Cricket 1896

M a t 2 8 , 1896. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 169 H.J.GRAY SONS Patentees and Manufacturers of GAMES ALL GOODS GUARANTEED. THE PLAYFAIR DRIVER acknowledged by experts to be unsur- Illustrated Catalogues Free. C am b r id g e AND 8, Goswell Road, AIdersgate, London , e . o . Scores m ust reach the Office at the latest by first post on Tuesday follow ing the m atch, and should be w ritten on the Report Form s (price, lOd. per doz., post free), published at CRICKET Office, 168, Upper Tham es Street, E.C. Cricket: A WEEKLY RECORD OF TEE GAME, 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. T H rB P D A Y , M A Y 28 th , 1896. $a\rilton The abstract and*brief chronicle of the time.— Hamlet. N o th in g could be more welcome to cricketers than the return of Mr. Stoddart to his proper place among batsmen. During the last two years, although he often played innings which in a lesser man would have been deemed remarkable, he has hardly ever done himself justice, except when he was in Australia. To see Mr. Stoddart play a lon g innings is to see cricket in its highest fo rm : it is correct, powerful and attractive. With Mr. Hayman rapidly improving, Middle­ sex has now perhaps the strongest pair for first wicket of any county. I t is almost one of the curiosities of cricket that Brown has been considered quite out of form since his return from Australia, until the match last week between Yorkshire and Middlesex. And yet last season his average was 26; in 1894 it was 24.90; and in 1893 it was 28.48. Before histwo magnificent innings against Middlesex it was 20.42 for the present season. It will be remembered that he was the last man chosen by Mr, Stoddart to go to Australia, where he had an average of 43.8, and played much above the form which he had shewn in England. O v e rh e a rd at Leyton. “ Yes, Holborn is a strong club. Three or four years ago they could have played the county, and beat ’em easily.” “ Think so ? ” “ Why, yes. I once saw ’em play a club called St. John’s, and if you’d seen the way they sat on them you’d think so too.” T h e re were no less than four perfor- manceslast week for the first wicket, which are worthy of more than passing note, but good as they all were, the stand for 145 made by Wrathalland Board forGloucester- shire must be placed first, not so much for its excellence as for its boldness. It was wonderful to see Mr. Stoddart and Mr. Hayman defy all the Yorkshire bowlers till the score had passed 200 ; to see Brown and Tunnicliffe master the Middlesex bowling in both innings; but to see Wrathall and Board knocking the Surrey bowling about as though it were about on a par with that of schoolboys was an “ experience.” T h e success of Murch against the Surrey batsmen makes one astonished that he so often fails. He ought to be in the front rank of bowlers, but it is only now and then that he distinguishes him­ self. As a master of style in the art of bow ling he is almost as proficient as is Mr. Lionel Palairet in the art of batting. Another Gloucestershire bowler, Painter, came suddenly into fame at the beginning of last year, but has done nothing of importance since then. “ T o ld in the Pavilion” is a volume of short stories, in most of which cricket forms a prominent feature, by A. H . J. Cochrane, the old Oxford University cricketer. The stories, which are all of great excellence, have appeared in various well-known periodicals. Cricketers who have only read one or two of them, and cricketers who have been unfortunate enough to read none at all, may be strongly advised to buy the book, which is published at a shilling b y J. W . Arrow - smith, Bristol, and Simpkin, Marshall & Co. A t the present time the prospects of winning the University match would seem to be very bright for Oxford, although much may happen during the next few weeks to alter this state of affairs. In batting, nearly all the Oxford men are capable of making runs, whereas the Cambridge men are, for the most part, not to be relied upon. There are men in the Cambridge team who ought to be infinitely better than any of their opponents, but, as yet, they do not score at the same time. In bow ling there is no comparison, for Oxford are clearly superior, and as far as appearance goes, will be superior on the day of the match. F o r Sunningdale School v. Fam - borough Park on May 20th, E. Culme- Seymour, the school captain, took seven wickets (all bowled) for 21 runs and did the “ hat trick.” Scene : A cricket ground. Small club match j ust about to begin. The field have got into position and the batsmen are in. The batsman who is to receive the first ball asks for guard. There is no umpire. Presently the umpire strolls leisurely up to his place. Then the two batsmen cross the wicket to speak to each other. The umpire shouts “ Play,” and the bowler starts. But the batsman has not yet got guard. H e gets it. The bowler starts again, but stops to re-arrange his field, and the captain of his side re­ arranges them again. A t last all is ready, but the batsman wants to have a last look round to see the position of each man. Finally it seems that nothing can prevent the ball from being bowled, but just as the bowler is about to make a move, he stops to ask the batsman at his end not to flourish his bat too close to his, the bowler’s, nose. After this the game begins. O v e rh e a rd at the Oval. First Surreyite: “ Why ! They are all wearing white trousers.” Second Surrey it e : “ Well, I like to see it, don’t y o u ? ” First Surreyite: “ No I don't, I like light grey with a stripe. Nobody wears white on the River.” T h e scores made by the first four men in the University College (Oxford) team against Balliol are worthy of a place among cricket curiosities. M. Y . Barlow made 97, T. H . K . Dashwood 107, K . A. Woodward 112 and F. G. H . Clayton 94 not out. Of these four Mr. Dashwood played in the Freshmen’s match and the other three in the Seniors’. T h e Australians have now played five matches, and, except at Sheffield Park, they have not known what it is to have to think of a possible defeat. It begins to look as if the want of variety in their bow ling can be regarded b y the team with absolute indifference as long as Giffen and J ones keep sound. So far the team has had nothing to complain of in the way of bad luck, and, like successful generals, they will probably find that if there is any bad luck about, it will go to the opposing side. They may still, however, have to face the contingency of losing the toss on a perfect wicket against a strong batting side. I f they can come success­ fully out of that trial, they may aspire to anything.