nothing of the “ up like a rocket, down like the stick ” about his career. T h is is the financial statement of the recent M.C.C. Tour in Australia as far as the matches in Melbourne are concerned: £ s. d. Gross receipts_______... ................ 8,848 7 6 Marylebone Cricket Club ................ 3,371 11 5 Players’ expenses ... ... ... 777 4 6 Ground charges ............................. 283 11 6 Catering ... ... ... ... 341 0 5 Other expenses ... ... ... 148 14 10 Ten per cent, to trustees ... ... 884 15 9 Profit to Victorian C. Association ... 3,041 18 9 Something has gone wrong here! The gross receipts are exceeded by the sum total of the other items by nine shillings and eightpence. I do hope that the M.C.C. already has its cheque, for there is a loss on the tour anyway — and that all the Australian and Victorian players each has his, for the poor fellows only averaged £16 per match each, and that’s surely little enough for amateurs. But perhaps the gross receipts were £8,848-17-6. In that event, may one ask quite respectfully what has become of the fourpence unaccounted for ? The limitations of space prevent, or I would print in extenso the five column Sydney Referee report of the N. S. Wales C.A.’s special meeting on March 13th, when Mr. F. McMullen moved a vote of no confidence in the association’s delegates to the Board of Control. The Referee heads it “ Board of Control’s Vindication.” There is some justification for the heading. One still cannot agree that, the Board was right in everything and the players entirely wrong ; but a careful reading has con­ vinced me at least that the Board was more nearly right than most of us here imagined at first. A m on g other statements made was this—that Arm­ strong had said there was nothing private in the books which the manager refused to produce, and that they should have been handed over. This is illuminating, for it shows clearly that the seven were not all of one mind on this matter ; and the fact that Olem Hill eventually took the books to a Board meeting suggests that he agreed with Armstrong. But why was the settlement of this matter of the books delayed so unduly by the Board ? T he no confidence motion was lost by 23 votes to 8. Those who voted for it included Victor Trumper and II. Goddard. Among those who voted against it were the Rev. E. F. Waddy, T. .T. Hartigan (brother of Roger), .T. B. Lane, and T. H. Howard, who have all played for N. S. Wales. The “ non-confiding ” eight represented Burwood, Paddington, Redfem , Gordon, and Middle Harbor clubs ; the “ confiding ” 23 were from Sydney, Sydney University, North Sydney, Balmain, Gordon, Petersham, Waverley, Middle Harbor, Glebe, and Central Cumberland, with the vice-presidents, the treasurer, and the delegate of the Combined Junior Union. M e s sr s . McElhone, Hewlett, and Sydney Smith jun., the three impeached, voted in the majority, as they were quite justified in doing. Someone will before this have said, no doubt, that they fell over themselves in their haste to do so. That is the sort of thing that is said about McAlister’s and Mayne’s choice of himself for the teams of 1909 and 1912 respectively. It strikes one as neither reasonable argument nor common fairness. Earlier on the Victorian C.A. had discussed the question of the books, the manager’s refusal to produce them, and the strained relations between him and the Board’s representative in 1909, had examined both Laver and McAlister, and had endorsed by 22 votes to 2 the Board’s action. The Western Australian Cricket Association diplomatically refused to be dragged into the dispute. The Tasmanian meeting alluded to last week was not an official one. Queensland is, I understand, practically solid for the Board, and only South Australia can be said to be solid against it. It is quite on the cards that Australia will have the invaluable services of Victor Trumper in some, at least, of the test matches. He will be in England on business during the summer, and the Board will raise no objection to his playing if he consents and the team wants him. On the other hand, it does not seem very likely that P. R-. Le Couteur will be called upon, and it is now practically certain that Tarrant will not be. Rupert Minnett, brother of Roy, who landed with the team from the Olway at Tilbury on Saturday, is a first-class batsman, and no doubt his services would be available if required. But one understands that the feeling is that with fifteen members available and eager to play the inclusion'rof men from outside is likely to cause some dissatisfaction.