Cricket 1913

September 20, 19l3. CR I CKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 629 B u t it is lik e ly en ou gh that before this appears in p rin t the w hole sto ry w ill h ave been denounced as a canard, so one need not labou r the matter fu r­ ther. E x c ep t to s a y this : that if the men arc stranded there is som e exp lanation not even hinted at in th e C itiz e n ’s comm un ication from N ew Y o r k , w h ich w a s v e ry o b v io u s ly not sent b y an yon e w ith fu ll k n ow le d g e o f th e tour. T h e presentation to S ch o field H a ig h at S ca r­ b o ro u gh on S ep tem b er 3 w ill have pleased m any besides its recip ien t. N orth and S ou th alik e H a ig h is d ese rv ed ly honou red as a rea lly go o d sportsm an , and it is go o d to see so g ra ce fu l a tribu te paid to h im . A S i l v e r in k stan d w as the g ift, and M r. H . D . G . L eve son -G ow er, in p resen tin g it on b e­ h a lf o f the am ateu rs p la y in g d u rin g the 1913 festi­ va l, sa id that th ey a ll regretted that th is would p ro b a b ly be H a ig h ’s last S ca rb o ro u g h festiva l, for he had been a d e ligh tfu l man to p la y w ith . T h e in scrip tion on the ink stand -is eloquen t in its sim ­ p lic ity : " S c o f., 1895-19 13 .” H a ig h replied b riefly , we read. S o w ou ld one have exp ected . H e w a s ever a man o f deeds, not of w ord s. H e has done Y o rk s h ir e sp lend id service. In an e a rly num ber I hope to h ave the chan ce to summ arise a career that has extended o ver nearly 20 y e a rs o f fine en d ea vou r and b ig a ccom p lish ­ m ent. A f t e r tw o or th ree m eetin g s the question at issue between the L an ca sh ire C . C . ’s comm ittee and the L an ca sh ire e le v e n ’s cap tain seem s to h a ve nar­ rowed itself down to v e ry sm a ll d im en sion s. T h e comm ittee h ave taken th rou gh ou t an em in en tly ju d icio u s and toleran t attitud e. T h e y d ecline to comm it hara-kiri (I hope I h ave that w ord cor­ rectly !) o r even to a llow th em selves to be kicked ou t u n p r o te s tin g ly ; bu t they h ave done n o th in g to w iden the breach between them selves and M r. A . H . H o rn b y , and it w ill be qu ite po ssib le for that gen tlem an to con tinue in office w ithou t loss of d ig n ity either to h im self or to those he attacked . A n d that m igh t not h ave been the case had the comm ittee adopted an attitude o f un com p rom isin g h o stility. S om e o f the m atters abou t w h ich M r. H o rn b y com p lained were m erely su g g e sted ch an g e s, not even d efin itely decided u p o n ; and a new lig h t is thrown upon the situation b y the comm ittee’s sober statem en t o f facts. L a n c a s h ir e lost £ 2 ,3 6 4 in 1910, ^,'455 in 1911, and abou t £900 in 1913. T h e profit in 1912 w as o n ly ,£ 102. O n fou r yea rs th is reveals a total loss o f o ver ,£4,600, and in the face o f suc.h figu res as these the situation had to be faced in a ll its seriou s­ ness, more esp ecia lly a s there are benefits to com e d u rin g the next two or three y e a rs. T h e friend s o f the clu b have com e o its rescue. L o rd D e rb y has prom ised to g iv e £ 200 tow ard s m a k in g up the cu rren t y e a r ’s deficit, and £ 1 0 0 for each o f the next three years, S ir W illiam N elson £ 1 0 0 fo r 1913, and £ $ 0 fo r each o f the next three y ea rs, S ir F . F . A d am £ 5 0 for three years, and M r. T o p h am £ 2 5 fo r three y ea rs. T h e re are su re to be oth ers in a g re a t and rich cou n ty like the C o u n ty P ala tin e. M e a n w h ile W o rc e ste rsh ire , neither so rich nor so g rea t, has had the existen ce o f her coun ty club made secu re fo r three y ea rs at least, and N o rth ­ am p ton sh ire has made qu ite a su b stan tia l sum ou t o f a d raw in g fo r a m otor-car. (“ Is it l e g a l ? ” som eone w h isp ers. “ N o t that I m in d ,” a s the G ran d D u k e sa id .) T h e w in n in g ticket fell to the go o d sup po rter o f the clu b w h o m ade the d raw , and he g a v e b ack the car to be d raw n fo r a g a in— a slice o f lu ck to w h ich the rom p in g hom e o f a 50 to 1 D e rb y ch an ce is bu t a sm a ll th in g ! In ju s t ic e to the G erm an tow n C .C ., the o n ly side to beat the A u s tra lia n s in Am e rica , it sh ou ld b e stated that the fact o f their p la y in g tw elve a g a in st eleven in the m atch w as qu ite a ccid en tal. T h e g am e w a s to h a ve been tw e lv e a sid e ; bu t at the last mom en t John C raw fo rd w as too unw ell to p la y . N a tu ra lly no on e on the other side liked the idea o f sta n d in g dow n , and it w as felt that to choo se a victim w ou ld be a lto ge th er too in v id io u s. D iam ond m ade no ob jection to the shade o f odds, and so the g am e w as p la y ed 11 v . 12. S e v e n batsm en h a ve now scored 2,000 and o ver in a first-class season in E n g la n d m ore than three tim es. T om H a yw a rd has ten such totals to h is accoun t, R o b e rt A b e l e ig h t, C . B . F r y six , W . G ., John H o b b s, and John T y ld e s le y five each, and the Jam o f N aw a n a g a r fou r— no, K . S . R a n jitsin h ji fou r, for he w a s not the Jam w hen he made these totals, and one likes the old fam ilia r name best. D u r in g the last s ix season s F red H u ish has m ade o ver 500 cap tu res b eh ind the stum p s in first- c la ss cricket, and S tru dw ic k con sid e ra b ly o v er 400. It w ou ld b e in terestin g to com pare the w ork done b y oth er keepers, w ith the num ber o f m atch es (or p refe rab ly the num ber o f w ickets w h ich fell to their sid es w h ile th e y were in action ) k ep t in fo r each man ; bu t that m ust w ait. J oh n N ewm an had v e ry h ard lines in so nar­ row ly m issin g the doub le d istin ction o f 1,000 runs and 100 w ick e ts. It is lik e ly th at if the H an ts second in n in g s had not been d eclared in the M id -