Cricket 1893

CRICKET s A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. JUNE 1 18 3 Bramall Lane such an incident would hav filled the refreshment tents to overflowing. Not so, Notts’ way. One was glad to see the little man in flannels again, though only as Read’s substitute; he was too short of practice, however, to play up to his reputation in such a match. When the interval revealei that Surrey had lost the five cracks for something like 5b rut s, it looked slight odds against them. From that point, however, the Southerners never once looked back. Lockwood (63) stepped into the breach and fought gallantly, and Key followed suit, whilst the “ tail ” wagged bravely. Said an irritable old gent to me— “ Why don’t they bowl that man (Marshall) out? a mtin put in so late surely can’t be good for runs.” My answer was, “ Watch that perfectly straight bat of his, there’s no getting past it.” The total was 238. And then came the decisive turn. The match was as good as over on the first evening, and all because the Notts’ captain unwisely changed the order of going in. When the first two wickets fell, Barnes should ! have been sent in ; the light was perfect, wicket ditto, and W. B. as fresh as new paint. Instead of that, first Daft, and then Mee came out bat in hand, and both were dismissed, and so the Midlauders lost four wickets for some 35 runs, and the moral effect of this state of things was enough to unnerve all who had to follow. When old George Parr led Notts, nothing could ever tempt him to alter his list after it had been once carefully drawn up. Notts had to follow on with a deficit of 124. Flowers indeed played like a Trojan, and in the course of an hour’s perfect batting added an unfinished 50 to the score sheet; it was a great effort, worthy of one of our worthiest cricketers. The follow on began ominously, with Shrewsbury and Flowers quickly out. One does not like to be ungenerous, or hit a man when he is down, but I never saw Shrewsbury play such a wretched game. He just pottered about in the tamest fashion, and in neither innings looked as if he had come to stay; any ball could have taken him. Gunn was not much better. Spite of their failures, Notts'played up gamely. The Captain (53) found several partners, like himself, bent on mischief, but Just when the Surrey bowling seemed to be getting tied up a wicket fell, and the second innings got no further than 196. Surrey had no trouble on theWednesday morning, though three wickets quickly tumbled. Then W. W. and Key came together, and shaped uncom­ monly well; the former especially pleased me, as he played the first ball with perfect confi­ dence, and made one feel certain he would be in at the death. It w’as a glorious match, played without a hitch throughout, and won by the better team. I never saw Attewell so entirely fail to do himself justice ; he bowled^so many bad balls —a rare thing indeed for him to do even when he can be played easily. Mee did not impress me as a big bowler. I fancy his balls lose much by being pounded down so hard on to the ground ; certainly there seemed no “ devil” in them when they left the pitch. There must have been a strong Surrey contingent present to judge by eapplause .Richardson received. I cannot recall a deadlier yorker than his, it literally crashed through the Notts’ defence, and before they seemed to see it. Fourteen wickets represent splendid work. If I were selecting the team that will have to do battle for England just now, both Flowers and Richardson would have to be reckoned with. Mention should be made of sundry adverse criticisms passed at Trent Bridge on Richard­ son’ s delivery, especially when he sent down his fast yorkers. “ A throw,” said the Notts cricketers; “ A throw,” said most of the representatives of the Fourth Estate. “ What is a throw ?” asked I of them in return, and not one of them could give me any satisfactory antwer. I watched the Surrey bowler with a teriier-like scrutiny, and Richard Daft did the same. Would it be credited that neither of us so much as suspected his delivery before hearing this outcry, and that subsequently we could discover no grounds whatsoever for the char^ e. I feel it to be my duty most emphati­ cally to protest against this clamour; is it fair to a young bowler thus to affix a black mark to him ? If anybody can throw, and keep a stiff elbow, then bowling may be throwing, and vice versa : but a throw is quite impossible by any movement of the wrist alone: and Richardson simply gives a flick of the wrist when he puts down his ex­ presses. A half-hour’s chat with the Surrey captain added greatly to the enjoyment of the match. And so did a crack with old George Wootton, scarcely changed at all since the days when, with poor Jimmy Grundy’s help, his left-hand wrought such splendid service for the M.C.C. Quite other is it with O scroft; he’s an old, broken-down man, and it was pitiable to see this once famous batsman scarcely able to crawl about. At the close of each day sundry games of skittles were played in a friend’s house, to w’hich were invited the village butcher and cobbler, both champions with the skittle ball, and rare fun they both yielded us. Never do I expect to see or enjoy cricket more thoroughly, and I should say tfiat the “ gate ” (about i'600) gave complete satisfaction to the County Executive. And thence to Manchester. A contrast everyway. Bitterly cold weather, no lunch owing to the demand, and cricket that never once was more than commonplace. A. G. Steel’s presence gave a certain charm to the match, but as he did nothing even his presence failed to redeem the dulness of the game. Not dull, however, at the start,for the loss of five Lanca­ shire wickets for 10 runs made us all feel queer; and the wicket was a, capital one. Albert Ward (45 not out) alone saved his side; his play was both attractive and valuable; nothing could have been much happier than the way ne sent off-balls to the boundary, and ail along the ground. Giffen bowled well, but his success was owing chiefly to the feebleness of the Lancashire defence. The Australians’ first innings of 222 sufficed to bring about a one innings victory. Lyons tapped—nothing more—the ball time after time, and how it reached the ring I cannot imagine; when Bannerman slogged his hardest, the ball simply travelled half way up the pitch again. Graham (48) once more showed his familiar, consistent form ; so far he is the most depend­ able of the lot. But Bruce (30) too* my fancy most—not simply because of his fine style, but because he knows how to leave his ground and go out to medium bowling. I wish w’e had more of this kind of batting, once so com­ mon. Both Carpenter and Daft resorted to it, and so did A . G. Steel. I never saw a first- class batsman go so far up the pitch as the old Cantab used t o ; and he never missed the ball. The advantage of not staying at home is you bother the bowler until after a while he is at his wits end where to toss the ball. I have a notion, too, that there is too much forward play to day—I mean playing forw’ard fast looted ; more back play is wanted—and loose wrists : no stiffness—rather perfect freedom ; and every now and then go up the crease and have a smack. Anything by way of introduc­ ing variety into batting, anything to get rid of the maiden over nuisance, andf eed the bats­ men for your out-fields. Lancashire will have to put their house in order—and that right soon—if the County Championship is to go North again. Perhaps Yorkshire will take care of it. Oh, wouldn’t the Tykes rejoice were the Cconty at the top of the list again. And they may be. And no other County would grudge them a turn of this sort. When a wire reached Trent Bridge last Tuesday, giving the result of the Sheffield match, there was unbounded jubila­ tion on the part of both Notts and Surrey, the keenest of opponents, yet the best of friends. Such is a prime characteristic of cricket, and one of its chiefest glories. That there was an element of luck in that victory, few of the 33,000 spectators that were un­ biassed would deny. But how many were or ever are unbiassed at Bramall Lane,or at any other County ground ? Winning the toss meant winning the match. Let Tuesday’s cricket suffice to prove that,when twenty good wickets fell for 120 runs. Perhaps Yorkshire played better cricket. I was not present, so cannot say definitely. Anyhow, our lead of 53 runs when the match was half over anticipated nearly enough the final state of the poll. Would Giffen have been resting had he known all ? And perhaps Turner might also have been induced to turn up again without reserving himself for the Surrey contest. Yorkshire won the match by superior fielding; of late our boys have not distinguished them­ selves in that department: catches have been missed galore. Last week they fairly eclipsed themselves, whilst the Australians missed at least five palpable chances, and given by the very men who, after being let off, added no less than 58 runs to the total. A word to the wise—a word often uttered—but a word always in season. The best batting and bowling can but very occa­ sionally indeed win matches unless backed by reliable fielding. I would rather have a man on my side who seldom missed a real chance, though he might be a confirmed passenger with the bat, than an arrant butterfingers who could generally be depended on for 20 or 30runs. Look after your fielding. Last week’s cricket comes out th u s: (I regret I cannot stop to compose a poem to Sussex; I have one in the “ box,” and may make it public some day.) 1. Kent beat Lancashire. 2. Gloucester­ shire beat Kent. 3. Sussex beat Gloucester­ shire (and Somersetshire, too). 4. Notts (the week before) beat Sussex. 5. Surrey beat Notts. 6. Middlesex beat Surrey. Ergo , Middlesex, up to date, is the cham­ pion county. And one is heartily glad. I did not want Surrey or Notts to sweep the board as in past years. Better have a good fight for first place. There will be some serious fun now. P.S.—With a passing hand grip to Ferris, who is the coming batsman, let me call atten­ tion to the bowling results as published on Monday last. I should like to know if and body outside the professional circle had any idea that the first three places would be filled by Hirst, Peel, and W ainwright, with F. S. Jackson, who is third in batting, rear­ ing up close behind. So play up, Yorkshire ! WANDERERS v. EALING.—Played at Ealing on May 27. W anderers . First Innings. Second Innings. S. Colman, c Cobble, b Allcock ........................ 0 c Moritz, b A lloock .......... 3 A. H. Behrend.bJohnstone 60 D. L. A. Jephson, cCobble, b Far .......... .......... 4 not out .........12 W. T. Grant, c Dangar, b Johnstone .......... ... 31 O. Marks, c Dangar, bFarr 75 K. B. Brooks, c Dangar, b Emerson.......... .......... 1 G. E. Bicknell. bAllcock ... 17 not out .........18 C. Grant-Wil son, c Allcock, b Fernie .......... 1 A. G. McArthur, b Fernie 0 b Emerson ... 0 C. E. Jones, b Fernie ... 2 b A llco ck ......... 1 B. Burton, not out .......... 7 Extras ........................15 Extras............ 6 Total ... ...213 E a lin g. Total ... 40 H. Emerson, eGrant- Wiluon, b Jephson 10 M. Jaques, b Jephson 14 E. Farr, b Jephson... 17 P. Johnstone, b Jephson ................. 8 W. G. Allcock, b Col­ man .......................... 32 A. Moritz, b Marks ... 3 R. R. Dangar,bGrant 54 G. A. Cobble, c Col­ man, b Bicknell ... 14 A. F. Fernie, lbw, b B icknell................. 0 E. Gowett, not ou t... o D. R. Dangar, b Jephson................. 21 E x tra s .................14 Total ...187 H on ou r, playing for British Equitable against Elmsdale last Saturday, in eight overs and four balls took nine wickets, all bowled, for seven runs. B ritish E q u ita b le v. E ljis d a lb .— Played at Linden Field, Honor Oak, on the 27th. Scores— Elmsdale, 31 ; British Equitable, 46. St. B on aventohe’s Gbammab S c h o o l t C o o p e r’s S ch o o l.— Played in West Ham Park on May 27. Scores— St. Bonaventure’s, 83 (a. Furlong, 33); Cooper's School, 53 (Kirkess 13). O.B. v. St. Joseph’s.— Played at Highgate on May 27. Scores—O.B., 09 (R. i.eigh Ibbs, S3); St. Joseph's. 102 (Cameron, 25). Turner took four wickets of St. Joseph’s in his last over.