Cricket 1894

MAY 10, 1894 CJBTOfSjm & WEETCLV UF.noBB OF TFPE SAME , 121 of classification has not been by any means thoroughly solved by recent events. A r u s t ic bowler recently expressed his confidence in his ability to dismiss a bats­ man of the “blooming hard, blooming high and blooming often ” school, in the course of six balls. Unfortunately circumstances prevented the completion of his trial. Thelatsman, whose name was Hughes, hardly gave him a fair chance. As a matter of factHughe3 lost the first ball, lost the ball which replaced it, and then lost the only ball left through abig hit in con­ junction with the long grass in an adja­ cent paddock. Sic itu r id astral I am half inclined to add that I think I know that batsman. He comes from Shef-------1 mean Australia. D. L. A. J eph son , the old Cantab who has scored so heavily for the Wanderers during the last year or two, as many C ric k e t readers know, and perhaps to their cost, has been very successful, too, as a lob bowler of late. This season already he has done more than one good performance with the ball. Only last Saturday at Chiswick, for the Wanderers against the Chiswick Park Club, he was credited with a very rare feat in the shape of all ten wickets in the first innings of the home club. He is to play for Surrey against Derbyshire at the Oval to day, and ought to be of great use. The only wonder, in the face of his good all-round cricket in club matches, is that he has not more often been seen in county cricket. T h e many C r ic k e t readers who remem­ ber the genial New South Welshman, T, W . Garrett, such a useful member of the earlier Australian elevens, will be pleased to hear that he is still the same reliable all-round player as of old. Indeed but for his coolness and resolution at the finish, Queensland would in all probability have won instead of lost the inter-colonial match against New South Wales at Sydney at the end of March. With 200 to win, New South Wales had lost eight wickets for 185. As it was, Garrett was quite equal to the occasion, and he was still in with Newell, with 35 to his credit when the match was over. Nor was it his batting alone that was of service. On the contrary he had the best bowling analysis on the side as well. In the two innings of Queensland he took nine wickets at a cost of 115 runs. A n o t h e r Australian cricketer, and contemporary of Garrett, though not of the same colony by birth, has also lately been in evidence in New South Wales, if in a different way. Dr. H. J. H . Scott is evidently just now busy with the blushing honours of municipal and public life thick upon him. According to recent advices from Australia, he is at the present time Mayor of Scone in New South Wales, as well as Justice of the Peace, and a returning officer for the Hunter electorate. Great Scott! truly. T he playful fancy of Mr. E. B. V. Christian has furnished at different times such delightful reading to those who never miss their C r ic k e t , that it will be of interest to them to know that his con­ tributions to this and other papers have just been published by Mr. J . W . Arrow- smith of Bristol, himself a keen supporter of the game, under the title of “ At the Sign of the Wicket.” C r ic k e t readers will have the most pleasant recollections of his several contributions, “ My First Appearance for the County,” “ How I Got Out,” “ W.G. as a Solar Myth,” “ Over the Wall Out,” “ The Great Leg Before Wicket Law Suit,” “ Cricket in the Law Courts,” “ Buies for the Captain of the Second Eleven,” and “ Dreams that I Dream” to wit. T hough just latterly his pen has not been used in the service of C r ic k e t , I am pleased to be able to say that he will very shortly again be numbered among its contributors. For the benefit of those to whomhis hitherto been a stranger, I venture to reproduce from tbe book he h -s just published, the following lines, which may be taken as a fair sample of his methods. SHALL X NEVER STOUM OR SW EAR ? Shall I never storm or swear Just because the umpire’s fair ? Or from expletives forbear, ’Cause he gives me out with care ? Be he fairer, more upright Than Carpenter or Lillywhite, If he will not favour me, What care I how fair he be ? If “ How’s that ?” I loudly shout, Let him promptly answer, “ O ut!’’ If, perchance, I bowl a Wide, Let him cough and look aside; If my toe slip o’er the crease, Let him sigh, but hold his peaco. If he cry “ No ball!” to me, What care I how fair he be ? When they oatch me near the ground Let him think ’twas on the bound; When against me they appeal Let him hesitation feel; Let me profit by the doubt, Let him never give me out. If “ leg-before ” he judges me, What care I how fair he be ? T h e double victory achieved by the Warwickshire eleven so far thi • summer comes with singular fitness in quick succession on their promotion to the front rank in County cricket. Nor would any attempt to minimise the importance of their success on the ground of the weakness of the opposing side apply with regard to Surrey’s defeat at the Oval, as in the case of that of Notts at Trent Bridge. With the exception, indeed, of the absence of Mr. John Shuter, Surrey had all its available strength to select from. la this particular instance, too, whether the relative form of the two elevens is to be accepted as correct or not, the fact remains that the better side, so far as the match went, undoubtedly won. All round their cricket was decidedly above the average, and with ordinary luck they should be able to render a good account of themselves. Though they won the toss at the Oval, no one could venture to urge that luck was at all an important factor in the result. To Freeman Thomas, the old Cam­ bridge cricketer, who also did good service for a short time for the Sussex eleven, belongs the credit of one of the most notable hits so far recorded this season. Playing on Saturday last for the Sussex Artillery against Eastbourne, he sent a ball for eight, all of them run out, and without an overthrow. The match, I may add, was played on the Saffrons at Eastbourne. The valued correspondent who sends me details of this performance also mentions a good piece of bowling on the same afternoon by another old Cantab, the Bevd. H. C. L. Tindall. It was in a match between the newly formed Has­ tings Club and Ground and Willingdon Club at Williogdon. He took nine of the ten wickets in Willingdon’s innings, and at a cost of only twenty-one runs. U n l e s s appearances are more than ordinarily deceptive, the difficulty which is likely to trouble the authorities at Cambridge University this year will be to find a sufficiency of bowling of any class. The results of the trial matches indicate a lack of reliable bowlers, and the high scoring! in the Seniors’ Match this week would seem to suggest that any new talent in this direction is more likely to be found among those who have come up since last year than from the older hands. The huge total of 521 by Mr. J. J. Robinson’s twelve, and the subsequent performances of Messrs. Symes-Thompson and W . G. Druce on the other side, at any rate, is circums­ tantial evidence this week of a paucity of bowling among the Seniors at Cambridge. P R IN C IP A L M A TC H E S F O R N E X T W E E K . M ay 10—O xford F irst E leven v. N ext Sixteen M ay 10—L ord ’s, M .C.C. and G round v. L ancashire M ay 10— Oval, Surrey v. D erbyshire M ay 10—C am bridge, U niversity v. Mr. T h orn ton ’s E ngland E leven M ay 14 (W hit M onday)—L ord ’s, M iddlesex v. Som erset (for 8herw in’s benefit) M ay 14— B irm ingham , W arw ickshire v. K ent M ay 14—BrJgbton, S ussex v. G loucestershire M ay 14—N ottingham , N ottingham shire v Surrey May 11— M anchebter, L ancashire v. Y orkshire (for B riggs’ Benefit). M ay 14— S outham pton, Hants v. D erbyshire M ay 14—L eyton , E ssex v. L eicestershire. May 14— Oval, Surrey. B edfordshire May 14—N ortham pton, N orth am p ton sh ire v. Staffordshire Nussey took three wickets with successive balls in the Surrey Colts’ match at the Oval last Thursday. On Monday, E. Field and J. J. Robinson made 100 for the first wicket of the latter’ s side, in the Seniors’ Match at Cambridge. The Wanderers C.C. is preparing a big smoking concert for Saturday, May 26, at ^t. James’ Hall. As Mr. W. Braxton Smith, himself a Wanderer, is responsible for the programme, the entertainment is sure to be of a high class.