Cricket 1912

D ec . 14, 1912. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 591 w ickets. W h en one analyses this op in ion , h ow ever, it does not seem to am ou n t to m uch . I t w ou ld be n o m ore absurd, surely, fo r the tw o sides to be there in th e sam e season than that one of th em sh ou ld visit South A frica is on e season and the other in the n ex t ? B ut it will be a fine thing fo r S outh A frica n crick et if turf p itch es can be p rov id ed in the c o u n t r y ; an d if, as Mr. L a cey w ou ld seem to hint, th e possibilities o f a n oth er Triangular T ournam en t in E n glan d are n ot so sm all as h ad been generally | supposed, n o on e will b e better pleased than the present writer, w h o has alw ays been enthusiastic a b ou t Sir A b e B ailey’s great schem e— great in spite o f its adm itted defects. -------------------------_ '■* '«• ; M b. B en T rovato has been con tributing to the Australasian. W e have used scissors and paste-pot. H ere is the fam ous narra- i to r’s little’ e ffo r t : “ W ilkins is a m an o f m iddle age, and has n ot played cricket since he was a b o y , but as he was passing som e cricketers a t p ra ctice the other d a y he had on e try w ith the ball, bow led w ith a perfect length, and scattered the stum ps. W ilkins is n ow in great dem an d as a bow ler b y the clubs in his ow n and a d join in g suburbs. C lub representatives call on him at his p lace o f business, plead w ith him on the train, and knock a t his fron t d oor, and keep him there till his dinner is cold. W hen appeals are m ade to W ilkins to perform in the interests o f cricket he is very m uch inclined to com p ly. B u t there is a barrier in the w ay. W ilkins has often since that even tfu l afternoon tried in secrecy to bow l that identical ball, bu t he cann ot even bow l straight. H is w ife fou n d him bow lin g at the clothes prop on w ashing-day. T he w ashing was still on the line. ‘ T h ey tell I m e I ’m a natural b ow ler,’ he explained. ‘ W illiam W ilkin s,’ the I w ife said w ith great d ign ity, ‘ y ou m ay be a natural bow ler, but j w hether you are or n ot, there’s n ot the slightest d ou b t that you j are a natural fool ! ’ ” W hen the H on. Iv o B ligh’s E nglish T eam was in A ustralia n early th irty years ago, tw o m atches were w on and tw o lost b y it against A ustralia. A n attem pt was m ade to arrange a deciding [ m atch . I t failed, and instead the Englishm en m et V ictoria. T h ey had regarded the w ork o f the tour as over, and had been tak in g m atters^easily, and th ey w ere rather b ad ly beaten— one m ight say very b ad ly, fo r V ictoria m ade 284 (M idw inter 92 n ot | ou t) to E ngland’s 55 and 156 (A . G. Steel 76). A t the farew ell dinner after the m atch, W . H . C ooper, the V ictorian b ig break bow ler, crow ed very nicely indeed. “ H e certainly felt p rou d o f having p ick ed the X I . and being elected its captain. . . . I t w ou ld be ridiculous to say that the [ m atch represented the strength o f the tw o team s. In his opinion j if V ictoria p layed her best team against E ngland in a long series I o f m atches the results w ou ld be very even ly balanced, though V ictoria m ight have one m atch to the good in the long ru n .” T hat ’ s p retty w ell, I think, though there was excuse fo r C ooper in the natural elation o f victory. B u t Tasm ania has never w on a m atch against an English team ; indeed, though I should be loth to lay too m uch stress u pon the fa ct, Tasm ania has n ot been in the h abit o f w inning m atches at all, an occasional success against V ictoria, never fu lly represented, being all she can boast. Y e t at the annual general m eeting o f the Tasm anian C.A . the chairm an (the H on . G. P . F itzgerald) said that “ if th ey took th e average first grade X I . o f Tasm ania, he considered it w ou ld be on a par w ith the average English cou n ty ” ! I f b y this is m eant that T asm ania’s representative eleven is a b ou t cou n ty strength, I d o n ’t think the verdict is far w rong. B u t if it m eans th a t the first grade Tasm anian club— and “ first-grade ” is in A ustralia a term applied to certain clubs, n ever to m y know ledge to state team s— are cou n ty strength, it is very far astray indeed. H obart has for som e years had five first grade clubs— N orth, JSouth, E ast, and W est H ob art, and N ew T o w n ; L aunceston has j fou r— N orth, South, E ast, and W est L aunceston. F rom these 1nine clubs the Tasm anian X I . fo r any m atch w ou ld be chosen. Som e m ight have tw o, three, or fou r representatives, som e none at all. T he very strongest o f them w ou ld certainly be n o m atch for even a m inor cou n ty side, I should say. T asmania m eets V ictoria at M elbourne and N ew S outh W ales at H obart this season. It w ould be a g o o d thing if the state cou ld fix up occasional m atches w ith S outh A ustralia and Queens­ land, especially w ith those sides playing full strength. T he island state w ou ld alw ays be willing to m eet the best team N ew South W ales or V ictoria cou ld p u t in the field ; but u n lu ck ily this seems im possible to bring about. E rnest V ogler has been engaged for next season b y the |L lanelly C.C., and is already in residence in South W ales. W hile the last num ber o f C ricket was goin g to press— and to o late to m ake even a footn ote on its first page— I received a letter from him , telling m e o f his change o f address and asking fo r specim en copies to hand round in his new abiding-place. This form o f help is one that every ed itor appreciates, and V ogler’s sojou rn in South W ales should be a g o o d thing fo r C ricket as w ell as for cricket there. If he stays on , he will be qualified for C arm arthen­ shire in 1915. Perhaps the cou n ty will try its luek again in the M inor C ounties C ham pionship then. M eanwhile H acker— w ho som e years a go p lay ed on ce or tw ice for G loucestershire— is leaving G lam organ, fo r w hose team he has done fine bow ling w ork during the last three seasons. In 1910 he took over 50 w ickets a t a b ou t 10 runs each, in 1911 a few m ore at 12-65 each. I have n o t y e t seen the G lam organ averages for the last season, bu t I k n ow that he again d id well. T he Currie C up m atches in South A frica, to be p layed under a different system from o f old, have been arranged as follow s :—- D ec. 14 and 16— Orange F ree State v. T ransvaal, a t B loem ­ fontein. t D ec. 16 and 17— N atal v. E astern P rovin ce, at D urban. |D ec. 26 and 28— W estern P rovin ce v. T ransvaal, a t C ape T ow n. D ec. 26 and 28— E astern P rovin ce v . Orange F ree S tate, at P ort E lizabeth. Jan. 1 and 2— Transvaal v. N atal, at Johannesburg. Jan. 1 and 2— W estern P rovin ce v. O range F ree State, at Cape T ow n. Jan. 4 and 6 (or 6 and 7)— Orange F ree State v. N atal, a t B loem ­ fontein. M arch 22 and 24— Transvaal v. E astern P rovin ce, a t Johannes­ burg. M arch 24 and 25— N atal v. W estern P rovin ce, at D urban. M arch 29 and 31— E astern P rovin ce v . W estern P rovin ce, at P o rt E lizabeth. E ach o f the five team s entered will thus p lay fou r m atches, tw o a t hom e and tw o aw ay. T hou gh on ly tw o days are set dow n for the gam es, it is un derstood th at a third will be utilised if necessary. N atal and the Transvaal have already app roved o f I the schem e, and the other three centres con cerned have been notified. T he B order and G riqualand W est will n ot com pete this season, and it was hardly exp ected th at R h odesia or the I South-W estern D istrict w ou ld enter the lists. F rom “ The W onderful M agazine ” o f Septem ber, 1765 : I “ A few days ago, a cricket m atch was p layed at U pham , H ants, j b y eleven m arried against eleven m aiden w om en, fo r a large plum b cake, a barrel o f ale, and regale o f tea, w hich was w on b y the latter. A fter the diversion, the com p a n y m et and drank tea, and spent the evening together, and con clu d ed it w ith a ball.” N o actual m ention o f the sterner sex, it will be observed ! B eer one hundred and fifty years o r so ago d id n o t b y any m eans necessarily infer the presence o f m en. B u t the ball w ould have been a trifle slow w ithout them , I should say.