Cricket 1889

898 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY BECORD OP THE GAME. SEPT. 12,1889. BUCK LAND—PARK ER—On the 27th ult., at the parish church , Sidmouth, Devon , Edward Hastings, son o f the late R ev . M. G. Buckland, o f Staines, to E ve lyn Ann ie Parker, o f Emperor’s Gate, S . Kensington. STUDD—On the 6th inst.,at Cavendish P lace, the w ife o f J. E . K . Studd, o f a son. CH IEF F IXTU RE S FO R N EXT W EEK . T h ursday , S ept . 32. —Hastings, North v. South (First match of Hastings and St. Leonards Cricket Week.) F r id a y , S e p t . 13.—Leyland, Lancashire Eleven v. Sixteen of Leyland (benefit of G. Nash.) S aturday , S e pt . 14— Forest Hill, F. Hearne’s X I v. Eighteen of Forest Hill Club (Farewell benefit to F. Hearne.) M o n d a y , S e p t . 16— Hastings. Gentlemen v. Players (Close of Hastings Week.) IMPORTANT NOTICE. Results of the Season and Averages of the Prin­ cipal Clubs will be inserted in C r ic k e t of Sept. 19 and 26, as well as in the earlier Winter Numbers, at the rate of 8/6 a column, with a minimum charge of 2/6. To ensure insertion in the following number, particulars must to received not later than the Saturday previous to day of publication. The winter monthly issues will appear, as heretofore, on the last Thursday of each month from November to April inclusive, com­ mencing with Nov. 7, with the exception of that for December 26, which, being Boxing Day, will be issued a day later, and the number for January, which will appear on Monday, January 27. The dates will be :— No. 227-THURSDAY, OCT. 31. No. 228—THURSDAY, NOV. 28. No. 229—FRIDAY, DEO. 27. No. 230—MONDAY, JAN. 27. No. 231—THURSDAY, FEB. 27. No. 232—THURSDAY, MARCH 27. The six numbers will be forwarded immediately on publication for Is. 3d. The amount must be sent to M r . W. R. W r ig h t , Manager of C r ic k b t at the office, 43, St. Andrew’s Hill, Doctors5 Commons, London, E .C . COUNTY CRICKET. [From the Illustrated Spoi ting and Dramatic News .] Although lawn tennis no doubt causes a certain number of amateurs to turn aside from the paths of cricket, the former game is happily not quite so formidable a rival as it was at one time expected to prove. In comparison with cricket, lawn tennis iBbut a parlour pastime, and, so far as the outside world is concerned, the winner of all the lawn tennis tournaments of a season does not occupy so prominent a position, nor is he such a hero, in the eyes of the readers of papers, as a member of a county or University eleven, or one of the teams of amateurs who try con­ clusions with the players. If, in point of antiquity, cricket must yield to hunting, wrestling, and to some other ball games, it at any rate soon attracted a great body o f admirers of all classes, and has main- tamed its popularity ever since ; for rude wiokets are pitched by small boys on every piece of open ground, bare though it may b e of grass; nay, even the street itself becomes a cricket ground, failing any more suitable arena. Of the fact that high-class cricket is not losing its hold on Englishmen many proofs are forthcoming, while the eagerness with which the annual tables of averages are looked for as soon as th e county cricket season shall have run its course speaks strongly for the in terest tak en in th e doing of the various elevens. Although the last of the fifty- three matches in which the eight more prominent counties took part was finished only on the 30th of August, when Kent gained a somewhat sensational victory over Notts at the pretty Beckenham ground, the Saturday’s papers contained a complete account of the performances of the counties as a whole, and of the doings of individuals. These tables do infinite credit to the care and industry of the compilers thereof, and, when we read them, it is impossible to regret that no such records of ancient times exist; for many of those who study with pleasure the averages of contemporary cricketers would also like to know more than they do of the prowess of the past masters of the game. The attempt to decide what county is this year to be declared the winner of the unauthorised cricket cham­ pionship is attended with some difficulty, as three counties have scored the same number of points; consequently it is necessary to search below the surface for some ground for assessing the merits of each. As we have remarked in former years, however, this appears to us to be labour in vain, and to lead to nothing. There is something to be said in favour of a tournament at billiards or lawn tennis, wherein the ties are played in something approaching similar con­ ditions ; but a contest which is prolonged over many weeks, and during which many changes of weather take place, can really have but little interest, especially as county elevens are not always composed of the same players : it in one county contesting against another, and the speculation on a season’s results, which gives the interest to county cricket. Surrey, who according to the com­ monly accepted method of calculation stood first in 1887 and 1888, is no longer in front of her rivals, though she is in the excellent company of Nottinghamshire and Lancashire, all three having soored 10|-points each, as the result of fourteen matches. Nevertheless, some intricate calculations arise. Notts, for instance, have lost but two matches, whereas the counties bracketed with her have each been defeated thrice ; but both Lanca­ shire and Surrey have won ten matches, whereas Notts claims but nine victories. Which, then, of these is the more worthy record ? A draw is reckoned ae half a win ; but this must often be regarded as a cheap honour, as, owing to the want of a few minutes, a side may score half a win instead of sustaining what may have been inevitably a crushing defeat. At the bottom of the list comes Sussex, a County which fifty or sixty years ago was master of the cricketing world, to which it gave John Hammond, Broadbridge, Lillywhite, Charles Taylor, and Thomas Box among others, not to mention Bichard Newland, the father of Sussex cricket, and Bichard Nyren, the son of John of that ilk, who was the author of the quaintly phrased “ Cricketers’ Tutor.” Yet of this once powerful county it was written in 1879, “ Of the regular counties Sussex only meets Surrey and Kent,” and a Sussex chronicler adds, “ In 1874 and 1875 she durst not accept the challenges sent her by other counties for want of funds. ’ ’ Nevertheless,in thelast-namedyear Sussex defeated Kent twice and Surrey once, the second Surreymatch being drawn, Surrey wanting 33 runs to win with two wickets to fall. Yorkshire, too, who keeps com­ pany with Sussex at the bottom of the list, has fallen from her once high estate ; while it is a curious circumstance that although the three lowest counties— Gloucestershire is the third—have done so badly, they yet made a great many runs. Yorkshire, for example, scored in the aggregate 647 runs against Middle­ sex, yet they suffered defeat by four wickets ; while Middlesex beat Glouces­ tershire, who scored 376 runs, by seven wickets. Kent, another old cricketing county which at one time was rather down on its luck, has done by no means badly in winning seven matches, the same number which last year enabled her to be bracketed equal with Yorkshire in second position ; while, in common with Surrey, Kent has the distinction of having beaten Notts at the end of the season, when the Notts total of 35 was the season’s record in the way of small totals. Drawn games must be expected sometimes ; but it is most satisfactory to note that notwithstanding the rain which has fallen oflate, eight matches only have been left unfinished as against a dozen last year. A few seasons ago the late beginnings, early endings, and the time cut to waste at lunch time and between the innings were the cause of so many unfinished contests that the interest in the games was sometimes at very low ebb ; but now that punctuality is more strictly observed, and time is better economised, an improvement much to the advantage of crioket has taken place, nor must it be left unsaid that the substitution of five balls for four in an over has not been without its effect for good in the sav­ ing of valuable minutes. Plenty of practice and true grounds have given the batsmen every chance, and once more Mr. W. G. Grace is high up in the list of run getters, with an average (for county matches only) of 36.20, which, though not to be [compared with the 63.19 of two years ago, is only inferior to the 43.5 of Mr. O'Brien, and the 37.8 of Gunn; while with the excep­ tion of Mr. Cranston, also a Gloucester­ shire man, who has been out of the way of county cricket for a few years, Mr. Grace is the only one who has during the past season twice made 100 runs in county contests. In 1870 there was no Glouces­ tershire county club in existence; but Mr. W. G. Grace arranged three matches —two against Surrey, and one against the M.C.C., all of which were won by Gloucestershire. In 1871 the county club was founded, the Duke of Beaufort being its first president, while so rapid was the rise of the western county in 1885 that Kent and Gloucestershire played England. The past season will not be memorable in the history of cricket for a constant succession of long scores ; a cir­ cumstance one ought to rejoice at, and one which has given the bowlers a better average than they would otherwise have