Cricket 1885

AUG. 27, 1885. CRICKET ; A W EEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME . 361 first batsmen on a side had scored so lieavily. A correspondent reminds me of another instance of remarkable scoring in August 1877, in a match between Mr. E. T. Thornton’s Eleven and Fenton Hall. The latter scored 671 for three wickets, R. Thornton 151, 0 . Dagleish 80, F. Kennedy 97, S. Meek not out 253, T. Plumb not out 68 ; byes 19, wides 3—Total 671. A mong the names of the officers who have received distinctions and promo­ tions for services during the opera­ tions in the Soudan, I notice those of Lieut.-Col. P. H. S. Barrow, C.B., C.M.G., 19th Hussars, to be Colonel; Captains F. W. Bennet, Boyal Engineers, and H. P. St. John Mildmay, Grenadier Guards, to be Majors. A M a id sto n e correspondent thinks the following particulars of the scores made on Monday last by six of the first-class counties will be of interest to C r ic k e t readers :— R ms. Wicfcets. Derby, Nottsv.Derbyshire.. 330 .. 5 Clifton, Gloucestershire v. M iddlesex........................... 272 .. 6 Taunton,Surrey v. Somerset­ shire ................................... 292 .. 10 Leyton, Lancashire v. Essex 342 .. 10 Tonbridge, Kent v. Hants .. 319 .. 7 Brighton,Yorkshire t . Sussex 302 .. 7 Total ...................1,857 .. 45 This gives an average of over 41 runs per wicket. My correspondent is anxious to know if there is any better record than this in county cricket. In 1876,onAugust 17,in four matches, Notts v. Middlesex, Kent v. Hants, Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire, and Lancashire v. Sussex,1,147 runs were got for 45 wickets, eliciting the follow­ ing note from the compiler of Wisden's Almanack, “ Surely such a day’s county hitting has no equal in county cricket history.” Mr. W. G. Grace, too, was then also not out 216, which he increased to 318, also carrying out his bat. A c o rr e spo n d e n t , who signs him­ self “ Amateur,” sends me what he describes as a somewhat curious parallel to the tie match at Tenby, to which I called attention in last week’s “ Gossip-” It occurred in a match between the Carlisle Grammar School and the Depot of the Border Begiment, played last month. Each side made 42 in the first and 51 in the second innings. This, though, is hardly as curious as the one I in­ stanced, where all the four innings were of the same amount. S ome weeks ago I had the pleasure of announcing that Mr. T. C. O’Brien, the well-known Oxford and Middlesex cricketer, was shortly to be married to Miss Gundrede de Trafford, a daughter of the President of the Lancashire County Cricket C lu b . I am now able to state that the wedding will take place on the 24th prox, the date, by the way, of the last is s u e of C r ic k e t for this summer. It will interest C r ic k e t readers, too, to know that Mr. W . W. Bead, the famous Surrey batsman, is also about to enter the hymeneal state. I am given to believe that the happy event will take place about the end of October. Both Amateurs are deservedly popular, and cricketers of all classes will wish them good luck. I n o tic e that Mr. Egertoa Cecil, a prominent member of the Richmond Cricket Club as well as captain of the Richmond Swimming Club, won the Rothschild Challenge Cup on Thurs­ day last at Teddington. The cup, a valuable silver one, was presented to the club by Mr. Leopold de Rothschild, and the conditions were that it should be won three times before becoming the property of the winner. As Mr. Cecil had been successful twice pre­ viously the trophy has thus become his property. The distance was half- a-mile, and a strong wind blowing up stream great:y interfered wiih the competitors, causing quite a sea for the men to swim through. For this reason the winner’s time (17 min. 15 sec.) must be considered very credit­ able. C r ic k e t e r s will be interested to hear that Mr. A. N. Hornby, the cap­ tain of the Lancashire eleven, has been invited by the executive of the Accrington Conservative Association to stand at the General Election for the Accrington Division of Lancashire, in the Conservative interest. The good folks of Lancashire are such keen sportsmen, and his popularity is deservedly so immense in the Palatin­ ate, that I am sure he would have had the support of everyone interested in our national sports, whatever his political creed, had he only accepted. As it is, I have heard on the best authority that he has declined, and the new Parliament has lost the chance of a good cricketer. I understand that this is, in reality, Mr. Hornby’s last year in the captaincy of the Lanca­ shire eleven- Mr. Lancashire, will, I have reason to believe,be his successor. P r o d ig io u s ! I can only use Dominie Sampson’s favourite exclamation as I think of Mr. W . G. Grace’s extra­ ordinary performance at Clifton this week. When one looks at his splendid score of 226 (notout) and his exceptionally good bowling, it is indeed difficult to realise that it i3 21 years ago since I saw him play hi3 first match at Lord's for South Wales against M.C.C. & G. Eheu fujaces! But there, it will be an immense pleasure to everyone who takes interest iu our grand old game to think that the grand old man of cricket who has for so many years stood alone a3 the most brilliant exponent our national sport has ever had, is still ab'e to witch the world with noble batsmanship, to alter a well-known quotation. In another paragraph will be found the batting averages of the leading cricketers of to-day. In connection with this table it will be of interest, perhaps, if I give the figures of Mr. W. G. Grace’s two most successful batting years as they appear iu “ Scores and Biographies.” Inning.. Total Runs. Average. 1871 .. .. 35 2,739 78 1876 .. .. 46 2,622 62 In 1876 his total in all matches is given as 3,908 for 72 innings, Average 60. A c o r r e s p o n d e n t in Rio de Janeiro sends me a notice of a curious inci­ dent which took place in a match played in that city. Whilst playing forward to a slow brwler, the bj.ll getting up went right inside the batman’s shirt, the collar of wh'ch had been unloosed. The man fielding point, seeing what had happened, rushed forward and soon got possession of it. The batsman was given out. T h e following will show the results of the various matches played this season by the nine leading Counties Won Lost Drawn. Notts .. 6 . . 1 . . 4 Yorkshire 6 2 .. 7 Surrey 8 .. 3 .. 4 Lancashire .. 6 .. 3 .. 2 Kent 3 .. 3 .. 2 Derby-hire 1 .. 5 . . 1 Middlesex 2 .. 6 . . 1 Gloucestershire 4 .. 7 . . 1 Sussex .. 2 .. 8 .. 2 T h e following are the principal batting averages in all County and •mportant matches in not less than