Cricket 1896

12 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 30, 1896 Hayward, and Willoughby played a maiden, the excitement being intense. Smith facing Hill, got him away towards the leg boundary, and Woods only just managed to save the boundary, 3 runs being made, which brought the total 147. Willoughby played out the rest of the over, and then Smith put the result beyond doubt by pulling a loose ball from Fry to the leg boundary, and thus pluckily winning the match for the Province by one wicket. Score and analysis:— S. M. J. Woods, c sub., b Middleton ... 22 H.T.Hewett,b Middle­ ton ....................... 25 Hayward, e Rowe, b Smith .................32 C. B. Fry, b Middle­ ton ........................ 9 A. J. L. Hill, c Milton, b Smith ................. 4 H. R. B r o m le y ■ Davenport,cFrancis, . Smith .................14 Lord H aw ke’s XI. Sir T. C. O’Brien, c Rowe, b Smith ... 4 C.Heseltine, c Hearne, b Willoughby.......... 0 Butt,c Bissett,b Smith 2 Tyler, not out ..........22 A. M. Miller, b Smith 7 B 5, lb 2 .......... 7 Total ..148 W estern Province XI. C. Prince, b Fiy.......... 7 Middleton, c Daven­ Heame, b H i l l .......... 41 port, b Hayward ... 7 M. Bissett, b DavenJ. Anderson, b Hill ... 2 port ........................ 2 G. Rowe, b Hayward J. Willoughby, notout 0 H. Francis, b Fry 2 1 A. Richards, b Hill ... 38 B 8, lb 3 ................. 11 Smith, not out ......... 39 — W . H. Milton, b Hill 1 Total (9wkts.) 151 BOWLING ANALYSIS. Lord H aw ke’s XI. O. M.R. W I 0.M. R. W. Rowe ... 5 024 0 Smith ... 19 2 53 6 Middleton 11 234 3 |Willoughbyl2 4 30 1 W estern Province XI. O. M. R. W. Fry ... 163 7 31 2 Davenport 7 2 20 1 Tyler ... 5 1 22 0 Havward Hill O. M. R. W. 16 8 28 2 20 6 39 4 THIRD MATCH v. CAPE COLONY THIRTEEN. On New Year’s Day Lord Hawke’s men entered upon the last of their games at Cape Town before leaving for the up- country centres. Heseltine, Wright, and Miller were left out of the English Eleven, which was thus the strongest they could put into the field, while Rowe, owing to an injured foot, and Milton, were unable to take their places in the Colonial team, very efficient substitutes being provided in the persons of Smith and (Street, who had not been chosen in the original selection as they were not considered to be sufficiently identified with Colonial cricket. Cooke and Gleeson, of Port Elizabeth, were also unable to come down, and the number of players representing the Colony was accordingly reduced from fifteen to thirteen, a somewhat unfortunate circumstance for the Colonials as events afterwards proved. The fine batting performance of the English eleven, who were by this time in excellent form with the bat, and thoroughly determined to play up to their home reputations in order to wipe out the stain on their escutcheon caused by the loss of the two previous games, was the great feature of the match which ended so disastrously to the Cape team. After the dismissal of Lord Hawke’seleven for totals of 79, 92, and 148 in their previous attempts, there were not want­ ing many foolish enough to believe that, despite their great home reputations, the visiting batsmen were going to turn out to be something very nearly approaching complete failures. On Wednesday, how­ ever, a splendid crowd of spectators enjoyed for a whole day the finest exhibi­ tion of batting that has ever been given on the Newlands field. Prom the very commencement it was apparent that the visitors were in good form with the willow, and that there would on this occasion, at any rate, be no cause for complaint on the score of a paucity of notches. After Hewett had been bowled first ball by Willoughby, to Lohmann and Hay­ ward belongs most of the credit of laying the foundation of what eventually proved to be a record score for visiting teams to this country. For once ina way “ G.A.L.” showed the spectators that he really could bat, his innings being an ex­ ceedingly good display of cricket, though he never got fairly hold of Willoughby, whom he frequently attempted to drive into the long-field. Hayward put to­ gether 73 before being sent back to the Pavilion in a style which simply capti­ vated all who were fortunate to see his beautiful display. Combined with great grace, ease and elegance of style were strong defence and brillliant driving power, the latter being all the more re­ markable for the absence of effort in making his big hits and numerous fine drives. With the exception of a some­ what doubtful case of stumping, there was no blemish in an innings which was a treat and education in itself. With Fry and Woods together came another stand fraught with most painful consequences to both bowlers and fields­ men. Fry ere he had made 20 made a mishit to extra cover, which was dropped by Bisset, but otherwise he made no mistake in a magnificent display of 148. Though not so good or graceful a bats­ men as Hayward, he played very fine cricket, driving very hard at times, and making numerous neat leg strokes, but not apparently being possessed of a great variety of off strokes His efforts were ably seconded by Woods, who with the exception of a chance at the wicket and a stiff chance to Willoughby at cover late in his innings, played superbly for 89. All the other batsmen more or less failed —a somewhat surprising fact when it is remembered that men Eke O’Brien and Hawke had to be disposed of after Hay­ ward. Fry and Woods had by their long innings knocked the sting out of the bowling. O’Brien played a very poky game—no doubt from a desire to play hioiself in. Hill for the fourth time failed completely, as did Hewett, to the extreme relief of the fieldsmen, who must have been fully persuaded of the truth of the maxim that “ It is quite possible to have too much of a good thing ” —even of amateur slashing. Smith and Willoughby did most of the bowling, and in conjunction with Middle­ ton, pegged steadily away, without ever losing heart, at batsmen who were, on that day at least, clearly masters of the situation. Though never loose they never looked dangerous to the batsmen or likely to get through the team as on the former occasions. Glover and Grimmer were both a good deal below par, never giving the slightest apprehension to their opponents, whose batting display on this occasion was brilliant enough to have satisfied the most carping critic that ever growled on a pavilion. As for the Colonial batting, of that little can be said. Bar Hearne, nothing but disappointment on disappointment, failure on failure. The old Kent “ p ro” worked like a hero, 26 and 94 being something more than one man’s share out of totals of 118 and 160 Of his batting one can only speak in terms of the highest praise, for his confidence, judgment, and pluck were simply invaluable to his side in an hour of dire need. Street played a useful innings, while Doig, of Kimberley, showed good defence and timing of the ball in making his 15. Richards, too, in the second innings, was in a long time for his 14, but taken all in all, the batting was bitterly disappointing, especially when it is borne in mind that the opposing bowling, bar Lohmann, was much below the standard of that of the last English team. That the “ pro.’s.” too, should have made all the runs practically that have been made in these games is very depressing to those that had hopes that cricket here had made great strides since Read’s visit. It is merely one more instance of the inesti­ mable value of experience and nerve, the result of a long apprenticeship in first- class cricket—an apprenticeship that local cricketers have no opportunity of serving except on occasions such as the present, which are like angels’ visits, few and far between. With the exception of Hearne, Loh­ mann held the whip hand of the batsmen throughout, bowling wonderfully well in both innings. To any but the finest batsmen his beautiful length together with his variation of break and flight make him utterly unplayable. Hill atoned for his bad luck with the bat by great success in the other department, and on his late form should be decidedly useful with the ball throughout the tour, being fairly fast with a good length, and coming up quickly from the pitch. Fry, Tyler, Davenport, and Hayward all had a turn, but all leave the batsmen with a distinct impression that it is safer to get to their end away from “ G .A.L.” and his many wily ways. Score and analysis:— Lord Haw ke’s XI. H. T. Hewett, b Wil­ loughby ................... 0 Lohmann, b Wil­ loughby .....................37 Hayward, c W il­ loughby, b Middle­ ton ............................73 A. J. Hill, c Prince, b Grimmer.................. 3 C. B. Fry, c Street, b Smith......................... 148 S. M. J. Woods, c Francis, b Middleton 89 Sir T. C. O’Brien, c Glover, b Smith ... 13 Lord Hawke (capt.), c Street, b Smith .. 5 H. R. Bromley-Daven­ port, st Prince, b Willoughby ......... 7 Tyler, c Bissett, b Smith ............... 8 Butt, not out .......16 B 11, lb 4, nb 1 ...16 Total .405 NEXT ISSUE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27th.