Cricket 1912

i40 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 18, 1912. Cricket: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 33 and 35, MOOR LANE, LONDON, E.C. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1912. Communications to the Editor should be addressed to him at 33 & 35 Moor Lane, E .C . Advertisements, Subscriptions, &c., should be Bent 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. 6d. NOTICE. Messrs. WR IGHT & 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. pavilion (Bosstp. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. A u s t r a l ia n s and South Africans alike have suffered from the vagaries of the English weather, I hear, and some of the former will possibly enjoy an argument with John Hobbs as to the respective advantages o f the climate in the old country and the great southland. I am ac­ quainted with several cornstalks who maintain that Hobbs doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it. But Australia does— she thinks no end of John Berry Hobbs I G l a m o r g a n is the latest county to inaugurate a shilling fund. Their loss last season was smaller than in 1910, but members’ subscriptions fell off. Morganwg is a big county, and by no means a poor one ; its team is distinctly powerful ; and there really ought to be better support for county cricket in it. W h o is the lightest player in first-class cricket ? I should say that little “ Fanny ” Walden, of Northants, who is built quite on jockey lines, could easily carry away the distinction. Walden is, as most people know, I suppose, a crack footballer— the outside right of the Northampton Town team. Th e Field wants to know why contempt for Lindley Murray should have become a tradition at Lord’s. But no one— except the enthusiastic connoisseurs who write long letters to the Westminster (Saturday edition) and T .P .’s Weekly (no charge for advertisement) about recon­ dite points of grammar seems to care much for Lindley Murray nowadays. Still, if the recent addition to Law 28 does make it impossible for anyone to be given run out legally unless the stroke is off a no-ball— and a strict interpretation of the wording would seem to work out thus—something ought to be done— if it’s only the hanging, drawing, and quartering of one or two members of the committee ! Two good men qualified for Essex who may possibly be useful to the county in the near future are G. B. Davies, the Russell captain, and P. J. Richardson, the old Gower boy, now up at Cambridge. R o t h e r y , looked upon at one time as a possible suc­ cessor to J. T. Brown-—and, one fancies, dropped a little too soon-—is now engaged at Limerick. P e t e r C l a r k of Ireland is thus described by one who has evidently watched him as closely as the Selection Com­ mittee : “ He is a slightly-built fellow, bowls right-hand medium, with a break either way and an occasional googly. Seemed nervous at the Oval—knew he was under obser­ vation— in consequence sent down some loose balls—but also some rattling good ones. He wets the tips of his right hand lingers— takes one long stride and six short ones— gives a twist, with the left hand brought round and touching the ball— then lets it go. Varies his pace well— seems able to go on any length of time. Fields capitally. Only a moderate ba t.” Clark’s age is stated as 25. The burden of an Empire (as I said) Weighs on me ; and I hold it in such poise, So well adjusted, that a constant dread My happiness destroys. Of shifting balances. Can I rejoice When part with part in deadly conflict clashes, Or among other issues make my choice, Having no interest save in those Ashes ? Can CLARK out-google SCHWARZ— That, and that only, occupies my thoughts 1 — From the W estminster Gazette. This is the last of four stanzas, all very good in their way ; but the first aren’t cricket— they only lead up to it. In this column space cannot be spared for that. Besides the “ W .G .” might object to having the verses annexed bodily. The doubt expressed as to Gillett’s qualification for Northants was unnecessary. He was born in the county, it appears. One of the earliest visitors to the nets at Old Trafford was A. N. Hornby. No, not A. H .—A. N., b om over 65 years ago, and playing in first-class cricket before Syd Gregory, Tom Hayward, or George Hirst saw the light. Lieutenant F. R. R. Brooke, who kept wicket for Lancashire v. Sussex, is a son of Mr. John Brooke, the Man­ chester architect, and a nephew of the Rev. F. Wynyard Wright. He showed good form in the Lancashire trial match, Gentlemen v. Players. In 1908 he played for Army v. Navy at Lord’s, and, going in first, scored 53 and 41, besides making three catches in the Navy’s one innings. But what Lancashire really needs—with no disparagement to the Lieutenant, whose profession will keep him from- filling the bill, be it said— is a first-class regular wicket­ keeper, a successor to poor Dick Pilling and hard-working Charles Smith. Worsley came into county cricket late, and at his best lacks the something that makes greatness, and Blomley, for all his pluck, is not just the man. AN INTERNATIONAL AFFA IR . “ T h e I t a l ia n s h a v e t a k e n R h o d e s . ” ( Any daily paper . ) I t ’s quite too, too bad at a time like the present, Just when Triangular Tests are in sight. Much one may bear, yet contrive to look pleasant; This is the limit—unbearable quite ! “ Taken Rhodes,” have they, those men of Italia, Swart lazzaroni, stark sons of a gun ! Pity poor Wilfred—his pangs of nostalgia— Broiling in southern lands, far from the fun ! Hope I perceive, though. There may be some error. A t Kennington Oval one batted and bowled Who looked uncommonly like Yorkshire’s terror ; And at Leicester his name on the score was enscrolled. Pass me a map of the Mediterranean— There’s a war on w'ith Turkey, I gather-—oh, yes ! D on ’t curse the Italians, but bless each dark cranium 1 I t ’s only an island they’ve collared, I guess ! What a pity it is that the “ South African Cricketers’ Annual ” did not continue ! Starting modestly at the somewhat unusual price of fifteen-pence in 1885 as a Natal handbook, it soon enlarged its scope, and ran on to 1892. Then came a gap o f fourteen years. When it reappeared in 1906 at half-a-crown—no better value in cricket books was ever offered— it seemed as if it had come to stay. But only two issues of the new series appeared. The work of