CRICKET

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4295, 2 March 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

CRICKET

(BY THE “HITTTTE.") The misfortune in the matter of weather that has dogged cricketers throughout the season was again in evidence on Saturday last, and it was found necessary in consequence to postpone all cricket fixtures. The result of so raanv postponements bids fair tc- be that ‘the order championships will not be decided this season, but left in the same nebulous stale that was the case last season. In view of tho eternal.uncertainty cf matters mundane, tho Cricket Association

nrght with advantage at its next meetconsider the advisableness of reducing tho contest to a single inter-club round, with a view tc, facilitating finality.

It is published in English papers that Rf.'ijitsinjhi refused to accept the manda to of the English county captains that B. Fry must not be put on to howl. This action on the part of Ranji is as acute a swerve as was ever made hy a politician. About three years ago Banji rushed into typo.in Australia to criticise tho howling of “onah’' Jones. Ranji, it was well known at tho time, had a personal animus against the lengthy .South Australian: so in order to disarm suspicion the Prince hastened to say that he questioned Jones’s delivery on purely impersonal grounds. Thc.ro were English howlers, lie added, whose deliveries wore even more reprehensible than Unit of Jones, and he instanced his (Ranji’A personal friend Fry, with whom he )ia_d often remonstrated for throwing, and it was the memory of that fact which made ■‘The Kh'ttito” smile when he read that Itanji now objects to having Fry prevented from borri’ng. A Wanganui writer says that ‘‘cricketers wore giad on Snturdav to see Mr i. C. Shipwith again don flannels for Ins old club, and come to the front by making top score. Rome few years back Mr Skip'.ritli was captain of the Wanganui Ciufa. and still has pleasant recollections of historic contests frith the School team, in which lie figured prominently.” The

present writer can certify that Jc-kip-pie,” as ha was familiarly known in the old days, is truly,a cricket enthusiast. In the time of 15 years ago or mere when Jimmy Watt, Peter Sim and Sam Poweli were active cricketers lie was of the phalanx, and his long-distance drives were then things of beauty in the opinion of every juvenile in Wanganui town. Victoria has gained possession of the .Sheffield Shield fee ibis season, having wen all four matches played. New South Wales and South Australia- -cored" one win each aud three defeats. Of tho Go matches played between the two larger States. Victoria burs won 36 and New South Wales 30. The highest scorer in this season’s Sheffield matches was C. Hill, who totalled 620 runs, for an average of 103, the next best total for South Australia.

herns; Matthews’s. 134. For Victoria. Stuckey scored 235, average SS. Armstrong 316. average 45, ami Graham 283. average 40. Poidevin, playing iu three innings for Now- South Wales, averaged 77. Gregory scored 430, average 71, Trurnpcr 458, average 65, and Noble 342, average 50. Among the bowlers the Victorian left-hander, Saunders, was the most successful, his twenty-nine wickets averaging 17.31 rant Of the New South Wales players, Marsh secured twentyfour wickets at an average of 23.82, though M’Beth (20.11 for nine wickets') and Honkins (23.18 for eleven wickets) each had better averages. Travers easily headed the South Australian list, with twenty-nine wickets, at an average i f 20.72.

"The Town and C ountry Journal, ’ in describing the finishing ’phases oi the interstate match between Victoria and Now Sounlh Wales says: —M hen o o’clock struck, the Victorians still waived a. do sen runs to win. Those J 2 runs took half an hour to get. but they got them, and stumps wcv«; drawn at nailpast. G. Syd. Gregory had a difficult job to place h’is field, considering that several of his men were "passengers,” and his greatest difficulty was to find places for them where they would do Ha;.; lia.i-m. Thus A. C. Maclaren on the vexc 1 “throwing” question : —“I fee! sure that good wi!H van really result, and, as one who lias had to face throwing in Australia on fast wickets (taster than auv we have in England), I for one consider it quite time tho matter he taken up before someone is killed at the wicket.”

On the burning question of illegal bov.-bug, tint jLioiuloii “Athletic News” ■say- : Wo pointed out last summer - which, by the way. is the season during widen cricket is played—that if a man could throw he would tire himself much sonner than if he bowled. Wo suggested a. match, with a view to testing the doaditnoss as distinct from the dang r of throwing—a match, in which one side would be allowed freedom from a!! restrictions as to sending the ball down short, cl course, 'of overstepping the creese, and the other would be compelled to bowl under thei existing rules. Such u match would, we think, prove conclusively that neither the pace nor the cleadliness—whether in pitch, or breaK. or accuracy—of a bowler depended upon Ids action'so far that action eras illegal or technically unfair. Moreover, it is a vorv open question whether, on physiological or anatomical grounds, it is possible for a bowler to keep on throwing, even in the technical sense. In any case, if it were determined to cpndcmn certain bowlers and to prohibit them from playing for past offences, it is clear that a grave injustice—contrary to the: spirit of all sport—would bo done. If, of course, it is proposed to licence c, man to bowl as a jockey to vide then each bowler should pass an examination, and bo certificated. If he commits a breach of Ins certificate, then let him be suspended or ——. But the very complications which these reflections- suggest are so oppose-.! to the! principles of the game that sane counsels must, sooner or later, prevail. Mr J. Lang, of Corowa. New South Wales, writes in the following strain on the matter , of stonewalling and its possible prevention:—“There is in existence. I think, in both services, a regulation that if an officer, at a certain age, or after so many years’ service, shall n“t havo attained a certain rank, he must retire. Why not apply this to cricket? If a batsman, after being at the wicket for one hour, shall have failed to score, say. 25 runs, let him give place to- the next mail; and if, having made his 25 runs iu the stipulated time, ho fails witir.a two hours to score, say 60 runs, let iiim then retire:. To the crowd it matters not whether ho ho out Ibw, or by effluxion of time—if by the latter, he is Avne! awn.’ But if a batsman knows that bestin' at the wicket is dependent on, his making runs, it goes without .saying th-n: there will bo more lively cricket, and loss pottaring than is the case at present, and we shall be spared many a weary yawning hour, many an unnecessary maidon over. From the point of view of, the umpires, I do not think there is much to be urged against the proposal. It merely entails enthem the necessity of carrying pobketbock and pencil, and making an entry opposite the name of each batsman of the minute at which his innings began. Doubtless many holes may be picked in the scheme —that is inevitable —but I think that the good in it outweighs the bad, and the details can be threshed out and improved upon.” Savs an English sporting paper :—Robert Crispin Tinley, who died in December, was in his clay the most successiv.l lob bowlers in England. He playcd his first match at Lord’s, for Notts against England, in 1853, and for a good numb-’i of years afterwards was a regular member of the Notts and All-England Eleven.-. Ha took any number of wickets*when playing for the All-England Eleven against local twenty-twos all ever the country, and was no loss effective when, in the autumn of 1863, he journeyed to Australia as a membeir of George Parr’famous team. In those days lob bo-l-ing was greatly cultivated, and Tinley had among his contemporaries Mr V. E. Walker, the Rev. E. T. Drake, and the late Mr T. C. Goodrich, of the Free Foresters. Tinlev’s fame rested on his lob bowling, but ho was also a very fine fie’d at point, and as a. batsman be often got a. few runs whein they w6re most wanted

Appended is a list of the largest individual innings on record :

628, A. E. J. Collins, Clarke’s House v Nortii Town, at Clifton Co (leg;

June 22, 23, 26, 27 and 28, 1899! 485, A. E. Stoddart, Hampstead v. Stoics, at Hampstead, August 4. 1886. 424, A. C. Maclaren, Lancashire v. Somersetshire at Taunton, Julv 15, 16, and 17, 1895. 419, J. S. Garrick. West of Scotland, v. Priorv Park, at Chichester July 13 and 14, 1885. 417, J. Worrall, Carlton v. Melbourne Universitv, at Carlton, Februarv 8, 1596. 415, W. N. Roe, Emmanuel College L.V.C. v. Cains, College L.V.C , at Cambridge. July 12 and 1? 1881. 404, E. F. S. Tylecoto. Classical v. Mo ]- orn, at Clifton College!. May ;4. 19. and 26, 1868. 402, T. Warn", Carlton v. Richmcmd, at Carlton, December 3, 10 am 17, 18DS. 400, W. G. Grace, U.S.E.E., v?Twentytwo of Grimsby and District, ar | Grimsbv. Julv 10, .11, and 12, 1876. 386. Major Spen.s. United Services v. ( Nondescripts, at Portsmouth. August 9 and 10, 1882. 365, K. E. Burn, Wellington v. Derwent, at Hobart. Februarv hj, March 4 and 11, 1899. 365. Clem. Hill. South Australia v. New South Wales, at Adelaide. December 17 and IS, 1900.