Cricket 1913

590 C R I CK E T : A WE E K L Y RECORD OF T l l E GAME. September 6 , 1918. w r on g ly used) is not b e com in g m y K in g Charles’s head. But I really must refer to his latest p ro ­ nouncem ent. M r. Benjam in told a M ontreal interviewer that he w ou ld b rin g another team to Canada and the States next year, and w ou ld have a fixture list o f som e­ th in g like 50 matches. Later in the interview he said : “ Next year we shall break new g round with trips to China, S in gap o re , Java, and possib ly India, and in m ost o f these places there is plenty o f g o o d crick e t.” D oubtless ! But neither in S in gap ore nor in Ch ina, in Java (is cricket played th ere?), or in India, are guarantees o f the size M r. Benjam in likes to be h a d ; o f that I am very sure. A New Zealand paper som e m on ths a g o p u b ­ lished a cablegram from Adela ide to the effect that an Australian team wou ld visit New Zealand and Sou th Am erica very sh ortly. Australia is due to send a side to Sou th A frica in 1914-5. M r. B en ja ­ m in ’ s troupe w ill tour the States, Canada, India, Ch ina, Java, and the Straits Settlements in 1914, and the W e s t Indies are also exp ectin g a visit from them, I understand. But there w ill still be some Australian cricketers left at home, I h o p e ! F rom a corresponden t in Am erica wh o has re­ cen tly visited Bermuda I hear that the Australian visit to the island lacked som e o f the success that had been anticipated fo r it. N o reflection is cast upon the p la y e r s ; but there were th ings wh ich the Ham ilton cricket authorities resented, and more may be heard o f the matter. I have to thank several readers in South A frica — and especially M r. B ruce E . G o rd on , o f K in g W illiam stow n , and M r. A . E . Sm ith, o f Cape T ow n— for rep ly in g to m y request fo r South A fr i­ can scores in Currie C up matches. T h e last mail b rin g s me treasure trove from M r. Sm ith in the shape o f the full scores and analyses o f the 1884-5 T ournam en t at P ort E lizabeth, wh ich I had hitherto lacked. •T h is was before the days o f the Currie C up . Th e matches then were played for the Cham pion Bat, and the last o f these tournaments was, I believe, at Cape T ow n in 1890-1, after the Currie Cup contests had begun . Fam iliar names appear in the 1884-5 score-sheets — O . R . Dun ell, the old O x on ian , scorin g 78 not ou t fo r P ort E lizabeth v . K in g W illiam s tow n ; C . H . V in tcen t, the o ld Carthusian, taking 10 for 47 fo r Cape T ow n v. K im b e r le y ; C . E . F inlason, low erin g 10 fo r 74 fo r K im berley v . P ort Elizabeth, and A . B . Tancred top scorer with 33 in K im ber­ ley ’s second innings, V in tcen t again with 8 for 64, Cape T ow n v. K in g W illiam stow n , L . W in s low of Sussex with 8 fo r 68 for K in g W illiam stow n v. K imberley, and Dunell again with 71 fo r Port Elizabeth v . Cape T ow n . W ith four sides each p la y in g each o f the others there were six matches. P o rt E lizabeth won all three, Cape T ow n won two and lost on e, K in g W illiam stown won one and lost two, K im berley lost all three. T h e scoring, though never very h igh , was not specially low . T h e K im berley men cou ld not get g o in g , and on ly on ce topped 100, and they aver­ aged on ly 8 per wicket. T h e “ K i n g ” players never reached 200, and their average per w icket was just under 13. Cape T ow n made 225 v . K in g W i l ­ liamstown and averaged over 16 per w icket. Th e winners, with nearly 17 per w icket, made 216 v. K in g W illiam stow n and 203 v . Cape T ow n . O . R . Dunell and R . Stewart were the outstand­ ing batsmen o f the tournament. W ith 78 not out, 11, 22, 71, and 3 Dunell totalled 1^5 in 4 com ­ pleted inn ings. Stewart, with 21, 66*, 61, 1, and 69, made 218 in the same number. T h is must be, I think, the Lieutenant Stewart who p layed for Sou th A frica against M a jo r W a r to n ’s team in 1888-9. Other men wh o met with some success in the batting line were C . R . V augh an (Cape T ow n ), who made 121 in 5 innings, W . H. Richards (Cape T ow n ), 112 in 5, and E . P . Shermbrucker (K in g W illiam stow n ), 108 in 5. Each side had at least one destructive bow ler. F or P ort Elizabeth great th ings were don e b y A . Geard, wh o took 35 for 233 in the three gam es, and had an analysis o f 15— 10— 6— 6 in one inn ings v. Cape T ow n . V intcent took 26 fo r 183 fo r Cape T ow n , F inlason 21 for 195 fo r K im berley, and A , Burton 23 for 253 for K in g W illiam stow n . D o n ’t groan please, you w h o care n oth in g for such th ings as are o f the past— “ the m ou ldy past ” to you , maybe, but to som e the fragrant past. It is g o o d to recall the pioneers o f the gam e anywhere, ] and these men were the predecessors o f the T ay lors and Faulkners, Sn ookes and V o g le rs o f to-day. Furthermore, M r. Sm ith prom ises me scores o f the 1875-6 Tournam en t (the first played fo r the Cham ­ pion Bat), and when they com e a lon g I shall deal with them also in these colum n s. A fter all, you can always skip, you k n ow ; it is not necessary to teach the man o f to-day to d o th a t!