Cricket 1895

354 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 22, 1895. ■week next ensuing he kept up very good form, making 31against Middlesex and taking two wickets for 31, though in the single day on which play was possible in the Kent fixture last week, he failed entirely, making but 2 runs and getting only one wicket for 23 runs. In the match completed on Tuesday last, in which Notts were defeated by an innings and ninety-three runs, he just reached double figures, and after some marvellous bowling in the first innings he obtained four wickets for 21 runs. The capture of four Nottingham wickets in seventy-five balls for 9 runs would without any further performance quite j ustify the belief that in Mr. Gilbert Jessop Gloucestershire has a worthy namesake to Gilbert Grace. His batting average for the season works out to 23*82, and his bowiing has taken 43 wickets for 585 runs, which shows a record of 13-6 per wicket, so that when he has played a sufficient number of innings and taken a sufficiently large number of wickets at the same cost to satisfy the average-recorders, he will take a high place in the published tables. It is stated upon apparently reliable authority that he goes up to the University next year, though which of the competing Almae Matrex he will adopt is still, we believe, undecided, -but whichever seat of learning and of cricket he may prefer, it cannot be gainsaid that the University team will acquire a most valuable recruit in the bowling department, the point in which teams of both Oxford and Cambridge have been conspicuously weak this year. Our portrait of Mr. Jessop is from a photo­ graph by Messrs. W . Thomas, of Cheapside. HONOR OAK v. GOLD3MITHS’ INSTITUTE. - Played at Honor Oak on August 17. H onor O a k . J. Johnson, c Windett, b M urrell..................25 H. Button, c and b Joanes .................. 31 T. It. Dickason, c Joanes, b Stone ... 33 E.Chapman, b Munvll 31 W . Tapp, c Joanes, b Stone.......................... 0 F. Wilkie, b Stone ... 1 G. Hayman, b Stone .. 4 H. Holford, b .Joanes 0 G. H. Mayo, b Sculley 4 S. J. Dickason. not out 13 W. Ridge, c Bullock, b Stone.......................... 22 B 22, lb 5 ...........27 Total G o ld s m ith s ’ I n s t it u t e . H.E.Murrell, Wilkie, b Ridge ................... 3 J. C. Sione, c and b W ilkie .................. 42 B, R. S ulley, bWilkie 1 L. T. Easton, c and b W ilkie .................. 9 H. V. Bullock, lbw, b W ilkie .................. 0 F. W indett and A . D. Tyler did not bat. CROYDON v. STOICS. — Played at Croydon on August 17. C r o yd o n . T .R . Best, b Ridge ... 7 A. E. White, b V\ilkie 18 W . Joanes, b Holford 3 F. Bowler, not out ... 1 B 11, lb 1 ...........12 Total (8 wkts) 96 H. R. Groom, c Trim- m an,b Ha\craft ... 0 J. Whitcomb, c Lee, b Triman ... ........... 0 E. W . Smith, b Levy 41 C. G. May, b Haycraft 10 A . E. Howes, b Triman 0 C.W .M.Feist,cAbbott, b Haycraft ...........35 C. G. Paget, b Hume 12 S to ic s . E. H. B. Stanley, b Hume .................. L. J. Turner, c Sub., b Triman R. Biscoe, b Trim an... 13 J. W . Claike, not out 13 B 3, lb 2, nb 3 ... 8 Total ...180 run out lbw, b C. E. E. Lee, M. Abbott, Turner ................... P. -Handers, c May, b Turner ................... Triman, cl Howes, b •Paget......................... Af. Gk Every, c and b G ^SfiLevy, c Smith, fcsPaget .................. 17 W . J. Haycraft, b Turner .................. Hume, b Turner........... A. L. Rider, b Paget.. V. G. Biscoe, b Paget A. H. Bartlett, not out .......................... Byes................... Total ........... F a m o u s c r i c k e t e r s a n d c r i c k e t GROUNDS.—Parts 1 to 14, nd., or post free 8d ., each. Subscription for the complete senes (18 parts), 12a.-3- - O f f i c e , 168, Upper Thames Street, E.C. HARD WICKETS. Tn the first number of the Badmington Magazine , to which periodical we offer our congratulations upon the excellence alike of its literary contents and of its illustrations, Mr. C. B. Fry, of Oxford and Sussex, the athlete whose achievements in all-round sport are those of a nineteenth century Crichton, discourses upon a topic which has been much in evidence in the earlier part of this season, that is say, hard wickets. Mr. Fry considers cricket, this year, to have b3en a serious matter to two classes of mea connected there­ with, first the ground-man, and next the bowler. As regards the first, he says: — “ People vers' rarely give the ground-man his due. He has to produce playable pitches irrespective of every difficulty. If he fails to do so, he is accused of selecting the wicket on the morning of the match without proper preparation. If he is succissful, he is forgotten. He may console himself by remembering that similar treatment is the lot of engine-drivers and Prime Ministers, but the consolation is small. The extraordinary number of runs made this season represents an enormous amount of work on the part of the men employed on the various grounds. Schools and small clubs have suffered most. At the great cricket centres, such as Lord’s and the Oval, there is every facility for producing good pitches, and most of the leading (Tubs, too, are well off in this respect. But nothing can make up for the lack of a few days of rain every now and then, especially after a dry spring, and everyone who has made many runs this year ought to remember the ground-man and bless him.” But the path of the bowler, though smooth, has been by no means easy. All of them have had about as much work as they want, and the condition of the wickets has been altogether against them. Mr. Fry enters into the question, whether a continuous series of perfect wickets is good or bad for cricket, and he points out , a circumstance that'would not occur to most people. Of course, a good wicket develops good cricket, and the bowler who is helped by a bad groand is not entitled to much credit for his improved display. But when a numb r of pitches have to be prepared in the same ground, say at a public school, the same weather which allows the practice pitches of the seniors to be well prepared, and their match wickets to be in perfect condition, is by no means so good for the younger boys. Hereon he remarks:—“ But the youngster on the fourth or fifth ground in a very drjT season has usually to play upon turf as hard as iron, full of holes and cracks, and without a blade of grass upon it. Consequently he learns all manner of evil things. He is afraid of being hit, and stands a long way from his bat. He cannot repress the inclination to retire towards square-leg when the ball comes. He gets into the habit of moving his right leg, leaving his bat hanging out to dry, and playing crooked; and finally loses his first stock of confidence. Thus many a promising cricketer is spoilt for School, University, and amateur cricket. At the best the difficult task of learning to play cricket is made harder by the fact that he has much to unlearn instead of beginning with a clean sheet.” Our writer contributes one more suggestion, but one which f«w will probably endorse, to the discussion on the relation between the bat and the ball. Many were the proposals, more or less serious, a month sinc^ when wickets were hard, by which the cricket critic pro­ posed the batsman should be h mdicapped in favour of the bowler, before as is usual when any of her proceedings are assailed, Dame Nature settled <he point for this year by the aid of Pluvial Jove. By the way, will it not be found at the end of this batting season, when the bowling records are made up, that elongated Thomas of Surrey renown will have eclipsed all previous results in respect of the n’imber of wickets taken by any bowler r But let us quote Mr. Fry’s view as to handi­ capping the batsman. * ‘ Bowlers are kittle cattle and hard to understand. One wants to bowl both ends and field in the country, another grumbles if he is kept on a little longer than he feels in­ clined. A batsman will occasionally confess that his score is the result of good luck, but no bowler will ever allow that a wicket fell to himself by chance rather than by design. All bowlers, however, and ail batsmen agree res­ pectively upon one point. All of them want wickets that favour their own particular prowess. The ideal state of things would be an exact balance between the two. On a perfect wicket perfect batsmen ought to be op­ posed by perfect bowlers. Any superiority of batting over bowling should be rectified by playing upon a pitch which gives the bowler an advantage corresponding to his actual in­ feriority.” But no brief is held by the Sussex amateur for the bowler. The cricketer he thinks should desire the smoothest and hardest wicket possible. The batsman does so natu­ rally, the bowler should do so in a state of grace. The on-looker wants to see the bowling mastered by the batting, brisk cricket and three days of it in every match. The man who likes a grey day and a sticky wicket is a rare bird, and probably a goose with a diseased liver. It is worthy of remark that Mr. Fry, who is so good all round at sports, deems cricket far superior to football, billiards, or golf. To compare any of these with cricket is to contrast small things with great. So he remarks in this last extract from a brightly written little article. “ In spite of anything that may be said by that hardly-used bowler, most people will admit that the better the wicket the better the cricket. After all, the chief point in the game is to make runs, and to do this you must have a good pitch to play upon. To compare small things with great, billiards is a poor game upon a bad table ; football in the mud is slow and uncomfortable ; golf in the snow or on a baked earth is worth playing, but is not the same as it is under proper condition. The place for cricket is a smooth but hard wicket, and the time a perfect summer day without a cloud in the sky.” STOVEN v. W AN G FORD .-Played at Stoven on August 17. W an g fo r d . J. Dade, c Shadwell, b F. R o o s e ................2 F. Manning, c Dyer, b F. R o o s e .................. 5 T. (Jornish, run out ... 10 K. Sage, b Shadwell... 1 M. Bailey, st F., b H. R oose......................... 0 R. Garrod, b H. Roose 1 F .Folkard, b Shadwell 3 N.W elton b H. Roose 4 H Youngs, b H. Roose 3 Y. Swan, not out ... 3 W . Gilbert, retired hurt ........... ........... 0 Extras .................. 10 Total 42 S to v e n . E. Balls, b Youngs ... 1 F. Roose, b Folkard... 47 L.Shadwell,bManning 6 H. Roose, b Manning 1 A. Balls, b Dade 0 J. Dyer, b Dade.......... 2 T.Atkinson,bManning 0 C. Suggate, b Youngs C. Mackey, b Folkard J. Mackey, not out ... W . Burley, b Folkard Extras ................... Total ...........1 C RICKET Report Sheets, 10d. per dozen, post free. Order of Going-In Cards, 7d. per dozen, post free. West’s Pocket Scoring B >ok, 1/2 each, post free.—To be obtained at the Office of Cricket , 168, JQpper Thames Street, London, E.C.