Cricket 1895

110 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 2, 1895. innings and 342 (Henderson 106, his first century for Surrey, Lockwood 100, W.W. 80); and Essex by an innings and 69. The Notts match, which Surrey won by five wickets, was a veritable triumph for Abel, who scored 103 and 63, not out. Mr. Dixon made 73 and 62, Gunn 24 and 59, for the losers. Lancashire, with Briggs and Watson both taken ill during the match, lost by 207 runs. The Derby­ shire game at Derby had to be abandoned altogether, owing to rain. Somerset was defeated in terrible fashion, Surrey scoring 449 on a good wicket (Henderson 106, Brockwell 79, Wood 71), and put out the Western County, after rain, for two totals of 37, Lohmann and Sharpe bowling un­ changed, and taking 11 for 40 and 9 for 31 respectively. The other Western shire, Gloucestershire, lost by 86 runs; and then came the first defeat, at the hands of the Cantabs, by 19 runs, a result largely due to the fine bowling of Mr. Sam Woods, who took 14 wickets for 154. The next three matches were all won in an innings. Sharpe had 14 wickets for 97 against Middlesex at Lord’s; Mr. Shuter and Abel put on 181 for the first wicket against Warwickshire at Birming­ ham ; and Maurice Read made 135 in Hall’s benefit match at Sheffield. Then Leicestershire went down by eight wickets, Hampshire (Surrey playing practically a second eleven) by 208 runs, and Sussex (at Brighton) by an innings and 179. Abel made a grand 197, the highest score up to date, Maurice Read helping him to add 110 and Henderson 106. Sharpe took 10 wickets for 70, and brought his total for the last five games played by Surrey to 52 for 402—figures which speak for themselves as to his form at the time. The return with Yorkshire was won by ten wickets; and then came an unex­ pected defeat from Derbyshire, by a simi­ lar margin, Bagshaw (80) and Chatterton (59) putting on 139 together, and David­ son and Porter bowling very finely. The Peak County had thus a distinction which so far that season no first-class shire had earned. The returns with Sussex and Essex were spoiled by rain; in the former Marlow carried his bat right through the innings of his side for 43. Then, with all the best of the luck in both matches, Surrey beat Notts, minus Shrewsbury, at the Oval by an innings and 46 (Lockwood 8 wickets for 28, Lohmann 10 for 56), and Kent at Canterbury by ten wickets (Loh- mann 10 for 42). Gloucestershire went down by a similar margin at Clifton, Lohmann bringing his return of wickets for the three matches to 31 for 197. The first defeat of the season at the hands of a first-class county was received from the new member of the upper circle, at Taunton, Somerset, for whom the brothers Palairet, Mr. Hewett, Mr. Challen and others all batted finely, and Mr. Woods bowled excellently on a good wicket, winning by 130 runs. Maurice Read (94) and Lohmann (58) made a splendid attempt to save the match, and the finish was intensely exciting. There was some excuse for the loss of the next match, for Middlesex, who won by an innings and 20 runs, had as much the best of the wicket as Surrey had had in the Notts match a little while before, and Hearne and Rawlin made the most of their opportunities. The return with Lancashire was drawn, and that with Kent won by 105 runs, Lohmann and Lockwood finishing up the season by getting the hop county out for 45. The success of Surrey in 1891 was less the work of the batsmen than that of the bowlers. Lohmann (175 for 11 each) and Sharpe (147 for 12) did grand work; while Lockwood (87 for 10) met with immense success in the latter part of the season. Mr. W. W. Read was far below his usual form with the bat, only averag­ ing 22; and Abel, who scored 1,337 runs with an average of 38, was decidedly the most reliable rungetter on the side. Maurice Read, Lohmann, and Henderson all averaged over 20 ; but Messrs. Shuter and Key were dead out of form for the greater part of the season, and Lockwood was also a disappointment in the batting line. As usual, the season of 1892 was begun by matches with second-class counties. Essex was first beaten by 195 runs, four of the younger members of the Surrey team. Lockwood (32 and 73), Street (47 and 37), Baldwin (4 and 65), and Richardson (12 wickets for 100), the two latter playing for the first time, being very much in evidence. Leicestershire succumbed by 155, Richardson having 5 wickets for 11 in the second innings. Warwickshire went down in an innings, Lockwood scor­ ing 13 and taking 7 wickets for 18. Oxford University had a like fate, Lock­ wood making 102 and again bowling well. Somerset, with a weak team, went down by 179 runs. But then, in the full tide of success, came two defeats. Notts won a some­ what small scoring match at Trent Bridge by seven wickets; and in Lohmann’s absence Cambridge proved successful at the Oval by 80 runs, Mr. P. H. Latham, the Malvern freshman, signalizing his first appearance for his University by scoring 120 runs in the match for only once out, and Mr. F. S. Jackson, the captain, showing grand all-round form; while for Surrey Mr. Shuter made 93 and 28, not out, his best show for a longtime. Twelve games were now got through without another defeat, Middlesex lost by eight wickets at the Oval, W.W. and Abel batting w ell; Derbyshire by seven wickets at Derby; Yorkshire (their first defeat of the season at the hands of a first-class county) at Leeds by 17 runs, Lohmann taking 14 wickets for 107 ; a drawn game, wherein Frank Sugg scored 107, not out, was played with Lancashire at Old Traf- ford ; Gloucestershire (Ferris making his first appearance for the Western county) lost by eight wickets at the Oval, in spite of Captain Luard’s scoring 124 for once out. Then came two matches which were a novel feature in the Surrey programme, and whose designation by some of the papers as first-class aroused an amusing little storm in a teacup among Surrey haters—fixtures v. Scotland at Edinburgh and the Oval. Both were won in an innings, W. W. scoring 156 in the first, Mr. Key 143, Henderson 133 ; and Abel 88 in the second. Kent was beaten by five wickets in a small-scoring game at Tonbridge ; Sussex succumbed in an innings at Brighton,Mr. Read scoring 112, and Abel helping him to put on 156 for the first wicket. A well- fought game with Yorkshire at the Oval ended in a victory for Surrey by 72 runs. Abel and W.W. were again to the fore, scoring 109 before a wicket went down. Wainwright, Wardall, Mr. Sellars, and the Cambridge captain batted well for the losers. W.W. was again in fine form in the return with Sussex, carrying his bat right through the innings for 196. As usual, the match was won with an innings and runs to spare. Then, with a weak team, Surrey only beat Essex (for whom Mr. F. E. Rowe scored 129 and 35) by 17 runs. The third and last defeat of the season followed, Notts winning a game played on a fiery ground by four wickets, mainly owing to Gunn, who has, perhaps, never batted better in his life than he did in making his 38 and 58 in this match. At Leicester Surrey won in an innings. Maurice Read scoring 131. Mr. F. Wright, for the losers, took five wickets without having a run scored off him on going on to bowl for the fourth time. Derbyshire failed to repeat its ’91 per­ formance, losing by 93 rims; Middlesex, in Burton’s benefit, went down in an innings; Somerset was beaten by 186 runs at Taunton; Gloucestershire by ten wickets at Cheltenham, where W.W. played another fine innings (107); Lan­ cashire by seven wickets at the Oval; and Kent by ten wickets on the same ground. The return with Warwickshire had to be abandoned, owing to rain ; and the season closed with a draw with Mr. C. I. Thorn­ ton’s England Eleven at Scarborough, memorable for a dashing but lucky inn­ ings of 122 by Mr. Ernest Smith, and a stand of 124 by Messrs. Murdoch and Stoddart. Had it not been for the double defeat by Notts, 1892 [might well rank as Surrey’s best year. Except Lancashire, all the other first-class counties were twice beaten, and that, in most cases, with con­ summate ease. W.W. regained his old position at the head of the batting aver­ ages, scoring 1,319 runs—average 35, and was almost as great a batsmen as ever. Abel stood next, 1,077 runs—27; Hender­ son made 951 with a like average (by far the best season’s record Framjee has yet made); Baldwin, Lockwood, Mr. Key, Mr. Shuter, and Maurice Read varied from 27 to 24 per innings. 'Lohmann was beaten in the bowling by Lockwood, who had 168 wickets for 12 each, George taking 148 for 13. Sharpe’s bowling powers seemed to have left him ; but the new man, Richardson (whose trundling was chiefly done in the minor matches), took 101 for 13 each, and Abel had 35 at the same cost. Last season began under evil auspices. Lohmann was unwell, and indeed, had had to be sent to South Africa during the winter; while it seems not unlikely even now that he will never be seen in county cricket again. Wood and Abel were both