Cricket 1913

J an . 18, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY South African Cricketers. Johannesburg, December 16, 1912. I am not going in for any detailed description of recent club games in this letter, for one reason because more important cricket claims my attention, and for another because we have had nothing sensational during the last four week-ends— nothing to approach the tense interest of the matches described in my last. No one has reached the century in senior matches on the Rand, though H. Pegler, W. T. Gardner, A. H. Cooper, and J. H. Tandy have all got within sight of i t ; and though some of the bowlers have done good work none of t' has accomplished anything specially remarkable. The League log stands thus at time of writing : P. W. L. D. Points, Wanderers A. 5 3 1 1 7 Randfontein 4 3 1 0 6 E.R.P. Mines 4 3 1 0 6 S.A. Railway 5 3 2 0 6 Germiston Callies 5 3 2 0 6 Wanderers 5 2 2 1 5 Pirates 5 2 2 1 5 Crown Mines 6 2 3 1 5 Pretoria ... 4 2 2 0 4 East Rand Union 5 2 3 0 4 Village Main Reef 5 1 2 2 4 Yeoville ... 5 0 5 0 0 I don’t think Wanderers A will retain their place E.R.P.M . and Randfontein are looking at it with hungry eyes. The latter club don’t exactly inspire an outsider with the confidence they themselves seem to fe e l; but E .R .P.M . are settling down to a very strong game, and on present form might well finish up without another defeat. Pegler’s bowling is a vast improvement on what he did last season. The opposition he has en­ countered might easily have been stronger; but this much can be said of him— we may have doubted before whether he was a great bowler on matting wickets (he proved in England that bp is such on turf) ; but we certainly don’t doubt it now. S.A .R . had an excellent chance of getting to the top ; but they made a bad slip against Pretoria. If their opening batsmen do well their tail wags freely ; totals of 281, 340 for 9, and 330 for 6 show this. But on the two occasions on which the leaders have failed, the tail has given no sign. The Pirates should occupy a much better position. On paper they are one of the strongest sides. Luck has not been too kind to them, for the weather robbed them of an almost certain win over Crown Mines. If one excepts T. Stranger, the Germiston Callies can scarcely be said to carry heavy guns, and of the Wanderers much the same may be remarked. Stranger has bowled with consistent success. In a minor match recently against the Jupiter Mine he had seven wickets for no runs in seventeen balls, the last four of which each found a victim. Pretoria, with two such bowlers as H. V. Baumgartner and F. W. Cooper, are always a dangerous side— as S.A.R . found. RECORD OF THE GAME. 17 The Peninsula League table to date is : 1st Inns. 2nd Inns. Per­ P. W. L. W. L. Points. centage. Cape Town ... • 3 0 1 2 0 i i 73*33 Western Province .. • 3 2 0 1 0 11 73*33 Alma • 4 2 1 1 0 12 6o*oo Green Point • 3 1 1 1 1 4 26*66 i Claremont ... • 3 0 2 0 1 13*13 S.A. College... . 2 0 0 0 2 0 Cape Town have a particularly strong opening pair in M. Commaille and G. Hearne, with Yeoman— worthy of his name— to follow ; but after these three there is a falling-off. On paper Western Province looked the j better batting side, with P. T. Lewis, the brothers Hands, and Archie Bisset as their cracks. Bow ley is a tower of j strength to Alma, and with Carlsson, Bennett, Colman and Taylor to back him up, the side is possibly the most powerful in batting of the six. Nor is their bowling to be despised. Bond gets wickets consistently, and either McPherson, Taylor, Hosking, Fock, or Sweet i generally does something useful at the other end. Trial games have somewhat hampered League pro­ gress at Bloemfontein, where the record stands thus :— P. W. L. I). Points. Bedford R egt__ 3 3 0 0 6 R.A.M.C. 3 2 0 1 5 ; Collegians 1 1 0 0 2 University 4 1 3 0 2 ! S .A .R ................... 1 0 0 1 1 Ramblers 3 0 2 1 1 Grey College ... 4 0 3 1 1 The Ramblers, who have a strong representation in the Free State team, occupy an unusually lowly position. They are sure to improve, but their bad start scarcely allows them a chance of premier honours. The Bed­ fords, with Captain H. S. Poyntz to lead them, are as y et undefeated. To-day is Dingaan’s D ay. The mere statement will not convey much to English readers. To the South African Dingaan’s D ay is red-lettered in the calendar. In the year of grace 1838 one Andries Pretorius and some 400 veld Boers defeated Dingaan, the Zulu King, on the Blood R iver in Natal, crushing his power completely, and avenging, in part at least, his people’s treacherous massacres of their kinsfolk. I wish I might tell the story at some length here, and give those sturdy, brave sons of the veld their due. It does not belong to British history, in a sense ; but the Union has brought it into imperial history, and the descendants of Andries Pretor- i ius’s men, who fought against us a few years back, are : now sealed of the empire— and ready to help defend it, if need be, I do believe. If you don’t care for history neat, try Rider Haggard ; and if there remains in you any least spirit of the boy— and there should be some left or you lack what is good for a man to have— his stories of the Zulu warriors in the days past will thrill your blood. Or there is Bertram Mitford, who tells of them scarcely less well. Bu t to cricket. On Saturday last the fourteenth Currie Cup Tournament was inaugurated at Bloemfon­ tein. I am obliged to mail this to-day, and so cannot