Cricket 1912

690 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D ec . 14, 1912. S taffordshire, D u rham , N orfolk , a n d H erts cotild on recent form h old their ow n in a com p e titio n w ith D erbysh ire, Leicestershire, W orcestersh ire, S om erset, and G loucestershire, I believe. I t is fo r Staffordshire that B arnes plays, o f course, and his b ow lin g record fo r th a t co u n ty is sim p ly w onderful. T he figures th a t follow m a y be taken as official, fo r th ey w ere supplied to m e b y M r. W . C. H a n cock , the Staffordshire H on . Sec. Year. O. M. R. W. A. 1904 269 62 679 66 10-28 1905 193 44 508 44 11-54 1906 373 100 932 119 7-83 1907 246 82 505 79 6-39 1908 397 139 817 92 8-88 1909 224 73 515 76 6-77 1910 363 99 879 90 9-76 1911 337 113 750 104 7-21 1912 191 75 376 70 5-37 2,593 787 5,961 740 8-05 ______ A t the annual d in n er o f the G ran th am C .C ., th e M ayor o f the b orou g h , Sir Charles G . E . W e lb y , B art., in his response to the toast o f the M ayor and C orp oration , referred to a recent H ouse o f C om m ons episode, a n d suggested, b y w a y o f crick et parallel, that if the G ran th am ca p ta in sh ou ld happen in his first m atch n ext season to be b ow led b y the first ball o f the over, he m ight im m ed ia tely m ove th a t th e d eliv ery b e rescinded, and that, notw ith stan din g an yth in g to the con tra ry in the rules o f cricket, the secon d ball o f the o v e r should be con sidered the fir s t ! T h e chairm an a t the sam e fu n ction , Mr. T . S. P earson-G regory (b etter k now n to cricketers as T. S. P earson), in the cou rse o f an j interesting speech, tou ch ed u p on his ow n crick et rem iniscences, and m en tion ed th at he h a d p lay ed in his tim e fo r M iddlesex, i Leicestershire, H un tingdonshire, B edfordsh ire, an d B u ckin gh am ­ shire, fo r the G entlem en o f W arw ickshire an d the G entlem en o f Cheshire, an d h ad been asked to p la y fo r th e G en tlem en o f N otts and th e G entlem en o f Y ork sh ire ! Is this n o t a record , asks m y L incolnshire correspon den t ? I sh otjld say it is. I know o f n oth in g to b ea t it. A W a r­ w ickshire professional, n ow deceased, used to b oa st o f having p layed fo r n early h alf the cou nties in E n gla n d an d W ales ; but his u tterances had alw ays to be taken cum grano salts. I believe C. C. M o tt p lay ed fo r N orth a n ts, Staffordshire, W arw ickshire and D enbighshire (besides w ritin g a ra cin g n ov el in colla boration , if th at is to th e p oin t) ; a n d quite a n um ber o f players— (the nam es o f A . P . L u cas, the R ev . P . N . B ird, F rank Sugg, A . K . W atson , G . Strachan, Jam es S ou th erton , L ieu t.-C olon el W . C. H ed ley, L o rd D a lm en y, T . A . H igson , A . B lackm an , T hom as B ow ley, J osep h P otter, C. E . G reen, G . B . N ichols, S id n ey Barnes, and E . J . D iv er occu r to m e a t th e m om en t, b u t o f cou rse this is n ot a com p lete list)— h a ve represented three or m ore. C o n c e r n in g the sam e W arw ickshire professional referred [ to a b ov e I heard lately a v e ry ch aracteristic story. A short tim e I before his benefit m atch he called on e w retch ed even ing u p on the cou n ty secretary, pleaded pennilessness, turn in g o u t his pockets to show th at he spok e sooth , an d b egged fo r an ad van ce. H e g ot som ething, a n d m ade fo r the d oor. “ W h y , S o-an d-so, y o u ’re in you r slippers— an d o n a n ight like this ! ” rem arked the secretary. S o-an d-so m um bled som e evasive rep ly, a n d show ed great eagerness to be gon e. B u t his in terlocu tor’s suspicions w ere aroused, and he insisted on goin g to th e d o o r w ith this careless visitor. N ot so careless, a fter a l l ! O utside w a ited a hansom . T he penniless gen tlem an h ad d riven com fo rta b ly from his com forta ble hotel, an d h ad kept the ca b b y w aitin g to drive him com fo rta b ly b ack ! A t the annual general m eeting o f the L incolnshire C.C., Mr. N . C. C ockburn w as elected P resident, and C aptain A . E. W eigall, M .P ., V ice-P resid en t for the ensuing year, and the officers (including, o f course, the hon. sec. an d the captain, S. T. W atkin s an d W . E . T h om p son ) w ere re-elected. In finishing eleventh am on g tw en ty com p etitors in the M inor C ounties’ C ham pionship, L incolnshire d id b y n o m eans b ad ly in 1912. It is h op ed to p la y m atches w ith five cou n ties (instead o f fou r) in 1913, and th a t K en t II. an d Suffolk will be m et. T h e L incolnshire C om m ittee sh ou ld be a ca p able b od y. It d oes n ot la ck practical cricketers, as w itness the nam es o f C. L. P rior and G . F. W ells-C ole (L in coln ), E. T . C ooke (S palding), A . E . G ibson (S leaford), an d R . E . H em in gw ay (Skegness). C o r n w a l l had in 1912 the best season it had ever h ad ; bu t vaun tin g am bition has n o t stirred the C ornubians to a ttem p t an increased program m e or to m eet stronger op p on en ts, an d d o u b t­ less in this th ey are wise. A special a ttem p t is to b e m ad e, h ow ­ ever, to arouse keener interest th rou gh ou t the D u ch y in the cou n ty club. T h e captain, H . Tresaw na, said at the m eeting th a t the team ’s bow ling h ad been g o o d , bu t the b a ttin g and fielding w eak. W h itin g u n d ou b ted ly d id b etter w ork w ith the ball than he had ever done before. T here used to be a legen d on D a rtm oor than Cornishm en had tails. C ertainly the Cornish eleven has a tail— a long, b u t n o t a strong one. B u t in the captain him self, J . C. and W . N . B ickford -Sm ith , and V ib a rt it possesses fou r v e ry useful rungetters ; an d if on ly D r. W . S. T resaw na cou ld leave his M onm outhshire p ra ctice to assist m ore freq u en tly the team w ou ld be greatly strengthened. C o n g r a t u l a t io n s to R o g e r H artigan, o f the 1909 A ustralian T eam , on the birth o f a son an d heir. T h e p rou d paternal parent says he hopes the b o y will p la y for A ustralia som e d a y, an d do better than his fath er did. B u t H artigan m ad e a cen tu ry in his first test— g o o d enough, surely ? I t is stated that n ext season will be S chofield H a igli’s last in the Y ork sh ire team , fo r in 1914 he takes u p an ap p oin tm en t as coa ch a t W in ch ester College. W h e n the 1912 season began the H am pshire C.C. h a d a balance in h a n d o f £193 od d . A t the en d o f the summ er— on ly it w asn’t a summ er, really— this h ad been red u ced to £1 5s. 6d. T h e best gate was taken w hen K e n t p lay ed at S ou th am p ton in W h it-w eek— £345. T h e m atches fo r the S ou th am p ton W eek n e x t season are those v. N otts and Surrey. A t the ripe age o f 86 M r. T hom as M itchell, fath er o f F rank M itchell, the S ou th A frican skipper, passed aw ay at M alton last |m on th . T h e funeral took p lace on th e 14th u lt., w ith every possible m ark o f respect and esteem . T o live fo r lon g b e y o n d the a llotted span an d to die lov e d and h on ou red is a g o o d fate, assuredly. M a y it be that o f the w orth y son o f his w orth y fa th er ! M r. F . E . L a c e y had som ething to say a b ou t the T riangular T ou rn am en t a t the Cross A rrow s C .C .’s dinner in the p a v ilion at L o rd ’ s o n N ovem b er 15. Ifjw e had h ad a n yth in g like a norm al season, the M .C.C. secretary holds, the tou rn am en t w ou ld h ave been a big success, n ot on ly financially, bu t in other respects, despite w h at h ad been w ritten to the con tra ry in so m a n y o f the new spapers. F in e w eather w ould, n o d ou b t, ha ve m ade a trem endous difference. P ossib ly hard w ickets m igh t h a ve rendered S outh A frica a really form id ab le side. C ertainly th e soft pitches did n o t suit M itch ell’s m en. B u t the b iggest d raw back to the triangular schem e is the im p ractica b ility o f m aking it really triangular. G eneral op in ion in b oth A ustralia and S ou th A frica is th a t there w ou ld be n o chance o f its p a yin g in either co u n try ; the p op u lation s are n o t b ig enough. S y d n e y G r e g o r y told an interview er in A m erica th a t it w ou ld be absurd fo r E ngland an d A ustralia to visit South A frica togeth er in ord er to p la y for the w orld ’s ch am pionship on m atting