Cricket 1896

208 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OS’ THE GAME. June l l , 1896. N o tw ith sta n d in g that he is in his 80th year, Mr. Charles Absolon, the famous old lob bowler, still takes part in matches and still manages to beat un­ wary batsmen who think that “ anybody can hit such rubbish.” Last Thursday at Finsbury Park he took 8 wickets for only 20 runs and in the previous week he took 5 for 4 and 3 for 2. This is wonderful bow ling for a man who has played cricket for 66 years. A t present his bow ling average for the season is less than four runs per wicket. Up to the end of last season he had taken, during the last 30 years, no less than 8,015 wickets and scored 24,650 runs. T rain ; days after the interesting notice by F. Gr. of the late Mr. Francis Fenner had appeared in Cricket an anonymous and unnecessary postcard arrived. It was worded as follow s:— “ Not a word about Fenner, who could have given many of the present “ cracks” points and beaten them. He had not the advantage of the monstrous “ boundaries,” it is true, and the wickets he played on were difficult. But he will be remembered long after most of the “ cracks ” of 1896 are for­ gotten. I believe you call yours a cricket paper! !! ” I t would be very curious if Guttridge, the discarded of Sussex, were to bow l out the Sussex men when they meet Notts. It will be remembered that Alfred Shaw, the discarded of Notts, astonished his old companions when he bow led against them at Trent Bridge for Sussex. I t remains to be seen whether L oh ­ mann will be able to keep up his great reputation, but at present he shows no signs whatever of falling off. Batsmen seem to find as much difficulty as ever in timing him, and they still seem to have an irresistible impulse to ‘ ‘ have a g o ” at the very ball they should play carefully. Lohmann still looks as pleased as ever when he takes a wicket. A cu rio u s match took place at Herne Bay, on Saturday, between two school second teams. Kent Coast College, the winners, made 139, which included the remarkable number of 52 extras. The losers, Broadstairs College, made 17 in their first innings, and were all out for 1 run in the second, although tw o or three catches were dropped. In this innings, A. Stahl bow led 3 overs, 2 maidens, for 1 run and 6 wickets, and R. Stone 3 overs, all maidens, for 3 wickets. The ages of the players averaged 11 or 12 years. T he match between the M.C.C. and Kent was remarkable for sudden collapses in the batting. This was especially noticeable in the two innings of Kent. In the first innings, runs were beginning to come freely off Mead, who began the bow ling with Jack Heame, and he gave place to Pougher, with the result that Kent were out in a few minutes. In the second innings, Pougher began with Hearne, and after being hit about, was replaced b y Mead, who, just as Pougher had done in the previous innings, quickly got rid of the Kent tail. There was no necessity to change Hearne, who, on his present form cannot very well be left out of the England X I . F o r Mr. Greet’s “ Sign of the Cross” C.C., Mr. N . Y . Norman has been very successful lately, both with bat and ball. Against a Hospital team, in the Midlands, he took 8 wickets for 16, 7 of them in 9 balls. On Friday, the “ Sign of the Cross ” C.C. had a good beating from Mr. H . Yorke Musgrove’s team, on the Richmond Athletic Ground. To judge by the experience of the past week, June would seem to be a popular month for cricketers to take part in the match matrimonial. In the first column of one number of the Daily News, a day or two ago, and almost side b y side, my eye came across announcements of the marriage of W . R. Moon, the old International Association footballer and occasional stumper for Middlesex, as well as of F . Lazenby, who was in the Marlborough College eleven some years ago, and played occasionally for the Surrey Club. In addition, rumour has it, that C. J. M. Fox, like Moon, an old Westminster Association footballer and County cricketer, has either just been, or is just about to be married. J ames S h aw , who represented Y ork ­ shire for the first time last week against Cambridge University, and Walter Butterfield, who made his d£but for Derbyshire at the Oval, on the same day, against Surrey, are both Yorkshiremen, bred and born. Shaw, who hails from the neighbourhood of Huddersfield, showed to great advantage in 1894 as an all-round cricketer with the Scar­ borough Club, and last year was very successful as a bowler for the Wakefield C.C., with whom he is engaged this season. Butterfield, who comes from Keighley, was tried as a Colt for Y ork ­ shire three summers ago. He has lately been scoring well in local matches in Derby, where he has been located for two years. T h e Haverford College team, who are due to leave Philadelphia on Saturday next, for England, have had the Owen’s College ground at Manchester offered them for practice. They should be there on the 25th or 26th of this month, and there is a chance that a match with another public school may be arranged for them on Saturday, the 27th, on their way to Cheltenham to meet the College. The Graphic of Saturday last, b y the way, gives the portrait of the sixteen young cricketers from whom the Haverford representatives will be chosen. Accord­ ing to accounts from the other side, the cricket of the Haverford eleven, which holds the Inter-Collegiate Championship Cup so far this season, has given satisfac­ tion to those most interested. T hat Lord Harris is still able to keep his wicket up with credit, was shown by his excellent innings of 115 for the Band of Brothers against the Royal Engineers on Saturday. His stand with J. N. Tonge was one of the best features of the match. Lord Harris, soon after he went in, played a ball on to his wicket, but without re­ moving the bails. This was a piece of luck for the side, as his partnership with J. N. Tonge for the second wicket realised 196 runs. Another Kent veteran of even older standing—Lieut.-Col. Benny Tail­ your—was representing the Engineers in the match. A hundred for the last wicket comes fairly under the category of cricket curios. J. T. Sykes and W . M . Jackson put on a hundred and seven more for the tenth wicket of the London Hospital against Christ’s College, at Cambridge, on Mon­ day. Jackson’s share of the 107 was 50, and Sykes, the not out, made 57. S ome of the friends of the Australians must be experiencing the same feelings as Amasis, the Egyptian kingtwho, when his friend Polycrates, the Tyrant of Samos, had enjoyed a long period of unexampled prosperity, counselled him to throw away one of his most valued possessions, in order that he m ight not incur the anger of the gods. Let us hope that, unlike Polycrates, the Austra­ lians will not be disowned b y their friends if they happen to have a run of bad luck. T h e question of the eligibility o f K . S. Eanjitsinhji and Mr. Woods has lately been much discussed, but the Australians would naturally be the last persons in the world to raise an objection against either of them. For several men in the first Australian team played against England because, although they were b om in England, they had learned all their cricket in Australia. There has never been a hard-and-fast rule. The Austra­ lians do not hesitate to include Tas­ manians in their teams, and there is no reason why England should not include K . S. Eanjitsinhji, who learned all his cricket in England. Mr. Woods has already played for Australia against England, but he is qualified to play for the home country just as, for example, were Charles Bannerman and Midwinter. The following are some of the latest hundreds:— J. H. Rogers, Dolphins v. Hurst College, retired 100 H. B. Mapleton, Univ. Col. Hoe. y. Surbiton ... 113 G. W . Ricketts, Free Foresters, v. Harrow ... 119 A bel , S urrey v . D erbyshire ......................................109 W . A. Lobb, Dulwich Schl. v. Tonbridge Schl. 109* P. Collinson, Southgate v. Old Foresters ...........129* L. D. Smith, Southgate v. Old Foresters ...........102* C. H. M. Thring, Hillside v. Whitgift Wanderers 115* D. L. A . Jepheon, Wanderers v. Leys School ... I ll J. Cranston, Merton v. Addiscombe ...................109 J. S. Haycraft, Pallingswick v. St. Margaret’s... 188 S. Cheesman, Pallinyswick v. St. Margaret’s ... 123* E. H. S. Berridge, Clapton v. The Clove ...........143* F. Butter, Clapton y. The Clove .......................... 102* Capt. R. Taylor, Aldershot Division v. Incogniti 128 Foster, Aldershot Division v. Incogniti ...........109* J. Wilson, Granville v. Eltham ...........................100 H.E.Murrell, G’dsmith’s Ins. v. Lon. & Prov. Bk. 101* L ille y , W a rw ick sh ire v. G lo u ce ste rs h ire ... 121 A RMY BELL TENTS and MARQUEES Direct from Government Stores for sale at low price. Apply to A . C oh en & Co., 161, Great Dover Street, London, S.E. Telephone, 4863.