Cricket 1896

A ug . 6, 1896. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 337 S ue clubs count retired as “ ou t” ; others as “ not out,” whatever may be the reason for retirement; Fome count “ not out ” as a completed innings; while many clubs which only play half­ day cricket do not count a second innings at all in the averages. In certain leagues there are also curious customt in the manner of compiling averages. Bat thesediscrepancies ciusenoinc >nvemenoe, beciuse the averages are always made ont by one or other of the club’s officials, and are not needed for purposes of com­ parison. I t is hardly necessary to say that there are different opinions in Eng­ land as to 1he desirablit.y of count­ ing “ retired hurt ” as “ not ou t” in first-class cricket. Mr. Perkins is decidedly of opinion that “ retired” ought to count as “ out,” and other great authorities think the same ; on the other hand, most criiketers may be said to agree with the system in use at present. My own opinion is that “ retired ” ought to count as “ out,” because there cannot be two “ not outs ” in a finished innings, any more than there can be three “ not outs ” in a closed innings. At the same time I think that it would he hard that a man who had a finger smashed—perhaps with the first ball he received—should suffer for this. i S cbne . Cricket match in Surrey be­ tween boys and girls. Girls have made 31. Boys go in, and one of them makes 47. Gentleman (to a Mend): “ He has beaten them off his own bat.” Small boy (who is listening): “ It isn’t his b a t; it’s mine.” Q uernmore House School has won all its six matches in the school league which was recently instituted by Mr. C. J. M. Godfrey. The league at present consists of Audley House, Forest Hill School, Sidcup College and Quernmore House. I n the Hampshire v. Warwickshire match, at Birmingham, the home team scored 78 in the two hours before lunch on Thursday. On Friday, Hampshire scored 75 in an hour and a quarter before lunch. T here was a curious difference in the rate of scoring in Mr. Bainbridge’s two innings for Warwickshire. His first innings of 84 lasted for three hours and ten minutes; his second innings of 85 took an hour and a half. In the same match, W. G. Quaife’s first innings of 110 lasted no less than five hours and ten minutes. But for the slowness of their scoring in the first innings, Warwickshire would possibly have won the match. As a contrast to the scoring of some of the Warwickshire team, it may be men­ tioned that Mr. Jessop made 29 in half an hour, and 81 in 80 minutes for Gloucestershire v. Lancashire—in the second innings, 130 were put on while he was batting. Mr. Ernest Smith for Yorkshire v. Surrey made 55 in 40 minutes. I t is becoming fashionable for eight or nine of a side in at least one innings of a match to score double figures. Among recent instances may be mentioned Lanca­ shire, first innings v. Gloucestershire, 9 double figures; Surrey v. Yorkshire, 8 double figures; Notts, first innings v. Sussex, 9 double figures; Somerset, first innings v. Middlesex, 8 double figures ; Middlesex, first innings v. Somerset, 8 double figures. M i s f o r t u n e followed Gloucestershire all through their match with Lancashire. They lost the toss, and could not prevent their opponents from running up a large score on a good wicket ; they lost tbe services of Board at the wicket soon after the game began, owing to an injury to a finger, and they practically lost his services with the bat, for although he went in, he was Severely handicapped. In addition to this they began their first innings in a shockingly bad light, and lost three good wickets before the game was adjourned and finally abandoned for the day. As a climax, it rained iu the night and ruined the wicket. A lthough the match between Notts and Sussex lasted for all three days, with the exception of about two hours before luncheon on the second day, only 833 runs were made, and of these the last 190 were put on in two hours and 40 minutes. T he defeat of the Australians by Earl de la Warr’s X I is the first they have suffered since June 24th, when they were beaten by England. They have now played 25 matches, won 15, lost 4, and drawn 6, of which two, Sheffield Park and M.C.C return, were not in their favour. A t the end of last week, there were several fine double innings. The best of them were by Mr. Bainbridge, 84 and 85 for Warwickshire v. Hampshire ; Captain Quinton, 68 and 63, not out, for Hamp­ shire v. Warwickshire; Gunn, 42 and 60 for Notts v. Sussex; R. S. Ranjitsinbji 52 and 100, not out, for Sussex v. Notts ; Mr. Jessop, 29, not out, and 81 for Glou­ cestershire v. Lancashire. S ince J. T. Hearne’s return to form with tbe ball in the Sussex v. Middlesex match, his analyseshave been as follows:— Overs. Maidens. Runs. Wickets. 23 ... ... 8 ... ... 42 ... ... 5 45 ... ... 15 ... ... 88 ... ... 5 15.3... ... 7 ... ... 38 ... ... 6 26 ... ... 10 .. ... 69 ... ... 7 50 ... ... 24 ... ... 95 ... ... 4 52 2... ... 19 ... ,... 100 ... ... 5 A n o t h e r famous batsman who has suddenly shown unexpected skill in bow­ ling is W. G. Quaife, who for Warwick­ shire took 5 wickets for 62 against the Australians on Bank Holiday. B y winning the toss against Warwick­ shire on Monday, the Australians have now brought their record of tosses to won 17, lost 8. Since the first match against the M.C.C. on June 11th and 12th, they have only lost the toss three times in 14 matches ; and only once since the Hamp­ shire match on July 6th. This is a record with which any team may he highly satisfied. But what if a fearful nemesis should overtake the next Australian team which visits Engl aid ! W .G.’s 301 for Gloucestershire v. Sussex has taken the place of Mr. Palairet’s 292 as the highest innings of the year. It has only been exceeded five times in first- class ciicket—by A. C. Maclaren, 424, W. G. biuaself, 344 and 318 not out, W. W. Read, 338, and W. L. Murdoch, 321. Mr. Palairet’s 292 was exceeded by the 297 not out of Mr. Harry Moses, 1he famous Australian, but this has now been left behind. T he Gloucestershire innings of 551 was productive of most uneven cricket. Three men (W.G., Mr. Rice and Mr. Kitcat) made 462 out of tbe 530 runs from the bat, and six of the team made 9 between them. I t is just like Sussex to find W.G. in startling form in both the out and home matches; it will be remembered that against Sussex, at Brighton, on Whit Monday, W.G. made 243 not out. I t seems a fitting occasion to give a complete list of W.G.’s innings of 200 and upwards iu first-class matches. It is as follows :— 1866. Gloucestershire v. Surrey'................. ... 221* 1870. Gentlemen v. Players........................ ... 215 1871. South v. North ............................... ... 268 1871. Gentlemen v. Players........................ ... 217 1876. Gloucestershire v. Kent ... .. ... 344 1876. Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire .......... ... 318* 1877. South v. North .............................. ... 261 1885. Gloucestershire v. Middlesex .......... ... 221* 1888. Gloucestershire v. Sussex................. ... 215 1895. Gloucestershire v. Somerset .......... ... 288 1896. Gloucestershire v. Sussex................. ... 243* 1896. Gloucestershire v. Sussex (Return) ... 301 *Signifles not out. D arling ’ s 105 against Warwickshire has now brought the number of individual hundreds made by the Australians up to eighteen. The total of hundreds made against them still remains at two. T he match between the Surrey Club and Ground and Whitgift Grammar School at Whitgift on July 29th pro­ duced a curio of cricket cuiios. One innings was completed by each side, and in each a batsman carried his bat through. C. H. R. Henman, who went in first for Whitgift, carried out his bat for 87 in a total of 160. Later on W. A. Windsor, a youngster who hails from Mitcham, saw the whole of the Surrey Club eleven out, making 72 out of 132 runs. A double first of this kind is of the rarest. “ T he H ouse ,” so rumour has it, is shortly to receive another valuable addi­ tion to itsalready long roleof distinguished cricketers in the person of this year’s Oxford captain. A well-known all-round sportsman is to be Mr. Leveson-Gower’s guide, philosopher, and friend on his introduction to the Stock Exchange. “ You Notts men have little heart— art was the word as it was used—and