Cricket 1914

THE WORLD OF CRICKET. £be TKIlorlfc of Cricket. E d i t o r : M r . A. C. M a c L a r e n . A s s i s t a n t E d i t o r a n d M a n a g e r : M r . J. N. P e n t e l o w . 61, TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, EMBANKMENT, LONDON, E.C. Correspondence should be addressed to the E d ito r; sub­ scriptions, advertisements, and all communications on business matters to the Manager. Subscription rates: I nland, Nine Shillings per annum ; Overseas Ten Shilling;-. Pavilion Gossip. My boy, the game’s that* big and bright, The game that stands all games above, That towers to such a glorious height, Deserves the summit of your love ! Is this a time for dapper spats, When foes arrive to test our worth ? Out with your flannels, gloves, and bats, And play the finest game on earth ! N orm an G a l e . T h i r t e e n schools were represented in this year’s ’Varsity game, Marlborough (four), E ton (three), Malvern (two), Charterhouse (two), Brighton (two), and Repton (two) having more than one representative each. H a r r o w , Winchester, Clifton, and R u gby are the chief schools unrepresented, for nowadays Westminster, pro­ minent in the past, seldom furnishes either side w ith a blue. S a v i l l e was the only fourth year man. Knott, Lagden, and Calthorpe were playing for the third time ; Colman, Melle, Havelock Davies, Boswell, Shaw, G. B . Davies, Fairbairn, Woodroffe, Morrison, and Baker for the second time. O f the new men four Oxonians were freshmen— Knight, Howell, Bristowe, and Rucker— and of these much may reasonably be hoped in the future. Naumann had earned his place thoroughly, playing consistently if making no long score. The three new choices for Cambridge were all seniors. A s in 1886, when Orford andKnatchbull-Hugessen played, the L ight Blues had two wicket-keepers o f class ; but this time each was worth his place for his batting alone. W h a t is fame ? In the published list of the Stafford­ shire team in a contemporary, which shall be nameless here, on Monday, appeared the name Of “ Baines.” J. J. Aw try and J. Awkers must not grumble; they have not played for England ! I n another contemporary (or was it the same ?) recently appeared in one column for Northumberland “ C. F. Stanger, c Leathes, b ------ and for Durham “ F . W . Bur- goyne, c Johnson, b — -— .” The bowlers’ names have escaped one’s memory ; but they are not to the purpose. Northern readers will understand what is being got at if southern ones do not. T h a t after so many years’ absence from first-class cricket Sir Tim othy Carew O ’Brien should be able to come back and make a couple of hundred runs in one match is really wonderful. The Oxford and Middlesex hitter of other days has turned 52 ; and he practically gave up first-class cricket in 1897, f°r his appearances since have been very occasional. H e first played for Middlesex as far back as 1881. I t was not until 1884, however, that he appeared at all regularly, and in that season he aggregated 1150, his highest total, though he topped the thousand in 1895 and 1896 also. H is two centuries in 1884 were both v. Gloucestershire, one at Lord’s, the other a t Clifton. In 1889 he hit up 100 not out in a great finish with Yorkshire a t Lord’s. In 1890 he scored 105 for M.C.C. v. Australia. In 1891 he took toll of the two western counties to the extent of a hundred odd each ; in 1893 made a century v. Surrey, and in 1894 one v. Somerset. In 1895 he scored three centuries— 202, his highest, v. Sussex a t Hove ; 123 not out v. N otts at Trent Bridge ; and 106 not out for M.C.C. v. Warwickshire. In 1896 he made 137 v. Surrey at the Oval. J u l y i i , 19 14 . S i n c e he ceased to p lay regularly in big matches he has several times shown his old ability to h it hard, for in 1902 he ran up 167 for All Ireland v. Oxford, and in 1905 153 for M.C.C. v. Derbyshire. Now— nine years later— he comes near to the double century feat. “ Prodeegious ! ” O ’B r i e n ’ s is the standing example of those who desire to enforce a residential qualification for the ’V arsity match. It is said— and is probably true— that he only went up to Oxford for the sake of getting his blue, and that he only kept one term there— in 1884. He played for the Dark Blues in 1884 and 1885. In his first year he made o and o, in his second 44 and 28. Now if the o and o had been in 1885, the people whose favourite watchword is “ I told you so ” might have said things about Nemesis ! U n t i i . Tuesday last Richard Burrows, the Worcester­ shire fast bowler, who has put in tw enty seasons of good work for his county, had only one century to his credit in first-class cricket— 112 v. Gloucestershire at Worcester on June 27 and 28, 1907. T h a t came as a surprise, for, though a useful hitter, the big man is very far from being a consistently big scorer. Y e t Alfred Shaw, in the days when he coached a t Wor­ cester, used to say that both Burrows and George Wilson might have been really good bats had they taken enough pains. Now , just over seven years later, Burrows chips in with another century at Gloucestershire’s expense, and on the home ground, upon which he had so often “ larded the lean’ earth ” w ith “ honest sw eat” while labouring a t the crease. T h e S.A.C.A. has arranged a provisional itinerary for the Australian team to South Africa. If the matches are played as arranged, the first test will begin at Cape Town on December 16 ; the second and third tests will be played at Johannesburg during the Christmas and New Y ear holidays ; the fourth will begin at Durban on Feb­ ruary 6 ; and the last a t Johannesburg on February 9. A c c o r d in g to the scheme outlined, the Transvaal will guarantee ^3250 for seven matches, including three tests ; N atal ^1250 for four matches (one test and three with Natal) ; Western Province /1100 for three (one test and two with Western Province) ; and the other unions smaller sums bringing the total up to ^6550. A n innovation is a match w ith Eleven of A frica at either Bloemfontein or Kimberley— evidently suggested b y the match w ith Eleven of Australia at Brisbane which is now a regular feature of the programmes of English teams in the Commonwealth. The Border, Eastern Province, Griqualand West, and the Orange Free State will be met once each.