Cricket 1896

J u l y 2, 1896. ] CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 257 D u b in g the first day’s play in the Yorkshire v. Derbyshire match, nine Yorkshiremen batted (two were not out) of whom no less than seven each made over forty runs. In fact, only one of those who were out made less than 42. T h e M .C.C. innings against Oxford University was very similar to that of Yorkshire, but on a somewhat larger scale. Seven wickets f e ll; everybody scored double figures; and everybody made a big score except Mr. Brann (who, like Brown for Yorkshire, went in first wicket down) and Mr. Bathurst (who, like Lork Hawke for Yorkshire, was not out). B y scoring 507 runs on Saturday last in their second innings against M.C.C., Cambridge University has made a record for the fourth iDnings of a match, which has never been approached. It may be doubted whether on any previous occasion a side which has gone in to make 400 has succeeded in scoring the runs. Sussex has nearly done so two or three times. T h e b e were several other wonderful performances on Saturday in first class cricket. O f these the best was the stand made b y Derbyshire in their second innings, which enabled them to apply the closure after losing eight wickets. Although there was not the slightest chance of getting Yorkshire out in the time which remained, it must have been an exquisite moment for the Derbyshire captain when he was able to announce to Lord Hawke that he had decided to close his innings. To make a hundred in each innings of such an uphill match as Derbyshire were playing was a very great feather in the cap of Storer. The list of two innings of a hundred in a first-class match by an in­ dividual player is now as follows :— W . G. Grace, South v. North of the Thames, at Canterbuiy, 1868, 130 and *102 W . G. Grace, Gloucestershire v. Kent, at Clifton, 1887,101 and *103. W . G. Grace, Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire, at Clf- ton, 1888, 148 and 153. G. Brann, Sussex v. Kent, at Brighton, 1892, 105 and 101. A. E. Stoddart, Middlesex v. Notts, at Lord’s, 1893, *195 and 124. Storer, Derbyshire v. Yorkshire, at Derby, 1896, 100 and *100. •Signifies not out. In 1817 W . Lambert made two hundreds at Lord’s for Sussex v. Epsom, but it is nearly time that this match was recognised as not being first class. A t h ib d g re a t performance on Satur­ day was the batting of the Sussex men in the second innings against Oxford University. To he sent in to make 339 in three hours and a half when your opponents have declared, and to be within ten runs of victory, with four wickets in hand, when time is called, is to accom ­ plish a feat which is altogether extra­ ordinary. I n the first innings of Cambridge University A. E. Trott was put on to bow l for the M.C.C. when 27 runs had been made. Instead of bowling at his usual pace, which may, perhaps, be best described as slow medium with an occasional fast ball, he began to adopt the tactics of Jones, the famous Austra­ lian, even down to the half-way ball. This plan met with great success, but the batsmen were obviously at times in great danger. Towards the end of the innings Trott slowed down to his ordinary pace, but in the next innings again bowled fast and short, with the result that Mr. Marriott was severely hit iu the face. Trott is, of course, not to be blamed for this. I t was then that Mr. Perkins, the M.C.C. secretary, c .me out of the pavilion and requested the M.C.C. captaiu to take the bowler off. This was a sum­ mary proceeding which has been \ery generally condemned, but it is perhaps a question whether any 'be ter way could have been taken by the M.C.C. to mark their disapproval of dangerous bowling. If on their own ground they were to countenance the new style of fast bow l­ ing by one of their own men, there would very soon be an epidemic of “ half-way fast bow ling,” which would do incalcul­ able damage to the game. It has been said that if fast bowlers are not allowed to bow l as they please in first-class cricket the game becomes a farce, but surely there have been occasions in first- class cricket when the captains have mutually agreed not to put on their fast bowlers at all, because of the danger ! A s the author of “ A Country Muse,” Mr. Norman Gale had become famous before he wrote his “ Cricket Songs ” which have met with such success that a third and cheaper edition has just been published by Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co. The price of the new edition is a shilling. A poet who has been so highly praised as Mr. Gale can hardly fail to be interesting, and cricketers must be hard to please who cannot find some­ thing in “ Cricket Songs ” to delight them. Nevertheless, it is a little dis­ appointing to find the author of the dainty verses in “ A Country Muse ” making use of such unpleasing expressions as “ Stoddart dispenses Stingo,” “ Block her and snick,” and “ The Church Cricketant here on Turf.” Mb. G b a c e ’ s scores for Gloucestershire in inter-county matches up to Wednesday are as follow s:—17 and 25, 30 and 70. 44, 30 and 0, 240 not out and 3, 14 and 6, 60 and 56, 51 and 102 not out, 183. This gives a total of 934 for 12 completed innings, average 77 83. A ccoedin g to the Irish Field , whose “ Cricket Gossip ” is always interesting, the crowd which attends the matches at the Dublin University ground is gaining quite a reputation for unseemly behaviour. When a heavy shower of rain necessitated the players in the match between the University and the Curragh Brigade retiring five minutes before the hour set for drawing stumps, the home side only requiring one run to win at the time, the spectators indulged in a demonstration such as one would scarcely look for at a match on a college ground. In very sportsmanlike fashion, the soldiers came out again when the shower ceased, and played on after time to let their opponents win. I n his last three innings Storer has made 100, 100, not out, and 142, notout, which gives a total o f 342 for once out. The other men who have made three hundreds in successive innings in first- class ciicket are Dr. Grace (three or four times), Mr. A. C. MacLaren, and Abel. Captain W\nyard did the same thing for Hampshire when it was a second class county. It was very amusing to watch Mr. F. Leveson-Gower when he was batting on Monday for the M.C.C. against his brother’s bowling. Almost before the ball was delivered he seemed to know exactly what it was going to do, and placed himself in position to hit it to the boundary. Nevertheless, H . D. G. was at last, to his evident delight, successful in luring him on to hit at the wrong one, with fatal results. T h e Oxford team, without Messrs. Bardswell, Waddy, Haiti- y, Cunliffe and Pilkington, was, as may be expected, ridiculously weak in bowling, and it is no wonder that a powerful batting side like that of the M .C.C. made runs with very great ease. On the M.C.C. side there was not a single first-class bowler (For Trott has not yet done quite well enough in England to be called a first- class bowler), but on the other hand, there was hardly a first class batsman in the Oxford scratch eleven. T h e b e can be very little doubt that A. E. Trott is a much better man than he has shewn himself to be in England. At present, both in batting and bowling, he seems to be in a sort of experimental stage, and when he has quite settled down, he may be expected to be a very fine all-round man. But it will be a pity if he carries his experiments too far, for if he does, he will run a great risk of losing his skill entirely. I n the last match Trott often sent down a fast ball with the arm quite horizontal, but it is generally considered a mistake for a bowler to adopt two or three styles. It is quite on the cards that Trott may develop into a first-class fast bowler, but the sooner he makes up his mind the more likely he is to succeed. W h e n Mr. “ Herbert ” came in to bat for the M.C.C. against Oxford University, many of the spectators in the free seats did not recognise him, but after he had sampled an over or two, an old gentle­ man, who had shown some knowledge of the game, hit the nail on the head when he remarked, “ I don’t remember to have seen this Mr. ‘ ’Erbert ’ before, but he’s ‘ class.’ ” T h e match, to which reference was made last week in “ Gossip,” between the Abbey School, Beckenham, and an X I. of the House of Commons, proved