Cricket 1894

6 ©BICKER § A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE ®AME 0 JAN. 25, 1894 A FAMOUS RUNGETTER. A r t h u r S h re w sb u ry . By S. W . H itchin . Arthur Shrewsbury played Lis first county match in 1875, agaiost Derbyshire, at the age of 19, and scored his first century at 20. The figures which follow—dealing with the whole of his performances from the start up to the close of the year 1893 - need but little comment to emphasize the brilliant career in part consideration of which, the procc di of the match versus the Australians are shortly to be handed to him. The amount raisei is not yet publicly announced, but looking at the very substantial sums awarded to famous professors in other shires, and recog­ nising how richly deserving the claims of the beneficiare are, it is earnestly to be hoped that the cheque will be appreciative to the player, and creditable to the county for which he has done so much. Through thi* ex'ended period— during which no fewer than a Lundred fresh young players have had a trial in the county team—on no single occasion has he, owing to loss of form, been left out of the eleven. Shrewsbury has journeyed once to America, and four times to Australia, and has be?n a consistent run- getter wherever and for ■whomsoever he has played. COUNTY CONTESTS ONLY. T able 1. C eniuries . DATE. v. Sussex £67 1890 v. Middlesex £67 3>-87 v. Gloucester 227* 188* v. Middlesex 2 ’4* 1885 v. Middlesex ... 212 1892 v. Sussex i09 1894 v. Surrey £07 188! v. Kent 1‘8 1891 v. Sussex 165 1891 v. Sussex.......... 164 18.13 v. Lancashire 148 1891 v. Gloucester... 337 J8S5 v. Sussex 135 1'87 v. Lancashire 133 1887 v. Surrey......... 127 1881 v. Gloucester... 327 1832 v. Kent .......... 121 18'3 v. Gloucester .. 119* 18*7 v. Middlesex... 19 1887 v. Yorkshire ... 1 8 3876 v. Deri ybhire... 118 1885 v. Lancashire )17 3890 v. Yorkshire ... 116 1992 v. Kent .......... 111* 3892 v. Suesex 101 3899 v. Sussex 101 1887 v. Lancashire ltl 1893 It will be seen from the above list, that for hi3 county Shrewsbury has seven times ex­ ceeded the second century—a performance which is altogether unique. He Las, more­ over, been dismissed without troubling the scorers actually fewer times than he bars been with a century to his credit, or in othei, words he has got a 100 oftener tlnn he has got a 0,” — a most remarkable statement to be able to make, and one which no other player living could claim credit for. He Las also yet to get his first ‘ spectacles ” in a county match. He has been Caught out.......... BowJed................. Run out................. Stumped .......... Leg before wkt. Hit w icket.......... Not out .......... 185? times 82 „ 12 „ 10 „ 8 £8 „ The L B .W . figures are a curious com ­ mentary on the allegation of those critics concerning the “ playing with the leg ” theory. E'ght times leg before wicket in eighteen seasons! It is worthy of note, too, that out of the number of “ caught out ” inning*, nearly 40 have been ‘ ‘ caught at the wicket,1” which is generally agreed to be more owing to misfortune than incorrect play. The following table gives the runs scored against each county, and the average per innings:— Comp’eted Highest Inc s. Puns Innr. Aver. v. Su?s«x ... 28 ... 166) .. 267 ... 64.5 v. Kent ..........25 .. . 1181 ... 178 ... 47.9 v. G'oucester 42 ...,17(5 ... 2v7*... <025 v. Middlesex .. 44 .... 1379 ... 2*7 ... £8 7 v. Surrey ... 46 ... 1419 ... i 07 ... 3.23 v. Ti«ncashire 43 .. . 1313 ... 148 .. 31.10 v. Yorkshire... 51 ... 1387 ... 31* ... 27.10 v. Derbysfci e 32 ... 3 8 ... 1 8 ... 23.6 v. Somerset ... 8 . 100 ... 23 ... l-?.4 T ctil innings .. 197 1)831 '.67(2) £6 142 N.P.—The figures appended to Derbyshire refer to ibe time when the “ Peak ” County was rtckoned a first-class shire. He has thus averaged, during the whole of his career, slightly over 3G for every appear­ ance at the wicket. Against the various Colonial teams the figures come out :— Hithest Innp. Runs. Innp. Ave’*. For Notts v. Australians 16 ... 434 ... 72 ... 27.2 And A g ain st thk P rrm ib r C lu b. For Notts v. M.C.C........... 17 ... 2 4 ... 85 ... 16.2 Including a single innings of 56 for Notts against England in 1885, his entire work for the county in first-cla^s matches is repre­ sent-d by the fallowing figures :— Completed Inns. 331 ... Einhest Ion*. 217 Aver. 35.13 Runs. 11,598 To tfhich, if we add thoee innings ogaicst second rate counties, v iz .: — 19 ... 674 ... 93 ... 35 9 310 12,272 £67 35.22 We arrive thus at the grand total of twelve thousand, two hundred and seventy two runs in matches organised by the Notts County Executive A truly wonderful acbicveinenf, and one which merits a very high place in the records of remarkable players. His best batting years for the County, with averages, were as below:— Date, Inns. Kung. Aver. 38^2 10 351 F 5 I 3885 18 550 30 10 3881 11 605 43.3 1895 14 761 •• 61.5 ie86 38 8*9 ... 46.1 1887 18 1289 ... 77.2 *1883■ 13 465 35.10 1890 22 1 82 ... 49.4 i8ai 19 791 41.15 3892 22 9 0 41.18 1893 £6 976 37.14 *Away in Australia in 1888. The above, however, doe3 not represent the whole of his wonderful performances with the bat. Tbe splendid services Shrewsbury has on many occasions rendered to his side in the great representative contests against the Australians, for the Players against the Gentlfmen, North against South, etc., will ever be remembered. Whatever bowling talent there happens to be available in the ranks of the Amateurs is generally utilized in the annual battle between Gentlemen and Players, and Shrewsbury's record in these gam*s is worthy of a line to itself: — Inns 40 .. Runs 1506 . Most in an Inns .. 151* ... Aver 37.26 +rLia is the highest score on record by a pro fe8bional4n a Gentlem?n v. Players match at the Oval. 1 he next table shows the centuries ob’ ained when playing for sides other than his County :— For RunsYtar Non Smokers v. Sm okers........................ 236 1887 England v. Victoria ............................... ‘/32 1887 England v. Sixth Australian Team ... 206 18?8 Eng and v. Australia ............................... 164 1883 England v. M.O.C. and Ground .......... 152 1887 Sherwin’s XC. v. Hall’s Xr........................ 151 1891 Players v. Gentlem en............................... 151* 1892 England v. Victoria ............................... 144 1897 Players v. Gentlemen............................... 327 1886 Pliyers of North v. Gett’emen of South 119 18S7 >layers v. Gentlemen............................... Ill 1887 Eng and v. Australia ............................... 105 1893 England v. Auotralii ............................... 105* 1885 Norih v. South ...................................... 101 18 5 England v. 15 of South Australia .......... ICO 1883 This list, taken in conjunction with Table 1, indicates that the fam ous cricketer has piltd up the century on 42 different occasions. Shrewsbuiy also (w iih Gunn) holds the record for the most productive partnership in a first class m a tch ; tbe other occasions of long partnership, in which ho has taken part, is given in the concluding ta b le:— 1890 1891 1881 1893 1881 1891 18>7 189 J 1876 1887 l c8 > 18-0 1885 U85 18*9 1885 f-hrewsbury and Shrewsbury *nd Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury an 1 Shrews* ury and Shrewsbury and Shrews' ury and Gunn Gunn Barnes ... Gunn Gunn Gunn Barnes ... H. B. Dafc R. Dafo ... G irn Attewe'.l... Dixon ... Dowers ... Gunn Gunn Scotton ... Sussex Susse x Surrey Sussex Sussex Kent 338* MS 280 274 2C6 , 232 Middlesex 214 Lancashire 139 Yorkshire 183 Sussex ... 381 Middlesex 177 Lauc*shiro 174 Derbyshire J62 Gloucester 161 Sussex ... It0 Gloucester IE9 * Most productive partnership on record in a first-cl iss match. Eesidei his owu, Shrewsbury has taken part in 15 Benefit matches, and it is only necessary to mention the name3 to suggest the length of time tLe Notts ba'smau hrs be n identified with firet-class crick tt; viz : G Parr, T. Humphrey, J. Lillywhite. J C. Shaw, W . Oscrofo, K. Clayton, J. Wes*’, J. Selby, A. >haw (2), K. G. Barlow, A. Watson, F. Wild, J. Wheeler, and M. Head. A . H . M E H T A . THE PARSEE BOWLER. Mr. A. II. Mehta, a Parsee by birili, was born on the 8th of April, 1874, at Mtfrrie Hills (Panjub). His first appearance in a first-class match was for the Allahabad Rovers v. the Boys’ High School in Sep­ tember, 1892. In the first innings of this match he met with great success as a bowler, having taken seven wickets for 8 runs. The knowing ones put this down as a fluke, but their opinions were changed when in the second innings he again took seven wickets for 20 runs, or together fourteen wickets for 28 runs, or at a cost of 2 runs apiece. His next performance was for the Allahabad Volunteer C.C. v. the Royal Irish Fusiliers. In this match he came off only as a bowler, having taken respectively six wickets for 20 runs, and two wickets for 18 runs. He was for a long time a member of the Cannington Club. As a bowler be