Cricket 1913

126 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pril 26, 1913. C r icke t; A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 125, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. S A T U R D A Y , A P R I L 26 , 1913 . Letters for the Editor should be addressed to M b . J. N . P entelow , Malvern, Steyning, Sussex. Advertisements, Subscriptions, &c., should be sent to : The Manager of C k ic k e t , 125 , Strand, W.C. The following are the subscription rates :— United Kingdom. Abroad. One Year ... ... ... 6s. 3 d. ... 7 s. 6d. The 24 Summer Numbers 5 s. Od. ... 6s. Od. The 6 Winter Numters ... Is. 3 d. ... Is. 6d. ipavtUon <3ossip. Of your Chloes you poets may sing, And you lovers of Delia may sigh, All the hills with “ Orynthia ! " may ring, An you list for your Capulet die, Carve your Rosalind’s name in the thicket, With your Thisbe converse through the w a ll; But I'll sing the due praise of Miss Wicket, Of Miss Wicket, the fairest of all. E. 13 . V. C h ristia n . T w o most interesting contributions to the crick et d is­ cussion h ave la tely appeared in the D a ily M a il. M r. R . E . F o ste r con sid ers that it is o n ly first-class crick et w h ich is out o f jo in t, a n d th at because it h as tended to b ecom e so m uch m ore a business than a gam e. ‘ 1 C rick et in E n glan d to-day gen erally is ju st as go o d as ever it was, ju s t as sporting, just as keen, ju st as p leasan t to p la y ,” h e s a y s ; “ and there m ay be a real d an ger in tam pering w ith th e custom s in w h ich th e public are to-day p laying o u r n ation al g am e .” R . E.-— so one alw ays thinks of him— suggests that the gam e m ight b e m ade m ore a ttractive by th e adoption o f M r. A . G . S te e l’s proposed lbw rule as fa r a s b a lls p itch ­ in g to the off o r upon the w ick et are con cern ed, but d ep re­ ca te s the idea o f in clu d in g the le g side, as to d o so w ould m ean cram p in g the batsm an unduly and tending to en co u ra ge leg-b reak bow lin g w ith most o f th e fieldsmen m assed to the on— anyth in g but lik e ly to qu icken up the gam e. H e also suggests the use o f a sm aller b a ll, o f the sam e w eigh t as at present, but, bein g sm aller, easier for th e fieldsm en to grasp , and cap ab le o f b ein g returned m o re q u ick ly, w h ile also g iv in g the bow ler a chan ce to g e t on m ore spin a n d break. N o doub t, as h e says, th is suggestion w ill be criticised se v erely ; but there seem s to be a go od deal in it-— m uch m ore than in the schem e fo r ad d in g runs to th e ou t sid e ’s sco re on accou n t o f maiden o v e rs, anyway. M r . R . H . M a l l e t t , who p reced ed D r. J. E arl N o r­ m an in the secretarysh ip o f the M in or C o u n tie s’ C .A ., and lab ou red hard in th eir cause, also considers th at there is n oth in g wrong w ith the gam e gen erally, bu t is sure that th ere is m uch w rong with cou nty crick et. H e te lls o f th e birth and death o f the C ou n ty C rick e t C ou n cil (1889- 18 9 0 ); and it is very evident th at the in justice done the M in o r C ou n ties then b y th e summ ary destruction o f the C o u n cil— due en tirely to the unw illingness o f the first- c la ss sh ires to d ea l with the schem e put forw ard bv the second-class fo r prom otion and relegation— still rem ains a bitter memory to him , a fa c t w h ich cann ot b e w ondered at. T h e recent action of the eleven he stigm atises as em phatically not cricket. “ So the on ly con structive effort in county cricket w as d efeated in 1890 by a tr ic k ,” he says, “ and in 19 13 a m ovem ent tow ards a con structive p olicy is in danger of bein g d efeated by w h at amounts to a breach o f faith and b y an exhibition of what ap p ears to be im b ecile arrogance. T h a t is the crisis in county cric k e t.” T h ese are strong w o rd s; but it is good th a t a man sh ould sp eak as he feels, and M r. M a lle tt feels strongly. H e suggests th at a sp ecial comm ittee, com posed o f L o rd H arris (Chairm an), D r. W . G . G race, M r. John Shuter, M r. E . R o p er, and M r. H . K . F oster, sh ou ld be em ­ pow ered to ad ju st difference and put m atters on a p roper basis. I th in k that the addition to th is su ggested com ­ m ittee of M r. M a lle tt him self, o r D r. E a rl N orm an , as representing the M inor C ou n ties, w o uld m ake it a b o d y in which all of us w ould have m easureless confidence. N o r t h a m p t o n s h i r e had a nett lo ss of ,£ 4 6 6 on last y e a r’s w o rk in g ; and o n the credit side o f th eir b alan ce- sheet w ere in clu ded sp ecial donations of ^ 4 8 0 (£ 3 0 0 from th eir President, L o rd L ilfo rd ), so th at m atters w ere even worse than th ey seem at first sight. L ia b ilitie s are n early £ 1 ,7 0 0 in excess o f assets. G ate-m on ey, £ 9 6 2 1 5 s .; county m atch expenses, .£ 1 ,5 9 2 : th ese are item s that give food for thought. I h a ve fo r a lo n g tim e believed , and I now b elieve more firm ly than ever, th at not to gate-m oney, but to m em bership, must cou n ty c lu b s lo o k chiefly in future. L e t all w h o rea lly c a re abou t the gam e rally to the standard o f th eir clu b , and m an y o f the present difficulties w o uld disappear. O n e of Staffo rd sh ire’s cra ck batsm en is n ow getting a Surrey qualification. I do not m ean to im p ly th at he w ill necessarily p lay fo r Surrey when q u a lifie d ; he h o p es to ap p ear in some of his native co u n ty’s m atches th is season, and doubtless w ill con tinue to d o so as long as possible, though the fo rce o f circum stances in the shape o f work m akes regu lar county crick et out of the question fo r him . E . H . B o u r n e is th e cricketer to whom I refer. On January 1st he becam e Secretary to the R eigate and R e d - h ill E d ucation Comm ittee, having previou sly h e ld an appointm ent under the D ew sbury sch o la stic authorities. It is lik ely that he m ay turn out fo r th at old -estab lish ed and highly esteemed clu b , R eiga te P riory, this season. S t a f f o r d s h ir e has num bered in her ranks a good m any excellen t run-getters during the last ten y e a rs o r s o ; but it is doub tful whether the county has had a m uch finer batsman th at Bourne, w ho w ould u ndoubtedly h ave done even better than he has if he cou ld h ave p layed regu larly. A s it is, his record from 1904 to 19 12 (as given in IV isd e n ; whether a ll m atches a re in clu ded I am not quite sure) is : 69 innings, 6 not outs, 1,72 3 runs, average 27.34. H is highest score so fa r is 165 v. G lam organ at S toke in 19 11. T hf , M irror o f T rin id ad su ggests th at the A ustralian team , which sh ou ld soon b e on its w a y to V a n co u v er, sh ould be induced to visit the W est In d ies; and th e Globe of B arbad os supports the suggestion strongly. T h e re is talk of guaran tee fun ds, and o f en list’ng the g o o d offices