Cricket 1913

December 1 7 , 1913 . CR I CKE T : A WEEK L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. I t a p p e a r s that I w as in error when I stated that M essrs. S p a ld in g B ro th ers were b eh ind the A u s ­ tra lia n s’ tou r in Am e rica . M r. C . H arrison Sm ith w rites to assu re me that such w as not the case. T h e y were interested in it as sportsm en , and did w h at th e y cou ld to help it a lo n g and m ake it su c­ c e ss fu l; bu t th ey w ere in no w a y fin an cia lly con ­ cerned . “ M r. B en jam in carried the entire respon ­ sib ility h im self, and how su cce ssfu lly he d id it is now a m atter o f h is to r y ,” sa y s M r. H arrison Sm ith . H o n ou r to whom honou r is due ! J. N . F ow k e, w h o p la y ed h is first m atch for C an te rb u ry as far b a c k as 1880-1, and h is last as recen tly as 1906-7, a lso rep resen tin g A u c k lan d for som e few seasons, is ju st re tirin g from active par­ ticipation in the g am e. A t 56 he can still keep w icket c ap a b ly , and in h is tim e w as p ro b a b ly the best w icket-keeper N ew Z ealand ever had. Bu t the N .Z . paper w h ich sa y s that he, A rn o ld W illiam s , and B o x sh a ll were in a cla ss b y th em selves is sca rcely fair to tw o or three other men— notably R . C . N iven and E . W r ig h t, both rea lly go od in their d a y , th o u gh the latter did not last as lo n g as N iv en . A testim on ial to F ow k e has been su g g ested . E v e r y lo ver o f the gam e w ill sym p a th ise w ith M r. C . J. E a d y in the sad loss o f h is little son, a y o u n g ste r of o n ly fou r. C h a rle s E a d y m ade m any friend s when he w as over here w ith the A u stra lian T eam o f 1896. T h e finest cricketer T a sm an ia ever produ ced , he is one o f the m ost popu lar men in the b eau tifu l island th at has a lw a y s been h is home. W h e n he w as in the h eig h t o f h is form , he w as said to be m ed ita tin g m igration to S y d n e y . If he had m ade the projected m ove, it is lik e ly that more w ou ld h ave been h eard o f him , for the few m atches p la y ed b y the island -state g iv e its p la y ers a much sm aller chan ce o f w in n in g renown than those o f N ew S o u th W a le s and V icto ria get. T h e f o l l o w i n g are the ch ief fixtu res o f the N ew Z ealand first-class season . In one or tw o cases official confirm ation is la c k in g ; bu t there is not v e ry much doub t o f the g am es c om in g off, th o u gh they w ill for the m ost part be p la yed b y w eakened teams in the absence o f the N .Z . side in A u stra lia :— N o vem ber 13, 14, 15,— W e llin g to n v . M r. D . R e e s e ’s X I ., at W e llin g to n . D ecem b er 25, 26, 27— C an te rb u ry v . O ta g o , at C h ristch u rch . D ecem b er 25, 26, 27— W e llin g to n v . A u c k lan d , at W e llin g to n . J an u a ry 1, 2, 3— C an te rb u ry v . W e llin g to n , at C h ristch u rch . J an u a ry 1, 2, 3— O ta g o v . A u c k lan d , at D u n ed in . J an u a ry 9, 10, 12— O ta g o v . W e llin g to n , at In v e rc a rg ill. January 6, 7— S o u th lan d v . W e llin g to n , at D un ed in . January 9, 10, 12— C an terb u ry v . A u c k lan d , at C h ristch u rch . T h i s is not a com plete list. O ta g o and S o u th ­ land w ill meet, and H aw k e ’s B a y w ill no doub t a rran g e a m atch o r tw o . T h e re is also lik e ly to be a return g am e between O ta g o and C an terb u ry , and p o ssib ly a m atch between S ou th lan d and C an ter­ b u ry ; w h ile W e llin g to n h ave asked for a m atch w ith the N .Z . T eam to A u s tra lia either before it sa ils or imm ed iately on its return hom e. E . W . S m y r k , the H aw k e ’s B a y representative, w ho is said to be considered b y John B oard the best all-round p la y er in N ew Zealand , is now in W e l­ lin g to n . O n w h a t B o a rd ’s op in ion w as based it is not easy to s a y ; certa in ly not on w hat Sm y rk has done when rep resen tin g h is p ro vin ce, for h is figu res in these m atch es w ou ld not even ju stify his b e in g held the best a ll-round m an in H a w k e ’s B a y . P e r­ h ap s he w ill be seen in the W e llin g to n eleven in the near fu tu re, and w ith extended chan ces m a y do som e th in g to prove B oard rig h t, th ou gh Sm y rk has a v e ry lo n g w a y to g o before he can be reckoned the equal of D an R eese, and there are also S a n d ­ m an, S n ed do n , M cF a rlan e, and others. T h e issue o f the S y d n ey R eferee for Sep tem ber 24 w as a special cricket num ber, and rea lly g rea t va lu e. A m o n g the articles in cluded w e r e : A S ketch of N ew Z ealand C ric k e t, b y D . R e e s e ; G en esis o f d ie In tern a tio n a l; E n g la n d ’s H ig h E stim ate o f P io n e er A u stra lian T e am ; R em in is­ cences o f the 1882 T e am ; T h e A b o rig in a l C ric k e te rs; R em in iscen ces o f C rick et in S y d n e y and M e lb o u rn e ; V icto rian C ric k e t R e v iv a l; Q u een s­ land P ro s p e c ts; B rig h t B un ch o f O ld T a sm an ian H e ro e s; and S ou th A u s tra lian C rick et, P a st and P resen t. T h e E d ito r did C r i c k e t the honou r of q u o tin g in exten so the b a ttin g figu res of A u stra lian s in A u stra lia g iv en in our issue o f M a y 3 o f th is y ea r. W . N . M o r ic e , a veteran now , headed the H a li­ fa x C u p b a ttin g a v e ra g es in P h ila d e lp h ia th is year, and won the C h ild s B a ttin g C u p . H is total was 205, h is a v e ra g e 41. T h e C u p w as first aw arded in 1880, and am on g its holders are numbered m an y of the greatest names in P h ilad elp h ian cricket. J. B . K i n g and G . S . P atterson each appears h a lf a dozen tim es in the list, R . S . N ew h a ll, W . W . N ob le, and A . M . W o o d th rice each, F . H . B oh len tw ice; and F . H . B ates, R e y n o ld s D . B row n , E dw a rd W . C la rk , C raw fo rd C oa tes, W illa r d G rah am , A . W . Jones, S u th e rlan d L aw , J. A . L ester, R . LI. P atton , and W a lte r S co tt m ake on e appearan ce each.