Cricket 1896

S ept . 17, 1896. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. one on the side who made double figures. Smith, a Darley man, took 6 wickets against the Eleven for 29, whi'e Hulme took 12 for 14 against the locils. I k 1893, the Horsham (Sussex) “C.C. scored 7,708 runs, and their visitors 7,168 ; in 1894, 4,940 for 451 wickets, and their visitors 4,559 for 497 wickets; iu 1896, 4 444 runs for 284 wickets, aud their visitors 3.965 for 353 wickets. Amongst the well-known men who played on the grouud duting the past season are Mr. H. D.Gr. Lsveson-Gower, Mr. H. B. Steel, Alec Hearne, Cailin, Whitehead, Killick, Mead and Bland. I t would be impossible to say who was the very best all-round man tids year, because no one stands out abiolutely alone. But Abel, Hayward, Peel F. S. Jackson, S M. J. Woods, George Giffen, W. G., H int, H. Trumble, and G. H. S. Trott, all come within the category of splendid all-round men. Their batting and bjw ling averages are as follows. No attempt has been made to place tbe men in order, and no record has been taken of fielding; most of them are good fields: — BATTING AVERAGES. No. Times Most of not To'al in an inns out. runs. inns Aver. Hayward . ..............54 .. 8 ... 1595 ... 229*.. 34M37 Peel ... . ............ .. 6 ... 1208 ... 210*.. 30-15 Abel ... . ..............55 .. 3 ... 2218 ... 231 .'. 42-6=> Jackson .............. 42 .. 3 ... 1648 .. 117 .. 42*25 Woods .............. 37 .. 2 ... 1128 .. 158*.. 32*22 Giffen .. .............. 49 .. 1 ... 1203 .. 130 .. 2516 Grace ... . ..............51 ... 4 .. 2135 .. 301 .. 42-70 Hirsh. ... . . ........44 ... 4 .. 1122 .. 107 .. 28-05 Trumbl9 ............... 43 ..11 .. 6i8 .. 45* .. 19 6-2 Trott ... . ............. 54 ... 5 .. 1297 . 143 ... 26-46 * Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. Hayward . ... 615 . 2^2 . . 1541 . . 91 . . 16-93 Peel ... ..........1275 1 . . 485 . . 2240 . .128 .. 17 15 Abel ... ......... 290 . . 93 . . 603 . . 31 . . 19-51 Jackson .. .. 5'-0 ... 195 .. 1129 .. 48 . . 23 52 Woods .. .........471-1 .. 155 .. 1143 .. 51 . . 22-41 Giffen ... ........ 864'2 .. 219 .. 2257 ..117 . . 19-29 Grace ... ......... 553 3 .. 158 .. 1249 .. 52 . . 24-01 Hirst ... .........100:3-1 . . 314 .. 2-248 ..101 . . 21 61 Trumble ........ 1140*1 . .. 380 . 2310 ..148 . . 15-81 Trott ... .. .. 339 4 .. 66 .. 928 .. 41 . . 21-C9 T h a t such an old parliamentary hand as “ The Guv’n or” should have been caught, napping as he was at Richmond, on Monday, would hardly have been thought possible. None the lees, he was the victim of the good old schoolboy trick. Towards the end of the Surrey Eleven’s innings, he bad been backing up, not wisely, but too'well. The bowler (W. Williams) observing his tactics, instead of delivering the ball, turned round and put the wicket down, with the result that Abel, who had overstepped the crease, w&s very properly given out. Tbe Roman poet tells us that no mortal is Bane at all hours. And batsmen are after all only mortal. I s a review of the season at the Fins­ bury Park Cricket Ground the Hollo­ way Press says :—“ Perhaps the most important personage in the matches and who is entitled to the greatest amount of sympathy, is the umpire. His decision, whenever it is a ^iear thing (say l.b.w.) is certain to be disputed on one side or the other. It is not at all an uncommon occurrence when a man is given out leg before wicket for the batsman to persist in disputing the umpire’s decision, and should it transpire that the captains of the teams do not insist upon the umpire’s ruling the batsmen is alio wed to continue his innings as if the umpire had never been appealed to. Oa two occasions this dis-owning the umpire and over-ruling his decision was brought immediately under the notice of the writer, and on another occasion a match was being played and one of the batsmen being well eet, and the bowler having pitched the ball consilerably wide of the wicket, to leg, the ball broke back, the batsman stepped iu front of his wicket to try to play the ba ll; he missed. A sharp appeal from the bowler for l.b.w, was not allowed, in consequence of which the whole of the field at once demanded another umpire, but the captain on the batsman’s side was inexorable and refused to accede to such a childish request, and the game proceeded.” I t appears too, that there is a right of way across the cricket ground which has its inconveniences, for “ it is pretty certain that one or two of the fair sex will, just at the time when all the matches are in full swing, presume upon their rights, and without adopting the slightest pre­ caution thread their ways right through all the cricketers at all hazards and at a time when the cricket balls are flying in all directions ; and in all probability they have two or three young children with them. But what appears almost an incredible fact is that cricketers who have donned the flannels and have been taking an active part in a contest against another club, will (if they have completed their innings before their neighbours, who are fighting their battle on the adjoining wicket) if the outside require refreshment, cross, if the shortest way to the refresh­ ment seat be direct through or over the neighbours’ play. It may be there are ten or twelve of them, which seriously inter­ feres with the other cricketers and to some extent retards their game, to say nothing how it exposes the silly ignorance of those who profess to call themselves cricketers.” T h e brotherhood of Surrey sportsmen, of which Fred was the bright particular star, has become extinct by the death of Mr. Thomas Burbidge at Brighton, last week. Although long illness had con­ siderably curtailed his opportunities of seeing first-class matches of late, Tom Burbidge never lost touch with the game. He took a hearty interest in Surrey cricket and cricketers which he retained to the last. A t the annual dinner of the members of the Aberdeenshire C.C., the Marquis of Huntly, the president of the club, related the following incident which, he said, occurred the other day not 100 miles from Aberdeen. “ The umpire, a very prominent gentleman, gave one of the players “ guard.” The first ball went down, and hit the player’s toe, which had never been moved. The umpire gave “ not out.” The next ball hit the player almost in the sims place, and the umpire this tim i said “ out.” After the innings the umpire was askad his decision, and explaiue 1 that the b itsnian was out the first time, but he thought he would give him anther chanco —Slaughter). He never thought of telling the poor man that he h id giveu him the off stump guard instead of the centre—(laughter).” D u r in g the past season cricket has taken great strides iu Franee, and several new clubs, compose I entirely of French­ men, have been founded. A committee has be h i formed to arrange for a cham­ pionship competition next yeir, which may or not be a move iu the right direction. Aoa MiDtva to the Brighton Times, Surrey and Sussex, siuce the formation of the county clubs, have met on eighty-two occasions; of these Surrey claim forty-nine victorias against Sussex’s seventeen, while sixteen have been left unfinished. The years that Sussex proved themselves masters of the situation were in 1819, 1852, 1855 (twice), 1866, 1867, 1870, 1871 (twice), 1872, 1873, 1875, 1876, 1882, 1886, 1893, and at the Oval this year. Only twice on the present Hove Ground has Sussex prove! \ictorious: in 1875, by an innings and 37 runs ; and again in 1876 by eight wickets. Of close finishes the most remarkable was in 1855, on the old Hove ground, when Sussex won by only two runs; while the most crushing defeat was experienced by Sussexin 1^88 by an inuings and 485 runs. In ju s tic e was, it would appear, done— quite unintentionally, of course—to Buck­ inghamshire in the summary of its doings for the Second-Class Counties Championship, as Cricket gave it a fort­ night ago. As a matter of fact, the Bucks eleven in that competition played eight matches—the minimum for qualifi­ cation—of which they won four, drew three, and lost one. T h e y were particularly unlucky in losing the first place by a head, as it were, for Herts, the one county to beat them, only pulled through by the bare margin of a wicket. Tne executive of the Club have reason to be more than satisfied with the performances of the team, more especially as it was their first appearance for the Second-Class Counties Championship. One of the most pleasant features in their record is the success of their captain. There is no keener cricketer and all-round sportsman than P. J. de Paravacini, and his position at the head of the batting averages will give pleasure to his many friends outside as well as in the county. C a p t a in P o o r e , the batsman who scored so well against Lord Hawke’s team in India, and still more recently against the combination personally con­ ducted by the Yorkshire captain iu S mth Africa, is just now facing a more difficult kind of ball from the rebels in Rhodesia. Unless I am mistaken, his superior officer N E X T ISSUE, THURSDA Y , OC TOBER 29.