Cricket 1894

APRIL 12, 18P4 (OBtCJiBT ■. A WEEKLY RECORD OF THB GAME. 57 oeston could a tale, or rather tail, uniold Indeed, after all the full score of the Laun­ ceston eleven only amounted to 421. F o r t u n a t e l y for the game, it is one of infinite variety and rapid contrasts. A curious illus • tration of the opposits extreme is furnished in the very next column to that which contains the details of the performance of the brothers Savigny. The recording angel in this case originally was the cricket contributor of the Qippsland Times. The heroes were the representatives of a club called Prospect Reserve. There must apparently have been a good deal of reserve force somewhere, for the whole eleven in the first innings went in and out without a notch and not even an extra to break the unenviable egg. A nd what about the second knock ? Well, the character of the game for glorious uncertainty was triumphantly vindicated when the Reserves were called out again. This time the result was a grand total of seven, of which three were extras. The opponents of the Reserve were an eleven from Darriman, who won easily with two fine scores of 30 and 19 respectively. As an innings without a run is a crioket curio of the first class, I give the opening score of Prospect Reserve in full. PROSPECT RESERVE. F jrst I nnings . D. Coto, b Gooding ............. ............. 0 Holt, b K. Curtis ........................ ............. 0 Dickens, inn o u t ........................ ............. 0 Veitch, b Gooding........................ ............. 0 Buchan, b Curtis ........................ ............. 0 Robb, b Curtis............................... ............. 0 McLachlan, b Curtis ............. ............. 0 Napper, n >tout ........................ ............. 0 Moulden b C urtis........................ ............. 0 Mawley. b C u rtis ........................ ............. 0 Coto, b Curtis ........................ ............. 0 T o t a l................................... ............. 0 A crick et coincidence has been discovered by the contributor of the Otago Times in the remarkable similarity between the New Zealand record for the first wicket as estab­ lished by Messrs. Cuff and Lawrence in January, and the best of a similar kind in American cricket, chroEicled in August last. Full particulars of the performance at Canter­ bury were given in the last number of C rick et . But in their main features the two feats were curiously alike. Both records were made for the first wicket, and not only were the totals almost identical, but the individual scores were strikingly similar. Cuff, it may be remembered, at Canterbury, scored 176, and Lawrence 123, seven extras bringing the total for the partnership to 306. In the American match Tyers scored 170, Cobb 126, and there were nine extras, so that the partnership pro­ duced 305 runs. I p Lord Hawke, as has been stated, has the intention of personally conducting another party of amateurs to India in the autumn, there is every possibility that three separate combinations, representative of English cricket, will be touring in the fall of the pre­ sent year. Mr. A. E. Stoddart, as every one knows, is to captain a mixed team whioh is to visit the Australian colonies under the joint auspices of the Melbourne Club and the trustees of the Association ground at Sydney T he third trip will be to the United States, and negotiations have already been completed on this side with a view to the collection of a fairly representative English eleven. The idea is to play a limited number of matches, con­ fined to the chief centres of American cricket alone, and not amounting to more than ten or a dozen at the outside. Two fixtures are to be arranged for Philadelphia, and it is to be one of the essentials of the tour that both these should be plaj ed out regardless of any other arrangements. The suggestion is that the bulk of the team s h o u ld g c o n s is t of amateurs, j with three or four good all-round professionals. A nother cricket curio, this time from Victoria. But as it c mes from the Australa­ sian newspaper, it will be best to give it exactly as it is told by that best of Austra­ lian gossips, “ Felix,” in his cricket notes in the issue of February 17. Playing with Hay C.C. v. Waradgery C.C., Ted Pollard topped the century for the second time this season, making 1J2. The manner in which he was disposed of constitutes a “ curiot-ity of cricket.” He wap standing after a run with his bat just inside the crease. The ball, being thrown in from the field, struck the lat and knocked it out of the batsman’s hand, going thence on to the wicket. Pollaid was standing outside the create, and, an appeHl following, the umpire had no option but to give him oat. “ I think the umpire was wrong,” adds “ Felix.” And so say all of us. S pring cleaning is the order of the day in the pavilion at Lord’s just now. Painters are hard at work making the interior of the capa­ cious building beautiful for ever, and there was quite a [small army of operators busily engaged in the various classes of decoration when I was there the other day. The decora, tive part of the building was wisely deferred till the walls were thoroughly dry and in a suitable condition for the purpose. Hence the operations now in progress are rather a part of the original scheme than an item in a process of renovation. Altogether Lord’s itself is in excellent oonaition, and with all the care and attention expended on the turf it would be surprising if the ground did not look well. T h ree scores of a hundred on three conse­ cutive days represent something near, if not quite, a record. The distinction of such a rare feat belongs to S. Donohoo, a member of the Melbourne Club. His triple century was obtained in the following matches. Feb. 20—v. M«lbourne ColtJ ........................113 Feb. 21—v. University ...................................1 5 Fe . 22—v. Wesley College ........................153* His average for the three days therefore was 215, T he latest news from George Lohmann, every class of C bicket reader will hear with gratification, is of suoh a reassuring nature that there is reasonable hope after all of his reappearance in the Surrey eleven in the summer of 1895. His health, so he writes in a letter received only yesterday, has recently improved to such an extent that the two doctors whom he has consulted during his stay in South Africa have made a most satis­ factory pronouncement as to his future. He has been playing cricket latterly twice or thrice a week, and finds himself all the better for it. T he ambition of his life, to use his own words, is to make his exit from the Pavilion at Kennington Oval to take part in first-class cricket again. That everyone will heartily echo this sportsmanlike wish goes without saying. In any case this last communication at least furnishes ground for expectation that the cricket public may have the satisfaction of seeing one of the very keenest oricketers the game has ever produced at work again in the near future. His idea, as I stated sometime ago, is to visit Australia in the autumn with a view to complete his cure. There is a chance, therefore, tbat he may be of use in some way to the English team which is to tour in Australasia during next winter. T he Grand Old Veteran of Cricket Veterans “ which his name is ” Charles Absolon, will have to look to his laurels, to judge by the report of a match played on the 23rd of January in New South Wales. It was between two teams of the veteran cricketers of Mait­ land, and played on the Albion Ground in that town. Among the thirty players were two such ancient lights as George Moore and Sam Cosstick. Both players are over sever ty yea* s of age and bore names to conjure with in Australian cricket more than three decades ago. In neither case could it be said that “ the veteran lags superfluous on the stage.’ ’ While George Moore was the only man on his side to score double figures, Cosstick bowled with great success, taking nine wickets for nineteen runs. W ith anything like luck, they may even yet qualify as Australian Juniors. N e ar ly three hundred runs in an hour and a quarter is a little thing in run-getting which fairly takes ones breath away. Ytt this was the record of the Melbourne Club in a match against Fifteen of the Bridge Road Trades on February 13. W ith fifteen men in the field, to score at the rate of two hundred and thirty runs an hour is about as pretty a piece of run-getting as it is possible to con­ ceive. Of the total; which was apparently for one wicket, C. Pervman got 136 not out, W. Houston 91, and Paxton 48 not out. A n other record gone by the board. This time it is the best in Tasmania whioh blocks the way. The credit of the highest innings up to date in Tasmanian cricket was won on Feb. 10, by Wellington, with a total of 648 again; t Fifteen of New Town. Our old friend Kenny Burn, who came over to England some few years age with one of the Australian teams, was the ohief figure in the achievement. His score of240 at any rate went a long way towards the attaiLment of the record. Curiously enough the previous best in Tasmania also belonged to Wellington, with 513 against Derwent in JaL uary, 1893. Here, also, K B. w as very much in it. On that occasion he w as even