Cricket 1913

J an . 18, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 9 tia l b alance in hand, though th e b alance has been reduced. B u t, of course, th e expenses are com para­ tiv e ly small. A to ta l of £358 from subscriptions would not be much for a first-class coun ty ; b u t pay- j m ents of £101 for ground expenses and £270 for m atch expenses are mere trifles to th e sums thus disbursed b y even th e least w e a lth y of the sixteen. Th e cou n ty side as at present con stitu ted strikes one as being v e ry n early first-class in stren gth ; C. H. T itchm arsh ough t to be good enough for an y side, and few counties w ou ld refuse old George B u rto n ’s capable son ; bu t I don ’t fa n cy H erts h a ve any am bition for promotion. S u f f o l k bu cked up am azin gly in 1912. Sub ­ scription s and donations were o ver £100 in excess of the figure of a y e a r earlier, which speaks well for the en ergy and ta c t of P. P. Cornell, th e hon. sec. G ate-m on ey am ounted to £16 12s. ! Second-class cricket at least has n o t y e t come w ith in th e danger- zone of deterioration in to a mere pub lic en terta in ­ ment. Y o u cannot en tertain a pub lic wh ich per­ sisten tly sta y s aw ay . W ell, em p ty benches are not cheerful, it m a y be ; b u t em p ty benches are better th an the mob dom ination of foul-mouthed cads. I tru st th e d a y w ill never come when the mob rules our great cricket grounds ; b u t there h a ve been signs in abundance of late th a t th e mob th inks itself en titled to rule. I am afraid football has much to answer for in th is w a y. T h e people who hoot a man doing his best for his side are of I th e same ty p e— p rob ab ly th e y are th e same people | — as those who fling m ud and stones at referees. N e w S o u t h W a l e s w en t under in b o th m atches of their eastern tour. South A u stra lia b ea t them at Adelaide b y an innings and 53 runs, V icto ria at j Melbourne b y 6 w ickets. Sou th A u stra lia made 569— E . R . M ayne 124, L. W . Cham berlain 103, D. M. S teele 113 not out. Cham berlain has never made a cen tu ry before for th e S ta te, and Steele was a schoolboy a y ea r ago. The N .S .W . scores were : 276 and 240. A g ain st V icto ria th e y m ade 84 and 2 3 2 (J- C. B arnes 53), and th e “ cabbage-garden- ers replied w ith 181 (E. V . Carroll, 73) and 137 for 4. W h e r e were W ad d y , M acartney, Trumper, G regory, M innett, K ellew a y and B arbou r ? T h ey may all h a v e p layed , and some of them m a y have scored fa irly w ell a t Adelaid e ; bu t it is eviden t th at none of them ach ieved distinction a t Mel­ bourne. I should fa n c y the team sent east lacked most of these men, and w as chiefly m ade up of younger players. I t is tw e lv e yea rs since a double defeat on the eastern to u r chanced to th e m other State. Sheffield Shield m atch es started in 1892-3, and since then New Sou th W ales has alw ays p la yed th e other two great S ta tes aw a y on one tou r (though sometimes a test has intervened ), ex cep t in 1907-8 and 1910-1, when Adelaide w as not visited . I n the nineteen seasons thu s to be accoun ted for N .S .W . won both m atch es in 1895-6, ’96-7, ’99-1900, ’01-2, ’02-3, ’04-5, ’05-6, ’06-7 (six ou t of eight in succession here), and ’ 11-2 , won one and lost one in 1897-8, 1903-4, ’08-9, and ’09-10, and lost b o th in 1892-3, ’93-4, ’94-5, ’98-9, 1900-1, and ’ 12-3. O f the fo rty aw a y m atch es for th e Shield in the tw en ty-one years it has been p la y ed for (V icto ria being m et at Melbourne in th e tw o yea rs when there w as no A delaide m atch ), N .S .W . h a ve won 24, lost 16. C. J. E a d y is T a sm an ia ’s rep resen tative for 19 13 on th e B oard of Control. T h e island-state could h a ve no b ette r one. A fine sportsm an and a ; splendid cricketer, th e big Tasm an ian had v e ry rough lu ck in not g e ttin g a second chance in E n g ­ land, a fter a com p arative failu re (due in part to rheu ­ m atism affecting him) in 1896. H e has recen tly returned to th e gam e a fter a tem p o rary retirement •— not his first— and, thou gh a little of his pace has gone, he is still a good bow ler. It w ill p rob ab ly not be th e fau lt of th e selectors if he does not p la y for Tasm an ia th is season. W h il e on holid ay in B elgium a fter the close of th e A u stra lian s’ tou r in E ngand , W arren B ard sley h it up 134 at B russels for Under 30 v . O v er 30. C o n g r a t u l a t io n s to Mr. F . N. T u ff upon his m arriage a few weeks ago (to Miss Muriel M ay S m ith ); to th e Hon. C . N . B ru ce on a like h app y ev en t ; and to Mr. A . E . H ind on y e t another. U n til I saw in th e Sportsman th a t th e old U pp ingham ian had en tered th e sta te m atrim on ial I was q u ite unaware th a t his hom e w as now in W estern Au stralia. H e seems qu ite to h ave given up cricket. O n th eir w a y back from Am erica th e Au stralian s p la yed a m a tch at S u v a (Fiji), where in tim es past ! the Hon. J. S. U d a l did m uch to encourage the game. I fan cy it has gone b ack there of la te ; one rarely hears of F iji now adays, and I am q u ite ignorant w h a t bronze-skinned heroes, if an y, now hold the p laces of such men of th e past as K a d a v u L evu , T u i V an u a V ou , and R a tu Pope. I tru st I h ave th eir names correctly. T h e A u stra lian s made 141, and S u v a replied w ith 48. T h ere was no tim e for