CRICKET ON SUNDAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20650, 23 August 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

CRICKET ON SUNDAY.

SCENE IN MANCHESTER.

BREAKING A CITY BY-LAW.

PLAYERS ABANDON GAME. Remarkable scenes were witnessed at Piatt Fields', one of the principal parks in Manchester, a few Sundays ago, when two teams attempted to play cricket in defiance of the City Council's by-law prohibiting organised games in the Corporation parks on Sundays. The movement to defy the authorities was led by Mr. George Hall, a Socialist meinbor of the City Council, who had stated that it was his deliberate intention to pitch wickets and play in a public park on Sunday. Several thousand people visited the park and surged over the ground where it was proposed to play the match. Attempts to clear tho pitch were unavailing, and in tho crush a number of persons were injured. A man who attempted to pull up. the stumps was hustled, aside, and a woman who would have assisted him was held back.' Mr. Hall addressed the crowd and invited those who were opposed to the game proceeding to hold tip their hands. Ho afterwards declared that only a dozen people had signified their opposition. Preparations were made to start play, but before a ball was bowled a parkkeeper made a formal request to Mr.

Hall to abandon the game. It was not successful.

Mr. Hall, in flannels, captained one side, which was opposed by a team composed of salesmen and workers from Smithfiold Market. Play started, but before the game had been in progress ten minutes the crowd again became uncontrollable, and charged all over tho pitch, despite appeals by Mr. Hall to observe order and allow the game to continue. Mr. Hall, who was chaired by a section of the crowd, thanked those who had supported him, and said that the match would be continued on the following Sunday. He was carried out of the park shoulder-high. Detectives, park-keepers, and a large force of constables were on the scene, but no official attempt was made to prevent tho match taking place. At a meeting of tho M ancliester CityCouncil on the previous Wednesday, a motion proposed by Mr. Hall in favour of games in the parks on Sunday was defeated by a large majority.

resort for a busy time and fails to claim it the manager could justly claim recompense." * The manager of a London hotel expressed the opinion that intending visitors might be made more conscious of their responsibilities in making definite reservations. He said:—"A man having engaged a room, say, by telegram, would be annoyed not to find his accommodation •waiting for him. But how many men, after sonding the telegram, and then finding that they ,did not want the room, would bother to send another message releasing it 1" Some people, according to another manager, suffer from a kind of vanity when ordering rooms. They will reserve whole suites, with two or more bathrooms and sitting rooms—and then, on arrival,, their wants are found to be considerably less ambitious. A London writer remarks that it is significant that English people going abroad are much more careful about taking up their reservations on time and fulfilling their obligations. Most lYonch and Italian hotel managers consider there is only one hard-and-fast way to settlo such matters if they occur in the season.