Cricket 1913

168 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 10, 1913. C r icke t: A W E E K L Y RECORD OF TH E GAM E . 125, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. S A TU R D A Y , M A Y 10 , 1913 . Letters for the Editor should be addressed to Mb. J. N. P entelow , Malvern, Steyning, Sussex. Advertisements, Subscriptions, &c., should be sent to : The Manager of C rick 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 Numbers ... Is. 3 d. ... Is. 6d. pavilion (Sossip. Is there a braver sight, say, in the universe ? Match me, you painter, this scene for a pound— Over our meadow the hazy blue firmament, Shadows of purple on emerald ground. Then, scattered near and far, see the bright warriors, Stout of heart, clean of limb, steady of ey e; Health is our Goddess, and nobly we worship her 'Neath the clear sky. — E. V. L u c a s . I h a v e just h eard , on excellen t auth ority, th at S. J. P e g le r, th e ou tstand in g perform er o f la st y e ar’ s South A fr ic a n T eam , w ill very sh ortly be in th is country again. H e is, indeed, now on his w a y to ta k e u p a post in M r. L ion el R obin son ’ s office, and it is qu ite possib le th at 19 15 w ill find him p la y in g cou nty cricket. In fa c t, it w ill be rather su rp risin g i f such is not the case. P e g ler w ill b e a loss to S outh A f r i c a ; bu t his absence w ill n ot be so much fe lt in th e sub-continent as his form h ere w ould lead one to expect. A great bow ler on tu rf, h e is fa r from bein g as effective on th e m atting. H e w ould at present b e the first choice fo r a South A frica n side about to tour in E n g la n d ; bu t fo r a test m atch in his own country any one o f h a lf a dozen bow lers m ight be p referred to him. R efer en ce w as m ade in these columns not long since to th e C heshire county team,, w h ich som e indiscreet jou rn alist had suggested fo r a proposed S econd D ivision o f the first-class counties. A correspondent w h o has seen much o f Cheshire cricket, th ough h is lo t is now cast in the south, w rites to poin t out how much the county suffers from its geographical position. It is so near Lan cash ire th at support is diverted to the more im portant c lu b ; and, moreover, its tw o best cricketin g centres— the B irkenhead and the South M anchester districts— are so fa r apart th at m atches betw een th eir clubs are all too infrequent. T h e clu b h as ow ed much to th e cou nty captain , M r. F . F airb a n k , w ithout whose generous aid it cou ld not have been carried on. H is contribution to th e fu n d s last season w as ^ 5 9 io s. 9 d ., and this year he has again guaranteed the clu b against loss. I note from th e report that tw enty- five C heshire clu b s each con tribute a gu in ea to the county organisation , a source o f revenue th at I fa n cy m ight be w orked fo r more than it is in several counties. T h e se clubs are A ld e rle y E d g e , B irk enh ead P a rk , B ollin gton , Boughton H a ll, C h e a d le H u lm e, C heshire Gentlemen, C rew e A lexan d ra, C rew e Perm an ent W a y , D u k in field , E aton P a rk , F rodsham , M acclesfield, Neston and D istrict, N ew B righ ton , N orthw ich , N orthern Z in gari, O xton, R o ck F e rry , S ale, San db ach , T a tten h a ll, T im - perley, U p ton , W allesey, and W innington. A ll are clubs o f standing and re p u te ; but m any counties h a v e more such clubs than Cheshire has, and yet one does not find so big a number m aking a direct contribution to their co u n ty’s funds. T he C heshire cap tain is a cap ita l bow ler, and last season took 27 w ickets fo r th e side at under 20 runs each. W alter B re a rle y ’s 27 cost 14 .15 each, and th e o n ly other man who took more than 8 w as Sm oker, form erly o f H am pshire, who h a d 16 at 18.56. S m o k er was also second in the batting averages. Another ex-H am p sh ire colt, N o rb u ry, d id good work for N orthum berland, averagin g over 28 per innings, and takin g 16 w ickets at 16 each. A th ird , L u ck in , is now w ith W arw ickshire, and w ill p la y th is season fo r one o f the clubs in the B irm ingham Leagu e. T h is is one o f th e draw backs to nursery schemes. It is not altogether pleasan t to find th e youngsters w ho have been trained at considerable expense go in g elsewhere. Y e t it is difficult to see how to prevent it w ith fairn ess. I f an ambitious you n g p layer cannot w in a p la ce in his own cou n ty’s team , it is but n atu ral th at he should seek fresh fields. K e n t had high hopes o f M o rfee a year or tw o b a c k ; but M orfee is north o f T w e ed now. B ad co ck, who did u sefu l w ork fo r H am p sh ire fo r a short tim e, w as a T on bridge-trained p layer. P h ilip M ead h ad a p lace on the O val staff fo r a b rie f period. Somerset h a s h ad three players from K ennin gton— B rau n d , H a rd y , and M ont­ gom ery, though not m uch use w as m ade o f the last-named. “ I am a fra id w e are in fo r a lean y e a r ,” w rites a D urham correspondent. “ A dam son has gone, and now T . A . B ra d fo rd , a fter accepting the cap tain cy, has fou nd h im self ob liged to resign, ow in g to pressure o f business. P arkin and H arrison (the latter has gone to Low erhouse) w ill not be availab le regu larly. N either o f these sterling pros, can p la y v. Northum berland on W h it-M o n d a y .” E . B . P r o u d , o f B ishop A u ck la n d , the w ell-kn ow n amateur goalkeeper, is D u rh am ’ s new captain-elect. R o t h e r y , the Yorkshirem an w h o w as at one tim e looked upon as a lik e ly successor to J. T . B row n , is now p la yin g fo r W earm outh in th e D u rh am L eagu e. T h e ir form er p rofession al, C lo d e (Surrey) appears th is year as an amateur, h avin g been given a post in the co llie ry office b y M r. Parrington. T he Sunderland C rick et and F o o tb all C lu b some tim e ago started a special fu n d to p a y off the ban k overd raft and meet pressing financial needs. T h e sum o f ,£1000 w as re q u ire d ; but th e response has been so generous th at a lread y over _£i,200 is in hand or prom ised. T h e presi­ dent, M r. Jos. Short, J .P ., g a v e ^ 3 7 5 ; three others contributed £ 5 0 e a c h ; there w ere tw o contributions o f