Cricket 1913

216 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. May 24, 1913. I t is a ll fo r th e best, I th in k , o n th e whole. A d ­ m itted ly im p erfect, the present system is yet fa r p re fera b le to a ch an ge w h ich m ight h ave meant ruin to several county club s. I f ever a reduction o f numbers does come about, I hope it w ill be done in rather a differen t w ay. N o cou n ty sh ou ldbe thrown overboard. A n y schem e passed sh ou ld contain provisions for a strong second section, lin ked to the first, and ran k in g lik e it as first-class. E v en th is w ould not be p a la ta b le to some o f th e counties w h ich w ould have to form the second d iv is io n ; bu t it w ould at least be better than total extinction. T h e one th in g I regret is th at the claim s o f the minor counties to promotion when justified are n ot lik e ly now to receive any consideration. I am not sure that any form al schem e o f promotion w ould w ork. C ou n ty cricket clubs are not— thank heaven !— organisations on a p arallel with L e a g u e fo o tb a ll clu b s. T h e y cannot, h avin g achieved prom otion, g o in to the m an-m arket and p ick up an assorted parcel o f batsmen and bow lers to m ake them strong enough fo r first-class com pany. T h e r e seems no very clea r indication th at at present any one o f them w o u ld tak e promotion i f it w ere o ffe re d ; but I believe all o f them w ould w elcom e some scheme which recognised their right, to it in certain circum stances. I sh ould lik e to see a more definite lin k in g up o f first-class and second-class county crick et, and an increase o f public interest in the latter. In the form er, too, some w ill suggest. ' B u t I believe th at the interest in first-class cou nty cricket is still very much alive. T h e man in the street and th e man in the train still ta lk s o f it ; evening p ap ers are bought b y th e thousand sim p ly fo r the cricket sc o re s; and a go od many o f th e p eop le w h o don ’t pay their sixpences at the gate very freq u en tly on ly fa il to do so because they have to earn a liv in g and cannot afford th e time. W a l t e r M e a d and his son H a ro ld w ere on bow lin g together for E ssex v. D erbysh ire, and I saw a suggestion somewhere that it must be a circum stance w ithout parallel fo r fath er and son to bow l one at each end. S u rely not ! T h e o ld W . G. and th e you n g W . G . must have been on together at some tim e or another in thei course o f the good many matches th ey p la yed in fo r G loucestershire. O t h e r instances o f fa th e r and son p la y in g together in a first-class m atch are those o f R ich a rd and H a rry D a ft and ( if memory serves) W illiam and John L illy - w hite. D id A . N . and A . H . H o rn b y ever appear for L an cash ire togeth er? I rather fa n cy so. U n cle and n ephew is another matter, as it is quite possib le that there should be but a very few years betw een th em ; but both John and W illiam Gunn p la yed in m any matches for N otts, and U n cle W illiam was n early 18 years N ephew John ’ s senior. articles are so w ell known th at no one w as lik e ly to be m isled. T h e error w as not m ine. I offer th an ks to all those who kin d ly sent me items fo r th is list, and sh all be gla d to have more in due season. A p o l o g i e s for th e late ap pearance o f the last issue. W e are doing our best to b rin g th e p ap er ou t in good tim e; but last w eek som ething w ent w rong at th e block - m aker’s ! T h e number cou ld not b e pu blish ed without illustration s, and a d elay o f over 36 hours w as too much to be m ade up. T h i s was d istin ctly a b o w ler’s W hitsun tide. Am ong the perform ances recorded were T a r ra n t’s 15 fo r 47, H e a p ’ s 1 t fo r 39, T. C . W h ite ’s 10 fo r 5 °; D en n ett’s 9 fo r 123, E a s t’ s 7 fo r 59, B la c k lid g e ’s 9 fo r 69, M iln e’s 11 fo r 132, and M orris’s 8 fo r 53 (in one innings)— all right good, m aking every allow an ce fo r circum stances. T h u s fa r I h ave heard from eleven subscribers to C r i c k e t from the first number. T h a t there are more I know ; but I do not care to publish anyone’s nam e without a distinct authorisation. T h e fa ith fu l eleven a r e :— Mr. A. B. Biddell, Ipswich. Mr. F. Botting, Parnham. Mr. G. Botting, Ninfield. Mr. F. A. Brooke, Thongs- bridge. Mr. C. H. Dorman, Sydenham. Mr. A. J. Gaston, Brighton. Mr. C. Pratt Green, Great Ma'vern. Dr. C. D. Hamilton, Athens. Mr. L. P. Monk,' Bishops- gate. Mr. H. C. Norris, North Brixton. Mr. A. A. H. Rumsey, Clapham. H . L . S im m s is not lik e ly to be seen in m an y matches for Sussex this season, as he w ill shortly be leav in g E n g ­ land to take u p an appointm ent at D elh i. H is younger brother, R . K ., w h o p la yed in a m atch or tw o fo r Sussex last season, is now in M ontreal. T h e long stand m ade fo r the first w icket o f Lan cash ire v. E ssex b y A . H . H o rn b y and M akep eace is b y no means the first in which these tw o batsm en h ave been concerned together, though as yet their fam e as an op en in g p air is not equal to th at o f the Lan cash ire skip p er’s fath er and R ich ard B arlow . I.A S T year they sent up 112 v. Surrey at th e O val and 141 in the first and 193 in the second innings v. N otts at T ren t B rid g e— something o f th is sort w ould h ave been welcome at Old T ra ffo rd last week ! T h ere w ould doubt­ less have been m any more such instances to quote but that M akepeace has often and H o rn b y occasion ally been first men in w ith R . H . Spooner or A lfre d H a rtle y , their chances o f joint distinction thus b ein g lim ited. J o h n H o b b s ’ s first century in first-class crick et was made on ly a little over eight years ago. H e now has 42 (irst-class centuries to h is credit. Eight o f them were m ade abroad, three in South A fr ic a , five in A u stralia . C l e m e n t H i l l ’ s house in A d e la id e has been bu rgled , and some / ,5 ° ° worth o f jew ellery, w ith several trophies, have been lifte d . O n e hopes the South A u stralian skipper has a b u rglary insurance p olicy. B u t even i f he has not he is better able to bear such a loss than most cric k e te rs; there was never any need fo r H ill to seek shekels in E n g ­ land. It was fo r th e game h e came. “ C r i c k e t A rticles E lsew h ere ” list in last issue— Sir H um e Gordon should o f course be S ir H om e Gordon. B u t it does not matter much, as S ir H om e’ s cricket | o f just under 15 each T n the tw elve important m atches p la yed at W hitsun tide I — -that is to say, the eight games in th e first-class county | championship, the tw o in the second-class cou nty cham ­ pionship. and the second eleven matches at E d gbaston and Rotherham— 395 w ickets realised 5,920 runs, an average