Cricket 1912

566 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 16, 1912. C A P T A IN GR EGORY IS A V E R Y BOLD MAN. Head of Australian Cricket Team would play big Leaguers at Baseball. N e w Y ork , S eptem ber 24.— C aptain G regory, o f the A ustralian T eam w hich is n ow o n its w a y [to this cou n try, has w ritten to the N ew Y o r k m anagers o f the com in g i international crick et m atch es, declaring th at his team is also p roficient in baseball an d p rop osin g a gam e w ith a p ick ed team from th e N ew Y o r k an d B rook lyn b ig league players. “ M y te am ,” he said, “ is the greatest baseball aggre­ ga tion in A ustralia. W e p la y baseball for practice in running and fielding, a n d are con fid en t o f b ein g a ble to give a goo d a ccou n t o f ou rselves against the best nine th at y o u can p ro d u ce .” T h e n ov e lty in this suggestion, h ow ever, lies in C aptain G regory’s idea th at b oth team s shall use crick et bats, p layin g the w hole gam e o f baseball un der the national rules w ith the excep tion th a t th e baseball players shall be allow ed to use their gloves, as is usual w ith them , w hile the cricketers, as is cu stom ary w ith them , will p la y w ith bare hands. N. O. N orton , the captain of the B ord er X I ., of w hich G erald H artigan is a m em ber, d id som e capital bow lin g w hile over here in the sum m er. H e p lay ed fo r E p som , E dgw are, In cog n iti, and, I believe, on e or tw o oth er clubs ; an d The Latest (D u rban ) says th at u p to th e beginn in g o f A u gu st he h ad taken o v er 80 w ick ets and h ad a b a ttin g average a b o v e 40. N orton p la y ed for W estern P rov in ce against th e A ustralian T eam of 1902 w hile a sch o olb o y a t th e S ou th A frica n College, Cape T ow n , an d he w on international hon ou rs against th e last M .C.C. team . H e ou gh t to h ave been in th e running fo r the S .A . team o f this year ; but fo r som e u n a ccou n ta b le reason he w as n ot even given a chance in the trial m atches. T he m a n y friends o f V . F . S. C raw ford w ill be pleased to hear th a t he is keeping u p his form in C eylon. H e h ad reach ed his thousand runs fo r the season b y the end o f S eptem ber, havin g registered as m an y as 1,048 in 18 com p leted innings, w ith an average o f close on 00. E or th e C olom b o C.C. v . U p -C ou n try he scored 148, an d he also m ad e a cen tu ry fo r the clu b v. H . L . D ow - b iggin ’s X I . H e has n ever been o u t fo r a d u ck , has o n ly tw ice failed to reach d ou b le figures, an d has scored 20 or m ore in 17 innings o u t o f 21. M oreover, he has been bow ling effectively, and has taken o v er 50 w ick ets so far. S ome little tim e ago the Ceylon Sportsman tw itted m e for sayin g that th e v isit o f a C eylonese team to th e Straits S ettle- I merits w as a lik ely even t o f the near future. M y in form ation cam e from the p a p er’s E d itor, then in E n glan d ; and it appears th at he w'as a truer p rop h et than his locum tenens. T h ere is every likelih ood, I n ow hear, th at a C eylon team will g o to the i Straits a b ou t the m id d le o f 1913. A com m ittee o f cricketers from the island n ow resident in the Straits— including D r. J. A . S charenquivel, w h o w ill be rem em bered in S cotla n d— has already m ad e prelim in ary arrangem ents, an d n oth in g b u t the failure to collect a representative team is likely to stan d in the w a y o f the tour. E . C. M oses , last season’s cap tain a t R e p to n , is n ow in Johannesburg, a n d will be p la y in g for the W anderers, as also w ill M. J. S usskind, w h o w en t u p to C am bridge w ith a b ig repu- I tation from U n iversity C ollege S ch ool, b u t, th ou gh given several trials, n ever m an aged to get his blue. M oses, b y the w ay, is n o t the son o f H a rry M oses, th e o ld N ew S ou th W ales cricketer, as has been stated , b u t his nephew . “ C an it be th a t I h ave ca u g h t H om er n od d in g ? ” w rites M r. E . H . D . Sew ell. I f I am H om er— b u t I n ever said so— he has. I om itted th e 505 o f B uckingham shire (505 in 215 m inutes, to o , w h ich is travellin g the p a ce) v . B edfordsh ire on J u ly 18 from m y list o f b ig totals in second-class cricket. S orry ! Y orkshire ’ s loss on the season o f 1912 is a b o u t £1000— and I this in a year when the team carried off the cham pionship ! |B u t the W h ite R ose cou n ty h ad excep tion a lly b a d luck in the w eather at hom e m a tch e s; and p ro b a b ly n e x t season will be j m ore affected b y the w inning o f prem ier honours than was this. Such, at any rate, w as the case w ith W arw ickshire, w hose fine perform ances in 1911 substantially enlarged their incom e in 1912. T alking o f cham pionships, I am rem inded o f the “ B rooklyn E agle ” o f O ctober 3, w hich h ad a capital p h otograp h o f the F ifteen o f N ew Y o rk w h o p layed against the A ustralians, though it om itted to give the key w hich m akes such illustrations so m uch m ore interesting. I can p ick ou t from the grou p m y friend, [ F. F . K e lly , and also M . R . C obb, the M anhattan skipper ; bu t I ca n n ot tell “ t ’other from w'hich ” am on g the rest. B eneath the portrait was the le g e n d : “ This is the T eam o f Am erican Cricketers w h o p layed for the International Cham pionship against A ustralia on Staten Island ! ” H o w ’s that for high ? It gets a b ou t as far w ron g in eighteen w ords as cou ld w ell be don e in the space. F or the “ Am erican cricketers ” are all E nglishm en, Australians, W e st Indians, and Canadians. A lso the very n otion o f a fifteen p layin g for an International C ham pionship is a b s u r d ; and if any Inter­ national C ham pionship W'ere to be p layed for across the A tlantic Philadelphia w ou ld ha ve a far better claim than N ew Y o rk to con test it. B ut even that is n ot all. W h a t is the d epleted A ustralian team d oin g in this gallery ? E ven if B ardsley, M acartney, Jennings, H azlitt, and M innett had been included, a certain event a t the O val in A ugu st w ou ld be an efficient bar to Australians playing for an International C ham pionship, let alone “ A n A ustralian X I .,” w hich w ou ld surely b e a better title fo r the team lately in the States. F igure the S outh A fricans m eeting F ifteen o f C ornw all, and the m atch bein g labelled an International C ham pionship gam e ! It is a fair parallel, I think. S ome m isguided people say th a t enthusiasm fo r crick et is dead. I know o f nothing better calculated to dispel th at illusion than the sight o f a certain am ateur MS. m agazine w h ich n ow lies before m e “ Flannelled F ools ” is its title ; b u t it is b y no m eans the skit u p on the gam e w h ich on e m ight im agine from that. O n the con trary, it is very m uch in earnest. Its 20 pp. con tain “ M on th ly N otes,” “ T h e C ou n ty C ham pionship in 1912,” “ G reat Cricketers— I. : M r. J . R . M ason,” “ N orth am p ­ tonshire in the C ounty C ham pionship,” “ T he E n cou ragem ent of A m ateur T alent in First-Class C ricket,” “ T riangular T op ics,” I “ Our Y o u n g P layers— : B ooth ,” “ T he F uture o f International C ricket,” “ Answ ers to C orrespondents,” “ H istorical— I. : the H am bled on C lub,” an elaborate analysis o f C ou n ty C ham ­ pionship m atches, “ E ncyclopaedia o f Cricketers : A b el, R obert, and A bel, W illiam J oh n ,” “ C ou n ty R ecord s— I. : K e n t,” and “ Item s.” M ost o f the articles are the w ork o f you n g enthusiasts ; but a t least tw o o f the con tributors are n ot, I can answ er for it, in quite the first flash o f you th . F o r one is m yself, and the other a gentlem an well know'n in con n ection w ith E ss— b u t h is t ! w e are observed ! T he secret shall be kept. Is H . K . F oster leading a forlorn h ope in captainin g the W orcestershire team on ce m ore n ex t season ? W e ll, if it be so, a better m an than H . K . for such a task w ou ld be hard to find. It is to be h oped, how ever, that the W orcestershire C.C. will n ot go under. S om e pape s stated that H . K . w'ould captain “ and p la y in several m atch es.” H e cou ld hardly cap tain oth er­ wise, cou ld he ? M. K ., hom e from the Straits Settlem ents, w here he has been ru bber-plantin g, w ill assist, an d one m ore Foster'— p rob a bly G. N .— will give his h e lp at tim es. A . WT. H ow succeeds G . F. Jones-W illiam s in the secretaryship o f the club.