Cricket 1912

592 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D e c . 14, 1912 :> C. G. M acartney h a d rou gh lu ck on his w a y h om e to S yd n ey in the Moldavia. B etw een C olom b o a n d F rem antle a thief got in to the lu ggage-room , cu t a hole in th e G ov em or-G en eral’s p o rt­ m an teau, a n d e x tra cted £100 w orth o f good s, th e principal item being a gold lo ck e t set w ith d iam on d s, presented to the great little m an b y H .H . the J am o f N aw anagar, in recognition o f his splendid battin g in 1912. T he Som erset Shilling F u n d has realised £4811 Is., and though M a jor G. H . B a d co ck has been ob lig ed to w ithdraw his offer to a ct as secretary and special organiser fo r a year w ith ou t rem unera­ tion , it is h op ed to p u t in to p ra ctice som e o f his ideas. H ampshire will la ck C aptain I v o B arrett and G. N . Bignell n ex t year ; b u t it is u n d erstood th a t M ajor J. G . G reig will be available. E . M . S p rot will cap tain again. A balance o f £193 has been red u ced to on e o f a little over £1 b y the w retch ed w eather o f 1912 ; b u t the cou n ty ’s prospects look brigh t enough, an d it has a rare w orker, w ith first-class business ca p a city , in its secretary, F . H. B acon. T o his efforts m u ch o f H am psh ire’s recen t prosp erity is due. T he W orcestersh ire C.C. has been cleared o f d e b t b y its generous guarantors ; b u t unless th e n um ber o f subscribers is substantially increased there seem s little ch an ce o f its co n ­ tin uance b e y o n d th e n e x t season or tw o. A ll friends o f the cou n ty will be glad to hear th at F red B ow ley has m ade a capital start a t Cape T ow n . H e p lays fo r the A lm a C.C. in the S enior C ham ­ pionship, and o n N ovem b er 2 and 9 he ran u p 155 v . Clarem ont. C autious un til he h ad passed the cen tu ry— v e ry cautious indeed betw een 90 and 100— he afterw ards sh ow ed som e splendid on- side p lay, takin g three 4 ’s and a 6 from fo u r successive balls. W . Carlsson, w h o m ad e 64, h elped h im to a d d 118 for the fifth w ick et, cu ttin g fin e ly ; for th e op p osin g side J . Carstens scored 152 in the first innings. S omerset , W orcestersh ire, D erbysh ire, N ortham ptonshire, Leicestershire, "Essex— all ha ve h a d grievous difficulties to co n ­ ten d w ith o f late ; an d w h eth er all w ill com e th rou gh safely in the lon g ru n it is^too early y e t to say. In fa ct, “ a h a p p y issue o u t o f all their afflictions ” is sca rcely toT>e loo k e d for, since nearly all h a ve h a d an existen ce o f struggling, and the best th at can be h op ed for in m ost cases is that th ey sh ou ld b e able to con tinu e the struggle. N one o f them w ill d rop ou t o f the lists in 1913, a n yw ay, th ou gh E ssex and Leicestershire ha ve h ad v e ry n arrow squeaks. T h e loss o f M r. C. E . G reen, the staun chest su p p orter the clu b has ever h ad , is a staggering one to E ssex, th ou gh the force o f it is som ew h at a bated b y his generous p artin g gift. B u t Mr. G reen’s criticism th a t co u n ty crick et n ow ad a ys is to o entirely a m on ey-m a k in g business reads qu eerly taken in the light o f m ost cou n ties’ balance-sheets. A m on ey -dropping business is surely nearer the m ark ! W hen three cou nties o u t o f sixteen are ob lig ed to hold m eetings to decide w hether it is p ossible fo r them to carry on, the m on ey-m a k in g elem en t is n o t to o apparent. B u t one sus­ pects th at Mr. Green m ean t the w ords in another sense— n ot so m u ch th at th e cou n ty clu bs w ere o u t to m ak e m on ey as th at the desire to m ak e m on ey ou t o f their crick et w as to o m arked in the cases o f the players, or som e o f them . T he professionals, it m u st be adm itted, ha ve every right to m ake m on ey ou t o f the gam e ; it is their living. T h e p ro-am a- teur is, I believe, a rarer b ird than he was. A m ateu rs’ expenses d o n o t bulk largely in m an y balance-sheets. M r . H . L ogan told the Leicestershire m eeting that he did n ot con sider it w orth w hile to carry on a cou n ty clu b at all unless the th in g co u ld b e don e p rop erly ; som e o f the talk a b ou t retren ch­ m ent, he evid en tly considers, is w ide o f the m ark. W ith this I agree, b u t w ith the p rov iso th a t a possible cu rtailm ent of the i fixture list in som e cases is a retren chm ent that m ig h t w ell be tried. P erh aps after all salvation m a y b e fou n d in a tw o division schem e, w h ich will enable th e p oorer cou nties to p lay few er gam es and y et ha ve a full card as fa r as their ow n d ivision is con cerned. M ore trouble fo r th e A ustralian B oa rd o f C on trol ! T he latest new s from d ow n un der is d istin ctly unpleasant. F ourteen A ustralian team s h ave visited this c o u n t y ; an d it w o u ld have been a m iracle— or rather a succession o f m iracles— if these tours had all been carried throu gh w ithout jars am on g the A ustralian players them selves and disputes betw een som e o f them and som e o f the m en th ey m et. B ut the special cablegram to the Daily Mail o f F rid a y last (presum ably from F ra n k Iredale) deals w ith som ething graver than these things an d such as these. G eorge C rouch, the B oard ’s representative, has rep orted to the B oa rd th a t “ the con d u ct o f certain unnam ed m em bers o f the team was so disgustingly b a d in E n glan d th a t the side as a w h ole w as socially ostracised, and even the non-offenders recognised the ju stice o f this trea t­ m en t.” T his is strong speaking. I h a ve m et Mr. C rouch , an d he im pressed m e as a level-headed and fa ir-m in ded m an , w h o oer- tain ly w ou ld n o t use such language as this w ith ou t ju st cause and du e reflection. D ou btless the w hole m atter will be thrashed ou t b y the B oard. I t is better to say n o m ore now , since the case m ay be regarded as sub judice ; b u t if I knew w h o th e alleged offenders w ere— one m igh t h a ia rd a guess a t the id en tity o f tw o or three o f th em — I w ou ld n ot m en tion their nam es a t this stage. I t is o n ly fair to say th a t no w hisper o f com p lain t has com e from the S tates o r C anada ; an d it is n ot un fair to suggest that am on g the “ non-offenders ” m ay safely be reckoned B ardsley, M acartney, Jennings, H a rlitt an d M innett, w h o d id n o t g o on the transatlantic trip, so that the m en to w h om the m anager refers w ou ld seem to h ave am en ded their w ays later. T he cablegram suggests th at “ the selectors o f fu tu re team s should be instructed to con sider oth er m atters besides m ere playing a b ility .” Still, playing a b ility m ust alw ays com e first. G eorge U ly e tt used to say th a t the Y ork sh ire C om m ittee kept h im in the team fo r his w h istlin g pow ers a n d his g o o d c o n d u c t ; b u t G eorge cou ld hit and b ow l and field a b it to o ! T he B oa rd w ill h ave n o pleasant task to carry through, fo r the alleged offenders are m en chosen b y their ow n selectors. T h e “ recalcitran t s ix ” (F .A .I.) are n o t m ix ed up in this im broglio, ---------------------— ---------------------------- Two New York Veterans. The double portrait which appears hereunder shows tw o of the oldest and keenest players in New York— men who have done much to keep the game alive in that city, too. I don’t know the exact age of eith er; but I know that both have been playing cricket in the States for nearly a quarter of a century or thereabouts, and before that both played in England. M. R . Cobb was educated at Sutton Valence Grammar School, whence also came D. W . Carr, the fam ous K ent googly man ; F. F. K elly learned the rudiments at St. Charles’s College, N otting H ill, where that big hitter, Sir Tim othy O’Brien, was also a scholar. In a recent number of C r ic k e t (April, 1911) there appeared an interview with Mr. K elly, and his career m ay therefore be dealt with more briefly here than that of his old com rade and brother-in-arms. A t first in Chicago, later in New Y ork, F. F. K elly has taken during tw enty-five years (1888 to 1912 inclusive) in the States well over 1,800 wickets at a cost of under 8 runs each— a really wonderful record. H e took 113 in 1891 and 109 in 1892 in Chicago, 101 in 1898 and 104 in 1904 in N ew York. I have n ot at present his figures for 1912 ; but in 1911 he was still going strongly, with 71 wickets at a trifle over 8 each for the N ew Y ork Veterans. Always better as bowler than batsman, he has always been, however, a hitter