Cricket 1912

10 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 27, 1912. Mr. S. SMITHSON. Mr. Sam Smithson died at Bright’s Cottage, Heck- mondwike, on December 11th, at the age of 71. In his younger days he was a keen and energetic cricketer, and attained some local celebrity in matches played in the Heavy Woollen District. His forte was fast bowling, which was, however, characterised by a more than doubtful delivery. It is in this connection that Dr. W. G. Grace relates one of the most amusing anecdotes in his book, Cricket, the hero of which, although unnamed by the Champion, was Mr. Smithson. In June, 1876, the United South of England Eleven played Twenty of Batley. “ In this match,” says Dr. Grace, ” I had rather a peculiar experience. I was fairly well set, when a bowler, whom I had never seen before, was commissioned to have a try at me. The very first ball was a deliberate throw, and it hit my wicket, and I had to go out, every one of the opposite side alleging that, as the umpire had not ‘ no-balled ’ him, the ball must be considered to have been fairly delivered. The joke of the thing lay in the fact that the bowler had been engaged to play entirely owing to his throwing powers, and was only to bo allowed to bowl one over at me. They still tell that tale against me in the North.” In justice to Mr. Smithson’s memory it is only fair to state that he did not agree with Dr. Grace’s version of this incident. A.C.D. Mr. M. A. TROUGHTON. Mr. Medhurst Albert Troughton, whose death occurred on New Year’s Day, at Kensington, was a very familiar figure in Kent cricket about forty years ago. He was a fine batsman and field, and a useful slow under-hand bowler, and during the decade 1864-1873 appeared in thirty-nine matches for the County. His largest score in strictly first-class cricket was 87 for Kent against Yorkshire, at Gravesend, in 1865 ; but for the Gentlemen of Kent lie exceeded the hundred on two occasions, each time against the Gentlemen of Sussex, making 116 at Brighton in 1865, and 130 on the Bat and Ball ground two years later. In 1873, when individual scores of over two hundred were still regarded as curiosities, he made 206 not out for Gentlemen of Mid-Kent v. South Norwood, at Gravesend, and this ranked as the highest innings of his career. His best performance as a bowler in first-class cricket was in K ent’s match with Surrey at the Oval in 1865, when he obtained five wickets for 70 runs in a total of 368. He was extremely fond of the game and did a very great deal indeed for it, especially in the neighbourhood of Gravesend. When he resigned the honorary secretary­ ship of the Mid-Kent C.C. in 1874, he was presented by the sixth Earl of Darnley with a handsome silver epergne. bearing the following inscription :— ” Presented to M. A. Troughton, Esq., August 26th, 1874, by the Right Hon. the Earl of Darnley, on behalf of the members of the Mid- Kent Cricket Club and other friends, in testimony of their esteem and regard as the energetic and Honorary Secretary of the Club during sixteen years. A good cricketer and a zealous supporter of the fine old English game.” He was born at Milton, near Gravesend, on December 25th, 1839, and had therefore completed his seventy-second year at the time of his death. In 1875 he was made a J.P., and in 1877-78 served as Mayor of Gravesend. Mr. L. H. W . Troughton, who appears occasionally for Kent, is his cousin. LORD WENLOCK. The Rt. Hon. Beilby Lawley, third Lord Wenlock, K.C.B., G.C.g.I., G.C.I.E., B.C., J.P., died at Portland Place, London, on the 15th inst., after a long illness in his sixty-third year. He was born on May 12th, 1849. Although a very enthusiastic cricketer, he never obtained fame as a player, and was not in the Eleven either at Eton or Cambridge. In 1870 he became a member of the M.C.C., and fifteen years later was President of the Club. From 1891 until 1896 he was Governor of Madras, and whilst holding that office he and Lord Harris( the Governor of Bombay) more than once opened the innings together, especially for Ganeshkhind, whose ground had been made by the latter. That his opinions on matters cricketical were valued by the best judges is obvious from what Lord Harris wrote in the official History of Kent County Cricket concerning the side’s doings in 1888 :— “ Mr, Hedley took 17 wickets for 9 runs apiece ; he played in only three matches, for there was grumbling as to his action by some who had played against him for years in R.E. matches and had never previously found fault. So I got Lord Lyttelton— as he then was— Lord Wenlock and another, whom I forget, to watch him when playing at the Oval, without Captain Hedley being aware of it, and they reported that they could not say his action was above suspicion, whereas Kent had to be, seeing the strong line we had taken about doubtful actions. So I had with the greatest regret to ask him to stand down.” Lord Wenlock succeeded liis father in the title in 1880. South African Cricket. T h e T r ia n g u l a r T r ia l M a t c h e s . J o h a n n e s b u r g , 30th December, 1911. O w in g to the English Mail closing on Monday after­ noon, it will be impossible to deal this week w ith the last two days’ play in the final trial match. The weather has been terribly h o t ; but, apart from one or two passing storms, nothing happened to interfere with the series of matches played this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Transvaal, without P. W. Sherwell, S. J. Snooke, A. E. E. Vogler, L. Strieker and S. J. Pegler, opposed what must be considered a fairly representative team of the Rest of South Africa. The Transvaal had much the worst of the draw, for against the “ Rests’ ” scores of 246 and 278 for four, innings declared, they could only compile 197 and 229 for 7. On the next two days a return match was played, but in this case neither side was intended to be representative, the object being to give a trial to the players left out of the first match. From a trial point of view the experiment was a complete failure, for the bowling was so weak, and the conditions for run getting were so favourable, that the batsmen had all the best of the game, and those who made runs secured com­ paratively little credit for their performances. On the first day the “ Rest,” again batting first, made 339, to which the Transvaal replied with 326, the last three wickets falling at the same total. It is believed that the aggregate of 665 runs hit that day is a record for the Wanderers’ ground. On Friday the “ Rest ” did not fare quite so well, being dismissed for 255, and they were ultimately beaten by five wickets. The original intention was to play the last match under the title of Probables and Possibles, but very wisely the authorities decided to make the match a sterner test, and therefore placed a strong batting side against a team whose particular forte was supposed to be bowling. As the only really first-class bowler now in South Africa, Vogler to wit, was included with the batsmen, it may be judged the supposed bowling side are in for a sorry time, and so it appears from the first day’s play, as they are all out for 174, Vogler having taken seven wickets for 96, to which their opponents have replied with 157 for the loss of three wickets. If the trials serve no other purpose, they have at least demonstrated to the people of the Transvaal that good cricketers are not solely confined to the Rand, and have proved conclusively that the vaunted superiority of the Transvaal over all-comers is a thing of the past. It is an unpalatable lesson, no doubt, but it is for the general good of South African cricket that it should be taught. One need not deal at length here with those players already known at Home, but one cannot omit them entirely from consideration. Gordon White showed that, though he has been resting, he is not finished. Nourse is not displaying the form he must have shown in Australia, but withal he is batting well and any slight falling off can be only temporary. He has certainly acquired a finish whicli he lacked prior to his visit to the Antipodes. L. .T. Tancred has taken a new lease of life, and is now a consistently heavy run-getter ; he may be a trifle slow off the mark, but once he is set his form is very convincing. P. W.