CRICKET NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6273, 2 September 1898, Page 1

CRICKET NOTES.

i [By Scoring Board in " Canterbury Times."! Mr A. Sims ha-3 been appointed agent in 'New Zealand for Mr J. Darling, the famous Australian batsman, who is a purveyor of ; cricketing material. , Those who follow local cricket (says (the Wellington "Post") will recollect, that last season Mr A. B. Williams, captain of ; the Midland Club, established a record for | the colony by scoring two centuries in the ' one match. This feat was performed in the ; second match against the Wellington senior •team. Mr Williams made his runs with a Wisden bat, which he forwarded to Messrs :Wisden and Co., London, the firm being al- '■ ways anxious to secure such bats for its novel collection of what are styled " old Warriors." Messrs Wisden and Co. have initimated their intention of sending out to 'Mr Williams two new bats in place of the one forwarded Home. i At the annual meeting of the Wellington ; Midland Cricket Club, Mr S. J. Tucker ': brought forward, the question of erecting a . memorial tablet or headstone over the grave of the late Mr R. V. Blacklock, who for so many years was prominently identified with ,the fortunes of. the, club. The.deceased had. not only represented Wellington with, honour, but was also included in the ranks of New Zealand teams. If a movement was started with the object of keeping the late Mr Blacklock's memory green tin the minds of every cricketer he (Mr, Tucker) was sure it would meet with a ready response. Their Chairman (Mr Duthie, M.H.R.) had promised to head the list with a donation of £5 ss. (Applause.) Mr Duthie, who expressed his entire sympathy with the movement, remarked that the services of the late Mr Blackloqk had strong claims upon all cricketers. A committee, consisting of v.Messrs S. Tucker, I. Hyams ar?d E. Fitz- ' simons, was set up to secure- the necessary funds during the coming season. W. G. Grace has made 115 centuries in first-class cricket. Lord Harris, W.-H. Patterson, the Rev W. Rashleigh and J. R. Mason are the only cricketers who have in a single season scored an aggregate of 1000 runs for the county of Kent. - W. G. Grace has gone in to bat first more often than any other player in England or out of it. Next to the champion in this respect conies A. N. Hornby, for so many years the popular captain of the Lancashire County Club. E. M. Grace in his younger days was as agile as a cat, and could occupy any position in the field. Of him it was said by a good judge of the game: "The only thing that man cannot do hi the cricket field is to keep wicket to his own bowling !" Kensington Oval, the headquarters of the Surrey County Cricket Club, was originally the site of a market garden. The Montpelier Club secured the ground in 1844, and formed themselves into the Surrey Club in the following year. The first match was played on the Oval on July 17, 1845. Among recent neologisms of the cricket field is "tosh," which. means bowling of contemptible easiness ; " blob," which has taken the place of the " duck" or " duck's egg " of our youth; and "sitter." A "sitter" is a catch which falls absolutely into the hands and cannot, except by a genius for such things, be "buttered." Mr Andrew Lang relates that the Bishop of St Andrew's remembers seeing a ball bowled by Browne, of Brighton, strike the stumps with such force and at such a point that both bails flew back as far as the bowler s wickeb: On another occasion, at Lord's, when Browne was bowling, every fieldsman was placed behind the wicket. -•■•-■■*■ . Here are the names of some .wandering cricket clubs some of wliich still exist: — I Zino-ari, The Knickerbockers, Inexpressibles, Perfect Cures, Active Fleas, Jolly Dogs, I O U , Waifs and Strays, Harum Scarum, Variegated Annuals, Fossils, Unmitigated Duifers, Cock-a-doodle-doo, The Fly-by-Nights, Anythingarians, Incapables, Et Cetcras, and The Other Johnnies. The members of H. H. Slephensdn s team, wliich visited Canada in 1859; adopted an ingenious method of being recognised in the field. Every man wore a cap of a different colour. Stephenson wore orange, Mortlock pink, Lawrence magenta, Sewell mauve, Iddison brown, Bennett pale blue, E. Stephenson white, Hearne black, Griffith pale yellow, Mudie dark green, and Caffyn dark blue. _. , Wilfred Rhodes, the new star among Yorkshire bowlers, a good friend from Galashiels writes to "Cricket," was born and broughtup at Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield, the birthplace, by the way, of another great Yorkghiretrundler, Allan Hill. Rhodes played with the Kirkheaton Club, having as one of his club mates, Hirst, of the Yorkshire Eleven. He went, as a. professional, to Galashiels in 1896 and was retained there for the following summer. According to the correspondent, Rhodes, who is a total abstainer, was a geat favpurite j>t Galashiels. His departure was, indeed, regetted by all, and the canny folk up there are naturally highly pleased with his success in Yorkshire cricket. He Avas a "surface man" by trade, but in the winter of 1896-97 was engaged in signalling on the Lancashire and Yorkshire RailIt the big jubilee banquet given by he Sports Club to W. G. Grace, on Tuesday evening (writes the London correspondent of the "Canterbury Times," under date July 22) the health of Stoddart was— irrelevantly, but clearly with intention— proposed. Many other famous cricketers were present and there seemed no special reason why btoddart should have been singled out for special attention, save that the company wished to show their complete confidence in him to hear his views on Australian "barracking." Stoddart perfectly understood what was expected of him, and spoke out very decidedly. His views, and those of some of his old colleagues, had, he thought, been unintentionally exaggerated. As a whole, the Australian people and the Australian Press were very good to Englishmen. But he had occasion to complain, and strongly, of a certain section of the crowd and of the Press. What he thought of our Australian cousins generally was, he thought, shown by the fact that he had: joyfully visited them four times. , ■