Cricket 1895

298 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J uly 25, 1895. T h e finish of the match between the Germantown and Merion clubs early this month, which decided the destination of the Halifax Cup for the next twelve months, was fittingly enough in every way worthy of the importance of the occasion. After dismissing Merion for a total of 128, Germantown, thanks to the good batting of G. S. Patterson, F. H. Bohlen, W. W. Noble, and W. C. Morgan, jun., at one time were able to show 75 up for the loss of only three wickets. Then came a remarkable collapse, and E. "W. Clark, jun., H. G. Brown, P. H. Clark, and N. Greaves all went without a run between them. Fortunately for Germantown, F. W. Ralston offered a determined resistance, and the winning runs was got with N. Bowns and W. Brockie, the last two batsmen in. To win the championship, by a wicket, was a fitting to a competition of im- as they did, termination portance. it was a distinctly fine achievement for the two batsmen to score as they did 117 before the first wicket fell. I t is not often, indeed, that the first two batsmen on a side are so consistent in their high scoring as Mr. Mason and Hearne have been during the present month. In three of Kent’s last four matches they have, indeed, scored over a hundred for the first wicket. The par­ ticulars are as follow :— July 1. Catford Bridge v. Sussex, 106. July 15. Maidstone v. Notts, 179. July 18. Catford Bridge v. Surrey, 117. T a k in g into account the fact that the ground at Catford Bridge does not, as a rule, favour run-getting, the double suc­ cess of the two Kent cricketers is par­ ticularly noteworthy. Cricket readers who remember Barnes at his best—and what a best it was in the way of all-round cricket—will be pleased to learn that, though Notts is able to dispense with his services, the veteran is still able to keep the ball moving with much the same freedom as of old. Any­ how, last week he did his spiriting any­ thing but gently against Pleasley, for he scored 158 for Mansfield Woodhouse, and, what is more, carried out his bat. I t will interest some Cricket readers who are wont to urge the flying ball, during the winter as well as the summer, to know that “ Famous Cricketers” are to be succeededby “ FamousFootballers.” The first portfolio, produced by Messrs. Hudson & Kearns, has been so popular, which is, of course, to say so successful, that they have decided to follow up—a phrase suggestive of the winter game— the portfolio which has been going on through the summer, with a similar issue representing the chief footballers, com­ mencing early in September. I n corroboration of the remark chronicled last week with reference to K. S. Banjitsinhji, that he is, bar none, 1 'ust at the present time the most reliable >at in the country, his innings of 100, the only 100 scored this week in any first- class match, stands out prominently That he should make half as many runs again as the rest of the team taken together, in their second innings, 100 out of 166 from the bat, and on a wicket which must have been all against the batsmen, is one more proof of his abilities, a proof hardly needed, and yet his first county match on a wet wicket very acceptably produces another century from the runner-up to W. G. Grace. T he brilliant performance of Mr. J. R. Mason and Alec Heame, at the com­ mencement of Kent’s second innings, was perhaps the one redeeming feature of the poor all-round display of that county at Catford Bridge this week. Considering the condition of the wicket and the quality of the bowling opposed to them I n the match with Yorkshire before, at Dewsbury on July 11, though Mr. Mason made 66 in the second innings, Heame had to be content with 32 runs for his two knocks. THE POSITIONS OF COUNTIES. The following table shows the positions of the fourteen first-class counties in the championship contest so far i.e., to July 24 :— as it has gone — Played. Won. Lost. Drwn. Pnts. Surrey ........... .. 15 ... 11 . . l . . 3 ... 10 Yorkshire .. 17 ... 10 . . 3 . . 4 ... 7 Lancashire ... .. 12 ... 8 . . 3 . . 1 ... 5 Warwickshire .. 13 ... 4 . . 3 . . 6 1 Middlesex .. 11 ... 4 . . 4 . . 3 ... 0 Sussex ........... .. 11 ... 3 . . 4 . . 4 ... —1 Essex ........... .. 10 ... 4 . . 5 . . 1 ... —1 Gloucestershire .. 8 ... 3 . . 4 . . 1 ... — 1 Derbyshire ... 10 ... 2 . . 3 .. 5 •• — 1 Hampshire ... ... 7 ... 2 . . 4 .. 1 ... —2 Leicestershire ... 11 ... 3 .. 6 .. 2 ... —3 Notts ........... ... 12 ... 3 .. 6 .. 3 ... —3 Kent................... ... 9 ... 1 . . 6 ... 2 ... - 5 Somerset.......... ... 10 ... 1 .. 7 .. 2 —6 Losses are deducted from wins, and drawn games ignored. © o m s f p o n t o t w * BALL v. BAT. To the Editor of C r ic k e t . S ir , — Looking to the scores of Monday last in first-class matches, I venture to suggest that some steps ought to be taken to give the bat a fair chance as against the ball. It will not have escaped your notice that in the seven innings completed on that day, seventy wickets fell for 610 runs, an average of less than nine runs a wicket. It may, perhaps, be worth pointing ou^ that 21 batsmen failed to score a run between them, and that the aggregate realized by 48 out of the 70 batsmen was but 76 runs. Indeed, Mr. W . G. Grace’ s 42 was the highest score of the day. Might it not be well to vary “ Epsilon’s ” proposal of last week with regard to the size of the wicket, and to alter Law 6 thus : “ Each wicket shall be six inches in width, and twenty-four inches out of the ground?” This might give some chance to the batsman of reaching a half-century, and to the profes­ sional of occasional talent money. Or, if not, mightn’t we have a sort of tele­ scopic wicket, adjustable for dry or for wet weather, firm or treacherous turf, and so forth, arranged according to the discretion of the umpires, so as to give us fair play all round ? In conclusion, I may say that amateur sug­ gestions must as a matter of course be highly esteemed by, and very usefulto, the authorities, who will no doubt rate at their proper value the proposals of “ Epsilon ” and of Yours faithfully, KAPPA. KALEIDOSCOPES (Bristol) v. MIDSOMER NORTON (Somerset).—Played at Norton on July 22. M idsomer N orton . The following are the Principal Fixtures for the week July 25th to 31st:— Oval, Surrey v. Sussex. Southampton, Hampshire v. Essex. Nottingham, Notts, v. Gloucestershire, Manchester, Lancashire v. Somerset. Derby, Derbyshire v. Surrey. Bradford, Yorkshire v. Gloucestershire. Blackheath, Kent v. Somerset. Birmingham, Warwickshire v. Lancashire. Leicester, Leicestershire v. Hampshire. From Messrs. C. W . Faulkner, of Jewin street, we have received two very artistic and interesting cricket photogravures, which should command a large popularity amongst followers of the game. They both have as the central figure Dr. W . G. Grace, and depict respectively his attaining his 1,000 runs in May, and the completion by him of a century at Lord’s m May last. The sketches are originally from instantaneous photographs, and the faulty perspective common to reproductions is not absent, but the details are, of course, exactly as the camera showed the play, and even the shadow east by the ball in its flight is not absent, a marvellous exactitude which no ordinary engraving could show. The price is, we believe, Is. or 2s. 6d. framed, and we make no doubt that there will be a large sale of these veiy appropiiate and artistic cricket mementoes of the year. First Innings. H. W . Bis8ex,b Humphreys 12 J. W . Simkins, run out ... 19 S. Matthews, b Langdon ... 14 H. L. S. Macdonald, c Ser­ jeant, b Humphreys ... 0 T. Hayward, c Beal, b Hum­ phreys .................................. 0 J. Edgell, c Box, b O’Leary 11 M. Maggs, b Humphreys ... 2 L. B. Beauchamp, c and b O’Leary ........................... 0 Second Innings, c Beal, b O’ Leary b Serjeant........... b Serjeant........... c Box, b Serjeant 7 c S e r je a n t , b O’ Leary ........... b Serjeant........... b Greenway E. Mears, b Humphreys . Dr. J. Eccles, not out... . L. M e a rs, c Langdon, O’Leary ........................ Extras ........... -. . c L a n g d o n , b O’ Leary ........... 5 st B ox,b Seneant 12 c Box, b O’Leary 2 not out... . E xtras. Total... Total ... 59 K aleidoscopes . F. H u m p h r e y s , b Maggs ................... 0 A. N. L a n g d o n , b H ayward...................24 C. H. Greenway, c Eccles, b Hayward 11 H. W . W o o k e y , c Edgell, b Maggs ... 13 A. T. Serjeant, c L. Mears, b Maggs ... 13 E. O’Leary, c Hay­ ward, b Maggs ... 4 T. Beal, c Eccles, b H ayw ard................... J. Box, lbw, b Maggs Capt. S. Thomas, b Maggs ................... F. Cox, not o u t ........... W . Leat, run out E x tra s................... Total ........... C RICKET Report Sheets, lOd. per dozen, post free. Cricket Going-In Cards, 7d. per dozen, post free. West’s Pocket Scoring Book, 1/2 each, post free.—To be obtained at the Office of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C.