Cricket 1892

132 CKICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAT 19, 1892 CRICKET NOTCHES. B y the R ev . R . S. H olmes . W it h the season hardly begun, it is aston­ ishing what capital all-round form has been already shown up and down the country. Most of the older “ hands” have lost none of their skill, whilst at both the ’Varsities and in a majority of the Counties fresh talent of a high order has been discovered. That should convince all croakers that there are heaps of good cricket to come, as it should inspire those counties with new confidence that have of lite been somewhat down on their luck. Thus, among the Freshmen, Fry, of Oxford, and ex-skipper at Repton, has made a big reputation with his 118 and 53 in the Young­ sters’ trial match, followed by 105 for the Eleven against the next Sixteen. He seems likely to fulfil his school promise, and ought to be certain of his “ blue.” And after him comes the old Wellingtonian, Raphael, who in less than an hour rattledup 101for the “ next Sixteen.” That refreshing innings contained four times as many boundary hits as singles, and must have been a genuine treat to every­ body but the bowlers. There is nothing so attractive as hard hitting, when it does not degenerate into reckless slogging. Provided that good old customer, “ care ” be amply attended to, we ought to hear further from both these young gentlemen. It was a rare victory for the “ sixteen,” seeing they had to face a first total of 303 : to top it by a hundred was a feat to be proud of. No wonder they ultimately retired from the field with 14 wickets in hand. Speaking thus early, it would appear as if the “ Dark Blue ” bat­ ting were quite up to the average, perhaps above it; but the bowling is certainly open to improvement. Cambridge, too, may take heart even in the absence of Woods and McGregor. The captain has led his men most nobly already, and can anticipate his year of office with even less diffidence than his distinguished father can look forward to the few weeks of official work in the interests of Ireland. To follow on, with a dead weight of 98 runs, and yet finish off with a majority of 97, was a rare feather in the light-blue cap. And their opponents, a mixed team, included such bowlers as Attewell, Briggs, Ferris, and Sam. Woods, perhaps the strongest quartette they will have to face all the season. Now this victory was not the work of one man; the honours were distributed. True, the captain’s double contribution was 120, whilst five wickets felJ before his right hand for a loss of 60 runs. But, out of the second total of 368, Douglas major claimed 69; whilst Douglas minor, fresh from Dulwich, bagged five wickets for 50 runs, and Bromley-Daven- port, now a Senior, and three years ago captain of Eton, was responsible for an unfinished 46, and for the downfall of four wickets in the second “ hands,” and at the trifling cost of 22 runs. It was a genuine pleasure to see A. N. Hornby once more “ bossing ” his merrie men after the disquieting rumours that were in the air during the back end of last season. It would never have done for him to abandon Lancashire for Cheshire, even though his home is in the latter county. It is just twenty-five years since he first played for the county of the Red Rose, and he is not done for yet. His batting has lost some of its old accuracy, but none of its daring. He is as quick as ever between wickets, but perhaps has hardly yet realised that Ward is his vis-a-vis , and not Barlow ; and in the field his hand has lost but little of its cunning. There never was a finer sportsman; he should play even when he cannot get a run, for his very presence is magnetic, and it is no small honour to serve under such a man. Never probably in my time did any captain create so much esprit de corps in his followers. If there is just one defect in his leadership I should say it might be found in the fact that he does not change his bowlers quite often enough. But there—in thus writing, I feel much in the position of the man with two wooden stumps, who once wroteto the Duke of Wellington, and who, not getting an answer, wrote again, and threatened to kick the Duke in the presence of the British army. Did ever a batsman take up such an attitude as “ A. N. ? ” After taking guard in the orthodox way, he then puts his bat behind his right foot, thus giving the bowler an uninterrupted view of the sticks. And capless as usual, though a very distinct “ threepenny b it” in the neighbourhood of his crown reminds us that he has just passed the 45th stone. Longe floreat. M.C.C. have so far come off with flying colours, with successive defeats of Sussex, Lancashire, and Derbyshire. In each case they put very powerful teams into the field, much more so than they are doing in their contest with Yorkshire this week. So Derby­ shire have “ erred ” in good company. In the Lancashire match Briggs and Attewell turned up, looking all the better for their long outing. I should say that Briggs has lost since last season just about as much flesh as Attewell has gained, and their respective loss and gain will, no doubt, prove a respective gain to them both. A young man has no business with a “ bow-window.” One always thinks of a spoke-shave, and is tempted to recommend the use of it. Chatterton, too,was all there after his trip,and played a delightful innings; slow at times, but masterly from start to finish; his leg- glances revealed the hand of the finished batsman. One chance disfigured his century— a very warm return to Briggs; but, as he dropped it, you may take my word that it wanted holding. It went back straight, however, and Briggs would be the first to admit that it ought to have been held. Gunn also was quite at home, with that characteristic gingerly placing of his right foot into position before every stroke. So was Albert Ward, one of Yorkshire’s prodigal sons. Lord’s is essentially his ground; in three years he has played eleven completed innings with an average of 49. Both batsmen and bowlers have thoir favourite grounds, though to men like Shrewsbury and “ W.G.” all grounds come alike. But Richard Daft brought off his finest performances at Lord’s, and that in the days when Lord’s was the bowlers’ happy hunting ground. Walter Read on the other hand has done next to nothing there, with but one century to his record—v. Australia in 1888, though he has literally rained big scores down at the Oval. Lohmann has only once “ come off ” with the ball at Scarborough ; that was last year against the North with seven wickets for 25 runs; whilst Briggshas rarely failed to leave his mark there. One looks in vain for A. G. Steel now-a- days in the Lancashire ranks, and yet he has lost none of the skill which, as far back as 1878, enabled Cambridge to carry victory all along the line. There is no cricketer I had sooner watch when England is meeting Australia, or the Gentlemen are tackling the Players. He is one of the very few batsmen I have ever seen that inspires confidence in his friends. He takes no time to get his eye in or to steady down, but plays the first over with the same consummate ease as many another great bat does after being at the wickets for at least 15 minutes. He never seems to be out of practice. For first-class matches most men must play in first-class matches; for him a club match or two are enough to put him into form for the most critical match. I remember travelling with him from Liverpool early in 1881; he told me he was on his way to Lord’ s to play for the M.C.C. against Australia on the following Thursday. On the Wednesday I watched him at the nets : he appeared short of practice, so muchsothatG. B. Studd advised him aloud to scratch his name for the big match. Well. Thursday came, and the match, his first real match of the season. No matter. Spofforth and Co. are not likely to forget his play on that occasion. An innings of 134 in the most perfect style, chanceless, and that had not one bad stroke in it, was his contribution to M.C.C.’s huge total of 481. This year he is going as strong as ever, his only two innings so far for Liverpool being 88 and 100. Yet in local cricket his skill has never been pre-eminent; the better the match, the more marked his genius. It’s 10,000 pities that professional duties absorb so much of his time. Just one word about the Colts’ matches. Leicestershire, Somersetshire, Sussex, Notts, and Yorkshire have been putting their youngsters through the mill, and with most gratifying results. There should be a future for at least one colt from each of these counties. Thus, Hale, of Somersetshire, who scored 49 and 135 against the County Eleven, must have a lot of good crioket up his sleeve. And Hickling, of Leicestershire, with an innings of 51, should be worth looking after. Parriss and Gutteridge, the latter a Notts man, have, I am delighted to learn, been engaged by the Sussex authorities to repre­ sent their county against Lancashire, York­ shire, Notts, and Middlesex. That is something like a fair trial. But Notts and Yorkshire may also pluck up heart again. Their inter-county Colts’ match was about as interesting as any I can recall, and ought to furnish proof positive that neither county need throw up the sponge just yet. Things are on the up-line up North. The Yorkshire lads held the leading hand right through, and at the “ death,” with five wickets in hand, wanted only 23 runs to notch a glorious victory. Notts seem to have discovered a prize in Wilkinson, pronounced by many competent judges the best Colt that has appeared in the lace county for many a long year. Ten wickets for 105 runs, and an innings of 28, was his contribution. Arm­ strong added 50 to the first total of 149, aLd Redgate 83 to the second of 108. And Yorkshire’ s response was emphatic. The young Wakefielder, David Denton, proved that the confidence of a large circle of local ad­ mirers had not been misplaced. Whilst Moun- sey and Cuttell, of Sheffield, the former by scoring 89 in the two “ hands,” the latter by flooring ten wickets for 97, convinced all that they bear the genuine “ hall mark.” Cuttell is an honoured name in Yorkshire cricket, for did not William of that name figure prominently for his county in the sixties, and only was put back when, in 1868, there appeared two veritable giants in the persons of Tom Emmett and George Freeman ? SPENCER v. HEATHFIELD.—Played at Wands­ worth on May 14. S p e n c e r . S. Anderson, b H. Latham, c Pullen b Stevens......... ... 7 E. Majou.b Talmadge 0 C. Anderson, c Larkins,bTalmadge 8 J. Furner, c Ainge, b Talmadge .........26 Dr. Green, b Taylor 18 A. Lister, b Taylor ... 1 R. Mann, not out ... 20 Talmadge .......... 0 A. Gadsdon.bTaylor 3 F. Anderson, b Taylor ................. 0 M. Vickery, c Ainge, b Talmadge.......... 5 Extras................1L Total ... H e a th fie ld . ... 39 Taylor, b Mann Stevens, not out Larkins, b Mann Bolton, b Mann Extras.......... Ainge, run out Sherrard, c Mann, b Latham ................. 2 Nunnard, b Gadsdon 10 Kemp, c Mann, b Anderson................. 8 Ta'madge, b Mann ... 1 Total Pullen, b Mann.......... o Brannan did not ba^. 99 , n , 9 0 . 8 15 92 CROYDON v. NORWOOD—Played at Croydon on May 14. C roydon . J. Aris, b Hunter ... 13 W. H. Bagott, c Hun­ ter, b Pain ..........61 N. Lavers, c Hunter, b Kalshoven............23 W.J. K. Flinton, not out ........................C7 C. P. Wicks, not out 20 B13, lb 5, wi ,nb5 24 Total ......... 171 R. Archer. E. A. Williams, H. Biscoe, A. V. Straker, G. Spicer, and A. E. Drage did not bat. Innings declared closed. N orwood . H. W. C. Bedford, b May, c Williams, b Bagott ................. 5 Bagott ................. 1 McCausland, c and b Featherstone, b Ba­ Bagott ................. 15 gott ........................ 10 J. Gould, c Williams, Feast, c Archer, b b B agott................. 4 Bagott ................. 0 F. W.Hunter.bBagott 7 Kalshoven, c Aris, b H.Blackford, cDrage, Bagott ................. 0 b B iscoe................. 14 Payne, not out.......... ‘2 E. Archer, lbw, b BaB ........................ 18 gott ........................ 2 Total .......... 78 CRICKETERS— B e s t Goods City Agents — bear th is M ark . —Advt. P arton & L ester , 94, Q ueen St., C h eapside .