Cricket 1914

M a y 16, 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 14 1 As many as thirty-one schools were represented in the Freshmen’s Matches at the two ’Varsities. Of the 31 only Eton (7 men in all), Charterhouse (3), Rossall (2), Wellington (2), and Westm inster (2) had a player or players on each side ; and the only other schools doubly represented were Harrow, w ith two men at Oxford, and Loretto, with two at Cambridge. T h e twenty-four schools w ith one representative each were Malvern (usually more prominent), Repton, Upping­ ham, Rugby, Clifton, Winchester, Dulwich, Haileybury, Tonbridge, Bradfield, Mill Hill, Oakham, Taunton, St. Edward’s (Oxford), St. Bees, K ing’s (Bruton), Christ’s Hospital, Weymouth, and Stourbridge (England) ; Edin­ burgh Academy and Glenalmond (Scotland) ; and of the Colonial schools Maritzburg, Wellington (S. Africa), and Melbourne. C h e lt e n h a m and Shrewsbury are among those missing altogether from the list. T h e player whose name is variously given as G. O. and G. V. Pearse (Maritzburg) must surely be V. (or V. G.) Pearse, the youngest of the three brothers who have all played for Natal. The eldest, Ormerod, went w ith the South A frican Team to Australia in 1910-1 ; the second, Dudley, has done well almost every time he has appeared for the province ; the third (with whom one identifies the Oxford Freshman), has not as yet made his mark decisively in big cricket, but has a capital club record, and undoubtedly possesses his fair share of the fam ily ability. T h e meeting of the Surrey C.C.C. on May 7 was of more than ordinary interest. If there had been nothing else to make it so, the presentation to Mr. M. C. Bird of a hand­ some silver cigar-box, as a mark of recognition from the members of the club of their appreciation of what he had done for the county during his term of captaincy, would have had th at effect. Mr. Bird expressed his intense regret at having to resign, owing to the claims of business, and held out hopes th at he m ight be able to resume in two or three years’ time. T h e drop iii membership— from 3560 to 3407— is really a small matter, for the Triangular Tests naturally brought in some new members who after all decided not to renew. Almost all counties find their membership increased in an Australian year. This may apply less to Surrey than to the majority, however, as the Kennington people require rather a heavy entrance fee. A l l u s i o n was made to Hobbs’s benefit. We all hope it will be a bumper. As man and as cricketer John Hobbs has earned the respect of everybody and the esteem of all who know him. B u t what luck present-day professionals have compared with their predecessors ! Hobbs first played for Surrey in 1905 ; he gets a benefit in his tenth year, with, in all human probability, another ten or fifteen years to go. The old hands seldom got their benefits till they were in the sere and yellow leaf, often not until they had been dropped entirely ; and this fact was bound to influence receipts. They had no winter pay, either, and only a few of them— chiefly the Notts, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Surrey brigades— ever got the chance of a tour overseas. T h a t chance does not come to all the good men of to-day ; but it comes to a very considerable proportion of them. During the last dozen years about forty professional players have gone to the colonies with teams, while others have been engaged coaching in South Africa, India, or New Zealand. T h e list of those who have toured abroad from 1901-2 to 1913-4 includes Arnold, Barnes, Blythe, Board, Booth, Braund, Brown (Geo.), Buckenham, Dento-n, Fielder, Gunn (Geo.), Gunn (John), Haigh, Hardstaff, Hargreave, Hayes, Hayward, Hearne (Alec), Hearne (J. W.), Hirst, Hobbs, Huish, Humphreys (Kent), Humphries (Derby­ shire), Iremonger, Kinneir, Knight, Lees, Lilley, Mead (Philip), Quaife (William), Relf (Albert), Rhodes, Seymour (James), Smith (E. J.), Smith (W. C.), Strudwick, Tyldesley (John), Vine, and Frank Woolley. The tours comprised are four in Australia, one in New Zealand (extended to Australia), three in South Africa, three in the West Indies, and one (Kent in 1905) in America. To give a full list of those who have had coaching engage­ ments abroad would be impossible ; but some whose names cross one’s mind are Astill, Bowley, Cox, Harrison, K illick, King, Mignon, Myers, Pearson, R elf (Robert), and Tarrant. A te a m representing South A frica in England (residents and men on holiday) is being formed, says the Sportsman. The organiser is Mr. J. B. Ashman, 64, Warren Street, Regent’s Park, W . T h e r e are plenty of men if they can only be got together. Faulkner, Pegler, and Vogler are scarcely likely to be available in club games ; but the ’Varsities should be able to supply quite a strong contingent during the Long Vacation, and there are more walking the hospitals, to mention only one other source to be tapped. L. H. Dixon, of G uy’s and Beddington, has done fine all-round work in metropolitan cricket. A w e l l - k n o w n London club cricketer called at our office the other day and laboured to impress the Manager (in the Editor’s absence) w ith the advisability of printing club scores in this paper. T he difficulties were pointed out to him. In the first place, club scores are interesting chiefly, if not solely, to the clubs concerned. To give them w ithout enlarging further the size of the paper would necessitate the cutting out of much matter more generally interesting. To add 4, 8, or 12 pages would— well, we need only point out that, keen as we are on the game, the aims of the W o r l d o f C r i c k e t are not purely philanthropic. B u t , said our visitor, his club would be quite willing to pay for insertion, and so (he was sure) would many others. T h at remains to be seen, however. On some such basis the idea m ight be workable. Secretaries who favour it are invited to communicate w ith us. W e are not pressing the matter, for the highest charge we could make would give us no profit— in fact, could hardly help involving us in a loss, unless many extra readers from the clubs were attracted. F r o m “ F elix’s ” notes on the E ast Melbourne v. South Melbourne match :— “ Prior to the opening of the match several persons inspected the wicket. Amongst them the popular veteran, Harry T rott, in a red blazer, loomed large, w ith non-diminishing amplitude of girth. Slight pressure w ith finger and thumb made an indentation in the soft turf. Really, until one read the last word— " turf ” — one wondered why the genial H arry should be treated so dis­ respectfully ! A man m ay be— er— portly ; but to apply finger and thumb— even slightly— to ascertain if it’s all real is scarcely'— well— ’nuff said ! J. S. H i d d l e s t o n , formerly of Otago, now of Wellington, has won high praise from some of the Australian cricketers who have been touring New Zealand. Victor Trumper says that he is one of the finest batsmen they met. I t is