Cricket 1914

278 THE WORLD OF CRICKET J u n e 27, 1914. T he L o r d ’s C e n te n a r y D in n e r . T h e dinner at the Hotel Cecil on Tuesday evening was a gathering of the clans indeed. Lord Hawke took the chair, and was supported a t the head table b y Prince A lbert of Schleswig-Holstein, the Duke of Devonshire, the Duke of Rutland, Lord Harris, the Earl of Chesterfield, the R ight Hon. W . H. Long, Lord Bracklev, the Earl of Clarendon, Lord Desborough, Lord Chelmsford, Lord Lilford, the Earl of Lichfield, the Earl of Dartmouth, the Earl of Dalkeith, Sir W . H art Dyke, General Sir J. Fryer, the Earl of Northesk, the Mayor of Marylebone, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Hon. F. S. Jackson, Canon the Hon. Edward Lyttelton, Dr. W . G. Grace, the Rev. L. B. G. J. Ford, and Messrs. C. E . Green, C. B. Fry, A. P. Lucas, C. Marriott, H. E . Murray-Anderdon, G. W . Ricketts, James Wilson, A. W . Ridley, and E. B. Noel. The cream of English amateur cricket for the last forty or more years was represented in the Grand Hall. There were A . E . Stoddart, R. H. Spooner, H. K . Foster, John Shuter, A. J. Webbe, A . C. MacLaren, H. W . Bainbridge, C. L. Townsend, Michael Falcon, M. C. Kemp, Gregor MacGregor, B. J. T. Bosanquet, G. L. Jessop, A. P. Dav, H. P. Chaplin, C. E . de Trafford, W . M. Bradley, W . Brearley, Stanley Christopherson, P. J. de Paravicini, J. R. Mason, W . Findlay, C. D. M clver, L. H. W . Troughton, C. T. A. W ilkinson, G. A. T. Vials, J. G. Walker, A. S. Tabor, J. Robertson Walker, H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, A. H. Hornby, N. V . H. Riches, and many another, with all the players in the big match at L ord’s. Merely to look down the long array of illustrious names is to have one’s heart thrilled as by the sound of martial music, to recall many a great deed on many a hard foughten field, in test matches, Gentlemen v. Players, battles of the blues, and county games. The executives of the county clubs were well represented, too, for among the guests were Messrs. T. J. Matthews, F. C. Toone, R. V . Ryder, T. Paw ley, H. D. Sw an ,'O . R. Borradaile, T. A . Buhner, F. Oddie, C. B. Leathes Prior, A. J. Lancaster, S. C. Packer, F. H. Bacon, J. J. Pendlebury, W . T . Taylor, and S. T. Watkins. The Chairman, in proposing the health of “ The K in g,” referred to His M ajesty’s gracious visit to Lord’s that after­ noon. In submitting the toast of “ Lord’s Cricket Ground and the M.C.C.” he spoke feelingly of the heavy loss the club and the cricket world generally’ had sustained by the death of A . G. Steel, “ one of the greatest cricketers who ever donned flannels,” and a dear friend of his. He went on to tell of the hundred years’ history of the great club in its present (its third) home. “ L ord’s has become the Parlia­ ment House of cricket,” he said. “ The committee only wishes to do that which is best in the interests of the game.” He continued (the report is th at of the Sporting Life) :— “ W h at England will be like a hundred years hence we cannot pretend to prophesy, but this we can say— that Lord’s and the M.C.C. will continue to flourish and in­ crease their popularity. (Cheers.) “ Much has been written, and much has been said, about cricket to-day, and that it is losing its hold upon the public. I don’t believe it. (Cheers.) I grant that twenty years ago cricket had not the rivalry of golf and lawn tennis, which are now at their zenith. I will tell you something more. The Press now give such admirable reports of matches all over the country th at thousands do not take the trouble to go even a couple of miles to watch a game. We must remember, too, th at twenty- five years ago there were only eight first-class counties, but now there are sixteen. This means there is so much more important cricket, and in these hard-working and strenuous days men have not the time to devote to watching the' game, but I think the fact that there are now these sixteen first-class counties and tw enty minor counties shows that cricket is progressing, th at our national game as a whole is progressing, and th at we still have a very fair share of the public support. (Cheers.) “ It is all very well to talk about the slow cricket of the present day. Surely the art and the science of placing the field, and the accuracy of the bowling, have something to do with batsmen taking the risks. Further, do we not perhaps to-day live in an age of selfishness, when bats­ men are to some extent playing for their scores and aver­ ages ? How I hate those averages ! (Laughter and cheers.) I have done so all my life.” The toast of the “ County Cricket Clubs ” was proposed by Mr. C. E. Green, who mentioned th at he had himself played for three counties— Sussex, Middlesex, and Essex. Lord Harris and Dr. W . G. Grace responded. His lordship said that he came before W . G. because he had himself arranged the order of going in, and many years ago in Canada he had found th at if W . G. rose first he always utilised the subjects upon which he (Lord Harris) had intended to speak. He referred to the relations between the M.C.C. and the counties, pointing out (quite justifiably, if an onlooker may be allowed an opinion) th at the views of the counties were not always very consistent. Dr. W . G. Grace, as usual when induced to speak, said little. He considered th at county cricket in the old days was just as good as it is now ; but he did not think some of the young players were making as much use of their legs as they m ight do. (Lest he be misunderstood, one would wish to remark that he probably referred to field work, not to batting !) The R ight Hon. W . H. Long gave “ Imperial Cricket,” and Lord Chelmsford, late Governor of Queensland, and as the Hon. F. J.N . Thesiger an Oxford blue tw enty years or more ago, replied. The Hon. F. S. Jackson gave " The Two Centenary Teams,” and said that experiences against H itch th a t afternoon served to show that the game had lost none o f its excitement. Mr. C. B. F ry replied. “ The Staff ” was proposed b y the Duke of Devonshire, who paid tribute to the ability of Mr. F. E. Lacey and his locum, tenens, Mr. John Shuter. Mr. Lacey was not present, but Mr. Shuter made a modest and manly reply. “ The Chairman ” was given b y the Earl of Lichfield, who dealt graphically w ith a subject th at afforded plen ty of scope. -----------4------------ As was the case in all the north-eastern district, play in the Tyneside League on Saturday was affected by thunderstorms. Only one match was finished, Tynedale (130) beating Benwell (113). H. Arkle took 5 for 48 for the winners. Hanson, the losers’ pro., had twice to retire hurt, but came back each time, and was eventually bowled after making 22. The highest scores in the drawn games were Milne’s 50 for Benwell Hill v. South Northumberland, and Hardisty’s 41 for Ryton v. Wallsend. A c o u p l e of centuries were hit up in the Tyneside League’s Second Division, G. Smith making 156 for Backworth Percy II v. Tynemouth II, and F. Thompson 102 for Benwell II v. Percy Main. G. W. B r e e d scored 90 for Craghead and H. L. Dales 62 for Consett in the match between the two sides in the North-West Durham League. L i n c o l n L in d u m , who have been going very strongly this year, met their Waterloo on Saturday, when Grimsby Rovers (210) beat them by 121 runs. B u t even worse was the case of Grantham. Till then undefeated, they collapsed for 67 against Notts Forest Amateurs, their first four wickets actually falling for a single. Their opponents made 207 for 3— F. Forman 74, H. A. Thomas 55. Q u i t e another sort of ’game was that between Notts Forest and Sleaford, the former winning by one run— 122 to 121. A. E. Gibson (27) and A. O. Trotter (25) were chief scorers for Sleaford.