Cricket 1913

September 13, 1913. CR I CKET : A WEEK L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. John D ou g la s has visited Australia, New Zea­ land, Canada, and the States. M . C . B ird has toured in South A frica and the A rgen tine. A lbert R elf know s Australia, Sou th A frica , the W e st Indies, New Zealand, and India as cricket countries, though it was not on tour that he visited the latter tw o. H o b b s , W o o lle y , R h od es, and Strudwick have all visited Sou th A frica before, and have also been to Australia. Barnes, Hearne, and Mead have Australian experience. By the way, the portrait o f the H o n . L . H . T enn y son , which appeared in a recent issue, should have been noted as b y Lafayette, L ond on , and the portraits o f Pearson and V in e as by Messrs. E. Hawk ins & C o ., B righ ton . A p o lo g ie s for the om issions. It w ou ld appear that I have (I need hardly say unintentionally) fallen fou l o f some readers in M ont­ real. M r. R . S . Hart, captain o f the Montreal Amateur A sso cia tion ’s cricket team, writes “ to protest against the assertion in C r i c k e t , o f August 9, that the association had found positions for Emery and Mailey o f the Australian Team , and that serious discontent existed am ongst the mem­ bers on that s c o re .” Th e paragraph on which I based my information was taken direct from a Canadian paper. I quali­ fied the statement (scarcely an “ assertion ” ) with the w ord s “ it seem s,” plainly indicating that the item was derived from other sources than my own kn ow ledge. M r. Hart says : “ T h is statement is absolu tely false, and I will thank you to contradict same in a future issu e.” He adds that my in form ­ ant is “ absolutely w ron g in stating that the M on t­ real Cricket Association is con trolled by the M .A .A .A .” That, too , may be considered as con ­ tradicted, though to us on this side it wou ld not appear to be a matter o f importance one way or the other. But m y correspondent g oe s on to say : “ Y ou r adverse criticisms o f Canadian cricket, especially in connection with the Australian tour, have not been looked upon with favou r by cricket enthusiasts here, who have been stru g g lin g for years to popularise ou r national game, and a little assistance w ill be app recia ted .” Here, with all g o o d feeling, I must join issue with M r. Llart. W h a t weigh t o f op in ion he has behind him I do not k n ow ; but I cannot think that many peop le in M ontreal, or in Canada, cou ld pos­ sib ly ob je ct to adverse criticisms o f Canadian cricket which— have never been penned ! I have criticised stron g ly Canadian cricket re­ p ortin g . But this is quite another matter, and one in which an improvement must be fo r the g o o d o f the gam e. I have not written one single line which an unprejudiced person would con sider adversely critical o f, or in any way d eroga tory to, Canadian cricket. M r. Hart says that “ a little assistance wou ld be app recia ted .” I have consistently given Canadian cricket all the assistance that lies in my power. D u rin g the summer just ended scarcely an issue o f this paper has been w ithout news o f it. T h is may not mean m u ch ; but I think it means som eth ing— to Canadian cricket. It certainly means som eth ing to me— som eth ing in the shape o f really hard work. For to collate, and digest Canadian cricket news, as it is given in most o f the papers from the D o ­ minion that com e my way, and to present it intel­ lig ib ly and consecu tively, is not altogether an easy business. Here is a specimen o f Canadian cricket reporting, taken from a W in n ip e g p a p e r: “ F o r St. Jude’ s R ev . H orrop in was the highest scorer with 20, while he took with M cN aee two wickets for 4 5 .” “ R ev . H o rrop in ” was easily translated into the R ev . G . H orrob in ; but wh o was M sNaee, and how came the two w ickets to be taken “ w it h ” h im ? N o player o f a name at all resembling M cNaee (in itself alm ost im possible) appeared in the St. Jude’s list. M y explanation is “ took with the b a ll.” It may or may not be r ig h t ; it is at least plausible. From T o ron to— but with less acerbity than M r. Hart— M r. E . S . Jackson writes me, en closing a clip p in g from the Star o f that city, wherein I am called to order for stating that 200 odd is not a b ig score, and that Canadian cricketers would do well to avoid th ink ing o f such scores as b ig . I am invited to pay a visit to Canada and inspect the g round s. I sh ou ld like to, even if the invita­ tion be on the lines o f that o f the parliamentary candidate who told his prospective constituents that his house was on the bank o f a river, and that he hoped that if any o f them ever came that way they would d rop in. But I d o n ’t really doubt Canadian hospitality for a moment. I d o doubt, however, the theory that 200 on the matting wickets and rough g round s o f Canada fairly equals 400 in E ng land . Neither English nor Australian cricketers o f the fron t rank are used to matting wickets and rough g round s. If the rule applies at all, it must app ly to them as well as to Canadians. P . F . W a rn e r ’s Team made 437 v. On tario at T o ron to in 1898; the M .C .C . T eam 342 and 304 v. T o ron to in 1905. T h e Australians this year have