CRICKET.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIII, Issue 791, 4 May 1905, Page 12

CRICKET.

The cricket season was brought to a. close on Saturday, the result being that Parnell has won the championship with seven wins, two losses, and one draw (14 points). Eden comes next with six wins and four losses (12 points), Ponsonby is third with five wins and five losses, City ranking level with them with five wins, four losses, and one draw (10 points). Grafton had four wins and six losses, while North Shore had but two wins toeight losses. * * « A Last year Eden tied with Parnell for the championship, and they came very nearly doing it again, but lost their last match by twelve runs. Ponsonby met North Shore on Saturday and won by 111 to 86. ■** * * In the match on Saturday between Parnell and Grafton the former won with. 145 for eight wickets to 141. For the winners Mason 38 and Philson 33 (not out) did best, while for Grafton D. Hay 82 (not out) and S, P. Jones 26 werethe only two to get double figures. * * * c City defeated Eden by 118 to 106. The latter looked like winning comfortably, but most of their best men shaped badly against the veteran Neill’s slows. Neill also topscored for his side with 30, Renwick and Magee each making 23. Clarke 23, Shepherd 19, and S. Mills 19 (not out) did best for the losers. * * . * • The Australian Eleven commence their season in England to-day with a match against the Gentlemen of England at the Crystal Palace. ♦ * ♦ * . It is seventeen years since the l&st match between an Australian Eleven and. ' the. Gentlemen of England was played, though prior to that event the matches: were regularly arranged with the Aus tralians, excepting rhe 1880 team, which was very coolly received at the ».€ad quarters of English cricket owing to the Lord Harris episode at the Assbci ition Ground, Sydney, having taken place only a year earlier. . * • * • In all seven matches between (ha Aus tralians and the Gentlemen of Engixnt have been played. It is a singular coincidence that while the first match was • won by the Englishmen, the second was won by the Australians by an exactly similar majority, viz., an innings and 1 run. With the exception of the first one, which took place at Prince’s Ground, London, all the matches have been played either at Lord’s or Kennington Oval. In the series the Australians won three, lost two, and drew two. W. G. Grace ha& made the only three hundreds got for the Gentlemen. For the Australians, S. P. Jones scored 151 in 1886 and G. J. Bunnor 119 in 1888.

A. N. Hornby, the well-known amateur cricketer of Lancashire County, met with an accident while hunting with the Cheshire Hounds from Huxley. Mr Hornby’s horse put his foot in a rabbit hole, and turned a complete somersault. The Duke of Westminster went to the assistance of Mr Hornby, who was found to have a broken rib, and sustained very severe bruises. It was reported that he was going on comfortably. ♦ '■ * ♦ ■ '' ♦ The Hon. F. S. Jackson, the famous Yorkshire player, in opening a cricket club bazaar, spoke at length on the doctoring of wickets. In first-class cricket they met with a wicket, which has been prepared with a peculiar preparation, so that it was almost impossible for any bowler, however good, to get the slightest work on the ball, and he consequently almost broke his heart in attempting to get even secondclass people out. In the North they knew nothing about these extraordinarily good wickets. They had never gone in for them. The invention was the invention of the Southern counties, and very often when he had bowled on those wickets he thought they were the invention of “somebody else.” (Laughter.) In Yorkshire they always tried to play the game as they believed it was meant to be playfed, on li 'an i absolutely natural turf wicket. It was difficult to legislate on the ..subject of doctoring wickets, but he thought it might be laid down most emphatically that the wicket should be only the perfectly natural turf wicket. He hoped the M.C.C. would take the matter up, instead of bringing forward all sorts of ideas af tinkering with the implements of the game, and that kind of thing. • ♦ « ■ ♦ For Bronchial Coughs take Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. Is 6d.