CRICKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2945, 24 August 1910, Page 58

CRICKET.

*OTES TtY LONG SLIP. Dr Ernest Howden the ex-Otago representative cricketer, is 6ettlcd down at Cambridge, in Hie Waikato, whore he pu.rplaying with the local team. It is a pitv 1-hat such a fine batsman a* Dr Howden should be cut, off from big cricket. There i-. howevetr. n possibility of his playing for Auckland if he can get into fonm. Hi's brother, "Ally" Howden, also an exCc.visbrook nlayer, is already in Auckland, and the loading bowler of the province. Le>>. Monk, the ex-Carisbrook fast, bowler, who left Dunedin some .seven or eicrht years a£o to join Hawlrey's Comedy Co., and who has been on th<* Australian sid<> ever since, was at latest in Tasmania!) piloting the Max Maxwell Dramatic Company through, en route to Sydney.'' The Canterbury Cricket Association has agreed to re-avgftlge W. Carlton, the Mel-

bourne cricketer, as coach for the coming-

season. I Among the applicants for a position of j coach and groundsman to the Wellingtcn : Cricket Association, (in addition to the successful applicant, J. V. Saunders) wore R. Houston (Victoria), A, E. Sims (Queensland), and C. Wordsworth (New South Wales). ■-•who was a ground bowler and coach in Dunedin last season. By the way, Mi- J. V. Saunders, the Victorian international cricketer, leaves , Melbourne for Wellington at the end of the present month. Mr Peter M'Alister, the well-known Australian player, writing to the Wellington Cricket Association recommending J. Y. Saunders, said that he was the bet lefthand bowler playing the game. With the exception of Relf. perhaps, Saunders may be 7 regarded as the finest coach .vho has ever come to New Zealand. He has, too, had considerable experience in the preparation of wickets, having had charge of the Carlton Ground, Melbourne, during the absence of Warn© in' America and Xew Zealand. He has baen one of the big mainstays in Victorian cricket, and has played in every interstate match for the last 10 years. He ;<s 34 years of age, and unmarried. His arrival in Wellington will constitute his first visit, to New Zealand. During the visit of the Australian cricketers to Wanganui last season the local association entertained the visitors to an up-river trip, the cost of which was £lO. The Wanganui Association made a loss of £7O over the Australian match, included in which was the £lO for the river trip. The other day the council of the New Zealand Cricket Association received a letter from the Wanganui Association asking for a refund of half the cost of river entertainment. The council was adamant, and refused to refund any portion of the loss incurred. Commenting on the grasping policy of the Australasian, an English paper strikes this note:--"By the way. we see that the gross receipts of the Australians on tour in England last year were £13,288 lis 2d. the test matches producing £5452 13s 6d. The expanses reached £46U 13s 4d. The Australian Board annexes £1203 lis, for the encouragement of cricket, and each of the Australian players receive £473 19s 2d,above their expenses. None can raise any objection to these colonial cricketing financiers receiving whatever they can get, but why should these men be placed on any plane superior to the English professional when in this country? Moreover, why should not all English players, who desire payment, be rewarded just as liberally when they vi.sit the Antipodes? Mordecai Sherwin, the famous Notts wicket-keeper, of portly form and genial personality, has died at the age of 59 years, after a. prolonged illness from rheumatism and dropsy. Born at Kimberley. six miles from Nottingham, lie was first tried for the county in 1876, but did not come into the eleven as regular wicketkeeper until in 1882 he took the late Fred Wild's position. Though not much of a bat, Sherwin now and then hit up a good few runs,- while as a bowler he sometimes, when things became desperate for his side, took off his pads and bowled with marked success. As a "keep" he was, of course, not easily surpassed, and he was particularly good at taking a ball on the legside. He was a member of the Shaw and Shrewsbury's team that visited Australia in 1886-7; a fine footballer in the eighties, he used to be goalkeeper for the Notts County Association Club when it was an amateur body. Considering how much first-class cricket is played nowadays, and to what a state of perfection wickets have been brought, it must be regarded as quite a remarkable feat for two men to establish a record partnership for one of tlio ten wickets. Therefore what John Chapman, the Derbyshire captain, and Warren, the fast bowW, did agai'issfc Warwickshire recently demands more than passing notice. In response to a total of 504 for seven wickets, innings declared closed, Derbyshire had made 262 and had lost eight wickets for 1.31. after following-on, when Chapman and Warren came together and accomplished a performance to which the records of the game furnish no parallel. Chapman scored 165 and Warren. 123, each player batting for live minutes over three hourfi. Chapman obtained his runs without a mistake, whilst Warren, who was lame, and missed making several runs in consequence, offered only one difficult chance—to short-leg when he had made 60. During the 175 minutes they were together they scored 283, thereby crediting I themselves with the longest partnership I ever made for the ninth wioket in a fir-st-olass match, exceeding the 234 bv Clement Hill- (365 not out) and E. Walkloy (53) for South Australia against New South Wales at Adelaide in December, 1900. Referring to the prospects of South Africa in a tour of Australia, a leading English critic savs: - "That the bowling of Vogler and Faulkner will carry the side to victory is the general idea. Even allowing that the players named are two of the best throe or four bowlers in the world, I cannot but feel that their wellwishers are very sanguaine. So far, indeed, am I from sharing their views that j I feel that, in the event of a fine summer being experienced, the Australians will find little difficulty in winning the rubber. Schwarz, for the time at all events, has lost his old skill with the ball -I "hear, too. that he has put on considerable weight since ho was in England three veara ago ami too much may have to depend on (he efforts of Vogler and Faulkner. The South Africans possess no really f-;st bowler above ordinary class] and White. so it ]fi said on very good authority, is not likely to undertake the trip. Sinclair, too. is not the power he usee' to be: riathorn, Shaldcrs. and Tancred seem to have dropped out of the game; and Nourse scarcely made so many runs against the English team recently as was expected. It was generally thought by the members of the last side which went out that South African cricket is not so strong now as it was in 1907. and they had every oportunity of judging. Vogler and Faulkner may he the two finest bowlers living, but the Australians' immense superiority in batting should, I think, give them the rubber without*very much trouble. At the present time Australian batting is probably stronger than ever before."' NEW ZEALAND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE. At a meetintr of the Committco of the New Zealand Cricket Council on Thursday evening (~ays the Christchurch Press) ;i letter was received from the secretary of the Australian Hoard of Control, who wrote, under date July 20, with reference to the visit of a Xew Zealand team to Australia. The secretary of the board stated that he was not in a

■ position to say whether the South African i visit would come off or not." He would j obtain the views of the board oil the ques- | tion of a visit, from New Zealand, and he ! thought that." if the South Africans did not I visic Australia, the board would be only too pleased to welcome a New Zealand team. Mr Sinclair suggested that possibly a New Zealand team could fit in a short tour previous to the visit of the South African team —say, arriving - in Sydney at, j the beginning of November, play the first, match at Sydney, then Victoria, playing at. South Australia after the first match of f tha Soafch Africans had taken place. It was resolved—" That as the South African Association has decided to send a team to Australia, the proposed visit of a New Zealand team to Australia this season "be not gone on with." In connection with the Auckland Cricket Association's letter of July 18, in which it.. was stated that Lord Hawke, captain of: the Yorkshire Cricket Club, had - offered to present a shield to the New Zealand Cricket Council for competition amongst the minor provincial districts, it was resolved! that, before writing to Lord Hawke accepting his offer the Auckland Cricket Association be written to asking for a copy of the letter received from hie Lordship, in which he wrote offering to give the snjeld, and to advise the Auckland Cricket Association that it was th-> intention of', the council to accept his Lordship's offer, land . to state that the committee wa6 drafting rule<s for the compstition, wbi-ih would submitted to the delegates at the n'2xt annual meeting of ?*?*. council. It was also resolved that a STivoommittee, consisting of Messrs Young. Williams, and the hon. secretary, be appointed to draft rales for Lord Hawke's shield, and also to go into the question of revising the rules for the Plunket challenge shield, and to report at the next meeting of tho committee. DISTRICT SCHEME MODIFIED. AUCKLAND, August 9. At a special- meetinc of the Auckland Cricket Association, bald this evening, the district, scheme was nico'ified, and under the altered rules any player who has played for the saime district club for five successive cricket seasons may, if he so desires, play for that district for the rejit of hia c". icket career. A proviso is add>ed that if, after exercising this privilege, any player shall play for another club, the privilege shall cease to exist. NOBLE'S INTENTIONS. SYDNEY. August 16. In view of the visit of the South African team, Mr A. Noble was interviewed regarding the question of his re-entering cricket. He said : " I still love the great national game, but when I reflect upon the belittling methods adopted, by those governing cricket in New South Waie3 I feel that I cannot with dignity again play in big cricket under their auspices." SOUTH AFRTCA v. AUSTRALIA. LONDON. August 16. The Morning Post says that the South African team controversy has been somewhat unsavoury. The demand for a financial guarantee was quite unexpected. The expenses must have been calculated on a liberal scale when £SOOO was required for a three to four months' trip. The refusal of a guarantee caused less surprise, but it was unpleasant to hear that one reason advanced was the fear that when the money was safe the visiting team might be weakened by the with- ! drawal of prominent players. JOHANNESBURG. August 18. According to the Rand Daily Mail, the South African team for Australia will to a certainty include G-. A. Faulkner, A. K. Vogler, A. D. Nourse, S. J. Snooke, Zulch, J. H. Sinclair. R. O. Schwarz, Campbell, Pegler, and Commaille It is difficult to secure the best team owing to the triangular fixture in I London in 1912. SYDNEY, August 22. The programme for the South African cricketers' visit extends from November 4 till March 7. The test matches will commence— December 9 January 11 Decsmber 31 . February 24. January 6 TARRANT'S RECORD. LONDON, August 15. Tarrant has made 1200 runs and has captured 100 wickets this season. ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP. LONDON, August 17. I Middlesex, at Sheffield, made 72 and 311. Yorkshire responded with 199 and 61. J. T. Ht-arne. for the winners, took six Yorkshire wickets for 45 in their first innings, and six for 20 in the second. Notts defeated Essex at Nottingham by 301 runs. In Essex's second innings Iremortger took nix wickets for 7 runs. August 18. Despite Johnson's unfinished innings of 98 and 96, Sussex beat Somerset by nine wickets. COUNTY MATCHES. LONDON, August 21. Surrey beat Somerset by 131 runs, and Worcestershire beat Sussex by one wicket. TYLDESLEY'S RECORD. LONDON. August 19. J. T. Tvldeslev. of Lancashire, has completed his 20C0 runs for the season.