Cricket 1913

F eb . 15, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 35 leaving a port without having any fixed destination, they are said to have “ cleared for Guam,” and when a man leaves for Gu?m the Post Office authorities perforce mark his letters.— “ Gone— no address.” Mr. C. Y . Adamson, the Durham skipper, is leaving— not for Guam, o f course— but for Australia. He will be greatly missed on Tees, Tyne, and Wear, for the county has had few better players than he. A dozen years or so ago he was in Australia, going thither with a Rugby foot­ ball team, and staying behind when it left. He repre­ sented Queensland v. New South Wales at cricket in the Brisbane match o f 1899-1900. When the Boer War broke out, he joined one o f the Bushrangers’ Corps, and, after being in several engagements, was invalided home. At a recent meeting o f the Committee o f the Durham County Cricket Club a presentation o f a silver rose bowl was made to Mr. T . Coulson, the captain o f the county team from 1907 to 191 x, in appreciation o f his services in that capacity. Mr. J. B. Sparkes, the highly esteemed Acting-President o f the Club, spoke eloquently o f the recipient’s sterling qualities, and referred to the many sacrifices that he must have made, as a business man, on behalf o f the game and the county. Mr. Coulson paid a tribute, in his reply, to those who. had supported him so well throughout his five years’ captaincy, and expressed regret that he had not been able to do bigger things as a player, though for this he believed that several accidents he had met with were in some degree responsible. He had always done his best anyway, and as a member of their committee he would continue to do so, for the best interests o f the game and the county were very near his heart. In lieu o f a trial match this year, the Durham Com­ mittee are endeavouring to arrange a second eleven game with Northumberland. The suggestion made is that no one shall be included on either side who has represented his county in. more than three matches, a proviso which should go far to ensure, the attainment o f the object aimed at— the discovery o f talent hitherto unknown, or insufficiently tried. The name o f Mr. A. M. Sutthery. the prospective Unionist candidate for North-West Staffordshire, will be familiar to all cricketers whose memories go back a score of years or so, and to many o f younger growth, for A. M. S. still plays the game, I believe. He was one of the best men in the Cambridge eleven o f 1887. having previously done well both at Oundle and at Uppingham ; and, though he never played first-class countv cricket. I believe there was a time when Sussex hoped for his help. Last month’s number entailed a lot o f extra work.- and no little anxiety. It was closed up some time earlier than it would have been in the ordinary way, and that is my excuse for omitting from it any reference to the appoint­ ment of Lord Willingdon o f Ratton to the Governorship of Bombay, and the honour bestowed upon another fine cricketer o f the past in Sir George Kemp. These three— Mr. Sutthery, Sir George (then Mr.) Kemp, and Lord Willingdon (then Mr. Freeman Thomas) — were all at Cambridge together in 1886 and 1887. The first-named was in residence in 1884; Kemp played in the Freshmen’s Match o f 1885, and Thomas in that of 1886. As it chanced, though, all three are blues, they never all played v. Oxford together, for when Sutthery got his blue in his last year Kemp was standing down, though Thomas was in the team. But all three played in at least five matches for the ’Varsity— both games v. Yorkshire, the game with the Australians, and that with the M .C .C . at Lord’s in 1886, and the match with Surrey at the Oval in 1887. Sir George Kemp made history by rattling up three centuries v. Yorkshire (one for his county and two for the ’Varsity) in two seasons, 1885 and 1886; and Lord Willingdon’s highest score in first-class cricket— 114— was also made against the White Rose county. All three dropped out o f big cricket while still quite young men. A portrait and biography o f the old Shrewsbury boy appeared in C r i c k e t during 1886, and the new Parlia­ mentary candidate was on one of the front pages of 1887, while the Governor-designate o f Bombay was interviewed for the paper less than two years ago. “ Who told you that Dr. Earl Norman was anxioUs to give up the Minor Counties Cricket Association secretaryship? ” writes an esteemed correspondent, with friendly brusqueness. “ It’s wrong. Anyhow, I for one don’t believe it. Make inquiries, and I am sure you will find there is no good ground for the story. The Herts secretaryship— yes ! The other— no, certainly n o t! You are right in one respect, though— as to the difficulty of replacing him if he did resign.” When I am wrong I like to be told o f it. (I am frequently gratified in this manner.) And in this case I am particularly glad to be contradicted. It would be indeed a pity if the man who has fought so hard for proper recognition of the so-called minor counties;— I never have liked the term, though I supj>ose it is correct— should be laying down his arms at a time when it seems possible the battle may be decided in favour o f his side. For if anything at all comes of all the reform that is in the air— and surely something must come o f it this tim e!— the gu lf between first and second-class county cricket will inevitably be lessened. I f two divisions o f the first-class shires are formed, some o f the second-class must be asked to join the lower one; and if promotion and relegation become automatic, the remaining ^minor counties will stand in very much the same relationship with the first-class group as the Second Division o f the Football League to the First Division. A Y R E S ’ CRICKET COMPANION NOW 1913 . READY . Price 6d., post free. The County Championship, 1912. By C h a s . P i.a i r r e . Fascination of the Past. By A S u r r e y S c r ib e . Cricket In Turkey. By H is t o r ic u s . “ School Notes. By S mith M inimus . Northants Cricket.” Bv A. W . L a n e -J o y n t , etc., etc. INCREASED NUMBER OF PORTRA ITS AND ILLUSTRAT IONS . A L D E R S G A T E S T R E E T , L O N 1 2 t h Y e a n o t I s s u e . Dulwich College. By W . R . Weir. C ricket: The World-Wide Game. B vJ. N. Pentelow . Mitcham Cricket and Cricketers. By F. S. Ashlev- C o o p e r . Balance of Power in Cricket. By “ C o v e r p o in t .” I l l