458 



A new method of deckling the English County Championship was tried in 1911, and 

 although not giving general satisfaction was retained in 1912. With the idea of discouraging 

 the players from aiming at drawn matches, five points were given for a win, and three points 

 (with one point to the losing side) for a first-innings victory. This purely arbitrary mode of 

 reckoning, which had for some time been the rule of the minor counties, assisted Warwickshire 

 to win the championship in 1911, but they probably also profited by having no matches with 

 some of the strongest counties. The fast wickets were favourable to several of the Warwick- 

 shire batsmen, and still more to the bowling of F. R. Foster and Field. Kent would have 

 been first according to the old reckoning; Middlesex were third, and Lancashire fourth. In 

 1912 the wet wickets were adverse to Warwickshire, but suited Northamptonshire, whose 

 eleven showed great improvement in batting. This county was second to Yorkshire, who 

 had a strong team, several of their younger professionals assisting materially in their success. 

 Kent took the third place and Lancashire the fourth. 



The Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (Ranjitsinjhi) played in several county and other first 

 class matches in 1912, and showed that he had lost little or nothing of his old skill in batting. 

 Oxford beat Cambridge in 1911 through the excellence of P. R. LeCouteur's slow bowling, 

 which was of varied style but was classed as belonging to the "googly" order. Cambridge 

 won a very close match in 1912 largely by the fine all-round play and Captaincy of E. L. Kidd. 

 Eton in both years won against Harrow. 



Good fast bowling is scarcer than ever in first-class cricket. Many bowlers have culti- 

 vated the delivery of the swerve, the ball being so held that the seam, while rotating vertically, 

 lies a little to the right or left of the line from bowler to wicket. The "googly " has made little 

 progress, though it was effectively used by H. V. Hordern in Australia. The plan of bowling 

 at the leg stump, or even at the batsman's legs, originated by Hirst, has been perfected by 

 other left-handed bowlers, notably Dean and F. R. Foster. In batting, back play and on- 

 side hitting are prevalent, and the right foot is shifted without compunction. In con- 

 sequence of these developments the setting of the field has transcended all the old customs, 

 and positions are assigned for which the game has no vocabulary. 



Croquet. 



One of the causes to which the decline amounting almost to extinction of croquet 

 was attributed some thirty years back, was the modification of the conditions of the 

 game to suit the requirements of the most skilful players. When the 3! in. hoops were 

 introduced the game became too difficult to be popular. The same difficulty has been 

 reasserting itself. For many years the Croquet Association has been continually revis- 

 ing its laws to meet the increasing skill of the foremost players nowadays by no means 

 a small class. The small hoops no longer constitute any serious obstacle to the making 

 of long breaks. In spite of the provision of " baulks," in order to secure an open shot 

 for a player as soon as his opponent has finished a turn, it is realised that the player who 

 first gets possession of the balls has. the chances overwhelmingly in his favour. The 

 laws committee of the Croquet Association has been discussing several proposals for 

 making the game more difficult. The most favoured of these are: (i) playing with 

 either ball of the side; (2) the reintroduction of a cage in the middle of the ground; (3) 

 the turn to cease if any ball is sent off the ground after the first croquet has been made. 

 The tactics of croquet have undergone but little change of late, except that the best 

 exponents (and there is nothing which now shows the quality of a player more than the 

 way the balls are left at the finish of a turn) almost invariably go out for a break, thus 

 following the example of the present champion, Mr. C. L. O'Callaghan, and that the 

 art of " peeling " especially in handicaps is greatly on the increase. 



The 



(1911) E. 



(1912) Miss _ ,__ .,,.,, 



medal, (1911) Miss N. S. L. Gilchrist, (1912) Lady Julian Parr; champion cup, (1911) H. 

 Maxwell Browne, (1912) P. D. Matthews; ladies' champion cup, (191 1) Mrs. R. C. J. Beaton, 

 (1912) Miss D. M. Standring. 



Curling. 



The winter of 1910-11 was soft; that of 1011-12, after beginning badly, later afforded 

 excellent sport. During the latter part of January and the first week of February 1912 

 there was unique activity both in Scotland and Switzerland; and at the same time the 

 Scottish team in Canada reached the climax of their tour at Winnipeg. 



In Scotland, for the second time since 1903, it was possible to hold the Grand Match. 



