Cricket 1913

September 27, 1913. CR I CKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. W h e t h e r F au lk n e r w ill be seen in the South A frica n team a g a in st ou r men still seem s doub tfu l. 1 understand that the S . A . C . A . have no intention o f in v itin g him sp e c ia lly to “ com e b ack to E rin ” (for E rin read S .A .) , but w ill be g la d to avail th em selves o f h is services if he does com e on his own in itiative. S om e m on th s a g o I g a v e extracts from a letter abou t M r. R . B . B en jam in w h ich appeared in a P h ila d e lp h ia n p ap er. I m ay add that I did not select the w orst th in g s said— m erely the m ost am us­ in g . I refer to the matter a ga in b ecause I hear that the E d ito r o f the paper in question has recently had to pu b lish a definite statem ent that the letter w as not w ritten b y M r. F . F . K e lly , m y esteemed N ew Y o r k corresponden t, upon whom M r. B en ja ­ min had so u g h t to fasten it. A ll that F . F . K . said w as th at the gu aran tees asked b y the A u stra lian s were too h ig h , and th at the talk o f tra v e llin g for the .good o f the g am e did not harm on ise ex a ctly w ith the d evotion to dollars and cen ts. I d o n ’t know th at he said even this p u b lic ly . H e certain ly did not w rite the letter. T h i s is the end o f a d escrip tion o f the P resi- d e n cy -P a rsi g am e at P o on a in the Advo ca te of Ind ia . I am not c a r p in g at it; one feels like that som etim es, even if one is not cap ab le o f exp re s sin g it qu ite so p ictu resq u ely . It rem inds one o f A lb ert K n i g h t ! “ W ith to -d a y ’s m atch the ch ief even t o f ou r cricket season com es to a close, e v e ryb o d y con ­ g ra tu la tin g the w inn ers on a w ell-w on v ic to ry . T o -n ig h t the cricket field is d a rk save for a few ligh ts flashed from the G ym k h an a , th row in g a weird lig h t on the d rizzle, and p u n c tu a tin g the sh ad ow s. T h e lo n g lines o f tents and sham ianas, filled to their utmost cap acity w ith ea g e r spectators are now em p ty and silen t. T h e sides o f the g rou n d where ev e ry inch held a piece o f m ortality are all deserted. ‘ T h e cap ta in s and the lords are g o n e ,’ the noblemen and the comm oners, w h o were welded as one in their jo in t interest in the grea t E n g lish g am e are severed a g a in , and m id the darkness and gloom the th o u gh t com es home S ic transit gloria m u n d i! ” S econd -C lass C ricket . The name of the Bedfordshire captain, E. E. Apthorp, who caught 12, stumped 1, was inadvertently omitted in the Field-Work table. T h e correspondent who calls my attention to this says that R . Newby (Durham), caught 4, stumped 1, should also be included. But he is— which shows how easy it is to make a mistake about these th in g s ! The Cowichan C .C .’s X I., of which G ilbert Curgenven, formerly o f Derbyshire, is the all-round star, won the Pacific North-Western Coast Tournament at V ictoria in A u g u st; and their opponents in the final were Oak Bay, led by H . R. Orr, the old Bedfordshire skipper. A full account o f this tournament will appear in the O ctober issue. Tom Ftayward hit five 6’s in his 96 for his X III . against his brother’s Cambridge X IV . on Parker’s Piece last Saturday. ---- TH E C R IC K E T GROUND, C A ST R IE S, ST. LU CIA.