Cricket 1913

J an . 18, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 7 the whole ship aw ake, and I regret to sa y th a t among 1 their num ber were tw o members of th e Au stralian E leven . O th er inciden ts during the trip from V an -1 couver served to m ake ev e ry true A u stra lian on ! board feel ashamed. . . . My sym p ath ies in the m a tter are ch iefly w ith S yd G regory, th an whom a b ette r b eh a ved and more unassum ing gentlem an cou ld not be found. . . . On several occasions when th e y were b etrayin g their lack of good man­ ners at th e dinner-table, he rose and left the table before finishing his m eal.” I n view of Mr. C rouch ’s statem en t, one cannot b elieve th a t the m isbehaviou r on ly began w ith the Am erican tou r, for he says d istin ctly th a t it was v e ry m arked in E ngland , and of course he did not go to Am erica. A censure w ill h a rd ly m eet th e case. W hoever the tw o offenders m a y be, th e y can scarcely be regarded in fu tu re as fit and proper persons to represent either A u stra lia or th eir S tate in th e cricket field. A n absurd sto ry w as circu lated— I th in k it was in an A u stra lian paper I saw it, b u t am not sure— th a t John M cL aren ’s lack of op po rtun ity during the tou r w as due to th e fa ct th a t he and his cap ta in had h ad a difference of opinion on th e ou tw ard vo ya g e. I p u t no fa ith in it, for it w en t again st a ll I h a ve ever heard of G rego ry— a sportsm an and a good | fellow , ev e ry inch of him ! T h is is w h a t he to ld a S y d n e y D a ily Telegraph in terview er : “ O u r fa st bow ler, M cLaren , never had ' a chance, b u t he to o k it in a sportsm an like w a y , and his a ttitu d e earned him a lot o f adm iration .” I feel sure th a t th is represents b ette r th e relation s of the tw o men than th e canard referred to above. G regory spoke a good w ord for the Queensland m an as an out-field. “ H e is not a Ran sford , b u t he misses nothing and covers a lot of groun d .” One of the finest men in th e position A u stra lia has ev er had, he added. It is a h igh compliment to a n y man to begin comparing him w ith Vernon R ansford as a field, even if the comparison is to his d isadvan tage. I t is now certain th a t a benefit m atch for V icto r Irum per w ill be p layed in S ydn e y abou t th e end of J an u a ry— possibly th e A u stra lian Team v . T h e R est, bu t more p rob ab ly N ew South W ales v. T h e R est of A u stralia. E v e r y one seems en thusiastic abou t the idea. M. A . N oble, C lem ent H ill, W arw ick Arm strong, J. N. C raw ford, V ernon R ansford , S yd G regory, H anson Carter, and G. M. E v a n , the d epu ty chairm an o f th e Sou th A u stra lia C .A ., are among those who h a v e expressed them selves w a rm ly abou t i t ; and the B oard of Con trol is understood to be qu ite favou rable. A w r it e r in th e S ydn e y Daily Telegraph sa ys th at th e three greatest batsm en th e world has seen were D r. G race, W . L . Murdoch, and V icto r Trumper. B u t th is w o n ’t qu ite do. G reat batsm an as Murdoch was, great figh ter when a ll was going ill, I cannot see his claim to be put above the Jam of N aw anagar, Charles F ry , A . C. M acLaren, Tom H a yw ard , John Hobbs, R . E . Foster, W arren B ard s­ ley, A rth u r Sh rew sbu ry, W illiam Gunn, Clement H ill, John T y ld e sley— b u t a number of others, | English and Australian , m ight be named. W illiam L lo y d Murdoch w as v e r y great indeed ; he w as not facile princeps, or even primus inter pares. T r u m p e r , on th e oth er hand , m a y fa irly be allowed at his best a place in the v e ry front rank, thou gh below W . G . R an jitsin h ji m igh t be reckoned w ith them . A ll th ree, in th eir different w a ys, were m asters of m agic. T h e m agic was most apparen t in th e R a jp u t’s case, least so in the E n g lishm an ’s ; b u t a ll alike w ere men of genius. R an jitsin h ji and T rum per did th in gs th a t lesser men m igh t not v en tu re ; W . G . did sup erb ly w ell and w ith w onderfu l c e rta in ty and frequ en cy the th ings th a t lesser m en could do. O n D ecem ber 9 a Sou th Melbourne team left hom e for N ew Zealand. H a rry T r o tt w en t as cap ­ ta in , and th e oth er men are W . M ‘Cormack, W . J. S co tt, J. F . G iller, J. H. K y le , A . K en n y, T . Pu rv is, S. S ykes, H . K e lly , P en tland , D ea s and A . G ray , |A . C. F a c y , the ex-Tasm an ian fast bow ler, was among those unable to go. T h e team is a strong one, in- | eluding half-a-dozen m en who h a v e represented the S tate, and should giv e a good accoun t of itself even again st th e most pow erfu l sides m et. M a t c h e s for it h a v e been arranged as follow s : D ecem ber 18 and 19, a t M asterton (v, W airarapa) ; i 21 and 23, at B lenheim (v. Marlborough) ; 26, 27, and 28, at W ellington , v . W ellington P r o v in c e ; I31, J an u a ry 1 and 2, at Ch ristchu rch , v . C an terbu ry P r o v in c e ; 4, 6, and 7, at Dunedin, v . O tago P ro ­ vin ce ; 9 and 10, at A sh bu rton (v. Sou th C a n te rb u ry ); j 14, 15 and 16, at W ellington , v . W ellington W ed ­ n esd ay club s’ selected team ; 18 and 20, at P e to n e ; 21, 22 and 23, at W ellington , v . N o rth Island. T h e fixtu res given in b ra ck ets are con jectu ral, th e list I h ave seen furnishing on ly dates and places. A u ck lan d and H aw k e’s B a y , of th e five chief pro-