Cricket 1914

4 7 4 THE WORLD OF CRICKET. N o v e m b e r , 1914. £be TKAorlb of Cricket. «1, TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, EMBANKMENT, LONDON, E.C. N O T I C E . The n e x t is s u e o f t h is p a p e r w ill be d a te d D e c em b e r 12, a n d w e t r u s t t o c o n t in u e t h e u s u a l w in te r n u m b e r s . Pavilion Gossip. (By J. N. P.) Play with a straight bat, sonnie, In the game of life, or at schooi; You may have hard luck, You may make a duck, But stick to the golden rule— P i . a y S tr aig h t ! D. L. A. J e ph so n . A s matters stand a t present, it does not appear a t all likely th at there will be anything approaching a full season’s first-class cricket in 1915. T h e meeting of the County Secretaries will be held at Lord’s in December as usual, and no doubt fixtures will be arranged— at least, by the m ajority of the counties. B u t if the War continues the County Championship will almost certainly go b y the board. One county at least— Gloucestershire— lias declared itself in favour of its being suspended, and there is very little doubt th at Somerset and Worcestershire share their neighbour’s opinion in this matter. G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e hope to carry on, in the belief th at post-War cricket will be run on somewhat less exacting lines. Bu t they do not intend to retain their professionals, who are told th at they may qualify for other counties if they choose. Not more than perhaps four of them would have much chance of doing this ; and it is worth noting that Langdon has a Sussex qualification b y birth, and Dennett is qualified for Somerset in the same way. Sussex may not have a place for Langdon should Gloucestershire go under ; but Somerset would probably welcome Dennett, and Dipper and Smith are good enough for most sides. J ohn B oard is back in New Zealand, where his services as coach and player are highly valued. He m ay make his home there in the near future. . T h e temporary cessation of the championship would not necessarily mean the stoppage of all first-class cricket, or even of first-class competition cricket. Most of the coun­ ties would doubtless arrange some fixtures, if only with their nearest neighbours, and a trial m ight well be given to the knock-out competition suggested b y Messrs. C. B. F ry and F. H. Bacon some years ago. T h is need not be confined to the first-class counties. A n y rearrangement b y grouping or otherwise might be made. One takes it th at all the sixteen, except possibly Somerset, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire, would prefer to compete as separate entities. This would give a nucleus of thirteen. Somerset and Gloucestershire might join forces as the Western Counties. Worcestershire might be helped b y Staffordshire and Cheshire (with Hereford­ shire and Shropshire if any men they have were needed), to p lay as the West Midlands. Northumberland, Durham, and Cumberland m ight join up as the Northern Counties. Devon, Cornwall, and Dorset m ight raise among them a South-Western team. W a l e s (Monmouthshire included) could collect a capable team. W ilts, Berks, and Bucks m ight combine to repre­ sent the South Midlands. Herts, Cambs, and Lincolnshire could play together as the East- Midlands, and Norfolk and Suffolk as East Anglia. Scotland might be divided into E ast and West, and Ireland m ight come in as a w’hole. T h is would give 24 entries. The first round could consist of 8 matches, w ith 8 byes. There would then be 16 competitors left, who could fight out the issue in four more rounds. I f such a competition were confined to the existing first- class counties it would have little novelty. Gloucestershire m ight meet Leicestershire, or Middlesex antagonise North­ amptonshire ; otherwise the matches would in nearly every case be between old opponents. B u t the inclusion (in groups) of the minor shires would give the tourney a needed touch of novelty ; and it would be interesting to see Yorkshire playing the South Midlands a t Reading, Surrey the South-Western Counties a t Exeter, or K en t the Northern Counties at Newcastle. D e n n e t t was to have had a benefit next year, and it has been suggested that a match between amateur teams of Somerset and Gloucestershire may be played for him. Gentlemen of the West v. Gentlemen of England would be a more attractive fixture, one fancies. A t Bombay the Quadrangular Tournament fizzled out indecisively, owing to bad weather. The scores of the two matches played will be found on another page of this issue. T h a t there is money in cricket under normal conditions is proved b y the recent annual report of the Transvaal Cricket Union, which gives figures of the gross gate for the series of matches (test and Transvaal games) played in Johannesburg by each of the last three English teams. The totals were ^6,429 in 1905-6, ,£8,034 1909-10, and ^5,815 in 19 13 -4 . There were only two tests in 19 13 -14 as against three in each of the other two tours. T h e leading fixtures of the Australian season of 1914-5 are fixed for dates as under : Queensland v. New South Wales (Brisbane), November 7. South Australia v. New South Wales (Adelaide), Decem­ ber 19. Victoria v. New South Wales (Melbourne), December 26. Victoria v. South Australia (Melbourne), January 1. New South Wales v. South Australia (Sydney), January 8. New South Wales v. V ictoria (Sydney), January 22. Queensland v. V ictoria (Brisbane), January 29. Victoria, v. Tasmania (Melbourne), in January. South Australia v. Victoria (Adelaide), in February. New South Wales v. Queensland (Sydney), February 20. Tasmania v. New South Wales (Hobart), March 13. Q u e e n s l a n d ’ s desire to cross swords w ith South Australia hardly seems likely to be gratified during this campaign. T he Australian Board of Cricket Control seems to be a happy fam ily at last, though it does include Clem Hill, w’ho was one of the— “ Recalcitrant Six,” was it ? T h e choice of a team for South A frica was made w ithout any disagree­ ment, and Armstrong’s selection to captain the team may be taken as a sign of the burial of the hatchet a t last. T he team will not go this year, of course. South A frica m ay have dark days in store before she welcomes another cricket side, though we must all hope that the attempt of