Cricket 1913

M ay 3, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 153 denied by the selectors the opportunity of seeing our two greatest natural cricketers. A fter T ap sco tt’s fireworks we enjoyed the sedateness of Quaife, and yet the W arw ickshire professional did not craw l a lo n g ; he plied his blade to the extent of 62 in 80 m inutes, which must be accounted pretty frisky for him . W . V . L in g , a pupil of Q u aife’s, was responsible for 69 ; but he suffered by comparison w ith Lance Tapscott and Q uaife, as did the other Tapscott (L. E .). The tail lived up to latter-day G riqua traditions, the last six w ickets fad in g aw ay for an addition of 53 runs. Had Q u aife played for the T ransvaal, Free State, or Natal, m ethinks his county qualification for W arw ickshire this season w ould have been end an gered; but a literal inter­ pretation o f the rules seem s to allow a county cricketer to play for G riqualand W est, for the Eastern Province, for the Western Province, or for the Border, since it would be im­ possible to describe any of these centres as either a British Colony, Dependency, or State (vide Rule 1). W h y is this, Mr. Editor, please?* In the last innin gs the G riquas required 75 to w in, and obtained the runs, as stated, for the loss of two w ickets. In order not to disappoint the holiday crowd (the largest w e have had this season) the innin gs w as continued until it reached 286 for 9. Quaife and L in g carried their scores to 41 and 32 resp ectively; L . E . T apscott made 73, C . Maritz 51, and E. Peddle 20 not out. A brief reference to local cricket is all I have space for. Pretoria had the distinction o f w inn ing the T ransvaal L eagu e championship for the first time since 1898. T hey and the E .R .P .M . finished equal, and a deciding match w as played on the E .R .P .M . ground at Vogelfontein. T his ended in a victory for the visitors by five w ickets, thanks almost solely to B aum gartn er’s bow ling (already referred to) and a splendid 100 not out by A. E . Cook. T h e E .R .P .M ., batting first, made 186 (D . D . D avies 44, J. H . Moulder 28, W . Stoll 27, -S. J. Snooke 25, N . J. van Blommestein 23, and J. G . Milton 21*). B aum gartner bowled throughout the innings, and took 7 for 83. L eft w ith very little over tw o hours in which to make the runs, Pretoria scored 190 for five (A. E . C ook 100*, S. D . Snooke 28, J. L . C onw ay 24). R . O . Saunders (5 for 55 ) did the hat trick. T h e gam e w as a most excitin g one, and it is only pressure on space which prevents a more detailed account. Saunders’s hat trick (at 71) cam e near proving the turning-point of the gam e, for on its completion four w ickets w ere down w ith 116 ru n s still required. C o o k ’s century w as in every respect a m asterly performance, and very appropriately it took him to the top of the L eagu e averages w ith 554 runs in ten innings (twice not out), average 69.25. In the W estern Province the W estern Province Club came out to p ; but this and other matters must be deferred to a later issue. T h e follow ing is the final position of the Currie Cup table :— Cricket in Natal. D u r b a n , Saturday, M arch 29, 1913. W ith the tw o matches in the C urrie C up competition engrossing everyone’s attention during the E aster holidays, w ith G reyville installed safely in first place, and w ith the final round of the Senior L ea gu e competition reduced to one day by wet on the first Saturday, it w as just as well, perhaps, that the said final round should have been abandoned. A t M aritzburg the gam e has already finished for the season, and to-day saw the end up north, where Ladysm ith beat New castle, and won the Northern D istricts Cup. T h e previous match, set down for decision on March 14 and 15 at Ladysm ith, had to be abandoned as a draw ow in g to w et. A s on that occasion the home side had lost three good w ickets for 3 runs, the w eather w as no friend to Newcastle. New castle led off w ith 96 (W . K ellar 34, R . B erry 22). In reply, Ladysm ith made just tw ice the number. G . T ath am , w ho a few years back w as reckoned a com ing N atal representative, carried hig bat for 72; P. Purcell made 37, and the Rev. C . D . Robinson 29. In their second essay the N ew castle men did but very little better, their total being 97 (W . H arris 27, C . Martin 20). Ladysm ith won by 10 w ickets. F rank G reaves, the New castle crack, fresh from his first Currie C up match, did little— o, 5, and 3 w ickets. I saw the whole of both the Currie Cup gam es, and had ch ats w ith m any of the players. N oth in g in the tw o m atches impressed m e more than N icol’s w icket-keeping. He w a s wonderfully quick, safe, and sure. When he stumped C onry in the W estern Province match the umpire (the visitin g official) took some seconds to g iv e his decision. H e told m e afterw ards that it w as not because he w as in the slightest d o u b t; but N icol’s sm artness had fairly dumbfounded him ! O f course. W estern Province w as much the strongest of the tw o visitin g sides. T h eir bow ling w as, I think, better than most people had expected. But Eastern Province have some good forcin g batsmen, who only need more experience in good company to score to a much heavier extent. T h at •— experience in a higher class of cricket— is all, I am sure, that F ran k G reaves needs. H e shaped very well indeed, and though only m akin g 13, must be reckoned a success. L o g a n ’s w as more than a success; it m igh t be termed a trium p h ! F r e d e r ic k S e ta y . C urrie C up T o urnam ent , 1912-3. Natal ............... Western Province Transvaal 1 -astern Province Orange Free State Played. W. L. . 4 4 o - 4 3 1 > . 4 2 2 • 4 I 3 4 0 4 Possible Per- Pts. Pis. centage 20 20 IOO^OO 15 20 75’00 10 20 50*00 5 20 2 f O 00 00 r-r o i i .................... 4 o 4 o 20 OO Arrangements were made for the recognition of a win on the first innings, but as it happened all the ten matches were played out. C y p h e r . In the cool of even when the sport is over, ‘ Bat and B a ll’-ward tramping through lush [grass and clover, Who wants red Falernian with its bubbles winking, When the brown October offers for our drinking ? From its foam might Venus rise in highest feather ! Malt and hops and cricket ever went together." From “ The Food of the Gods " in Ayres’ Cricket Companion. * I have referred to this matter before, out, to my mind, the rule is all wrong. Cypher is right ; “ In N. A. Knox Dulwich produced one of the finest amateur or professional fast bowlers of recent times. When not yet sixteen he figured in the Eleven (1900), and for three years after­ wards was undoubtedly the mainstay of the team, obtaining fifty-three wickets in 1901, thirty-seven in 1902, and forty-seven in 1903, while he was responsible for many hard-hit innings, his average in 1903 being 33^90 for twelve innings and 373 runs.” — From “ Dulwich College " in Ayres’ Cricket Companion. Sale or Exchange Column. [Advertisements under this heading will be inserted at one shilling each provided they do not run to more than four lines; for each'line over four threepaue, or ten lines for two shillings .] W an ted , C r ick e t volume for 1909. Will any one having same for disposal write to manager of C r ic k e t , 12s, Strand, W.C., stating price required ? W a n te d , N os . 802 (March, 1909) and 889 (December 30, 1911) of C r ic k e t . 4d. each offered.— Manager of C r ic k e t , 125, Strand, W.C. F or S ale : Wisden’s Cricketers' Almanack , 1879 to 1912, in clusive, 34 volum es in all, 15 cloth bound, rest in origin al covers. W h at o ffers? — W . J. B., c/o the M anager of C r ic k e t , 125, Stran d , W.C. F or S ale : Wisden’s Cricketers' Almanack , complete and perfect, 1896 to 1913 inclusive (18 volumes), in publishers’ cloth binding. W ill accept £3 ics. — J. S ., c/o, Manager of C r ic k e t , 125, Strand, London, W.C. C r ic k e t F ie l d , complete, four volumes (1892 to 1895) bound in cloth, excellent condition. A bargain at £1 10s. — J. S., c/o, Manager of C r ic k e t , 125, Strand, W.C.