Cricket 1912

D ec . 14, 1912. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 589 T h e substantial am ou n t o f £1,364 was raised for the fam ous o ld A ustralian w ick et-keeper, J oh n M cC arthy B lackham , and £1,250 o f this has been sunk in an a nnu ity fo r him . Blackham shares w ith S yd n ey G regory a d istin ction w h ich n o other A u s­ tralian cricketer is ever likely to equal ; each visited this country w ith eigh t colonial team s, though betw een B lack ham ’s first visit an d his last (1878 and 1893) there was on ly a period o f fifteen years, w hile G regory w as first here in 1890— tw en ty-tw o years ago. A . C. Fao Y, the Tasm anian bow ler, now loca ted in M elbourne, h ad curious bow lin g figures for S ou th M elbourne v. Essenden on O ctob er 5. H e had 33 runs scored o ff him w ithout taking a w ic k e t ; then he suddenly d evelop ed deadliness, an d had five for 33, and he finished u p w ith 42 fo r 6. S. M cK en zie, a prom is­ ing L au n ceston player, has n ow gon e to M elbourne, join in g F a cy an d H . O. Sm ith, b o th p layers w hom the island State has m issed greatly. N orm an D od d s, w h o was th ou gh t likely to get a p lace in the 1909 A ustralian T eam , especially after a dashing 80 n o t o u t in one o f the trial m atches (playin g fo r the team , too ), is returning to th e gam e a fter an absence o f a cou ple o f seasons, an d should b e m ore than useful to th e side. T he dates suggested for th e V ictoria v. Tasm ania m atch at M elbourne are J a n u a ry 24, 25, and 27 ; b u t these are n o t settled, as the V ic­ toria C olts v . N .S .W . C olts’ gam e has been fixed up for the sam e days, and a clashing is con sidered undesirable. I f the | dates are adhered to, Tasm ania will on ly m eet V ictoria ’s second | team , as the latter S ta te’s cracks w ill be p layin g in S ydney, and | on the w hole it w ou ld seem th a t the Tasm anians w ou ld d o better to agree to an alteration. Perhaps, how ever, as th ey can never g et a full V ictoria n team to com e to the island— where crow ds m ig h t be exp ected to gather in ord er to see A rm strong, R an sford, a n d the rest— th ey con sider it a m atter o f indifference w h at sort o f a side th ey m eet in M elbourne T h e South A ustralia v. V ictoria m atches are fixed to start o n Jan u a ry 1 (M elbourne) and F eb ru a ry 28 (A delaide). Q ueens­ lan d an d V ictoria m eet at B risbane on Jan u ary 30, and the north ern S tate is tryin g to fix u p a gam e w ith V ictoria a t M el­ bourn e also. Q ueensland w ants to p lay fo r th e Sheffield Shield. If h om e and hom e gam es w ith V ictoria , as w ell as w ith N ew S ou th W ales, can be arranged, there will o n ly rem ain the diffi­ cu lty o f gettin g gam es w ith South A u stra lia ; bu t this will n o t easily be overcom e. O n S eptem ber 21 W illiam H enry J o y ce , aged 31, was | struck over the heart b y the ball w hilst bow lin g a t the nets on on e o f the S yd n ey grounds, an d died w ithin a few m inutes. T he Central C um berland C.C. (Parram atta) are getting u p a j subscription fo r their m em ber, G ervys H azlitt, in recognition o f her splendid bow lin g in the test m atch a t the O val. S ix ty m em bers were present on the Petersham C .C.’s grou n d , and 55 on th a t of P a d d in gton (w here N ob le was super­ intending m atters) fo r p ractice on Septem ber 21. It looks as th ou gh cricket w as h ea lth y en ou gh in S yd n ey, anyw ay,. W h a t gem s on e m ay m iss through the p erfu n ctory skimm ing th a t does d u ty fo r reading w ith so m an y people now adays ! I suppose a detailed report o f the m atch betw een the A ustralian team and the W in n ip eg X V . w ou ld n o t be ex a ctly every on e’s ch osen m ental p a b u lu m ; b u t if I had n ot read it throu gh I m igh t have m issed w hat follow s, and really I w ou ld n ot h ave m issed it for m uch. “ I n a d d ition to the disadvantage w hich th ey experienced from the w eather th e visitors w ere entertained to luncheon at the park b y the crick et association ! ” I t sounds like the sort o f lunch one w ou ld rather h ave been w ith o u t; b u t I d on ’t in the least believe th a t it was. T he sam e paper printed an alleged p h otograp h o f “ W h itb y ” (W h itty , one presum es, though it m igh t h ave been E m ery from |all one cou ld tell), “ A ustralia’s left-h an d bow ler— he has the j d istinction o f perform ing the H a t T rick tw ice in one T est M a tch .” [ A n d w e w ere all under the delusion that M atthew s was the hero o f that d ou b le feat ! Ex Canada aliquid semper novi. A l in e in the annual rep ort o f the W orcestershire C.C., ju st to hand, aroused hopes destined on ly to be dashed. “ S unday R even u e,” it read, and for the m om en t I h ad visions o f the clu b ’s having tapped som e new source o f profit. B u t the item s show ed that “ S unday ” was m erely an u n corrected printer’s error for “ S undry.” W o r c e s t e r s h i r e had 68 few er m em bers in 1912 than in 1911. T heir m em bership during the last thirteen years has fluctuated betw een 1,054 (1907) and 1,378 (1904), the years 1909, 1910, and 1911, as w ell as 1904, show ing over 1,300, w hile in 1903, 1905, 1908 and 1912 there w ere betw een 1,200 and 1,300, in 1901, 1902 and 1906 over 1,100 b u t under 1,200, an d o n ly in 1907 below 1,100. T h e issue o f Mayfair dated N ovem b er 20 included a coloured p ortrait supplem ent o f H .H . M aharaja Jam S ahib o f N aw anagar, “ H ead o f J ad eja Clan R a jp u ts,” w hich all collectors o f such m atters w ill be glad to possess. It is a h igh ly artistic prod u ction , though it d oes m ake th e erstw hile “ R a n ji ” look con siderably you n ger than he look ed w hen I last saw him in the pavilion at H ove. “ Junius J u n ior,” w h o w rites th e a ccom ­ panying biographical sketch, is p rob a b ly better u p in other m atters than in cricket. T h e great m an ’s first appearan ce in first-class cricket was certainly n o t in 1895 ; he g o t his blue at Cam bridge in 1893. “ In b oth 1896 an d 1910 he was ch am p ion batsm an for all E ngland, scoring 2,780 runs, w ith an average of 59-91,” says J. J . H is average in 1896 (aggregate correctly given) was 57-91, an d he w as n ot in E ngland a t all in 1910. P rob a b ly 1900 is m e a n t; bu t these things are o f little con se­ quence. I t is the portra it enthusiasts will w a n t ; th ey cann ot easily be told anything new (unless untrue) a bou t R a n ji’s career. A p r o f e s s io n a l cricketer w h om I know to be thoughtful b eyon d the ordinary, an d w hose op inions I respect, w rote to m e som e tim e ago a bou t the rem arks o f “ T h e Chiel ” on groundsm en and their benefits. I h ad n ot in ten d ed to h old over his letter bo long. This is w hat he says : “ B enefits are n o t as a rule given out o f any k in d ly feeling tow ards the pro. or groundsm an ; th ey are sim ply a b ait to entice a better m an than th e clu b co u ld oth er­ wise get at the regular wages it offers. T h e m an thus obtained takes the risk. A £10 or £20 benefit d oes n ot m ean th a t the club loses that am ount. B enefits are, in a sense, necessary evils to the m en w h o take them . . . . M en w h o lo o k u p on the pro. o r groundsm an as a bow ling m achine, valet, eto., ought to ! pay fo r the services they exp ect. Som etim es they d o ; quite as often th ey d o n ’t. T h e idea o f a su bscrip tion list is all very w e ll; |bu t such a list w ou ld really m ean calling u p on the m an y to p a y ! for the special services w hich o n ly the few d em an d .” There seems sound sense in this. I h a v e often spok en in these colum ns o f the undeserved ob scu rity in w hich co u n ty cricket outside the first-class cham - j pionship seem s to languish. “ B arnes ? oh , yes, p lays for one o f the m in or counties, d oesn ’t he ? ” says the m an in the street, i N otts and Y orkshire, Surrey and Sussex, these are in his m in d j distin ct entities, leading actors o f the d ra m a ; b u t the second- class sides are m ere m em bers o f the crow d , supers o n the cricket stage, w h om to distinguish one from another w ou ld be (even if j possible) w asted tim e. D orset or D urham , Staffordshire or Suffolk, C am bridgeshire or Cornw all— w h at is it to him ? Thus he m isses m uch o f real interest. B etw een the w eaker first-class counties and the stronger second-class ones there is on ly a I difference o f nam e and (in som e slight degree) o f organisation.