CRICKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2665, 12 April 1905, Page 56

CRICKET.

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Up to the present there has not been a very flattering response to the Otago Cricket Aseociaation's invitation to players to make a trip to the goldfields at Easter. If more encouragement is not given the scheme the association will consider the advisability ol abandoning it. 'Those plaj-ers who would like to make the trip are requested to hand in their names to the secretary (Mr E. S. Wilson) at earliest opportunity.

Acknowledged with thanks complimentary ticket for the Albion Cricket Club's annual smoke concert, to be held on Monday, April 17. The trophies won during the season will be presented at the gathering. Graham, the Victorian cricketer and coach of the Boys' High School, joined the Moeraki at the Bluff yesterday on his return to Melbourne Prior to his departure, Graham was presented with a case of gipes by the members of the Carisbrook ilub. One wonders if the cricketers of Dunedin will make it worth his while returning to us next season, or if the good work he has done during the past will be thrown away. It is worthy of note, that at the Dunedin Cricket Club's smoke social and presentation of prizes on Friday evening no one got up to, recite "How MacDougall Topped the Scorej" but the following effusion wae let loose on the meeting: — Dunedin seniors need not hope to win important matches Until they firstly learn the act of holding simple ctrtches; Then, having taught their batsmen to nerves they must not yield They may, with ordinary luck^ just carry off the shield.

Mr W. Maclean, speaking at the smoke social held by the Dnnedin Cricket Club en "Friday night, took a very despondent y* 4 w of the recent visit of the Australian cricketers, making the astounding statement that such .a visit tended to kill, the interest in, cricket by showing up the weakness of our jplayers. This view was not taken senourfy the majority present. According .to Mr'Maelean, it would be better for our to remain, like the heathen, in ~happy ignorance. Coming from a, member of the Otago Cricket Association, this view of things is, to say the least, surprising. Mr Maclean was much happier in his views on district cricket. This scheme, if carried out, would solve a problem at present agitating the minds of cricket legislators in New Zealand.

Mr JDaniel Reese, of Christchurch, has just passed liis examination for second -engineer, and received his certificate. Mr Reese has made four trips to the West Indies, and is now hoping to be transferred to his company's Mediterranean or American fleet. He tells our London correspondent he has no intention of playing cricket until he has got his first engineer's certificate, although he is already duly qualified by residence to play for Essex, and is a member, of the Essex County Club. The ex-Carisbrook cricketer Hussey has been playing very solidly during the pass week or two. The other day, in a First Grade match, he was top-scorer for his side with "37 runs, and bagged the majority of the wickets. At Haverford College in America they have a, huge, admirably-designed, and' wellbuilt cricket shed where the men practise during the winter months. The excellence of Haverford College teams may (says the American Cricketer) be ascribed entirely to this system of winter practice. The ex-Australian cricketer Poidevm does not think very highly of- the bowling strength of the Australian Eleven. Writing in the Athletic News he says: I must confess, as an Australian, that the first impression is one of the very keenest disappointment. It is the bowling that pinches. Going to England for a tour of ever 30 matches with so few men who can bowl — one fas* bowler, one elowish bowler, and all the rest medium pace. To attempt the tour without a left-hander seems to me like riding a bicycle without one of the pedals. There s a distinct ancient-history flavour about those names. Experienced players! But experience will not serve in every case. It needs to be wedded to ability. It has been said that experience is like the stern lights of a ship, which lighten the path she has been over, but not that which she is about to traverse. Do not think I wish to herald the failure of the team. It is not a very great team, but i*" is capable of great deeds. There are men on the side of infinite P o? sibilities- I could have wished for a healthy infu&ion of younger budding talent. It is here, crying out for the opportunity to burst into full bloom. Whatever may be the result of more careful consideration of the composition and potentialities of this 1900 Eleven, the first impression cannot be avoided that the tourists will have a long way to travel on the English fields tins year, and will be very "tired" before September comes round. The following arrangements have been made in connection with the forthcoming test matches between the Australian &nO English representative teams:— The Australians are to receive half the gross gate money. Play on the first day starts at 1130 a.m., and ends at 6.30 p.m.; on other days, from 11 to 6.30. The professionals will receive £20 -each for the match, and the umpires £10. It is not only in Otago that poor cnekel influences public patronage at big matches. The takings on the first day of the Auok-land-flawke's Bay match amounted to hb. The second day improved somewhat, but the association is expected) to lose between £15 and £20 over the fixture. A famous Lancashire amateur, -&■ -t>Bowley, who captained the county eleven prior to the days of A. N. Hornby, died recently, at the age of 62 years. He came of a family noted for its cricket Prowess, and one of his best innings was one of 219 runs scorecH for the Gentlemen of Lancashire' against the Gentlemen of Yorkshire. The match between Neyr South Wales

and Tasmania r anie to an end rather abrupt.}', Tasmania winning by 68 runs. The scoring on either side was only moderate, not one of the four innings reaching 200. New South Wales led on the first innings b/ 13, but on going in the second time to get 170 they collapsed against the bowling of C. J. Eady and E. Windsor, the \enturQ only realising 102. In tho event of honours being easy in the test matches the final contest will be played to a finish. The questions as to what would be the required number of runs in the case of a follow-on and what wcu'ld be done hi the matter of declaration have been considered. The Board of Control at its meeting in February (says "Shortslip") decided that hi both cases rules 53 and 54 would apply. Rule 53 says: "The sido which bats first and leads by 150 runs in a three-days' match, or by 100 runs in a two-da j-s' match, shall have the option of requiring the other side to follow their innings." I quote it with all its imperfections. This rule is not of so much importance to the game as that which follows, though no doubt if it had been known that the. time would arrive when a mateh — and one of po muoh importance as a test — -would be played out in England the rule would have been made to apply to a contest exceeding three days, just as it does to one of two clays. The conditions are somewhat different from an ordinary first-class fixture — the match is to be played out, even if it takes six days — and therefore I think that it would have been well if the board had decided to introduce a new clause, something like what we have in Australia, say, follow-on compulsory if 200 in arrears. I must say I do not like the side having the advantage in runs to have the option. If there is one unfair thing in cricket I think it is that. The rule is only a makeshift to enable matches to be completed in three days. Equity is subservient to finality. Neither do I think in matches played right out to a finish that it should be compulsory to follow on. There is a good deal of luck generally in the matter, and the only prospect there i« of diminishing it is to let the side batting first have third innings. There would be less chance of a side having to bat twice on a wet wicket, and the other to have two dry wickets. The main point in all matters of skill is to have the conditions as fair for one side as the other— this is frequently impossible at cricket where all sorts of climatic influences may be at work in the course of ihree days, let alone six, but we might get nearer than we are when time is not an object. Rule 54- reads : The in side may declare their innings at an end in a three days' match at or after the luncheon interval on the second day." There is no need to quote further. At one time the rule gave the right to declare- on the last day. This, it was considered, did not go far enough, and the time for declaring was advanced by, say, four hours— that is, at lunch on the second day. No doubt the rule would so read were the matches of four days in England. At least, I think so, and so does pretty well everyone m Australia, for no attempt has even been made— outside Warner's— to "declare" at any time. lor if the assumption is right that the second day should read second last day, no one can say what the last day will be— unless it is the sixth— in the matches referred to, and therefore no declaration would be possible prior to lunch on the fifth day. A Christchurch telegram states that the cricket match between the Australian Eleven and Canterbury Eleven resulted in a profit or £ JlO to the Canterbury Cricket Association. Cricketers and enthusiasts who Skw Victor Trumper performing with the bat in New Zealand will appreciate these lines, contributed by L. O. S. Poidevm: —

TRUMPER. He handles his bat like a whip, doas he, As if twere a rod such as anciently Was wielded by Ro-man-=»Lic*>r. Ho cuts and he pulls 'em for fours and for

He glances and hooks, he pushes and drives, And piles up the centuries— Victor! He rims like a hare, he is brilliant at slip, Or long-oft' for a change, and his throw-m

comes clip. Bight into the grip of the stumper ; Has the safest of hands for ail species of Ca C n bowl a. good ball— oh, where is the match Of the tiurny of Australia— Trumper!

The pluck of a, hero, a. veteran's head, And modest withal, though his fame it has spread , To the limits of empire. A bumper! We'll call it, and take the goodwill for the

1 17 , . (He drinks not, nor smokes', let us follow his health to you, Vie— Victor Trump er.