Cricket 1913

J an . 18, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 5 No doub t there is som ething in them ; in the nature of th in gs an umpire is not infallible, and here and there one m a y possibly be found who is biassed or ignoran t. (B iassed and ignoran t persons m a y be found in other w alk s of life, b y the w ay.) On the whole, however, m ost of us believe th a t our umpires m ain tain a p r e tty high average of conscientiousness and a b ility , and th a t if th e y fall in bu lk at all below the A u stra lian standard it is on ly because we h ave necessarily so m any more of them th a t it is easier for an incom petent to squeeze in. W . A . J. W e s t has come in for it this tim e. The v ia ls of w rath are opened for him because he had the a u d a city to applaud the completion of H obb s’s 2,000 runs, h a vin g ju st before had th e tem erity to i giv e the Su rrey crack not ou t on a confident appeal for l.b.w . T h e tw o inciden ts had no necessary relation ; and b o th are com patib le w ith fair p la y on the um pire’s part. It wou ld not be w ise, I fan cy , for an y one, A u stra lian or Englishm an , to call W . A . J. “ ch e a t,” as a poor fellow now dead once called Charles B annerm an— qu ite w rongly, I am sure. The w h ite coat of W . A . J. W est covers a man who was in his d a y an am ateu r h ea v y-w eigh t boxer of no mean order ; and he m ight forget the w h ite coat in such a case, as a parson has been known to forget “ the cloth ” when tried b eyon d endurance. I f the men of a certain printing establishm en t aw ard a b elt— was it a b elt, or a k e ttle ?— to the man who perp etrates the most horrible bloomer of the year, I th in k th e y m ight fa irly consider the claim of him who caused me to sta te in our last issue th a t G erv y s H a z litt w as to be giv en a presenta­ tion in recogn ition of her fine bow ling in the test m atch at the O v a l ! S o u t h A f r ic a n papers sa y th a t L. A . Strieker, Gordon W h ite, and T . Cam pbell w ill p la y no more first-class cricket. M ’y e s ! N ot till n ex t time, th at is. E v e n th e p ain fu l memories o f such a w aterlogged season as th a t of 1912 in E n g lan d can be liv ed down in tim e. W h ite is a v e r y bu sy man, and th a t fa ct w ill p rob ab ly keep him ou t o f future team s fo r overseas ; bu t I shall be surprised if both he and S trieker do not p la y for S ou th A frica in 1913-4 again st the M.C.C. Team . I h e a r th a t there is a po ssib ility of y e t another Gunn representing N ottingham shire in the not too d istant future. A son of John of th a t ilk, a lad of sixteen or seven teen who has shown considerable prom ise, m ay be engaged on the ground staff at T ren t B ridge this year. A s John himself is only th irty -six— he m arried v e ry young, ev id en tly— we m a y y e t see fa th er and son p layin g in a coun ty team together, as W . G ., senior and junior, and R ichard and H a n y D a ft— there are several other instances— did. T h e proper application of law 45 has recently been in dispute in S ydn ey. Here are the fa cts of | the case. K o g a rah D istrict, in a m atch p la yed on tw o S atu rd a ys, to ta lled 125. B ex ley Ferndale replied w ith 127, and under the competition rules Iw ou ld h a ve been en titled to points for a first innings’ lead in the ev en t of th e second innings yield ing no result. K o g a ra h forced the pace, ran up 128 for 9, and declared. So far, all w as well. W hether the B e x le y batsm en in general p ractised d ilato ry ta ctics th e report I h a v e does not disclose ; b u t one, G . B rew er, considerably exceed ed the two m inutes allow ed him , and K o g a ra h appealed. T h e umpires g a v e B rew er ou t— wh ich was w rong— b u t allow ed the innings to be continued— also w rong. K o g a ra h p la y ed on under protest, and B e x le y won ou trigh t. The protest of K o g arah was considered b y th e com petition execu tiv e, who held the umpires righ t in g iv in g B rew er ou t (but this is not a correct in terp retation of the law ), but w rong in allow ing the m atch to go on (this is cor- 1rect), and aw arded K o g a ra h th e points. B r e w e r ’ s name appears on th e score-sheet thu s : “ G . B rew er, declared ou t, o .” Th is seems to be th e on ly m ethod of treating the m a tter if th e m atch w as to go on ; b u t it was again st law 45 th a t it should h a v e been allow ed to go on a t all. H e r e is another dubious question from Au stralia. F ran k A llan , of the F irst A u stra lian Team , pro­ pounds it as a conundrum . H e w as b a ttin g at one end. T h e bow ler ran up to the w ick e t and delivered th e ball, which, slipping ou t of h is hand, went b etw een m id-on and leg. A llan called his partner. T h e y ran. A w ran gle ensued. A lla n contended th a t his side w as en titled to a run. B u t w h at was th e run, and how w as it to be scored ? A w i d e ? No, th e ob jectors said, it had not been called. A u stra lian opinion holds th a t it could not be a w ide because it had not passed the 1 J> 1 CHARD D A FT’S NOTTINGHAM SHIRE M ARL.— Particulars, apply, \ Radcliffc-on-Trcnt, Notts.— (A d v t .)