Cricket 1913

October 18 , 19 13 . CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. (l73 dup licated , w h ile 505 to 508 and 525 to 528 did not app ear at a ll. D r e a d f u l ! B u t E d ito r and prin ters— pub lish er even— were g u iltle ss. A n d a s I cannot id en tify the tran sg resso r it is ou t o f the question to h ave her beheaded— or even sacked . I am sen d in g a perfect c o p y o f the issue to m y co rresp on d en t’s po st office, addressed to M r. G . R um b le, to be called fo r. I d o n ’t know his nam e, and I have no oth er means o f re a ch in g h im ; b u t he w ill su rely see th is, and perh ap s he w ill ask for the c o p y— if not, it m ay interest the p o stm a ster! W h y M r. G . R um b le ? O h , p u zzle it ou t for y o u rselv e s ! T h e h e a r t i e s t o f con g ra tu la tion s to M r. J. H . F arm er on h is silv e r w ed d in g . N o one I know o f has g rea te r keenness for the g am e o f g am es than the o ld H a rro v ian nam ed, w ho has also taken a v e ry p rom in en t part in the m anagem en t o f A s s o ­ ciation foo tb a ll. C o n g r a t u la t i o n s , too, to John W illiam H earne on h is recent m a rria g e. M a y he be celeb ra tin g h is silv e r w e d d in g in 1938— and still p la y in g the gam e ! It is qu ite po ssib le he m ay be, th o u gh , o f cou rse, b y that tim e “ Y o u n g Jack ” w ou ld have becom e “ O ld J a c k .” A n d c o n g r a t u la t io n s also to the N atal cricketer to w hom the fo llo w in g announ cem en t refers. T h o u g h h is lines are cast aw a y from the ch ief cen tres o f the g am e in h is state, F ra n k G rea ves, w ho is an op th a lm ic op tician at N ew castle, is th o u g h t b y m an y to be a stro n g can d idate for cricket honou rs in th e fu tu re. H e p la y ed fo r Natal in one C u rrie C u p m atch last season. “ M a r r ia g e .— M ab el H a lfo rd , o f the H o lly D ene, H o rse ll C omm on , W o k in g , S u rre y , d a u gh te r o f J. W . H a lfo rd , o f 4 1, P a ll M all, L on d on , to F ran k G rea ves, ju n ., o f N ew castle, N atal, son o f F . G rea ves, M .P .C ,, o f N ew castle, N a ta l.” In t h e B om bay C h r o n ic le ’ s report o f the P re si­ d en cy v . H in d u s m atch there o ccu rs a p a ssa ge w h ich pu zzle s m e. “ V ith a l’s p la c e ,” sa y s the re­ porter, “ w a s taken b y h is b roth er G u n p a t.” L ate r — “ th e next man in w as S h iv ram , the th ird o f thf B a lo o b ro th e rs.” T h e s e three p la y ers appear in the score-sheet as P . V ith a l, P . G u n p a t, and P . S h iv ram . T h e re is also P . B a lo o , th e little b ow ler w h o worked so hard and well here in 19 11. Is he another b ro th er? T h e “ P ” in h is case stands, I b elieve, for " P a l- w a n k e r .” N ice nam e— do the other three bear it also ? A n y w a y , if th e y are the B aloo b rothers, w h y is the “ B a lo o ” om itted ? P erh ap s som eone w ho is learned in the lore o f the E a st can inform m e. I rea lly do w an t to know . M y th irst for kn ow led g e is in satiab le. A n o t h e r item from the B om b ay C h ro n icle —■ m atch , H in d u s v . M ahomm edan s. T h e tim e at w ickets taken b y each batsm an w as g iv e n , and ab o v e w a s th is note : “ In d iv id u a l scores (b a rrin g o rd in a ry in terva ls not for d rin k in g w ater on the g r o u n d ).” T h e y m ust h ave had th irsty w eather in B om b a y ! T h e y do at tim es, 1 b elieve. W a te r is specified, be it ob served . P o s s ib ly tim e was deducted if the liquid had a hue that su g g e sted oth er ty p e o f refreshm en t. M r . R . B . Benjam in has a g a in been interview ed . H e pred icts that if the custom is estab lished fo r two yea rs more of an A u s tra lian crack eleven v is itin g C an a d a and the S ta te s cricket w ill becom e the national g am e o f those coun tries. “ W h y , even b aseball en th u sia s ts ,” he sa y s, “ h ave been bound to a ck n ow led g e the m erits of the g am e. . . . W a ls h , the C h ic a g o W h ite S o x sp it-ball p itcher said that he th o u g h t cricket a more scien tific g am e than b aseb a ll. O u r b o y s are no rubes at baseball th em selves. T h e b o y s practised w ith the W h ite S o x , and C a lla h an w as so impressed w ith the p la y o f one or two o f them that he w ou ld h ave liked to h ave taken them on h is staff. M a iley and M a ca rtn ey c a u g h t his eye p a r tic u la rly .” I f p o s s ib le , the A u stra lian m an a ger s a y s, he intends to b r in g the team a g a in next y ear, and he add s that W in n ip e g , C a lg a r y , M on treal, R e g in a , and Edm on ton h ave a ll asked fo r a fu ll w e e k ’s cricket on the next tou r. . T h i s is all to the go od , th o u gh one doub ts w hether, in view o f the trip to S ou th A fr ic a in 1914-5 m an y o f the cra ck s w ou ld join in a team for Am e rica next y ear, and w h eth er tou rs in tw o su c­ cessive y e a rs w ou ld not be rath er o v e rd o in g the th in g . B u t o n e does not like M r. B en jam in when he attem p ts to exp la in aw a y the d efeat at the hand s o f the G erm an tow n team . T h a t C raw fo rd w as absen t is true. T h a t several o f the men wjere ill w ith the jo u rn e y from B erm uda is doub tless also true— sin ce M r. B en jam in s a y s so. H e s a y s th ey p la yed w ith v e ry little heart. T h a t is an accusation a g a in s t them , not an excu se fo r them , looked at rig h tly . “ C o n s e q u e n t ly a team w h ich w a s much w eaker than the a v era g e team s w e met cam e ou t on to p .” H ere one b e g in s to su sp ect that M r. B en jam in really does not know w hat he is ta lk in g abou t. H is side did not meet in more th an five m atches— those who