Cricket 1912

Nov. 16, 1912. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 563 Cricket; A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 125, ST R A N D , LONDON , W .C . SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1912. Letters for the E ditor should be addressed to: M r . J. N. P e n t e l o w , Malvern, Steyning, Sussex. Advertisem ents, Subscriptions, &c., should be sent to : The Manager of C r ic k e t , 125, Strand, W .C . The follow ing are the subscription rates :— United. Kingdom. Abroad. One Y ear ... ... ... 6s. 3d. ... 7s. 6d. T he 24 Summer Numbers 5s. Od. ... 6s. Od. The 6 W inter Numbers ... Is. 3d. ... Is. 6d. The remaining winter numbers will be dated D ecem ber 14, January 11, February 15, and March 15, and will reach postal subscribers on or before these dates. lP>avUion (Sossip. “ The abstract and brief chronicle of the tim e.” — Hamlet. T h e D em on B ow ler’s schem e for the reform ation o f the gam e d oes n o t appear to ha ve cau gh t on. L ord H aw ke d is­ ap proves entirely. “ G reatest rot in the w orld ,” says A . N. H orn by , w h ich is sw eeping enough in all conscience. B u t the o ld H a rrov ia n was alw ays a straigh t-from -the-shoulder hitter. “ T h e ru in ation o f cricket lies in all these proposals to change this and alter th a t,” says Pelham W arner. “ C onsider cricket far to o g o o d a gam e to need reform s,” says R . 0 . Schw arz. “ T he gam e is all right if played in the proper spirit,” says S. H . D a y . H ear, hear ! B u t if all bow lers were Spofforths, the proposed schem e m ight have a ch an ce. F or the D em on was a trier all the tim e. H e cared n oth in g for m aiden overs ; w h at he w anted was to get the batsm an op p osed to him ou t. T h a t is w h at every bow ler w ants, som e on e m a y retort. W ell, you w ou ld n o t think it, to w atch som e o f t h e m ! T o penalise th e in-side fo r every m aiden over w ou ld be to p u t a prem ium on olf-th eory an d sem i-w id e-to-leg-th eory stuff. W ou ld that im p rove the gam e ? N ot m uch , I think ! T h e r e is m ore unnecessary slow p la y than there should be ; bu t there is n ot nearly so m u ch as those w ho gird a t the gam e con ten d. Please note the qualifying w ord “ unnecessary.” S low p lay is n ot alw ays th at, rem em ber. Tim es there are w hen a V in e or an O ld royd is o f greater w orth to his side than a Jessop or a Simm s. A fte r Jessop, I really d o n ’t know any one w ho hits m uch harder and often er than the old M alvernian, b y the w ay. A m o n g the freshm en at O x ford this term is one w h o ou gh t to w alk in to the crick et X I . n ex t summ er— Basil M elle, R h odes S cholar, late o f the S outh A frican C ollege, Cape T ow n . B orn o n M arch 31, 1891, he w as w ritten d ow n in the South African Cricketers' Annual o f 1907 as the m ost prom ising batsm an in the W estern P rov in ce w hen still on ly sixteen, his defensive play being specially praised. P e r h a p s , like W arren B ardsley, he began b y being a defensive batsm an, and then added strokes to his ou tfit till he becam e a scorer quite a b o v e the average in pace. A n yw ay , he has p layed som e p re tty brisk innings since then. H is first m atch o f im p ortan ce was W estern P rovin ce v. E astern P rov in ce, during the Currie C up T ournam en t o f 1908-9 at Cape T ow n , an d he also p lay ed in the great m atch w ith T ransvaal, w hen his side snatched a narrow v icto ry b y 7 runs. H e was a m em ber o f the W estern P rovin ce team w hich jou rn ey ed to D u rb an fo r the 1909-10 tournam ent. It to ok him tw o an d a h alf hours to m ake 79 v. O range Free S tate ; b u t his 145 v. G riqualand W est w as a m uch m ore aggressive innings, including as m an y as five 6 ’s— w h ich is the sort o f thing you r stonew aller does n o t g o in for. H e also p layed an excellen t innings of 78 v. T ransvaal. H e appeared in tw o o f the three trial m atches at Johannesburg last Christm as, and m an y Cape T ow n folk w ou ld have liked to see him in the S outh A frican team . T h e schem e fo r taking an A ustralian Team to C anada and the States in 1913 m ust be taken seriously, it seem s. D uring the m atch a t H a verford betw een the P hiladelphians a n d G reg ory ’s m en it was stated definitely th a t arrangem ents had been m ade, and that A rm strong and T rum per were certain starters. It w ou ld b e a rare g o o d thing fo r the gam e in the w estern con tin en t if the visit did com e off. I am n o t so sure th at it w ou ld be a g ood thing for A ustralia. I foresee m ore trou ble betw een the B oard o f C ontrol an d the players. B y the w ay, if the B oard sh ou ld in terd ict th e tour, will a sufficient n um ber o f “ re ca lcitra n ts” be fou n d to m ake it ? A n d will the side include any m em bers o f the 1912 A ustralian T eam ? E f f o r t s are being m ade to arrange a T riangular T ou rn a ­ m ent in B erm uda in Jan uary, the U nited States, Canada, and the W est Indies to take part. T h e idea is a fine one, fo r a b ou t this at least there can be n o slightest suggestion o f the m o n e y ­ m aking taint. N ot for shekels o f gold an d shekels o f silver will the chosen o f the Quaker C ity an d o f M anhattan (if the U n ited States does n ot m ean, as so often , P hiladelph ia alone), o f the great D om in ion , and o f the fair islands in the C aribbean Sea foregather a t H am ilton , b u t for pure love o f the great gam e. I t is p a th etic to learn th a t W illiam M cC affrey, the p op u lar T oron to cricketer w h o was drow n ed a few weeks ago, was lookin g forw ard w ith keen anticipation to accom p a n yin g the T oro n to con tin gen t to the tournam ent. M cC affrey, b y the w a y , was still an a ctiv e cricketer at the tim e o f his death , referred to on a nother page. Q u ite recently he p layed fo r T oron to in their cu p m atch w ith the W innipeg W anderers. A fearless hitter, a useful change bow ler, and a ve ry sure ca tch , M cC affrey w as a valu able m an on a s id e ; b u t his splendid su p p ort o f the gam e w ill be even m ore m issed than his playing qualities. T oron to has better cricketers than he w as ; scarcely, I am told , a keener enthusiast. Requiescat! A . E. F r e e t h y , the N eath and G lam organshire cricketer, h ad a m ost unpleasant experience at T reorch y a few weeks since. H e had refereed the T reorch y v. P on typ rid d m atch ; his decisions d id n ot please the crow d ; and the crow d ston ed him , one ston e striking him on the back o f the head and rendering him u n con ­ scious. T here appear to be certain places in W ales where to be a R u g b y referee is alm ost as dangerous as to be a suffragette at L lan— and the rest o f it. P h il a d e l p h ia has entertained an A ustralian cricket team for the fifth tim e, and has, as usual, sh ow n up well. These m atch es go b ack to 1878, and w hen the P hiladelph ian eleven m et th e F irst A ustralian Team on O ctob er 3 in th a t year they m ade their entry in to representative crick et, for in all previous m atches w ith first-class sides they had a ccep ted the h andicap o f odds. R ig h t well th ey perform ed, too. A first innings o f 196 ow ed m uch to the splendid 84 o f R o b e rt N ewhall. H is brother D aniel scored 31 n o t ou t, and R . N . C aldw ell m ade 22. T he A ustralians replied w ith 150— A lec B annerm an 46, M u rdoch 37, B oy le 30, B lackham 20, the oth er seven 14 am on g them . Charles N ew hall to o k 5 w ickets for 67, D aniel (w ith lobs) 3 fo r 34. Then S pofforth an d A llan dism issed the hom e side for 53— no double figure score. T he A ustralians w anted 100 fo r v ictory , and had