Cricket 1886

868 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE GAME. AUG. IS, 1886. T h e eleven selected by Mr. G. N. Wyatt to oppose the Australians to-day on the •United Service Ground, at Portsmouth, will consist of—Messrs. G. N. Wyatt, W. Newham, G. Brain, C. A. Smith, F. B. Whitfeld, 0. W. Rock, G. L. Wilson (Brighton College), S. M. J. Woods (Brighton College), Rev. R. T. Thornton and W. Humphreys and Pentecost. Con­ sidering that Sussex is the only first-class County eleven not engaged at the end cif this week, Mr. Wyatt is to be congratulated on the eleven he has secured. Phillips, the Sussex wicket-keeper, would have played, but for a promise to take part in a looal match at Hastings, from which he could not get leave to withdraw. Som e weeks ago I reproduced an acrostic on Peate by Mr. J. S. Haydon, an actor well known in the provinces, and an enthusiastic follower of cricket. He has since burst out into verse on the subject of Tom Emmett, as the following lines, taken from the Athletic News ,will show T om ‘ Emmet, tha’rt a champion lad, O f all owd cricketers ah’ve seen! M en shaht when tha puts on thi pad, E xclaimin’, “Here’s owd Evergreen!” M oar fun tha’s caused than mony clahns, M oarwickets taen nor younger men; E h, t’stumps has seean-some ups an’ dahns, T ha bahlea ’em, Tom, and can agean. * Emmett. T h e Australians will have to meet a strongish team of Cambridge men, Past and Present, at Leyton on Monday. Mr. A. G. Steel will captain the eleven, which will be completed by Messrs. H . B. Steel, F. W. Kingston, L. K. Jarvis, P. H. Morton, C. Wilson, A. F. J. Ford, G. B. Studd, 0. D. Buxton, C. W. Rock, and F. M. Lucas. It is the first visit of an Australian team to the pretty ground of tho Essex County Club, and remembering the brilliant show made by the Cantabs in the past against Australian cricketers, there is not only a certainty of good cricket, but every ohance of an interesting contest. C r ic k e t e r s will hear with regret of the death of George Bennett, the old Kent professional, which took place at Shorne Bidgway; near Gravesend, on Monday night. “ Farmer " Bennett, to use the name by which he was best known, was a prominent figure in the cricket-field a quarter of a century since. He was a steady, batsman with, at the same time plenty of hit,' and generally scored well, though his best .performance, was his 100 for the South' against, the North, at Lord's, on jTipie 12th, 1865. He was also a. good slow round-arm bowler, and at times was very effective, . Once, oi) August 17th, 1863, playing for England* against Surrey at theOval, in one over three wickets were got from his^bpwling in addition 'to one run 'put. Another of his overs became historical, though in quite a different style, the late George Griffith hitting each ball out o f the grpurid at Hastings on August 29th1; A&8& for six. He was also an ex­ cellent field, Being able to throw well. ja & S S S 1- - M S F ff ll a* B rig h to n he \yas^ten at E t o n , and in 1873 a m afcfi was played at Gravesend for his benefit. A good-tempered, cheery fellow, “ Farmer” Bennett was very popular on .the cricket-field with all classes. The last occasion on which I saw him play was in August 1873, at Brighton, for Kent v. Sussex. I have reason to remember it, for in his second innings “ the Farmer” played a ball of Southerton’s into the top of his pad, and being unsuccessful in his attempts to shake it out removed it and put it on the ground. As a consequence he figured on the score-sheet as “ handled the ball.” Bennett, who was in his fifty- ninth year, was also a member of the first English term which visited Australia at the end of 1801. T h e Australian team have arranged an additional match to be played at Lord’s, ou September 13 and two following days. They will have to meet an English eleven collected by Mr. W. G. Grace, and as the fixture has been arranged as a testimonial to Mr. J. A. Murdoch, the courteous and painstaking Assistant-Secretary of the Marylebone Club, there is every reason for predicting a success. The Committee of the Surrey Club also promised the use of the Oval in September to the Australian team, agreeing to give the half-share they usually take to the Cricketers’ Fund. It is very doubtful, though, whether a fixture will be arranged for Sept. 20 on the Surrey Ground, as with Shaw and Shrewsbury’s team away there will be a lack of pro­ fessional help available. In all pro­ bability, though, a match will take place at Hastings on the three days following that at Lord’s; T h e following table gives the result of the matches between the nine Chief Counties this season up to date:— Notts .. .. Won. 7 Lost. 0 Drawn 4 Surrey 10 3 1 Lancashire .. 5 3 4 Middlesex 3 4 2 Gloucestershire 2 4 3 Kent .. .. 4 5 2 Yorkshire .. 2 5 6 Sussex .. .. 4 6 1 Derbyshire . • 0 7 1 T^ e following are the averages of the principal batsmen in important matches up to Saturday last. No one is included who has not played fourteen innings or got an average o f twenty-five. ' 'firoifa vorii <.Cmplted Highest Aver. Innings. Buns., Score. Shrewsbury ... 30 ... 1257 '.'..‘ 227* ... 41.27 \V. G. Grace ... 85 ... 1425 ... 170 ... 40.25 W. W. Bead ... 33 ... 1300 ... 115 ... 39.13 G. G. Hearne ... 28 ... 1007 ... 12G ... 35.27 M.Bead ... 28 '... 9GI ... 186 .... 84.9 S. W; Scott' ... IT ... 553 ... 94* ... 32.9 G. Kemp ... 10 ... 497 ... 125 ... 31.1 Abel ... ... ... 29 ..., 898 ... 144 ... 30.28 A. E.Stotldart ... 17 ... 503 ... 116 ... 29.10 Lord Harris ... 18 ... 530 ... 76 ... 29.8 A. N. Hornby ... 27 ... 773 ... 161 ... 28.17 Barnes ... ... 23 ... G57 ... 156 ... 28.13 J. H. Brain ... 22 ..., 011 ... 71 .., 27.17 Scotton ... ... 31 ..., ’827 ... 110* ... 26.21 Spillman ... Hall - ... 14 w,, 379 ... 87 ... 26.15 ... 27 ... 715 ... 91 ... 26.13 J. G. Walker »..•24 ..., G28 ,,, 79 ... 26.4 H. W-.Bainbridge 18 ... 472 ... -79 ... 26.4 G. F,-Vernon . .. Ql ... . 549 ... 160 26.3 Gunn ... 24 , 024 ... 83 .,,. 26 J. A. Turner ... 19 ..,, 461 ... 174 ..„ 25.11 O. G. B a d c liffe 20 ... 510 ... 104* ... 25.10 Lohmann ...• 23 ^ , 578 ...107 .,. 25.3 F, Marchant ...10 ... 401 ... 90 ., 25.1 THE FIFTH AUSTRALIAN TEAM IN ENGLAND. TWENTY-SEVENTH MATCH.—v. ENG­ LAND. The worst of luck attended the Australian cricketers in the last of their three matches against the strength of England, played at the Oval on Thursday and two following days. On recent form their chances of success, under any circumstances, were small, and these were rendered quite hopeless by the rain on Thurs­ day night. It was, indeed, very hard for them that they should have had to bat on a wicket altogether in favour of the bowlers, especially after the long score of their opponents, and every genuine cricketer will sympathise with them in their ill-fortune. Though the Eleven might probably have been slightly im­ proved, the executive of the Surrey Club de­ cided that England should be represented by the same team which had proved so success­ ful at Lord’s, decidedly a strong one at all points. Mr. Jarvis was still too lame to play for the Australians, and Mr. Bonnor stood out, giving up his place to Mr. Mcllwraith. Mr. A. G. Steelwon the tossfor England, and Mr. Grace and Scotton opened the batting. At the outset the ground was slow from recent rain, and the Australian bowling was so true that runs came very slowly, the score at luncheon time, after an hour and forty miuutes’ play, being only 56. By the resumption the wicket had got faster, and Mr. Grace, who had been badly missed at short slip when he had got six, showed in his best form. Scotton continued to bat with even more than his wonted care, and the score was 170 when he played a ball of Garrett’s into his wicket. At one period he was in an hour and ten minutes without scoring, and his share of the 170 runs got, after three hours and three quarters’ batting, was only 34. Mr. Grace retired when his in­ dividual score was 170, and when it is stated that the aggregate was only 216 it will be gathered how fast he made his runs. With the exception of M. Read’s 186 for Surrey, recently, this is the highest innings made against an Australian team in England. Mr. Grace was batting for four hours-and-a-half, and though, in addition to the chance men­ tioned, he ought to have been caught more than once, it must be remembered that at the commencement the wicket was far from easy. Altogether it was a fine display of cricket, in every way worthy of his reputation. Hia score was made up of twenty-two fours, four threes, seventeen twos, and thirty-six singles. This is his fourth innings of three figures against the present Australian team. Late in the day some very fine batting wras shown by Mr. Read and Shrewsbury, and these two bats­ men added 63 runs without a mistake, making the total when play ceased 279 with only two wickets down. Heavy rain on Thursday night affected the wioket materially, and with the exception of some exceptionally good cricket by Mr. Read and some vigorous hitting by Briggs the remainder of the English innings presented no noteworthy features. Briggs was only in an hqur for his 53, and his innings in the con­ dition of the wicket was not only very useful but most judicious. Mr. Read haS never been seen to better advantage. He played with great judgment and confidence, especially on the second day writh the wicket more difficult, and his score of 94, with the exception of a hard chance at mid-off when he had got 58, was without a flaw. When the Australiana •svent Inyto bat the wicket was drying, and altogether iu 'fa w u r of this b o w e rs ,JUL e h H ian a