NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2667, 26 April 1905, Page 54

NOTES BY LONG SLIP.

Sir Joseph Ward, Colonial Secretary and of Railways of New Zealand, in the course of a speech during luncheon at at inter-State Shipping 1 Companies oricket match in Sydney, expressed a desii'e to see the companies eend a team to New Zealand. He promised to give such a, team free passes over the New Zealand railways, and that they would have a pleasant time The wicket on which the Australians played the Fiji team was 6in under water the day prior to the match. Consequently, it is not at all surprising to find that the Australians came out with rattling bowling averages. Howell had he best figures. The complete analyses were: Howell, 5 overs, 3 maidens, 6 runs, 0 wickets ; Noble, 8 overs, 29 runs, 3 wickets ; Goiter, 9 overs, 2 maidens, 28 runs, 3 wickets ; Duff, 3 overs, 12 runs, 2 wickets ; Armstrong, 6 overs, 3 maidens, 5 runs, 3 wickets; MTLeod, 2 overs, 6 rung, 1 wicket. Pope (5 for 51) did best work with the ball for Fiji. He is said to have highly impressed the Australians, who think that with a little coaching he would be a. great bowler. Ah item- in an Engfeh pap&r: — It will be noticed that Sha-eklock, the ex-Notts cricketer, is doing good work for New Zealand against the Australians. He went •way about 18 months since, in very bad liealth, and it ia a. surprise as well as a. pleasure to his friend's tae find that s he has bo •oompleteely recovered. He has" been j>l*ying exceedingly well for the club he has. Joined. In returning thanks for the kind treatment received in Fiji, the of the Australian team, Mr Frank Layer, said the team had not at first wished to play in Fiji, but the members were now glad they had done so. He had heard that in Fiji they Jiad " had to pass a. law to prevent cricket ; that 200 or 300 men took part in a match, one village playing against another for a month at a time. But h© now learnt this applied to Tonga. Mr M. A. Noble laughingly said that it was all very well for Mr Layer to make excuses for not wishing to t>lay in Fiji. The fact was that they had heard tEere were some fast Dowl&rs in Fiji, and they were afraid they might get hurt ! The Governor, in the course of. -a speech, gave some interesting anecdotes of the part he lia-d -taken in oricket amongjst native races in the tropics, concluding with a laughable incident of an occasion when he was umpire on a hot Christmas Day. The ball had broken in two, and one half was caught by a fieldsman and the other half was not caught. TThe question arose whether the batsman "was out or not, and he could not answer it. World-wide sympathy will be felt with the " grand old ■ man " of oricket, Dr W. G. Grace, at the sudden death of his eldest eon, W. G., jun., who was so well known and esteemed in cricket and athletic circles generally. The deceased, who was 30 years of age, was educated at Clifton and at Pembroke College, Cambridge, playing for the Irigrht Blues agrainsi Oxford in 1895 and 1896. After leaving Cambridge he was for a few years a master of Rundle School, and since then, was a member of the scholastic staff at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, Isle of Wight. Though an excellent bowler and batsman, young "W. G. " was so shortsighted as to be compelled to wear glasses while playing, which, though it did not affect his nerves, certainly affected those of the spectators. He was very fond of Rugby football as well as of cricket, and played for the East Midlands Fifteen. Mr W. L. Murdoch was among the company at the funeral.

J. Darling was interviewed by the Morning Herald in Perth on his way to England. He said the Australian Eleven was strong in batting, exceptionally strong in fielding, and not so weak in bowling as some people thought. He thinks a good deal of M'Leod's bowling on English wickets, but Cotter lie regards as somewhat of an unknown quantity, who oHght to be a success^'if he §ets a dry season. Referring to the fast owler. he remarked : "At times he sends down a ball that would be a good-pitched tall if bowled from the other end." It is not often one hears of a lady making a, century, but this feat was recently performed at Brighton (Vieboria) by Miss Cheeseman, who made 103 (not out) for the Boomerangs against the Mayflowers. In recognition of the achievement she was presented .by admirers with a bat, an illuzninated i-ecord of the performance, and an jnscrib&d gold. 1 boomerang brooch. According to C. B. Fry's Magazine it is regarded as practically certain that either A. C. Maclaren or F. S. Jackson will captain England in the test matches this year. Maolaren is at present in India with Ranjitsinhji, and 1 it is possible that he will not return by the beginning of the cricket sea- v Eon. Jackson has never yet captained England in a test match, though in the ordinary oourse of affairs, and according to the cus•tomary procedure, he would have succeeded to the captaincy, of England when Dr Grace yetired. But it happened that in that particular season Maelaren's special knowledge of Australian cricket was urgently needed. He was selected as captain not because he ■was senior to Jackson, or because he was regarded as in general a more suitable leader, but because Jackson had not toured Australia, and did not possess Maolaren' s intimate and recent acquaintance with the Australians' play. Jackson is in every way a most admirable captain ; (firm, cleariieaded, cool, a competent judge of the game, and extremely popular with all cricketers who know him. His captaincy -would be accepted by all leading players, Including Maclaren, as perfectly legitimate and natural. In big matches it would soon foe found that in his knowledge of field tactics, his astuteness, and keen fighting qualities he does not suffer by comparison «even with the great Lancashire captain. In «ny case their two heads toge^jjer ought to Cfiean complete efficiency.