Cricket 1914

M a y 9, 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 117 Ballarat did not bat firs t; the English team did so, and were in all the first day, making 220 for 8. Musgrove (says the record) gave three chances. He and Worrall added 151 for the second wicket. The second day of the match, when their stand was made, was a S a tu rd a y ; and the Argus is not a Sunday paper. One suspects that the selection committee sat on the Sunday, for it can hardly be supposed th at either Worrall or Musgrove was chosen before the B allarat game. Perhaps if they had waited until Monday, for a full report— but never mind ! Musgrove made 4 and 9 in the test, which England won b y ' 10 wickets, Briggs scoring 121, and Barnes taking 9 wickets for 81. S u s se x loses and Surrey gains by the transference of the services of P. G. H. Fender, the old St. Paul’s boy, who appeared in the ranks of the metropolitan county for the first time on Saturday last. F e n d e r did good all-round work for Sussex in 1913, though he fell away somewhat towards the end of the season and appeared to have gone stale. He played in the Gentle­ men v. Players matches a t both Lord’s and the Oval— a high honour for one so young. He only attained his majority last August, though he looks older. T h e r e were wheels within wheels in the “ Bloemfontein incident,” of which the South African press has said so much. We have not referred to it before, since it seemed the sort of tiling as to which comment was unnecessary— at any rate, until one had heard both sides. T h e Bloemfontein side was heard loudly enough, in all conscience ; now the other side has had a chance, for at the dinner given in his honour by the Essex C.C.C. John Douglas explained the matter more fully than it had been previously explained, and a paper received by the mail which arrived from South A frica on the same d ay contained a substantial corroboration of his story. I t appears that the person mainly responsible for leading the cricketers away (Douglas himself was not present) was a member of the Orange Free State team, who “ personally conducted ” them b y what he described as the nearest way to their hotel, leaving the Mayor and corporation waiting a t the other end of the platform . N o t everyone will agree w ith this gentleman’s idea of a good joke. B u t enough has already been said about the incident. S c a r c e l y will E . H. D. Sewell captain the Buckingham­ shire side this season, although their matches do start rather late. He had been very ill during the winter, and, after a spell abroad, had to go into S t. Mary’s Hospital for an operation. He only came out a few days ago. S e w e l l says th at if he never plays again, it will be a consolation to him to remember th at in his last innings, he made a century a t L ord’s. B u t it is to be hoped th a t he will play many another innings and make more centuries yet. M iln e , the Northumberland pro., who is so big an asset to his side, Benwell Hill, in the Tyneside League, started the season in great form w ith a century v. Backworth Percy 011 April 18th and another v. South Northumberland on April 25th. T. A . B r a d f o r d , the Durham County hitter, was "top scorer in the Durham League matches of April 25th with a quickly got 92.. In his recent book, “ Bar, Bat, and B it,” the Hon. Edward Chandos Leigh, K .C .B ., tells an excellent story of “ G ranny’ Martingell, a great man in his day in the K en t eleven— though he played for Surrey also— and afterwards for many years coach at Eton. M a r t i n g e l l was standing umpire at Scarborough, when the Australians played the Zingari there some thirty odd tears ago. The old man had always valued his own bowling highly, and on this occasion was almost shocked when Mr. Chandos Leigh compared it w ith Boyle’s. Boyle, as those who remember him will attest, was one of the best length bowlers of any day, and had other qualities besides length. B u t Martingell said : “ How can you compare us, sir ? Mr. Boyle is no better than a fair college bowler.” Jo h n H o w e l l, who distinguished himself in the Surrey Trial Match, is one of the Rep ton brothers, who may yet earn distinction equal to that of the Northamptonshire Dentons and the Stephens of Warwickshire. Last season this promising batsman headed his school averages with 737 runs a t nearly 57 per innings, while his brother was second w ith between 49 and 50 per innings. Between them they scored more runs than all the rest of the eleven together. In 1912 each averaged between 24 and 25 ; in 1911 John Howell’s average was under 17, his brother’s over 21. Rep ton has produced a good many fine cricketers during the last quarter of a century, and these two bid fair to emulate the deeds of some of the best of their predecessors, among whom may be mentioned C. B . Fry, L. C. H., and R. C. N. Palairet, W . T. Greswell, and J. N . Crawford. J. V . S a u n d e r s , the left-hand bowler of the 1902 Aus­ tralian Team, has now been coaching a t Wellington, New Zealand, for several seasons, and has played regularly for Wellington province, but it was only a few weeks ago th at he first represented New Zealand, a t Auckland. T h is was not because the New Zealand authorities have any objection to playing Australians in Dominion teams, if precedent is to be taken into account, for H arry Graham, C. A. Richardson, A. E. Clarke, L. T . Cobcroft, and other natives of the Commonwealth have represented New Zealand a t various times. T h e cablegram from Sydney to the Daily Mail throwing doubt upon the carrying out of Australia’s engagement to send a team to South A frica in 1914-5 need not be taken seriously. I t is stated that nothing has been heard from the South African authorities. B u t this is easily explained. The South African Board has been going through a worrying time and has been getting reconstructed. M o r e o v e r , says the M a il’s Sydney correspondent, it is not at all likely th at the players still a t odds with the Australian Board of Control will make the trip. Bu t this will scarcely cause it to fall through. The chief of these players are Armstrong, Hill, Trumper, Noble, Ransford, Carter Cotter, and Laver. O f the eight named five may be counted out. Noble, Carter, Cotter, and Laver, would not be likely to go in any case. H ill’s duties as a racing steward will keep him at home. There remain Armstrong, Ransford, and Trumper. R a n s f o r d is stated to have said th at he will go if he can get away. Trumper is quite a likely starter. As to Arm ­ strong, opposition to the Board may quite possibly keep him a t home.