Cricket 1913

J une 21, 1913 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 331 Cricket Chirps. ( B y E. H . D. S e w e l l .) The 'Varsities enter upon their last fortnight of what are known as “ trial ” games next week at Eastbourne, when what has become a very popular "W e e k ” on the South Coast begins with Cambridge v. H. I). G. Leveson-Gower’s XI. The skipper of the scratch side has been inundated with applications, and barring eleventh hour defections, which in this case are unavoidable, his little lot will make the “ boys ” gallop to win. The strictest of cricket is generally played in this week, but last year there were complaints when after Franklin had “ bust ” a finger a substitute was allowed to take his place in the Cambridge XI. (but not to keep wicket), and when Riley sprained his ankle another player took his place. Neither Franklin nor Riley had batted, and if my memory serves both substitu­ tions occurred on the first day. I don’t know whether all my readers will agree with me when I say that, in the circumstances, it would have been unsporting not to have allowed P. J. Richardson and C. Patteson to take Fhe places of the injured players. The notion that strict cricket is not played at this j Week is wholly absurd, but it received further sustenance when, during the second game of the same week, the wicket was changed. Law 6 says:— “ The wickets shall not be changed during a match, unless the ground between them become unfit for play, and then only by consent of both sides.” In this instance the original wicket was under water, about the soppiest I can remember. There were a good many spectators present, and the day was, for a wonder considering it was during 1912, quite fine. But even if only the umpires, scorers, and players had been present, the game would have gone on on another wicket. The captains were well within their rights. After all, did not Darling allow Jackson to play A. O. Jones as wicket-keeper at the Oval in 1905 when Lilley got damaged? I am not approving of that case; I state it merely. Cricket opinion, by which I mean that of the men with whom decision rests, is veering round to the Saturday start in preference to the Friday start. It is the “ certainty ” that has to be arrived at in all things, and in some cases a deal of the vital interest has gone out of a match by the time the sixpenny man comes to decide who is to become the new and proud possessor of that nimb'e coin. By starting on Saturday (and continuing play to 7 p.m. on Saturdays only) the sixpenny man will be humoured as much as some of his number deserves to be humoured, judging by their behaviour at Lord’s on the 7th, when Warner was in. Such hooligans can only belong to the mob which yells during the win, tie, and wrangle performances that disgrace so many of our winter Saturday afternoons. Cricket would be better off without them and their sixpences. I had a look at the Scots on Friday, and for What they are worth here are a few impressions which may interest some of my readers in Scotland whom 1 know I can count among my friends. First of all, Sievwright is as nearly as makes no difference an England bow'.er. This may sound Irish since he was playing for Scotland, but is English right enough—cricket English. 1 should like to see some of the “ pets,” by which term some professors do refer with irreverence to some of the heads of the amateur cricket world playing, or trying to play, Sievwright on a sticky dog. He is the genuine article, the real left-hander, no colourable imitation; but he is not an artist at placing his field, to a first-class bat, anyway. His on-side is all wrong, for one thing—but the cardinal fact remains that he is1 a bowler in the truthful sense of that more often than not abused term. But he is no longer a two-year-old. Why should not such a bowler go on tour to Australia? He’d get good wickets on good wickets under a captain. If Surrey are to blame for letting Mead go to Hants, what is to be said about Leicestershire and Benskin? Here is another bowler. He looks the part as well, is real fast, can last, and has that invaluable one that swerves after the batsman has made up his mind what stroke to play. That is purely a natural gift. Nor Benskin nor even a Hirst can cultivate it, though I heard a first-c'ass fast bowler saying, only last week, that the swerve in the last yard or two can be learnt. The baseball swerve has nothing to do with this — for I can hear objections all over the country offering that as an argument. In that game the ball is thrown (’ware Hitch!), and it is not a cricket ball. To make a cricket ball swerve to be of real use in bowling against an intelligent batsman it must be made to swerve somewhere between the 16th and 18th yard from the bowler’s hand. And it must be so directed that the batsman must be made to play at it. It was with two such balls that Benskin bagged Goatiy and Leveson-Gower. Well up, just about leg-and- middle, and with the right amount of “ away ” swerve at the right time. Altogether a very useful side, this Scotch one, so long as these two are bowling. But I expected to see more dash and jife in the batting. Should pick Fraser, Balfour- Melville (if he really wanted to), Dickson, and Tait as the real bats of the team, and always good enough for any county side you care to name. What’s this about a bet that Derbyshire finish nearer the top than the bottom? Well, Aboveur did win the Derby, didn’t he? -------- ----------- Overseas Cricket. C A N A D A . Vancouver on M ay 24 quite outplayed their old rivals, Victoria. On a perfect w icket they ran up 274. F . J. Peers, the old Carthusian (66), and F . G . H irst (61) put up over a hundred for the first wicket o f Vancouver, and there were six other double-figure scores. E . M. Webb, who hails from Australia, and is a left-hander o f medium pace, was the main cause o f V ictoria’s dismissal for the paltry total o f 49. H e took 6 for 18. H is length was stated to be “ eccentric at tim es” ; but apparently the Victorian batsmen did not help themselves when offered. Follow ing on, the home side made 55 for 5 before the end. Another Vancouver team, the Moths, beat another Victoria team, the Albion, by 9 wickets. The Albion declared their second innings closed after follow ing on ; but if the totals for the first innings o f each side are given correctly as 137 and 70 they had no right to have been made to follow on. C. Illingworth took 8 wickets for the Moths. On M ay 30 Garrison beat Vancouver, A. K aye scoring 63 for the losers, Sergt. H all 36* and 58 for the winners. T h e scores were : Garrison 63 and 168 for 7, dec. ; V an ­ couver 129 and 69. H all took 13 wickets for the Garrison, who snatched an excellent win by sticking to their guns. The first Canadian century o f the season was not D . M. G rant’s in British Columbia. J. F . Manley, o f Bishop R idley College, had the distinction o f opening the list, with 101 v. Hamilton at Hamilton (May 17). On June 3 a trial game was played at Rosedale to help the selectors to choose the team to play against the Aus­ tralians a few days later. S. R . Saunders and H . S. Reid captained the sides. The former’s team scored 144 (Saunders 30, P . E . Henderson 22, H . G. Davidson 20,