Cricket 1894

JUNE 28, 1894 OBIOJCBZft A WEEKLY HEflOITO OF THU OAM& 233 Lord’s. His previous best there was 189 not out, for the Single against the Married, and that was in 1871. Considering the amount of cricket he has played at Lord’s, it is singular that he has never reached the second hundred on that ground. M y dear friends the statisticians will put me right, if I err in suggesting that the scoring in the early part of Monday in the match be­ tween Surrey and Yorkshire, at the Oval, must be something very near arecord up to luncheon time on the first day of a really important matoh. As many as 172 runs were scored before two o’clock that day, and as the first ball was not delivered till a few minutes after twelve o’clook, the runs were got in less than two hours. I feel some little diffidence in pro­ pounding another cricket problem. But after all it is be3t to have any little doubts of the kind settled beyond dispute. A b e st on record in first-class crick*t was very nearly outdone at Lord’s yesterday. Had the second innings of Cambridge cnly lasted a little longer—to the extent of eight runs, in fact—the ground of the Marylebone Club woull have had the distinction of tbe second largest aggregate made in England in an important match. As it is, Brighton still holds two best records, with 1339 the outcome of the match between Sussex and Cambridge University in 1890, and 1402—the actual best— in the same match in 1891. A comparison of the performances in 1890 and 1894 at all events would in any case show a slight advantage to the match of this week, as the aggregate of 1332 was for thirty-seven wickets, that at Brighton four years ago for four full innings. Still, it is ourious that Cam­ bridge University should have partici­ pated in each of the two engagements. To keep this particular class of record jp to date, I may, perhaps, as well remind C rick et readers that the actual best in a first-claso match anywhere, is 1411, m the Inter­ colonial between Victoria and New South Wales, at Sydney, in February, 1882. Only it must be premised that this last matoh ex­ tended into the fifth day. I t may perhaps have failed to attraot the notice of some C rick e t readers that in three of the principal matches which finished yesterday the aggregate exceeded a thousand runs. Tl'.e figures were as follows :—Lord’s, M.C.C. & G. v. Cambridge University, 1,332 for 37 wickets ; Taunton, Somersetshire v . South African?, 1,113 for 31 wickets ; Brighton, Sussex v. Oxford University, 1,101 for 35 wickets. Ju st now, when big scores, individual as well as collective, are coming “ thick as leaves in Val— ” you know tbe rest, no doubt—and when the Inter-University looms directly in front of us, the portrait of a gentle tapper of the very best style as well as a University cricketer of more than oidinary popularity with the C.P.—that is, the cricket public of course will come, perhaps, as a boon, if not as a blessing to all kinds of (crioket) men. And there are certaiuly few busier batsmen when once he has “ tuk rut” than Mr. T. N. Perkins, of the Cambridge eleven. Though born in Kent (on December 19, 1870) he learned his crioket in Surrey, at St. John's School, Leatherhead. Football, too, can fairly claim him as one of its own. He has played for as well as cap­ tained the Association team at Cambridge with marked success. M r . A. C. Coxhead, an old contributor, has been good enough to send the bowling averages, showing the relative destructiveness of the bowlers. It will be seen that Richard - son is an ea*y first, while Martin, who heads the ordinary list, comes seventh. I was £lad to see [VIr. C. adds] that Mr. Holmes is of the same opinion as myself in this matter. Overs. Wkts. Balls [New P3rWkt. Order. 1 Maitin ... ... 343 ... 53 ... 32 ... 7 •2 Richirdson .... 472 ... 1 8 ... 52 ... 1 3 Wainwright ... 319 ... 6v! ... £8 ... 3 4 Pougher... .... 245 ... 41 ... 3 i ... 5 5 Pallett ... .... 273 ... 49 ... 18 ... 3 6 Foster ... .... 153 ... 31 ... 55 ... 2 7 Efparne, J. T. 631 ... 104 ... 30 ... 5 8 Mold ... .... 434 ... (8 ... 32 ... 7 9 Davidson ... 250 ... 35 ... 36 ... H i0 Rawlin ... .„. 405 ... 55 ... 37 ... 13 It Briggs ... .... 434 ... 5 > ... 39 ... 14 12 Smith, F. E ..,.. 312 ... 43 ... 36 ... 11 13 P eel.............. ,.. 460 ... 53 ... 43 ... 16 14 Woods ... . .. 2*4 ... 39 ... 3t ..., 9 15 Lockwood 288 ... 41 ... 35 ... 10 16 Attewell .. 563 ... 53 ... 53 ... 20 17 Shil on ... ... 33) ... 37 ... 45 ..,, 19 18 Mead ... . .. 333 ... 43 ... 39 ... 14 19 Whitebeid ... 437 ... 51 ... 43 ... 16 2) Hirst ... ... 371 . • 43 ,... 43 ... 16 AFTER THE KING WAS BORN. B y “ V.C.” Midsummer here, and the noon of the year, splendours and promise of spendours to be; Noons large and light, with the sun from his height rasping down through the long afternoon to the sea ! Nature made glad with the season, and clad in her hundred-hued vesture with green all between, And lit from aloft with new light, rich and soft, the glimmer, the shimmer, the gossamer sheen 1 Joy in the land for the summer at hand with the green of the ground and the blue of the lift; Thanksgiving and praise for the increase of days, and a tenfold thanksgiving for one greater gift I Gladness and cheer that the summer is here with the goodlier growth of the fruit and the corn; And gladness yet more between shore and far shore that a king of the summers afar should be born! Joy in the earth; and a king come to birth, and a gift from the gods that the islands receive; Midsummer joy for the birth of a boy; and the ringing of joy-b9lls on Midsummer Eve! Happiness smiles on our Fortunate Isles with a benison twice-told on Midsummer Day, Twin blessings sent down upon country and town—sun and air of our June, son and heir of our May ! * * * * * Now, under the sun what new deeds have we done to give vent to our joy for this glorious thing ? And what will they say in the years far away when the princQ of the house of our prince3 is king ! Hear we no sound from the low level ground ? Is there no living fringe to the classic Ellipse ? Does none list,intent, when the willow is bent, for the ping of the ball as it bounds through the slips ? Yea, by the gods, twenty thousand and odds ! And they fill the long noonday with cheers upon cheers, In round after round that shall ring and re­ sound with the tale of great deeds through the long after-years ! Out of the North come the champions forth, with the laurels they won in the year that is gone; And fear has its part in each Southerner's heart, as the giuntlets and shinguards of battle they don. Midsummer here, and the turn of the year, and the birth of a prince that to kings shall succeed ; And chroniclers well amid these things may tell of the stand that was taken by Brock­ well and Read! Ball after ball to the boundary wall! with the hit to mid-on and the hit to long-off, And never before was so noble a score as when shinguards and gauntlets of cricket they doff. Joy in the field for the heroes that wield for the glory of Surrey the willowy bat; And honour to sport of the right English sort, to the stand that the Yorkshiremen made after that! Years shall roll by and our old men shall die, and our young grow to manhood as man­ hood grows old ; But in years far away, the tale of the dav of old Surrey’s four-hui.d:ed a id-one shall be told * * * * * Midsummer past! And the seasons move fast; and the prince waxes royally lusty ; and we In right merry sort at the court of King Sport have made joy for the birth of our king that shall be. And far on in time some snatch of old rhyme (say from C rick e t), some echo of Fame’s golden horn, Peradventure may bring to the ears of the king, what occurred in the days when the king was new-born. T he following table w ill show the relative positions of the nine leading counties to d ate:— Played. Won. Loat. Drwn. Pts. Snrrey ................ 7 ... 6 ... 1 ... 0 ... 5 Middlesex ...... 9 ... H ... 3 ... 0 ... 3 Yorkshire ...... 7 ... 5 ... 2 ... 0 ... 3 Somerset ...... 4 ... 3 ... 1 ... 0 ... 2 Kent....................... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0 ... 1 Gloucestershire ... 5 ... 2 ... 3 ... 0 ... —l Notts....................... <> ... 1 ... 4 .. 1 ... —3 Lancashire ... ., 6 ... 1 ... 5 ... 0 ... — 4 Sussex ................ 7 ... U ... 6 ... 1 ... —6 The match Yorkshire v. Kent, at Bradford, on June 4, 5, and G, was abandoned, wi liout a ball being towled, through wet. PRINCIPAL MATCHES FOR NEXT WEEK. June £8—Lord’s, M.C.C. and Ground v. Oxford University June 28—Kennington Oval, Surrey v Sussex June 28—Ton I ridge, Kent v. Lancashire June iH -L ejton, Essex v. Yorkbhire June 28—Bristol, Gloucestershire v. South Afrlcxn Team July 2—Loid’s, Oxford v. Cambridge July 2—Leeds, Yorkshire v. Notts July 2—Manchester, Lancashire v. Derbyshire July 2—Brighton, Sussex v. touth Af ican Team