Cricket 1913

244 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 31, 1913. hard work that Whittington has done. I know he is hard w o rk e d ; he promised me at the end o f last season to let me have the Glamorgan bowling averages, but has never yet found time to do so ! S e r i o u s ly , there seems to me a scant measure o f gratitude in cricket circles in the big Welsh county to this fine player and zealous official. Bu t Glamorgan cricket is rather under a cloud. T h e football-fed populace refuses to be interested in i t ; the county’s victories leave those w7ho should be the county’s supporters quite cold. A t the club ’s last meeting it was proposed that a match between the county and a House o f Commons team should be arranged in order to stimulate interest and lessen the financial deficit. T h i s scarcely strikes one as an adequate remedy. But if it proves to be such, there may be interesting develop­ ments. One imagines Essex playing the P rivy Council, Sussex the Insurance Commissioners (there are enough of them to raise an eleven, surely !), Worcestershire the Royal Academy, Northamptonshire the London County Council, Somerset the House o f Lords, Derbyshire the Clergy of En gland, Leicestershire the Headmasters o f Public Schools, and so forth. Why not? They all need money, even as doth Glamorgan. And such matches would not be worse than some o f the suggested remedies for lack o f interest and monetary troubles ! N o rm a n R ic h e s succeeds Whittington in the Glamorgan captaincy— though this almost goes without saying, for it is difficult to see who else could have been appointed. Riches is a batsman good enough for any side, and a consistently big scorer. H e r b e r t S t r u d w ic k ’ s 93 last Saturday w ill come as no surprise to those who have noted how much the little Surrey wicket-keeper has improved in his batting o f late. H e always had it in him to be a good b a t ; and now that he has begun to take him self seriously there is no reason why he should not score centuries. And there is no objection to a stumper’s doing that, as there is to a fast bow ler’s being guilty o f staying in too long. S t r u d w ic k first played for Surrey in 1902, and made 35 v. Warwickshire at the Oval in the last match o f that season. Since then he has made the follow ing scores o f 50 and over :— 50, Surrey v. Essex, at Leyton, 1903. 58, Surrey v. Gloucestershire, at Bristol, 1906. 55, Surrey v. Lancashire, at Manchester, 1908. 74, G. L. Jessop’s X I. v. P. F. Warner’s X I., at Sheffield, 1911. 67*, Surrey v. Notts, at the Oval, 1911. 53, Surrey v. Somerset, at the Oval, 1911. T h e r e is a certain convenience about the 50 lim it; but the Mitcham man has played many a useful innings o f 20, 30, and 40 perhaps as well worth noting as some o f these. In 19 11, with a liberal number o f not outs, he had an average o f over 21. Up to the end o f last season he had scored just on 3,500 runs in all in first-class cricket, with an average o f slightly under 11 . But this certainly does not represent his present value. I t is a fact worth noting that there was only a differ­ ence o f 46 runs between the highest and lowest total of the four innings in the Notts v. Sussex match. H. Gradidge &Sons, Manufacturers and Exporters of all requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Squash Racquets, &c. Patentees and Sole Makers of the “ IMPERIAL DRIVER” CRICKET BATS. M ade in M en’s, S m a ll M en’s, C ollege, 6, 5, 4 , & 3, sizes. Reblading Cricket Bats 8 Restringing Tennis Bats a Special Feature. Every o th er requ isite for Cricket, including balls, leg guards, batting gloves, g au n tlets, stumps, nets, &c. P R IC E LIST S & S P E C IA L QUOTATIONS FREE. All Goods Carriage Paid to any part of the United Kingdom. Sole Makers of the “ Imperial Driver” & “ Improved Gradidge ” Lawn Tennis Racquets. Factory : ArtilleryPlace,Woolwich, S.E.