Related article: as the " weeks " in Kent and the general dovetailing provisions made for tours might be seriously disarranged by the inclusion of a fourth or fifth day for the decision of a match. However, this sug- gestion is by the way, and I only submit it (i) on the presump- tion that the County Champion- ship is really as important as it is claimed to be, and (2) as an alternative to, or an accompani- ment of, the Hon. E. V. Bligh's proposal, advocated in Baily's Coupon For Flonase Magazine in September, 1898, for lessening the number of drawn games in first class cricket by an alteration of the l.b.w. rule. Say for the moment, then, that the first division of the existing first class counties is restricted to eight. There are still another seven to be accounted for : what is to be done with them ? There are con- siderations of the first class batting and bowling averages to be thought of, in the former of Price Of Flonase which — taking the records of 1898 — I find the first, second, fourth and tenth places, and in the latter the second, sixth and ninth places, are held by representatives of what would be, I suppose, the dispos- sessed counties. They should engage, of course, in a competi- tion of their own, but under what title ? I submit that they should be ranked as Division II. of the first class. Further, if the stan- dard of first class cricket is to be measured by that of those counties at present at the bottom of the list, there is no reason why a Division III. should not be created, if the M.C.C. Committee considered any at present " minor " counties or Second Elevens of first class counties worthy of pro- motion ; and the only condition I would impose upon Flonase Nasal Spray the aspirant to first class honours, besides, of course, Otc Flonase the qualification of merit, would be his ability to set aside three days for the decision of a match. But this brings me to the counties not first class. When the M.C.C. laid down the Jiat in October, 1894, " Cricketing coun- ties shall be considered as belong- Flonase Buy Cost Of Flonase ing to first class or not ; there is no necessity for further sub- division," no one could have anticipated that so robust a cor- poration as is the Minor Counties' Association to-day would imme- diately rise as the result of an attempt to place County Cricket on an intelligible basis. During the same period — 1895 to 1S98 — as many as, taking an average, eight counties have annually ful- filled the conditions of the " Minor Counties' Competition," and in addition another four counties — again taking an average — have only failed to come into line in the same rank owing to one diffi- culty or another in complying with the conditions imposed. The chief obstacles to the progress of such counties are two. One con- sists in geographical situation, counties at the extremes of the country being Buy Flonase unable to tempt their rivals to undertake Order Flonase long and expensive journeys to them, and the second is the capture from them of their promising native players by the richer counties. It is hoped that the first stum- bling-block has now been removed by the determination, come to in December, to include .second elevens of first class counties in 1899-] IXTER-COUNTY C£::>LT. lO the Minor Counties* Champion- ship. The second presents more difficulty, and, as the transfer of players from one county to another more properly belongs to a dissertation upon the County Cricket quali heat ions, I will only mention, in passing, two sugges- tions that would seem to Flonase Price meet the case : (a) that the opportuni- ties given to a player to transfer his services from one county to another should be restricted as much as possible, and (b) that an Inter- County Board should be instituted to regulate, upon a uniform scale, the wages to be paid to professionals in the first and other classes. Well ! including the second elevens of first class counties, I have now another group of fifteen or sixteen minor counties, to each one of which the same oppor- tunity should, I think, be given, should a comprehensive scheme be so framed as to offer facilities in a descending ratio to the poorer counties, of assuming an acknow- ledged position in County Cricket. The question of expense comes in here more prominently to domi- nate the situation. The number of qualifying matches, and ac- cordingly the groups of counties among which they are played, must necessarily be smaller. I have suggested the promotion of three or four to a Division III. of first class. If this were found not to be feasible, I would form the five leading minor counties into a group under the title Second Division I. Prohaliy ir would fa-I in more comeniemlY wiih the circumstances of other counties, as tdu descend the scale, if Division II. were made to consist of groups of three, ranged, not in order of merit, but, geographically, in order to facili- tate means of access to one another. Let me epitomise the scheme I suggest : — First Class. Divhu. « /. — Eight principal counties. Dn isicn II. — Six or seven exist- ing first class counties. Division III. — Four or five coun- ties, made up by including, per- haps one present first class county and promoting three or four minor counties. Second Class. Division I. — Four or five exist- ing minor counties. Division //. — Group A, Nor- thern ; B, Southern ; Flonase Otc C, Midland, &c, of three counties each. Lastly, I should rely on the willingness of the Jockey Club of Cricket to add to their under- taking, " After the close of each cricket season Purchase Flonase the Committee of the M.C.C. shall decide the County Championship,** the fur- ther obligation of weighing the merits of all competing counties, and of promoting them to or deposing them from the different divisions accordingly. Hon. Secretary County C.C. 196 [March