Cricket 1913

M ay 17, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 211 Cricket in Scotland. B y H am ish . At last we have had a Saturday that was, in most places at least, free from rain ; and in these times of abundant moisture we must be truly thankful for one dry day. Several matches were interfered with, and owing to the sodden con­ dition of the grounds a few had to be cancelled, but a goodly number of important engagements were brought to a finish. Perthshire are having a harassing time. It was bad enough to find their pavilion a heap of burnt ashes; but to rise and discover that the ground had disappeared was worse still. The flooding of last week was so extensive that the North Inch was covered with water several feet deep, and some people experienced the novelty of rowing over the cricket pitch in small boats. Carlton were to have appeared at Perth on Saturday, but of course a match was out of the question. Feeling is running high throughout the county over the burning of the pavilion, and Suffragettes had better keep clear of Perth for a while. In those matches that took place scoring was naturally very low, and bowlers reaped a rich harvest. No total reached 150, and only one batsman passed fifty; even double figures were quite respectable. The opening match in the Scottish Counties Champion­ ship was played at Dunfermline between Fifeshire and Clack­ mannan County, and the former won with a total of 93 against 42. The game was a triumph for Morfee, the Fifers’ new professional, who accomplished the remarkable achieve­ ment of taking all ten wickets for 11 runs. It was his first appearance before the home supporters, and their enthusiasm was so great that they carried him shoulder high from the pitch to the pavilion. I trust Morfee is a level-headed in­ dividual ; they treat a successful professional very well in Dunfermline. The Western Union at length made a start with their fixtures. At Paisley Kelburne (103) defeated Uddingston (53), who gave a miserable display, Shingler, the local professional, having five of their wickets for 18 runs; and at Kilmarnock the home club and Ferguslie played a very even draw—93 to 81 for 7 wickets. Megson still does good work for the latter, his Saturday’s bag being 29 and 5 wickets for 25. Greenock, with John Kerr to lead them, look like having a good season. They defeated Poloc by 18 runs— 104 to 86. The captain made 30, and Ford, the professional, had 7 wickets for 21. The Grange managed to secure their initial win at the expense of East Stirlingshire— 138 to 70. The match was a humdrum affair, but I am glad to note Jenner (4 wickets for n ) doing well. He ought to get more opportunities this season than last. Edinburgh University are not likely to be easily beaten this season. After closing with 144 for 8 wickets, they made short work of the Dalkeith batsmen, who could only total 28. In D. Macdonald they have a very useful slow left-hand bowler. He was good when he played in the eleven three summers ago, and he seems to have improved in the interval. His figures so far are : 6 for 46 v. East Stirlingshire, 7 for 20, including the “ hat trick,” v. Greenock (who were, how­ ever, weakly represented), and 2 for 9 v. Dalkeith. Mac­ donald comes from somewhere in the West of England. R. E. Batson, the West Indian, is also doing good work w>th the ball, but the slow wickets do not apparently suit his batting. The two matches between Former Pupil clubs ended in draws, and were for the most part uninteresting ; Watsonians 87 for 9 wickets, dec., Edinburgh Academicals 79 for 8; | Heriot’s F.P. 117, Glasgow Academicals 61 for 4. J. C. 1 Murray (Edinburgh Academicals) with a lucky 53 had the only half-century of the day. Rain interfered with the Border League match between Hawick and Gala at Hawick. Hawick had completed their innings for 76 runs, and the visitors had scored five runs without loss when the rain came on. Bowling for Gala, H. B. Tod had 4 wickets for 13, and R. A. Anderson 6 for 34. Gala have lost the services of F. H. Hoggarth, a York- shireman born, perhaps the most dangerous batsman on the Borders. He was an adept at the pull stroke. His scholastic duties, I understand, prevent Kim from devoting any time to the game. ------------------------------------------■■ - — Special Club Notes. C ontributed by T he C h ie l . I was at the Harrodians’ ground— Mill Lodge, Barn Elms—on Saturday. There I found three cricket matches going on, numerous tennis courts in full occupation, and various other sports, with, above all, real good fellowship. But in one respect I was much disappointed. The surface of the cricket ground has not received the attention that is its due. With everything else of so high a standard, the pitches should certainly be better and the outfield less rough; and they will have to be made so if the Harrodians want to improve their fixture-list. Mind, there is no reason whatever why the ground should not be really good; it has no natural defects which need prevent that. What a pity it is that so many clubs do not care to go on with their games after an innings each has been com­ pleted ! Surely the right time for drawing stumps is the time fixed; and that odd hour or hour and a half might be made good use of. Give the taiLenders a chance to go in early; in a little while, when wickets are hard and true, it may happen that closures will deprive them of an innings in two or three matches in succession. And that sort of thing chokes a man off. The secretary of a well-known provincial club addresses to me a query about the fees paid to umpires in London club matches. I don’t consider myself at liberty to make my knowledge of this matter public property; but I may say that I gather provincial umpires are, as a rule, better paid than those in and around town. This resolves itself into a matter of supply and demand; reasonably good umpires are presumably rarer in the country. Then, perhaps, most of the provincial clubs have up till lately been able to afford heavier fees; but golf, tennis, and motoring have affected their exchequers. It will be a pity if the umpires have to suffer for this. A good umpire is a labourer worthy of his hire. You can get someone who will put on the white coat and give decisions at almost any absurd price-—but what decisions! A bad umpire can spoil completely what would otherwise have been a good match. Among the cards that have reached me lately are those of Bognor (Hon. Sec., Mr. A. H. Goodhall, Taldrea, Bognor) and Hayward’s Heath (Hon. Sec., Mr. E. Jupp, Hayward’s Heath). Bognor, I notice, meet several London teams, i Hayward’s Heath run three elevens. Thev have, as I well | know, a capital ground, where cricket is well played and ' well supported.