Cricket 1885

adg . 13. 1885. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 329 F o r three batsmen to score a hun­ dred in the same innings is an event of such v ery rare occurrence that there is no need to explain the special prom i­ nence o f a detailed notice in these columns. The total o f 543 made by the Uppingham Rovers against the Bradford Club and Ground, at Brad­ ford on Friday and Saturday, was a very fine performance, particularly as the Rovers, in the absence of Mr. A. P. Lucas and others, have this season not been able to place their full strength in the field. The three bats­ men who got into three figures were Mr. A . M. Suthery 165, Mr. S. S. Schultz 112, and Mr. H . E ccles 101. Mr. Schultz has figured in the L an ca­ shire eleven several times in past years, and is well known to London cricketers. Mr. H . E ccles was in the Uppingham School E levens o f 1881 and 1882, and, unless I am mistaken, played for Lancashire against Surrey this summer. Mr. Suthery is, or was last year, in residence at Jesus College, Cambridge. T h e Canterbury W eek, despite the frequent interference o f rain, was most successful from every point of view, as all interested in the welfare of one o f the most pleasant outings of the cricket season, will be gratified to hear. The men o f Kent have a happy knack o f playing up to their very best form at Canterbury, and their all­ round cricket last week was o f the highest quality. They had all the best o f the luck in the wicket in both matches, but still their performances during the week reflected the greatest credit on every member o f the team, though the two young bowlers, W ootton and Alec Hearne, deserve, as in 1884, a special word o f praise. D e s p i t e that several well-known faces were m issing, the “ Old S tagers” afforded plenty of good entertainment in the theatre, and it is worthy of note that The Ticket- of- Leave Man, which formed the piece cle reristance — I think that is the correct term in theatrical parlance— last week, was given twenty-two sum ­ mers ago, in the year of its produc­ tion, by the “ Old Stagers,” with the author, T om Taylor, in the principal character. Altogether the manage­ ment seems to have been excellent, and, indeed, I know of, on the whole, no better arrangement, in connection with cricket, than those which mark the Canterbury Week. I n o t i c e in the “ Answers to Corres­ pondents ” in a recent number of the Australasian, particulars relative to the areas of some o f the principal cricket grouads in Australia which may perhaps be o f interest to C k i c k e t readers. 1.—The following are the full areas of the grounds named in the application to the Australasian and answered by it3 editor. Melbourne, 9a. lr. 14p. ; East Melbourne, 6a. 2r. 30p.; South Melbourne, 6 acres; Richmond, 6 acres; Ballarat, 9£ acres; Sandhurst, 10a. 2r. 24p.; Geelong, 10 acres. 2.—Lanca8ter-park|ground,Christchurch,New Zealand, contains about 12 aores, and the placing portion is 700 yards round the rink. This, the Adelaide Oval, and Leicestershire County ground are the largest in the world for circumference of playing portion. Leicestershire is perhaps the largest of the three. 5 —The playing portion of Mel­ bourne is 540 yards round, E.M.C.C. 548 yards, S.M.C.C., formerly 506, is this year 600 yards, Geelong 572, Sandhurst 489, Richmond 450, Ballarat about 420. Some weeks ago, mention was made of a very fine innings of 185 not out, by Mr. A. E . Stoddart, for Hampstead against the Granville Club o f Lee. I notice that during the five weeks which have passed since that match (played on the 4th of July) Mr. Stoddart, whom I take to be the well-known Rugby International footballer, has completed as many as four “ centuries ’ ’ for the Hampstead Club. July 18, v, Hendon, 113. „ 21, v. M.G.C. & G., 108. August 4, v. Blaokheath Morden, 108. ,, 8, v. Old Carthusians, 120. As, in addition, Mr. Stoddart is a particularly good bowler as well as a brilliant field, I should fancy the executive o f the Middlesex County Club, for which I believe lie is qualified, would do well to seriously entertain the advisability o f giving him a good trial. I t will interest the curious in sucli matters to know that up to the present time Mr. W . W . Read has altogether scored in important matches this year 2,069 runs in thirty-five com ­ pleted innings, an average of 59.4. Unless I am in error Shrewsbury has had seventeen completed innings for 957 runs, which gives an average of 56.5. Mr. F. M. Lucas has so far had five completed innings for 453 runs, an average o f 90.3. I n o t i c e that eleven Watneys— a well known Surrey name— played and defeated the Horley Club, at Horley, on Saturday. Matches of this kind are so scarce as to deserve conspicuous mention. Another of the same kind took place at Camp-liill, W ootton, a week or so ago, when eleven Gossages played an eleven got up by a Mr. Carey. The Gossage fam ily was also favoured by fortune, being able to claim a win on ths first innings by twenty runs. M e s s r s W . Y a r d l e y and H . P. Stephens are once more furnishing the patrons of the Gaiety Theatre with the chief entertainment in the pro­ gramme. The attraction there just now is a burlesque, entitled The Vicar o f Wide-a-Wakefield, or the Miss-Terri/- ous Uncle. I Yardley expected this o f the old Cambridge Captain. I t may be interesting to the statisticians o f cricket to know that in the matches at L ord ’s and the Oval begun on Monday, in the two days as many as 2,032 runs were totalled for forty wickets, counting that only ten o f the Somersetshire eleven batted in the first innings at the Oval. The aggregate of 902 for twenty-two wickets made on the Surrey ground on Monday and Tuesday, was altogether placed in the shade, if not in average in the total, at L ord ’s, where 1,130 were got in the two days for the loss o f twenty-eight wickets. The 643 for eight wickets by M .C.C. & G. against Rutland out-does all the many big scores recorded during the present season at head-quarters, saving only the 695 of Norfolk against M .C .C . & G ., on July 23 and 24. The runs were got, I may add, in five hours and thirty-five minutes, and the scoring was of so extraordinary a character that the falls o f the wickets may well be given for future reference. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 81 214 234 275 447 456 531 643 C r i c k e t in its short career has had the pleasurable task of recording many “ centuries ” in connection with our national game. I shall be ex­ cused, though, I hope, this week, if I call special attention to one in which, as the writer o f “ Pavilion G o s s ip ” since the first appearance o f the paper, Imay be allowed to have a little par­ donable pride— the first “ century ” of C r i c k e t itself. This week, in fact, C r i c k e t has reached its hundredth number. I need hardly add that -tis now thoroughly well-set, and that -t will continue to play the game as