Cricket 1893

146 CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE GAME. MAY 25, 1893 to his work down at Bristol: one wicket for 117 runs, and an innings of two runs ! Cricket was always a funny game. And now for the heroes of this match. Stoddart (with an aggregate of 103) we pass by. So bannerman (85 in all), Gregory (72, once out), Graham (54—he has scored consis­ tently in every match so far) ; whilst the bowlers (even J. T. Hearne with his second six wickets for 74: wake up, Attewell, please) must be happy in the back row. Here’s to F. Marchant and Flowers, and J. J. Lyons ; and let’s have George Brann in as well to complete the picture. Have a good look at them, gentle reader, and pause and lift your hat. Tell me, can you remember any one weeK in which four batsmen scored 523 runs between them, and at the rate of more than a run per minute ? If you can, I can’t. Brann’s 137 required under two hours : Flowers’ 134 just two hours ; Marchant’s 103, one hour and three-quarters ; aud, mirabzle dictu, Lyons’ 149 only ninety-five minutes. And against first-class bowling in every case. I should say the most extraordinary hitting came from the M.C.C. men, who, whilst together, knocked up 152 runs in seventy minutes, or more than two runs every minute. Lyons had all the hitting to himself, Bannerman simply looking on. In 1882 H. H. Massie was at the wickets just three.hours for 20G runs against Oxford University, aud his last 100 were hit in exactly 59 minutes, or one minute less than Lyons’ first 100 took last Friday. But Oxford hadn’t a bowler worthy of being named alongside of Attewell and Hearne, Flowers and Shacklock. Can anybody recall a batsman piling up an innings of 149 against high class bowlers in an hour and thirty-five minutes? Lord’s used to be a bowlers’ ground ; the century came at very rare inter­ vals thirty years ago there. I remember Daft’s 118 for the North v. the South creating an immense sensation in 1862, and yet in 1893 all the above innings are played there. I perhaps need hardly remind the cricket public that Flowers had never previously notched a century against Australian bowling, nor Marchant either. Flowers reached the nineties twice, in 1884 and 1886, and in both thesematches the old Lancashire stonewaller, Barlow, just ran into three figures. One is scarcely sorry that Barnes could not play last week, though I hope he will be fit forthe Whit Monday match. As two innings of 100 runs apiece have so rarely bfen compiled either by Australian or English batsmen when opposed to one another, the following statistics may be interesting. I don’t vouch for their completeness, as I am trusting to my memory Vf ry largely. AU STRALIAN BATSMEN. 1881 Bor,nor... ... Bannerman ... Opponents. 1 Zingari 1684 122 (not out) M urdoch ... 120 (not out) M cDonnell 1810 211 Murdoch ... 1C3 S co tt................... 102 T r o tt................... England C am bridge 1*9 186 Past and 18F4 ENGLISH BATSMEN. W .G . Grace A .G . Stee Present Playing for. 1861 101 G .N . Wyatt 112 A tel ... ‘ ... 131 Barnes ........... 105 (not out) Phillips ........... I ll Maurice Read ... M.C.C. Sussex 1886 Surrey 144 186 1885 M. R ea d ' ... F. Bearne ... ... 8 o u t h of 109 I ll England 1690 G u n n ........... T. C. O’Brien ... M.C.C. 1893 119 Flowe. s ... 105 F. M archant ... M.C.C. 1E4 1 3 I should like to ask the Australian Captain one question; Trott is known to be a good change bowler. In the absence of 'lurner, ought not Trott to have bowled more than four overs in an innings of 424 runs ? As it was, he succeeded in' taking three wickets for eleven runs. Remember W. L. Murdoch and his prompt resorc to all varieties of bowling when wickets were not falling. After this match, the tour of the Australians will be followed with absorbing interest. Cambridge University’s double victory over the Gentlemen and Yorkshire, Oxford’s double draw against the Gentlemen and Lancashire, and Surrey’s continued success (their fourth up-to-date) must be passed over. A hasty judgment would conclude that Cam­ bridge has slightly the pull in bowling, Oxford in batting; but there seems little to choose between them. So far S. M. J. Woods has failed with the ball, as has Ferris in every match. Sinco the Notts v. M.C.C. match Attewell has done nothing. Peel took eight wickets for 54 runs at Cambridge—his only success so far. Wainwright, too, is going badly. Hirst’s seven wickets at Cambridge cost eleven runs apiece. F. S. Jackson did as well as anybody last week—in two innings his analysis works out, eight wickets for 54 runs, five for 25. C. M. Wells’ six for 36 v. Yorkshire read well; ditto Briggs’ seven for 46 against Oxford. J. B. Wood’s lobs cap­ tured five for 56, and six for 65 in the last two matches. J. T. Hearne is putting in very useful work in every match. But here’s Whit Monday at last, and I have to catch a 7.30 a.m. train. It is very brilliant weather thus early, and there should be rare fun up and down the country. HONOR OAK (2) v. LEYTON (2).-P la y e d at H onor Oak on May 20. L eyton , Pracey, b H. H olfoid MaJlett. c H. H olford, bC . Barton ........... 7 Birt, c W oodfalJ.b H. H olford ................... 2 gharpa. lbw, c Barton 2 Herring, b H. H olford 6 Poweli. c G racey,b H. H olford ................... 0 H onor O ak . Tuck, run o u t ........... 0 Daigill, c Tinkham, b ti. Ho’ ford...........£G Summers, b H, Hol- forct ... ........... ... 5 D avies not ont........... 6 Lb 1, w 1 ... 2 T o ta l... , £6 W. North, lun out ... 5 T. Gracey, b Birt ... 5 B. Ramsay, b Birt ... 10 F. Mather, run out ... 0 H. H olfoid. b B .rt ... 2 R. Tinkham .c Birt, b T u ck ...........................45 C. D. Hayes, b Tuck 83 C. Turner, b DaJgill C. Barton, c Fum- m ers, b Dalgill... T. v\oodfall, not out T. M illar, not out ... B 15, lb 3 ... Total SURREY COLTS v. THE WANDERERS.- at Kennington Oval on May 18. W andkrprs . . ...125 -Played S. Colman,Ibw,b Nice A. H. Behrend, c Rowntree, b W ard- rop er......... ...........25 D. L. A. Jephson, c Nice, b Braund ... 35 G. E. Bicknell, c Gra- turn. b Keene ... 3 R. B. Brooks, c and b Nice ........... ... 11 A.M . Latham , c and b Corden...................48 W .T.Graturn (capt.), c Marks, b Bickne)l 0 Corden, c Yearsloy, b B ick n e ll...................10 J. S. Lohmann, b Y ea rsley...................38 Braund, Ibw, b Grant 3 Lees, c Bicknell, b Grant ............. 35 S urrey C olts . O. Marks, not out ... 53 F tE.8aunders, b Nice 6 W. T. Grant, c Keen, b M ce ................... 8 W. H. Wheeler, lbw, b Nice .................. 0 J. M. Gowanlorh, b P lristow ........... ... 11 J.H.Yearsley, notout 1 B 20, lb 1 ...........21 Total ....... £33 R. Smith, c Brooks. b Y earsey ........... Nice, b Yearsley Rowntree,cYearsley, b Bicknell ........... Wardroper, not out... B 3, nb 1 ........... Total Earl, Plais'.ow, and Keen did not bat. NORWOOD v. KENLEY.—Played at Kenley on May 20. N orwood . R. S. Raby. c Jacks, b R. Joyce ........... 9 L. F. Elliott, lbw, b Southey .................. 6 F. S. Hallam, c Cook. b Southey ........... 1 L . de M ontezum a, b Southey ................... 25 R. S. Rogers, b Beall 9 T. D. Lee, b Beall ... 7 A. Springett. b Beall 6 F. Loud, b Southey... 9 K enley . W . C. Elborough, b Southey .................. W. W . Dntfitt, e R. Joyce, b Southey .. P. S. May, b Southey A. Herbert, sub, not out .......................... B 3, nb 1 ........... Tota ...102 A. Jacks, run out B. Joyce, c May, b Hallam ................... 3 A. H. Joyce, not out 35 A. M. Sturgis, b M on tezu m a ........... 7 G. Chipprll, run out 0 F. Cook, c Lond, b HalJam ................... 0 P. L. Beall, b M onte­ zum a.......................... 2 J. H. Sim pson, b M on tezu m a .......... E. W. Townend, b Montezuma .......... Rev. S.J.W .Spilcock, run out .................. C. Southey,c Rogers, b M ontezuma A. C. Cook, b M on tezu m a.......... B .......................... Total ... ... Gl TH B E IGH TH AUSTRALIAN TEAM . FOU RTH MATCH—v. M.C.C. & GROUND. On paper, the eleven selected to represent M.C.C. aud Ground at Lord a against the Austra­ lians, at the end of last week, appeared to be far from the best at the disposal of the club, still, as the result showed, two at least of the three amateurs, who were regarded as the weak spots in the team, acquitted them selves satisfactorily, and as it was the game presented som j o f the finest and m ost spirited oricbet ail-round ever, seen at Lord’s. Unfortunately for the Australians Mr. Turner, who has not teen well since his arrival in England, was not able to play, and at times it was evident that his bowling would have been of great use to the fide. Rain had fallen so heavily on the previous day that it was no surprise to find the wicket soft at the tim e for commencing on Thursday morning. Ih e conditions under which a captain is justified in putiing the other side in to bat first, so rarely obtain that it is very unusual to have to record such a decision. In this case Mr. Blackham deemed it expedient to risk such a step under the impression that M.C.C. would have all the disadvantage in going in first. As it was, though the pitch was slow for a tim e, the ear.ier batsm er, notably Mr. Stoddart, adapted their baiting so well to the condition of the ground, that the lest were able to play on a much faster wickct. Mr. Stoddart’s 58 wap, except for one mistake, a capital dis­ play o f cricket peculiarly suited to the state of the pitch. Still the best batting of the innings ^vas by Flowers and Mr. Marchant. Both bats­ men are of the vigorous type, and so fast did they score that in an hour and a few m inutes the score had teen increased by no less than 152 runs. Flowers, who is in rare form this season, was only in for two hours. W hilst he was there, 238 rnn-i had teen put on, and of these his share was 180. His off-hitting in particular was brilliant, and there was no fault to be urged to the discredit of an extremely fine display of batting. Mr. M archant was not out till 422, having helped to increase the score bv 221 rune. He ought to have teen caught when he had m ale 15, and this mistakewas a serious one for the Australians. Still, his batting would tear comparison favourably with that of Flowers. He was only in an hour and three quarters for his 103, and for powerful and varied hitting it was a fine performance. Ultimately the last Marylebone w icket fell with the total at 424, as a proof of the high rate of scoring it m ay be stated that the innings only lasted four hours and ten m inutes, giving the remarkable average o f over 100 runs an hour. Eight bowlers were tried, and Mr. G. Giffen, who had teen bo extraordinarily successful at Brietol earlier in the week, this time took one wicket at a heavy cost of 117 runs. Only seventy ipinute3 were lefo when the Austra­ lians went in on Thursday night, and this cost them four of the best batsmen, Messrs. Lyons, Bannerman, G. Giffen, and Trott, for an aggregate of 81 runs. On briday m orning the two not outs, Messrs. Bruce and Graham , did little and with six batsmen out for 112 there »eemed little chance of a good score.The later batsm en,excepting Trum ble however all played op pluckily. Messrs. CoDing- ham and McLeod offered a determined resistance. But the best partnership was by the last two batsmen, Messrs. Gregory and Blackham, who added sixty for the tenth wicket. In a m inority of 181. the Australians followed on soon after three o’clock on Friday. Then followed som e of the m ost brilliant battins? ever seen. Mr. Lyons at once set down to hit with characteristic vigour. So fast did runs com e that the hundred went up in fifty minutes and at the end of an hour the score was 124. of which Mr. Lyons’ share was ICO. Still he punished all the bowlers with equal power, and the lapse o f a little over an hour and a half saw the arrears of 184. wiped off w ithout the loss o f a wicket. T-he cheering which greeted this remarkable p3rform a«c* had hardly subsided before 1he big hitter fell to a fine calch in the Jong field. In an hour and thirty-five minutes he had made 149 runs, an achievem ent we should fancy w ithout para lei. His driving showed imm ense power, and although there were th»ee and at times even four men in the long field, the ball travelled at such a rate tnat H went to the boun­ dary before any of them eould get to it. In one over of Hearne he scored sixteen, all big drives over the people. H is figures were twenty-two four*, three threes, twenty twos, and twelve singles. After his dismissal the rungetting slackened considerably, ard when play ceased on Friday night, with the score 247 for the loss of four w ickets, Mr. Bannerman, who had been batting three h o-rs and ten minutes, was not out 44. On Saturday Mr. Graham lent the not out such useful assistance that 300 was up w ith still only four batsmen out. After this cam e a great collapse and Shacklock and Hearne bowled with such success that the innings closed for an addition o f only 47 runs. Baunerraan.who was altogether four hours and twenty minutes at the wicket for his 75, played with m uch greater freedom on Saturday m orning, and altogether his innings was invaluable. Hearne as will be seeu, took six wickets for 74 runs, and his record for the m atch was ten w ickets for 130, a particularly fine perform ance