Cricket 1912

472 CRICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. AUGUST 31, 1912. The Secretary of the F a ll B iv er C.C. (Mass.) writes to tell me that Archie Clark, a West Indian, playing for that club, had taken a wicket in his first over in each of seven successive matches. West Indian readers w ill be interested to hear that W. Shepherd, the Barbados and Trinidad bowler of yore, is also playing for F all Biver, and doing well both with bat and ball. In Philadelphia nowadays they bowl ten balls to the over, and in Chicago nine, and tho change is generally considered an improve­ ment to the game. Rain in Summer. (After Longfellow—a long way). How beautiful (?) is the rain ! A deluge yesterday; Of sunshine never a ray ; And now it is lashing each pane. How beautiful is the rain !! ! How it beats on pavilion roofs, Like a mad, wild nightmare’s hoofs ! Sodden and dank is the pitch— The outfield a muddy d itch ! The batsman right gloomy looks, And murmurs a low “ Gadzooks ! ” — Or it m ay be something stronger. “ If this lasts but a little longer,” Saith he, “ we m ay shut up shop For the week. W ill it never stop ? T his weather is utterly v ile ! ” And the bowler, he smileth a smile, And wickedly he winks, It may stop—sun may shine—so he thinks ; And a caked pitch just suits his style, (But it never does stop—it never w ill!) How beautiful is the rain ! The Tour of the Philadelphia C.C. The opinion entertained by our visitors from the States of the En glish climate m ight be interesting, but would scarcely flatter our national vanity. T hey had no such experience as a real August day during their whole tour, and, though they were only thrice beaten, the sodden wickets gave them little chance of showing their true batting form. At Sutton, on the 21st, the ground was 30 soft that the coin stood on its edge the first time tossed. The second toss gave 11. M. B ell choice of innings, and the home side (for whom W. G. played) had an easy wicket to bat upon. Only P. R . W aterer, who played a great innings of 65*, and J . G. M. Bell did much, the latter making some lovely strokes past cover. The G.O.M. pulled a ball from G. V . Campbell (the Etonian, who assisted the visitors in their last two matches) into his w icket; but he was in great form in the field, and at lunch delighted everyone by his many anecdotes and his fund of jovial good-humour. The American fielding was splendid. The wicket was nasty when the Philadelphians batted, and, except for J . L. Evans, who played right through for 24, they failed. Maurice Jew ell bowled in deadly style (6 for 23), and R. M. B ell took 4 for 39. There was quite a big crowd present, and the spectators were very enthusiastic. The tourists have made themselves very popular wherever they have played. The last match was against Blackheath. R ain limited it to one day, not a ball being bowled on Wednesday, and the Philadelphians had very much the best of the draw. Gerald Conyers finished up in good form all round, and T. F . Dixon made top score. MATCH RESULTS. Played, 10 ; won, 4 ; lost, 3 ; drawn, 3. v. REIGATE PRIORY.—Won by 54 runs ; 133 to 79. v. SUTTON.-Drawn. Sutton lost one wicket, then rain stopped play, v. ROYAL ARTILLERY.—Won by 9 wickets (12 aside) ; 110 and 25 for 2 to 29 and 105. v. STOKE POGES.—Won by 57 runs ; 147 to 90. v. MITCHAM.—Drawn. Philadelphia C.C., 78 for 6 ; Mitcham, 108 for 8, dec. v. M r . J. R. TYLDEN’S X I.—Lost by 132 runs ; 73 and 153 to 112 and 246 for 9, dec. v. THE MOTE.—Won by 7 wickets ; 181 and GOfor 3 to 49 and 200. v. FOLKESTONE.—Lost by 229 runs ; 107 and 95 to 180 and 251 for 9, dec. v. SUTTON.—Lost by 78 runs ; 68 to 146. v. BLACKHEATH.—Drawn. Philadelphia C.C., 161 ; Blackheath, 51 and 4 for 66 (12 aside). BATTING AVERAGES. Banks, A. H. Campbell, G. V. ... Clark, H. L. Conyers, G. C. Conyers, J. R. Dixon, T. F., jun., Dornan, J. P. Evans, J. L. Goodall, H. W. Graham, J., jun. ... Hawley, G. T. Hunter, A., jun. ... Mason, J. H. Mitchell, C. S. ... Woolley ............... Wright, H. P. I regret that I cannot give the complete bowling figures; but Gerald Conyers took 77 wickets at a very small cost, and the rest had 56 among them, A. H. Banks bowling in deadly fashion in one or two matches. Dornan’s wicket-keeping was excellent. The side sailed for home in the “ Campania ” on Saturday last. Inns. Not out. R. Aver. H.S. 6 1 5 1-00 3* 2 0 21 ,.. 1050 21 10 2 85 ,.. 1062 30 12 0 .. 160 13-33 62 13 0 ,. 139 .. 10*69 32 9 2 .. 113 .. 16*14 36* 13 1 ,. 130 .. 10-83 28 13 2 .. 237 .. 21*54 70 8 2 26 4*33 10 3 0 21 7-00 14 4 0 22 5-50 17 9 1 64 8-00 19 11 3 .. 100 .. 12-50 26* 6 1 39 7-80 10 2 0 7 3-50 4 10 0 75 7*50 24 The kibran). (All Publications intended for review in “ Cricket ” must be addressed to the Editor.) Disguised as Spalding's Official Cricket Guide , and with a red cover instead of a dark blue one, our old friend The American Cricket Annual has none the less a hearty welcome. Capably edited by that enthusiastic cricket statistician, Mr. F . F . Kelly, it contains much that should be of interest to lovers of the game even on this side of the Atlantic. There are many pages of portraits, averages, &c., of all the leading American and Canadian clubs, and a collection of records, brought up to date, that is in some respects the best part of the volume. Here are lists of batsmen who have scored 1,000 runs and bowlers who have taken 100 wickets in North America, not for one season only, but ever since the game had reached a stage at which such achievements became possible, a list of bowlers who have taken all 10 wickets in an innings, with individual scores of 200, longest partnerships for each wicket, and other items of note. The centuries hit in the U .S. and Canada in 1 9 11 run to over a page, numbering as they do between 60 and 70. P. P. Barnett (wrongly given, however, as Barratt), F . A. A. Barrs, L . Black (who played once for Hants), J . R . Conyers (now in England with the Philadelphia C .C .’s team), N. F . H art (formerly of Trinidad), F . E . Huish, H. F . Lounsborough (here with the Toronto Zingari in 1910), F . J. Peers, H. P. Waller, J . B. King, and V. A. McKillop are fam iliar names occurring in this list. No one, either in Canada or the States, totalled 1,000 runs in 19 11, but T. Sm ith (Pawtucket, Rhode I.), F . Saxton (Simpson C .C ., Toronto), P. H . Clark (Germantown) and L . Black (Toronto) all took a hundred wickets or more. New seventh (204 by F . A. A. Barrs and J . Crane, at Vancouver) and tenth (124 by Dr. M acfarlane and U. G. S. Grant at Philadelphia) wicket records were set up. The “ Guide ” is priced at 6d., and is published by the American Sports Publishing Co., 2 1, Warren Street, New York. The West Kent Wanderers in Belgium. Though the rain played havoc with the West Kent Wanderers’ matches in Belgium , only allowing of a finish in one case and pre­ venting even a start in the game with Antwerp, the tour was a great success socially, and has certainly strengthened the bonds of amity between British and Belgian cricketers. In the first match, v. Anglo- Belge, on August 17, the earlier batsmen of the visiting side nearly all did well, and a total of 183 was registered. H. Waller played a particularly good innings of 4 1 ; G. F . Howell made 39*, F . W . Courtenay 33, and A. Fresco 27. G . Alpen, the most successful bowler for Anglo-Belge, played a very fine game for 104, and F . Wright (45) helped him to add over 100 for the third wicket. It was m ainly owing to these two that the Brussels club won by 2 wickets. The match with A ll Belgium was played at Vivier d’Oie two days later. The W .K.W . declared at 240 for 8. J . G. Ward played splendidly for 79 *; Fresco made 3 1, Courtenay 27, J. Lambert 25, W aller 23, Howell 16, and W. H. Lawrence 13 . Belgium saved the game, owing to the stubborn defence of R . W. Seeldlayers (43*) and T . Healey (50), their score at the call of time being 142 for 5.