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GENTLEMAN AND PLAYERS
57

another amateur receive a lump sum at the end of the season, which appears in the audited accounts as "bonus to Mr. So-and-so"? Why should any amateur have a benefit match exactly the same as a professional, except that in the latter case it is called a "benefit," in the former a "complimentary" match, the whole balance of the gate-money in each case being handed over to the bénéficiaire? This sort of thing has gone on so long that I suppose some consideration must be shown for vested interests, but I earnestly hope that in no new instance shall we see such things recur. I hold no brief for the professionals, but I cannot see why the Australians, who are all professionals, should walk into the chief rooms of the pavilion and be banqueted at the expense of the Marylebone Club, while the English professional is condemned to take the lower room. We have actually seen during this year's visit of Stoddart's Eleven to Australia, a prominent Australian cricketer refuse to play in the test matches because he was not