Cricket 1889

466 CEICKET: A WEEKLY RECOED OF THE GAME. NOV. 28, 1889. A MASTER STROKE. By “ L e a t h e r h u n t e r .” [From Fores’ Sporting Notes a nd Sketches for October.] To each art there’s an age in the annals of Time, When its votaries pose on a height so sublime, Little hope is reserved for the toilers below Mortal man towards Olympus much further may go. Thus with Raphael, the brush, and the palette, they say, And with Phidias sculpture of old, had its day; But we moderns, I trow, to the Fates owe our thanks, For some prizes they’ve left us to balance the blanks. Those same aneients a match at the Oval ne’er saw, Nor by telephone talked to a mother-in-law; They knew nought of a meerschaum, went short of a weed, And they hadn’t The Field or the Fink ’ Un to read; The great art of umpiring—of that they knew nought: ’Twas reserved for the era of Property Short. In this line he the premier honours may olaim— The main point in umpiring is winning the game I Look how extras tell up at the end in the score, And how troublesome “ bats” can be out “ leg-before,” If your umpire’s a Short, and oan aid you at need— Not a man of the Parr or the Carpenter breed. Melton soore-sheets can tell how this famous umpire Oft a match that seemed hopeless pulled cut of the fire; Till at length, with long practice, so skilful he grew, That when Short was umpire our reverses were few. And ’tis sad to relate how at last it befell— Like the pitoher he went once too oft to the well. With a “ win ” or a draw we had ended eaoh match, But were destined one morning a Tartar to oatch: ’Twas the close of the season, when Upping­ ham came, With a team that was strong at all points of the game; While as usual the Melton in trundling were strong, But in batting their “ tail ” was too weak and too long. We commenced operations at twenty past ten With the “ toss,” whioh went wrong for the Uppingham men; And the railway time made it convenient to fix, In the evening, on seven for “ drawing the stioks.” With the wioket all right we elected to bat, And one Uppingham man mads a bid for “ the hat; ” But the third, a neat bailer, was no use at all, For old Property baulked him by crying “ No ball 1 ” Then that bowler indulged in some figures of gpeeoh, Such as sailors are said the “ poll ” parrots to teach; And he sent down such teasers our wickets to floor, He disposed of the lot for a paltry fourscore, Which was sadly too few, for the Uppingham men Made a gallant reply with a hundred and ten. Our next venture proved better—two batsmen got “ set”— Without losing a wicket we wiped off the debt; When the visitors’ turn came again to go in, They just needed a hundred and twenty to win, And old Property, plus some six flagons of stout, Felt quite equal to dealing tvith oases of doubt. But the fates were against him, for never a “ tip,” Not a “ snap ” at the wioket, at long or short slip, Was referred to our hero ; no man “ leg before ” Gave a chance of controlling the Uppingham score, And the wags kept inquiring what Short was about— But if no one appealed he could hardly say “ out.” As the clock marked six-thirty the prospect grew queer, For “ the hundred ” went up with an Upping­ ham oheer; They’d two wickets to fall; it seemed bad for our side, All the bowlers we had in the team had been tried. Though the scoring was slow, still our captain looked grave, For he felt there was only one thing whioh could save This last match of the season, and that with­ out doubt Was the stroke of the clock ere we’d played it right out. Surely on went the pointer, and so did the score, Till at six fifty-five they but needed one more. The excitement grew painful; at every ball The non-player “ backed up ” on the chance of a call From his partner; at last they determined to try, And by dint of hard running they stole a “ leg-bye.” “ So they beat us ? ” No ! reader, just get the report, And you’ll find that old Property bellowed “ One Short / ” His decision was final—that’s cricketer’s law— So the Uppingham match after all was a “ draw.” HAMPSTEAD NONDESCRIPTS. Matches played, 25—won 5, lost 10, drawn 10. RESULTS OF: MATCHES. May 11—Epsom, v. Epsom. Lest. Hampstead Nondescripts, 26 and 33 for 1 wicket; Epsom, 104. May 18—Beddington, v. Beddington. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts, 63 ; Beddington, 112. May 25—Godalming, v. Godalming. Won. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 158 for 7 wickets; Godalming, 72. May 28—Addiscombe, v. Addiscombe. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts, 64 and 52 for 2 wickets; Addiscombe, 148. June 1—Notting Hill, v. Kensington Park. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts 39; Kensington Park, 83 and 94 for 5 wickets. June 8—Plaistow, v. Plaistow. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts, 66; Plaistow, 98. June 10 — Haslemere, v. Haslemere. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts, 72; Haslemere, 203. June 15—Windsor, v. 6t. Mark’s College. Drawn. Hampstead Nondescripts,101 for 2 wickets; St. Mark’s College, 166 for 7 wickets (inn­ ings declared finished). June 22—Ewell, v. Ewell. Drawn. Hampstead Nondescripts, 282; Ewell, 56 for no wicket. June 29—Teddington, v. Teddington. Won. Hampstead Nondescripts, 156for 4wickets; Teddington, 124. July 6—Croydon, v. Croydon. Drawn. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 251; Croydon, 108 for 5 wickets. July 13—Carshalton, v. Carshalton; Drawn. Hampstead Nondescripts, 86for 4 wickets; Carshalton, 148. July 20—Willesden, v. Willesden. Won. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 82; Willesden, 62. July 22, 23, 25—Catford Bridge, v. Bank of Eng­ land. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts, 71; Bank of England, 93 for 5 wickets. July 27—Acton, v. Pallingswick. Drawn. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 84 for 2 wickets; Pal­ lingswick, 93. Aug. 3—Hornsey, v. Hornsey. Drawn. Hamp­ stead Noadescripts, 144 for 8 wickets (Inn­ ings declared finished); Hornsey, 76 for 8 wickets. Aug. 5, 6—Devonport.v. Plymouth Garrison. Won. Hampstead Nondescripts, 115 and 193; Plymouth Garrison, 68 and 126. Aug. 7, 8—Sidmouth, v. Sidmouth. Lost. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 88 and 233; Sidmouth, 182 and 141 for 4 wickets. Aug. 10—Exmouth, v. Exmouth. Drawn. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 61; Exmouth, 234. Aug. 12,13—Taunton, v. Taunton. Won. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 198and 185 ; Taunton, 197 and 71. Aug. 17—Sutton, v. Sutton. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts 7*; Sutton, 200. Aug. 24—Clapton, v. Clapton. Drawn. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 30 fo ri wicket; Clap­ ton did not bat. Aug. 31—Surbiton, v. Surbiton. Drawn. Hamp­ stead Nondescripts, 211; Surbiton, 144 for 9 wickets. Sept. 7—Lord’s, v. Stoics. Drawn. Hampstead Nondescripts, 137 for 3 wickets ; Stoics did not bat. Sept.l4--Hamp8tead, v. Hampstead. Lost. Hampstead Nondescripts, 123; Hamp­ stead, 268for 6 wiokets. BATTING AVERAGES. Times Most in Inns, not out. Runs, an Inn. Aver. J. S. Haycraft ... 7 ... 1 ... 2C6 .... 68 ... 34.2 H. Wade .......... 19 .... 2 ... 453 ... 138 ... 26.11 F. H. Nelson 4 ..,. 1 ... 75 ... 29 ... 25 L. Corke .......... 15 .. 2 .„. 263 ... 50 ... 20.3 A. W. Rammell... 6 ... 0 .„. 123 ... 42 ... 20.8 R. L. Williamson 17 ..,. 4 ... 204 ... 51 ... 15.9 H. F. A. Smith ... 4 ... 0 ... 62 ... 33 ... 15-2 H. V. Dickenson 10 .. 2 .... 118 ... 46 ... 14.6 W. Barker .......... 9 .,.. 0 .... 120 ... 34 .. 13.3 L. Hutchinson .• 19 ... 1 .,.. 209 ... 35 ... 11.11 E. H. Low .......... 4 .... 0 ... 47 ... 45 ... 11.3 W. J. Haycraft ... 23 ... 1 .,.. 216 ... 47 ... 9.18 H. C. W arts......... 5 .... 1 ... 34 ... 18 ... 8.2 K. M. M oir.......... 7 .. 1 .... 40 ... 12 ... 6.4 C. T. Smith......... 7 ..,. 1 ... 38 ... 22 ... 6.2 C. B. Palmer 8 ... 1 ... 32 ... 10 ... 4.4 S. D. Fairless ... 13 .. 3 .... 22 ... 9*... 3.2 W. A. Peihick ... 4 .. 0 ... 9 ... 6 ... 2.1 J. L. Aslett.......... 4 ., 0 . .. 8 ... 5 ... 2 H. R. Walker ... 4 .. . 0 . .. 7 ... 7 ... 1.3 F. V. Selfe .......... 4 .. . 0 . .. 5 ... 5 ... 1.1 The following batted in three innings—E. F. King 8, L. J. Norman 8, and W. C. Slagg 3. The following batted in two innings.—C. G. Hentsch 20, J. C. H. Smith 2, and J. M. Price Williams 0. The following batted in one innings.—C. Braith- waite 9. C. F. Bennett 3, F. Gordon 0, and J. Hut­ chinson 0. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. F .V . Selfe .......... 32.2 . . 8 . . 56 . . 8 . . 7 L. Corke................ 83 . . 20 . . 188 . . 18 . 10.8 S. D. Fairless ... 27 . . 8 . . 70 . . 6 . . 11.4 L. Hutchinson ... 183.3 . . 60 . . 425 . . 36 . . 11.29 H. Wade................ 169 . . 44 . . 408 . . 83 . . 12.12 J. S. Haycraft ... 20 . . 2 . . 85 . . 6 . . 14.1 R. L. Williamson 25 3 . . 5 . . 71 . . 5 . . 14.1 W. Barker .......... 204.4 . . 63 . . 450 . . 31 . . 14.16 W. J. Haycraft ... 246.4 . . 50 . . 611 . . 36 . . 16.35 H. R. Walker ... 49 . . 16 . . 92 . . 5 . . 18.2 H. F. A. Smith ... 13 .. 1 . . 39 . . 2 . . 19.1 K. M. Moir took 4 wickets for 37 runs, L. J. Norman, 3 for 20, C. Braithwaite, 3 for 73, E, F. King, 2 for 26, F. H. Ne’son, 1 for 20. M r. A. O. W h it in g , the old Oxford cricketer, heads the batting averages of the Dimbula (Ceylon) A. & C.O. for 1889. He made 163 runs in four completed innings. T o T h e D e a f .— A Person cured of Deafness a n d noises in the head of 23 years’ standing by a simple remedy, will send a description of it F r e e to any Person who applies to N ic h o l s o n 21, Bedford Square, L o n d o n , W,C,— A d v t , NEXT ISSUE, DECEMBER 27.