Cricket 1914

4 THE WORLD OF CRICKET. January, 1914. A frica . O f th e En glishm en P eel alone has 100 v. A u stralia. Lohmann’s 112 in cluded 35 in S ou th A frica n games, B rig g ’s 118 in cluded 21, and B ly th e ’s level hundred a b igger proportion. T w e n t y - t h r e e batsm en h a ve to ta lled fou r figures in tests, b u t o n ly three o f them all— G iffen, Noble, and R hodes ■— h a v e also tak en 100 w ickets. T he Y o rksh irem an go t his h u n dred th in th e first Johannesburg te st o f th e present rubber. E l e v e n w ick ets h a v e been ta k en in a te st m atch b y B arn es (S. F .), B ly th e (twice), B riggs, L o ckw oo d , C. G. M acartn ey, M. A . N oble, G. E . Palm er, Peel, R ichardson, and F . R . Spofforth. T w e l v e have been taken b y B riggs, H . V . Hordern, L ohm ann (twice), M artin, S. J. Snooke, H . T rum b le (twice), C. T . B . Turner, and A . E . E . V ogler. THiRTEfeN h a ve fallen to B arn es (twice), B ates, J. J. F erris (for E n glan d v. S ou th A frica , n ot for A u stralia v. England), M. A . N oble, F . R . Spofforth, and R ichardson. S p o f f o r t h alone claim s a bag of fourteen. B lyth e, B riggs, Lohm ann, and R h od es (the first three v. S.A .) h a v e tak en fifteen. T here is no sixteen record, and B arn es stands in p roud isolation in th e seventeen class. F u r t h e r trouble betw een the A u stralian B oard of Control and the p layers w h o resent its govern ance seems alm ost in evitable. T h e sto ry o f th e M .C.C. cable— said to h a v e given the B oard an u ltim atum th a t crick et intercourse betw een E n glan d and A u stralia m u st stop unless and u ntil the dis­ p u tes are settled— seems to h a v e been a canard. T h e new s given in som e quarters th a t Mr. W . P . M cE lhone, Chairm an of th e B oard of C ontrol, had said th a t the B oard w ould n ot san ction an y p la y e r under its jurisd iction join in g the team for Am erica this y e ar m a y be more auth entic. B u t it m ight be pointed o u t th a t Mr. M cE lhone is n o t th e Chairm an o f th e B oard. Mr. J. A llen (Queensland) n ow holds th a t d ig n ity. N or w as Mr. M cE lhon e chairm an even la st year. A n o th er stalw art, Mr. E . E . B ean (Victoria) th en held the post. T h e r e is lik ely enough to be trou ble o ver th e p rojected Am erican tour. T h e B oard did n o t like la st y e a r’s to u r ; it w ould n o t sanction it, b u t to o k no steps to p reven t it. T o some th is m igh t seem d ip lom acy, to others weakness. Som e th in k the B oard snow w h ite, others je t black. B u t a little th ou gh t m a y serve to su ggest th at, w hile the B oard did n o t care to a ct so h arsh ly as to forbid a to u r for which th e arrangem ents h ad alread y been made, th eir half-assent, so to speak, to it did n ot b y a n y means im p ly th a t th ey in tended it to be co n stitu ted a precedent. T h e real tu g-of-w ar m ay com e earlier th an th e reference to th e Am erican to u r suggests. In F eb ru ary N ew Zealand exp ects to receive a v isit from an A u stralian team which is lik ely to include A rm stron g, R ansford, and B ard sley, and m a y p ossib ly include N oble, L aver, and T rum per. T h e tour has been qu ite op en ly announced in the Dom inion ; in th e C omm onw eath the B oard says it know s n othing ab o u t it. T h a t Messrs. M cE lhone, B e a n ,, and Co. w ill allow a team g o t to geth er b y th e B o a rd ’s m ost determ ined opponents to m ake an unofficial to u r is even less lik e ly th an th a t th ey w ill le t M ayne and the rest w ander th e W estern C on tin en t again. T h e p rojected N ew Zealand to u r m a y be dropped. If it is carried o u t w ith the p layers nam ed in th e team one of tw o thin gs m ust happen : either an open defiance of the B oard, w h ich would strik e a d ead ly blow a t its prestige, w ill be given, or the p layers who are now a t odds w ith the rulin g b o d y w ill su bm it and go as m embers o f a team sanctioned and controlled b y th e B oard. T h a t— the latter'— w ould be th e b est w a y o u t o f the trouble. T h e open defiance business on ly m eans more bickering, n ot fu lly rep resen tative team s, and th e house still d ivided again st itself. M e a n w h i l e arrangem ents are bein g m ade for th e South A frican to u r of 1914-5. Vernon R ansford is said to h ave stated th a t he is w illing to m ake th e trip, b u t one gathers th a t he w as never qu ite so in veterate an oppon en t of the B oard (and one doubts w h ether T rum p er was) as A rm stron g or Noble, H ill or L a ver, C arter or C otter. T h e term s suggested (and p ro vision ally agreed to) are a team o f thirteen p layers and a m a n a g e r; expenses, and ^200 personal allow ance each ; programm e to sta rt w ith a m atch a t D urban on D ecem ber 1, 1914 ; 20 m atches in all to be p layed , includin g five tests ; to u r to conclude on A p ril 17, 1915 ; absence from hom e entailed on the p a rt of th e p layers, ab ou t five and a h alf months. C l e m e n t H i l l (South A ustralia), E . E . B ean (V ictoria), and D r. L . O. S. P o id evin (New S ou th W ales) w ill select th e team . T here was no opposition to H ill, b u t Ransford was run as V icto rian selector, th ou gh n om inated v e ry late, and T rum per in opposition to Poidevin. I n future, th e B oard w ill ap p oin t the m anager and (if such an official is considered necessary) the treasu rer o f a n y team it sends overseas. In future the B oard will exercise a rig h t to rem ove from the selectors’ list o f p layers the nam e of an y m an considered unsuitable for inclusion on grounds other th an those o f crick et a b ility. A n d in futu re th e B oard w ill tak e the w hole o f the n et profits of test m atches p layed in A ustralia, and w ill distribu te th em to the vario u s associations on an equitable basis. E c h o e s of th e troubles of 1912 are suggested b y the first tw o of these three changes. T h e Sporting M a il (Adelaide) does n ot consider th a t th e £200 each prom ised the men going to S outh A frica w ill a ttra c t all th e leading cricketers. V e ry p ro b a b ly n ot. The B oard w ould seem to have in view the a ttractin g those men who p u t the gam e before th eir pockets. B u t — a big b u t !— how m any crack A u stralian cricketers can afford to do this ? T h ey are n o t w ealth y men, for th e m ost p art. T h e y can n ot afford to leave th eir occupation s for six m onths or more w ith o u t adequate com pensation. In this p articu lar case £200 m ay be adequate. T he tour will n o t ta k e as long as one in E n glan d. B u t there are bound to be differences of opinion as to its adequacy. T h e late E d ito r of C r i c k e t (second in comm and on the new ship) has to th an k Mr. F . C. R aphael, Hon. Sec. to the N ew Zealand C ricket Council, for a co p y o f the C ouncil’s little official handbook, containing th e rules, the roll of honour (names of p layers who h ave represented N ew Zealand in its m atches), and other in teresting in form a­ tion H andsom ely bound, and w ith the recip ien t’s nam e stam ped upon it in gold letters, th is booklet is a com plim en t m ost h ea rtily appreciated. C h a r l e s M a c a r t n e y has no hope of crick et e ver becom ­ ing the n ational game o f Am erica. H e told a N ew Zealand in terview er th a t baseball had m uch too strong a hold for