Cricket 1912

M a y 11, 1912. CEICKET: A WEEKLY EECOED OP THE GAME. 131 The Sorrowful Song of the Stumps. A TEABFUL TEIO. A ll : Prithee, we beg for your ear and your listening! Bee how our eyes with a weep-wash are glistening ; Mark and observe how dejected we set m to be ; Ours is such grief as you never would dream to be. We are downhearted : the season is back again, We do not welcome the bat and his smack again. M id d le : Man and his ball, with amazing ingratitude, Seeks nothing so much as to spoil my fine attitude ! L e g and O f f : Or if he can't, in a manner most villainous, He will endeavour to settle his pill on us. M id d le : As each over passes my heart gets more shivery, Trembling with agony at every delivery. O ff ; Minearetheblowswhicharequitethemostnumerous— L e g : Oh ! my dear Off, would you try to be humourous ? I am by far the m ost frequently knocked a b o u t!— M iddle : P lease do n ot argue ; we all get w ell rocked about, We are three innocents, treated most shoddily. Stuck in the ground, and then biffed about bodily ; A l l : Bowlers are ever engaged manufacturing Some new device to accomplish our fracturing; L e g : The wretches, they hold us in total irreverence! O ff : The scoundrels, they live but to manage our severance! L e g : Just to upset me they all try their cleverest, O ff : I am an h on ou r for w hich they w ill never r e s t! L e g : Nonsense— M id d le : O h ! please do not quarrel incessantly, Can we not sing our song slightly more pleasantly ? A l l : Ours is a life that is chock full of injury— Balls that come slowly and balls that are gingery, Googlies and yorkers and full-pitching thunderbolts, Leg-breaks and off-breaks and bash-them-asunder Often we wish we were cased in an iron hide; [bolts. Often we feel we could drink off some cyanide. True, we are models of courage and bravery, But we would wish things a little more savoury. What is the use? We are sport for the million. Oh, for October and cosy pavilion ! P h ilistin e . The Mbranp. (All Publications intended for review in “ Cricket ” must be addressed to the Editor.) Thousands of people will be interested in John Hobbs’s book, “ Recovering the Ashes,” simply because it is John Hobbs’s. But it deserves recognition on its merits. It is a straightforward and interesting account of a memor­ able tour, beautifully printed on good paper, and with eight capital illustrations—all for a shilling ! Some good stories are included, notably this :— “ The day before we arrived at Naples I was trying to make my way along the deck, as if I had been accustomed to the sea all my life, when Hitch, looking somewhat green in the face, came to me and, with a wan smile, put a shilling in my hand. He was turning away when I managed to ask, ‘ What is this for ? ’ and his reply was equally difficult to utter : ‘ Sick,’ said he. And I remembered I had bet him a shilling that he would be seasick.” Hobbs is a little too modest about his own share in the tour. On p. 55 he says : “ The four who were out were our best batsmen.” The four were Kinneir, Gunn, Rhodes, and Mead. But perhaps he meant to write were “ among ” our best batsmen, as on page 35 he must have meant “ quite out of touch,” not “ just out of touch.” “ The Scottish Cricket Annual,” in its twelfth year, comes along—as wonderful a pennyworth as ever. On another page will be found a few items of interest from its pages ; here one need only say that Mr. Anderson is doing a real service to Caledonian cricket in bringing out yearly this capital little guide, which everybody who has the least interest in the game should hasten to secure. * Recovering the “ Ashes” '. An Account of the Cricket Tour in Australia* 1911-12. By J. li. Hobbs. 1/- net, boards. London : Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. • The Scottish Cricket Annual. Published by Joe Anderson, Perth. Price Id. © M t u r t i r t n M r . C h a r l e s F o y l e R a n d o l p h , of the Winchester eleven of 1850, died on February 23rd. He was born on November 8th, 1833. He did not score a run in either innings v. Eton ; against Harrow he made seven for once out and took two wickets. J.D .B . T h e R e v . W a l t e r M a r s iia m H o a r e (father of Messrs. A. R ., W . R. and V. R. Hoare), who was in the Eton eleven from 1858 to 1801, and rowed for Oxford in the 1861, ’ 62 and ’63 races, died on April 15th. He was born on August 13th, 1840, and was for 44 years Rector of Colkirk, near Fakenham. J.D.B. M a j o r H. B . B e t h u n e , who was born on November 16th, 1844, died on April 6th, and was interred at Horsham, with the rites of the Plymouth Brethren, of which body he was a member. Major Bethune played at intervals for Hampshire between 1885 and 1897, his best score for the county being 75 in 1891. On the whole he was not very successful in county cricket ; but he made several long scores in minor matches, including 219 for Corinthians v. United Services in 1887, 126 for Corinthians v. United Services in 1890, 125 for Hants. Regt. v. R.M.A. and 115 for Hants. Regt. v. Royal Navy in 1884, 103 for Gentlemen of Hants, v. Gentlemen of Canada in 1887, and 102 for United Services v. Parsees in 1886. The H o n . C. E. P o o l e y , ex-Speaker of the Legis­ lature of British Columbia, died on March 28th at Victoria, B.C. Mr. Pooley was at the time of his death an Hon. Vice-President of the Victoria C.C. He had always been keen on the game, and was a member of the Victoria team which adventured to San Francisco to play two matches in April, 1869. He made a score of 35 and took 7 wickets for 5 runs in one innings of the second match. F. F. K. The R e v . L io n e l G a r n e t t , of the Eton elevens of 1860-1-2, died at Belfast on May 1st. Mr. Garnett was born in 1844. From Eton he went up to Brasenose, Oxford. He was a member of the Free Foresters, and for some years played for the Garnett family in their annual match against that club. For forty years he held the living of Chi'istleton, Chester, which he resigned in 1910, and from 1906 he was Hon. Canon of Chester. J. D. B. Answers to Correspondents. R u g b e ia n (Cork).— You are quite correct: Mr. I. F. L. Elliot should not have been written of as tho new captain of Rugby, since he was captain in 1911. Principal Matches of Next Week. May 13, 14, 15—Lord’s, M.C.C. v. South Africans. „ 13, 14, 15— Leyton, Essex v. Australians. „ 13, 14, 15—Manchester, Lancashire v. Sussex. „ 13, 14, 15—Sheffield, Yorkshire v. Hampshire. „ 13, 14, 15— Dudley, Worcestershire v. Surrey. „ 13, 14, 15—Birmingham, Warwickshire v. Derby­ shire. „ 16, 17, 18— Lord’s, Middlesex v. Lancashire. „ 16, 17, 18—Oval, Surrey v. Australians. ,, 16, 17, 18—Huddersfield, Yorkshire v. South Africans ,, 16, 17, 18—Leyton, Essex v. Northamptonshire. „ 16, 17, 18—Bristol, Gloucestershire v. Warwick­ shire. „ 16, 17, 18—Gravesend, Kent v. Somerset. „ 16, 17, 18—Nottingham, Notts, v. Leicestershire. ,, 16, 17, 18—Worcester, Worcestershire v. Hampshire. „ 16, 17, 18—Cambridge, the University v. Sussex. „ 17, 18—Leighton (Westbury), Mr. W. H. Laver- ton’s X I. v. Wiltshire. „ 18—Dunfermline, Fife v. Forfarshire. „ 18—Norwich, Norwich, v. Rest of Norfolk.