Cricket 1914

68 THE WORLD OF CRICKET. A p r il , 1914. T h e E ssex rep ort is n ot too encouraging. Incom e exceed ed exp en d itu re b y n early £100, it is true ; b u t m em bership dropped from 1941 to 1562, which, in view of th e efforts m ade to increase it, seems som ewhat dis­ hearten in g. B u t Mr. H . D . Sw an, the chairm an of com ­ m ittee, and th e other stau n ch fighters for th e good cause in E ssex are no w h it dism ayed. T he programm e for 1914 is six m atches longer than th a t of 1913, Worcestershire, Som erset, and Leicestershire being added ; Colchester gets th e W orcestershire m atch, and Sussex w ill be played a t Sou thend ; and a second eleven w ill com pete in the M inor C ou n ties’ Cham pionship. M r. S w a n , b y th e w ay, returned w ith the M .C C. team in the K in fa u n s Castle on M arch 31, a fter a brief sta y in S ou th A frica, where he saw th e last tw o or three m atches. Mr. and Mrs. J. H . D ouglas w ere also am ong the passengers, and R o b ert R elf, returning from his engagem ent a t Johannesburg, w as anoth er rep resen tative of cricket on b o ard . T h o s e who k n ow W arw ick A rm stron g w ill appreciate a sto ry told of him in the Dom inion (W ellington). During th e A u stralian te am ’s m atch a t the B asin R eserve, a local m an had ju st go t ou t, and A rm stron g began to bowl down th e w ick et while w aitin g for the n ext m an to come in. “ Mr. A rm stron g,” said th e conscientious umpire, “ you can ’t do th a t ; it’s con tra ry to the law s of the gam e.” “ A w — w h a t’s th e p en a lty ? ” w as the retort. The umpire replied th a t he m igh t order the m atch to be replayed. (This, says th e D om inion scribe, is correct ; b u t one doubts it— certain ly there is no such pow er expressed in the laws.) “ A w rig h t,” A rm stron g answered, “ I ’m going to bowl righ t on. W h a t are you going to do ? ” And the umpire, h avin g made his p rotest, w isely decided to do nothing. “ W h a t’s the p e n a lty ? ” sounds v ery like A rm strong. I t is lik ely th a t a represen tative A lb erta team w ill visit V icto ria to p la y B ritish C olum bia during th e com ing season. C ricket in C an ada is som ewhat backw ard as compared w ith th e gam e in South A frica, N ew Zealand, or even Ind ia and th e W est Indies, to sa y nothing of Australia. B u t the establishm ent of inter-provin cial m atches should aid its developm ent. S u c h m atches h ave been p layed before, of course. T h irty years or more ago O ntario and Quebec used to meet occasion ally ; b u t these gam es never becam e annual. O f late years there has been an annual tournam ent am ong th e prairie provin ces— M anitoba, A lberta, and Saskatch e­ w an— b u t the desire to crowd as m an y gam es as possible into a w eek has led to the p layin g of one-day fixtures. A on e-d ay game m ay be a v e ry good game indeed, bu t can scarcely be accepted as serious represen tative cricket. M a t t i n g is used on most C anadian grounds, as in South A frica ; b u t suitable tu rf can be cu ltivated in th e Dom inion, and there w ill be b etter cricket when tu rf w ick ets are more general. F r o m Mr. Philip Collins, of h ockey fame, comes a most interesting account of last y e a r’s to u r of th e In cogn iti in Am erica, the join t production of him self and th e Norfolk captain, who supplies notes on each m atch, while th e team ’s m anager describes the to u r on the social side. T he pam phlet contains a photograph of the team and several other illustrations. I t is priced a t 4s. 2d. (or one dollar), and m ay be had of Mr. Collins (The P ark, B eckenham ). If there is an y profit it w ill be handed to a ch arity— the R u gb y B o y s’ Club. T w o more cou nty captains— G. A . T . V ials and J. Shields — have found th a t business w ill n ot allow of th eir p layin g regularly in future. S. G. Sm ith succeeds to th e cap tain cy of the N orthants team , and C. J. B . Wood to th a t of the Leicestershire side. B o th th e new leaders h ave had p len ty of experience in cou n ty cricket. I n spite of rumours to the con trary, Sir A rchib ald W hite w ill again skipper Yorkshire, so, as far as is kn ow n a t present, there are on ly five changes am ong th e sixteen first-class sides this year, Surrey, K en t, and W orcestershire, as well as the tw o counties mentioned above, h avin g new leaders. M r. F . E . L a c e y ’ s progress to recovery is slow , and it is not a t all likely th a t he w ill be able to take up his duties a t L o rd ’s this season. A m ost pop u lar locum ienens has been found for him in the person of the old S urrey skipper, Mr. John Shuter. F r o m the Cape Tim es :— " H o b b s is daring, som etim es to the verge of unorth od oxy, n otably when he hooks the off-ball to the leg boundary, and then, when the field has sw ung round, cu ts square and hard deliveries th at others leave severely alon e.” (Don’t know w h y this should give rise to suspicions of u n o rth od oxy ; it reads like p re tty good tactics, an yw ay.) BLANCO For Gleaning and Whitening White Buckskin and Canvas Shoes, Cricket Pads, and all other articles »f a similar nature. e 9 t a b h s h e d o v b r 100 y « a « s -W k E. C. DEVEREUX ETON, BUCKS. TH E C ounty C rlo k e t C ap M ak er. Manufacturer and Designer of Club and School Colours. SOLE MAKER OF THE CAPS WORN B Y :-- Y0RK8HIRE COUNTY 1st XI. NORTHAMPTON COUNTY „ 2nd XI. LEICE8TER SURREY „ 1st XI. GLAMORGAN „ „ M 2nd XI. 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