Cricket 1914

N o v e m b e r , 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 475 the egregious Maritz, Mr. Facing-Both-Ways Bevers, and our old and honoured enemy, Christian De Wet, (now, alas ! dishonoured for ever), to stir up sedition will not give too much trouble. M a r itz is “ nought, sheer nought.” Beyers, a Rugby footballer, evidently has never learned “ to play cricket.” B u t De W et ! One is sorry to see De W et in that gallery. It is characteristic of the English race that it can always appreciate a brave and honourable foeman. Louis Botha has won more than appreciation ; he has won affec­ tion ; there is not a man of us all but would be proud to march under Botha. For De W et we had a high regard. He played the game during the Boer War, and we believed th at he would keep the treaty of peace that he signed. But he has gone back on his word of honour, and has lost his spurs. W h eth er South A frica will welcome an Australian team in 1915—6, provided all be peace then, remains to be seen. The Board of Control has expressed its willingness to leave the re-arrangement of the international cricket programme in the hands of the M.C.C. S ome re-arrangement will be needed, for the programme was : 1914-5, Australia visits South A frica ; 1915-6, England visits Australia ; 1916, Australia visits England ; 1917, South A frica visits England. On the face of it, the simplest plan would be to move the dates on a year ; but there may be objections to this. M r . W illiam B a r d s l e y , father of Wrarren, has been appointed b y the Glebe C.C. one of its delegates to the N .S .W . C.A. Mr. Bardsley is head-master of the Forest Eodge Superior Public School, Sydney, at which his son and A lbert Cotter were both educated. T h e Victorian C.A. and the Melbourne C.C. have at last healed their old feud, and in future the Melbourne Club will take part in the pennant competition under special rules drawn up to meet its peculiar case, which is that of. having no special district to draw upon, as the other first-grade clubs have. T h e total cost of the M.C.C. South African tour last w inter was £5,951- Principal items were : steamship fares, £806 ; railway fares and meals in trains, ^239 ; hotel accommodation and allowance in lieu thereof, ^1,039 ; amateurs’ out-of-pocket allowances, £240 ; professionals’ salaries and extra fees, ^2,425 ; manager’s salary, £250. T h e amounts guaranteed for matches totalled ^5,320, and the deficit of ^631 has been made up out of the 'S.A.C.A.’s own share of the match profits received from the various centres. This share came to just under ^943, of which the Transvaal contributed £607, Eastern Province and Western Province / i 11 each, and Natal, £101. I t is with great regret that we have to record the death o f Captain Edmund Frederick Yates (“ Frederick Setay ” ) in the Addington Hospital, Durban, in September. Captain Yates, who served in the South African War, was a St. John’s (Hurstpierpoint) boy. For some time he contri­ buted regular Natal notes to C r ic k e t . L ately he gave up his post under the Natal Education Board in order to start a monthly paper called Cricket and Football. He had been for some time in indifferent health, and had to undergo an operation a year or two ago ; but the news o f his demise was unexpected, and came as a shock to the many friends he had made on the cricket and football fields of Natal. Y ate s had at least one outstanding characteristic as a journalist to which due recognition should be given. He was not parochial in his views. “ Cypher,” of The Latest — himself a man with wider scope than the colonial jour­ nalist generally— touches on this side of his deceased comrade’s personality, and the present writer knows that Yates was as keen on Maritzburg and Northern District cricket as on that of Durban. Too many sporting jour­ nalists— not only in South Africa, but in Australia and New Zealand also— seem to know nothing of and care noth,ng for what happens outside a radius of five miles or so from their headquarters. D e a n , of Lancashire, has joined the East Lancashire Territorial Brigade R .F .A . battery. Colin Blythe has enlisted in the Royal Engineers, and within a fortnight, was promoted corporal, it is said. M r . O. R. B o r r a d a il e , the genial secretary of the Essex C.C.C., has been ordered b y his doctors complete rest for a time, and Mr. H. A. Groom, formerly Hon. Sec, to the Suffolk C.C.C., is temporarily discharging the duties of the vacated post. Everyone will wish O. R. B. a com­ plete recovery and a speedy return to the work into which he has put so much keenness through trying and dis­ couraging years. S ir A rthur P r ie s t l e y , M .P., has accepted the m ayoralty of Grantham. He does not mean to contest the seat at the next election, it is said. G. L. H e b d e n totalled 1047 runs with an average of over 65 for Pallingswick this year. Two North Middlesex C.C. batsmen, C. W. Morrison (1058, average 36-48) and V. E. Warboys (1159, average 34-08) topped four figures for their club. F rom Mr. T. A . Bulmer, the Durham Secretary, we have received the leading batting and bowling averages in the Durham Senior League, and some reference to them will be found on another page, though it is unfortunately impossible to publish them in full. T h e Haverford College averages were specially prepared for us by Mr. Thomas Irving, whose services as coach and umpire are very highly appreciated in Philadelphia. He contributes frequent well-judged and interesting articles to the pages of our valued contemporary, The American Cricketer. F or the second year in succession the United States v. Canada match has fallen through. In 1913 it was to have been played at Winnipeg ; but Philadelphia cricketers, while willing to visit Toronto, O ttawa, or Montreal, did not care to travel so far west. This year Canada could not raise a representative team to go to Philadelphia on account of the War. L oth ro p L e e , who played well for the Merion C.-C. in England, is (says the American Cricketer) the eldest of four brothers, all good at the game. The other three are Ruckman, Alden, and Philler Lee. L. Lee captained the Pennsylvania University team here in 1908. A t Wellington, N.Z., the Members of Parliament met a team raised by the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Lake) in a “ top-hat ” match for the Patriotic Fund. Over £400 was realised, though the cricket displayed was not of a high order. T h er e is trouble in the New Zealand cricket camp. Mr. F. C. Raphael, who has done such great work as secre­ tary of the N.Z. Cricket Council, has handed in his resigna­ tion, and some other Canterbury delegates also contemplate