Cricket 1896

J u l y 16, 1896. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 289 Tj T h e feature of M itchell’s bowling is his full pitch. When this is a little more under command, it ought to be a very useful ball indeed, for the batsman, thinking that it is going to hit him on the head, ducks when it gets close to him, and seems surprised to find that it has fallen only a little over his wicket. The full pitched lob, if it is well pitched, has potentialities, as Dr. E . M. Grace discovered lon g ago. F o b the Gentlemen v. Players match at Lord’s, not a single member of this year’s two University teams was chosen to play. This must be almost a recjrd. T h e scores made by our best batsmen against the present Australian team, are as follow s: Gunn, 5 and 6, 39, 69 and 26,25 and 13*, 36 and 49*. Mr. Stoddart, 51, 17 and 30*. Mr. Grace, 49 and 26, 27 and 66,15, 66 and 7. K . 8. Ranjitsinhji, 79 and 42. 26, 7. Lilley, 21,17 and 21, 0, 23 and 61. Mr. Jackson, 17 and 95*, 51, 20, 44, 45 and 22. Pougher, 10, 27* and 0, 9*, 20 and 39, 43 and 0. Brown, 10 and 33,12, 9 and 36, 32 and 8. Abel, 94 and 4. Storer, 62 and 34. B y the above it will be seen how remarkable has been the regularity with which Dr. Grace, Gunn, and Mr. Jackson have made a good round score against the Australians, and it seems a great pity that Gunn was not thought of when the second England team was chosen. I r e d a l e is still, to use a sporting phrase, going very strong. Thanks to three innings of over a hundred and scores of 94, not out, and 40, he has made a total of 569 for nine completed innings, giving an average of 63'22, since the England match. I n the Surrey v. Sussex match, George Bean drove a ball back so hard that the umpire could not get out of its way. He had just time to turn round, and, fortunately for him, the ball struck the lower part of his long white coat, so that it dropped harmlessly to the ground. But Bean’s prospective four did not come off. S u r r e y had five men run out in the above m atch ; three in the first innings and two in the second. In most of the cases it was not the fault of the men themselves, but of their partners, though this did not lessen the demoralizing effect which the disasters must have had on the rest of the team. For five different men on a side to be run out during a match must be almost a record. I t is a question whether matches such as that between Liverpool and District and Cambridge University, arranged to take place soon after the ’Varsity match, do any good to cricket or to the cricketers who take part in them. There is always a great slackness in ’Varsity teams after the great match is over, and it seems a pity that some of the men should be prevented from helping their counties who may greatly require their assistance. T h e Australians have won the toss against Lord Sheffield's X I , South of En g­ land (Eastbourne), Yorkshire, Lancashire, Wembley park, Yorkshire (second match), Midland Counties, England, Yorkshire (third match), North of England, Players and Leicestershire. They have lost it against Essex, Crystal Palace X I, Oxford, Gloucestershire, M.C.C., Notts, and Hampshire. Thus they have been success­ ful with the toss on twelve occasions, and unsuccessful in seven. It will be noticed that, with the single exception of the M.C.C. match, Trott has never lost the toss against a team which could have had any real chance of winning. This must be an unprecedented run of good fortune, and English captains must envy the luck of the popular Australian. O n Thursday and Friday of last week, Mr. Cecil Holden, the Birkenhead Park amateur, played against Cambridge Uni­ versity for Liverpool and District, and on Saturday for Birkenhead Park against Northern. In the first match he made 15 and 63; in the second, he went in first and was out last but one for a score of 202 out of 261. In two consecutive overs in this match he scored 44, by two sixes and eight fours. S in c e their arrival in England, the following hundreds have been made by the Australians:— S. E. Gregory v. Crystal Palace X I... ... ... ..154 I. Darling ... v. X I. of the South (Eastbourne) ...115 G. Gitfen ... v. X I. of the South (Eastbourne)...115 G. H. S. Trott v. England ..........................................143 S. E. Gregory v. England .......... .......................... 103 F. A. Iredale...y. Yorkshire (3rdMatch)...................114 F. A . Iredale . v. Hampshire ...................................106 G. Giffen ... v. Hampshire ... ...........................130 F. A . Iredale...v. Players (Leyton) ...........................171 J. Darling ...v. Leicestershire..................................194 S.E. Gregory...v. Leicestershire..................................102 As no one has scored a hundred against the Australians, it is only possible to give a list of those who have made over 50 against them. It is as follow s:— F. S. Jackson ... for Lord Sheffield’s Team ...95* K. S. Ranjiteinhji for Lord Sheffield’s Team .. 79 Carpenter ........... for Essex .....................................51 J. R. Mason ... for X I. of South (Eastbourne) 53 H. K. Foster ... for Oxford University .............. 66 H. D. G. L.-Gower for Oxford University .............. 93 W . G. Grace ... for Gloucestershire ..................... 66 A. E. Stoddart ... for M.C.C. .....................................64 F. S. Jackson ... for M.C.C..........................................51 Gunn .................. for Midland Counties .............69 Quaife (W . G.)... for Midland Counties ............. 68 W . G. Grace ... for England..................................... 66 Abel .................. for England................................... .94 Tunnicliffe........... for Yorkshire ............................. 59 Lilley .......... .. for North of England ...........61 Capt. Wynyard .. for Hampshire .............................e 8 S torer.................. for Players (Leyton)....................62 Geeson.................. for Leicestershire ................... 53 * ^Signifies not out. T a b l e s are often misleading, but the above two speak for themselves. It is • true that some of the hundreds made by the Australians were againt weak bow l­ ing, but many others were against some o f the best bowling that England can produce. The broad fact remains that eleven individual innings of a hundred have been scored by the Australians against English bowling, while not a single Englishman has scored a hundred against them. Such a state of affairs is alto­ gether unprecedented. H e would be a bold man who would venture to offer odds on England in the match which begins to-m orrow ( Thurs­ day) at Old Trafford, more especially if the Australian captain wins the toss. It would be much less bold to offer three to two that Trott was again successful in doing this. F o r Hampstead, v. Willesden, at Willesden on Saturday last, T. M. Parmiloe and B. Leigh-Ibbs put on 124 runs at the fall of the seventh wicket in sixty-five minutes, Farmiloe scoriug 101 (not out), and Leigh-Ibbs 69 (not out). A t the annual general meeting of the Cricketer’s Fund, it was mentioned that the Australians had been asked to play a match for the benefit of the fund, but that they were unable to arrange a date, and as it is no easy matter to alter dates of matches after they have been made, this is not to be wondered at. A t these annual meetings, the President of the fund (Captain W. E. Denison), generally touches on one of the subjects about which there has been some little recent controversy, and this year he expressed his opinion that the action of the Cam­ bridge team in the ’Varsity match was not quite in accordance with the spirit in which the game ought to be played, although it was not illegal. I n a match between Epsom 2nd and Cheam 2od, on Saturday, E. S. Surridge made 20 runs in an over by means of five 4’s. This, for a second eleven player, was a somewhat remarkable feat. I t is a little curious that, on Tuesday afternoon, J. T. Hearne, a bowler pure and simple (though he might have been a bat if circumstances had permitted) made 71 at Lord’s, against the Gentlemen, and Lilley, a wicket-keeper and a batsman with no pretension to bowl, took 6 wickets, at Derby, for Warwickshire, against Derbyshire, for 46 runs. T he British Public Schools and Uni­ versities Club, which has recently been founded in New Y ork, is making steady progress. It is the intention and definite purpose of the club to provide itself with a permanent home, suitable to its name and aspirations. As yet, however, the membership does not warrant the necessary expenditure, and, for some months to come, members must be con­ tent with occasional social reunions. The fees are twenty dollars per annum, payable quarterly, with an initiation fee of five dollars. Non-resident members— by which is meant those living more than fifty miles from New Y ork City— pay an annual fee of five dollars, with no initiation fee. The secretary is Cockburn Harvey, 63, Fifth Avenue, an old Cheltenham boy. I n a match played by the above club on June 22, the Manhattan veterans received a severe beating, chiefly ow ing to the excellent bow ling and batting of Jerome Flannery (Dublin University), who is well known as the Editor of the