Cricket 1897

116 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 6, 1897. BUSSEY’S < « G B « BATS. H IGHEST GRADE . BUSSEY’S BALLS. H IGHEST GRADE . BUSSEY’S GUARDS. H IGHEST GRADE . BUSSEY’S GLOVES. H IGHEST GRADE . BUSSEY’S BAGS. H IGHEST GRADE . CITY DEPOT— 36 & 38, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, L O N D O N . AGENTS ALL OVER THE WORLD. M ANUFACTORY— PECKHAM , LONDON . TIMBER M ILLS— ELMSWELL , SUFFOLK. BETWEEN THE INNINGS. If Leicestershire does not perform bet­ ter this year than last, it will evidently not be the fault of those who hold the reins of authority at the Aylestone Road ground. Every effort is being made to train up in the way they should go. The notion of playing one or two minor matches before the commencement of the county season is good, though not new ; but why was the side put into the field against the Leicester Banks called the Leicestershire Second Eleven ? Surely Mr. C. E. De Trafford, Knigh1:, Tomlin, Mr. R. Joyce, Wood, and Brown (all among last year’s first eleven men), are somewhat heavy metal for a second eleven! The side should cer­ tainly have been called “ Club and Ground.” Not that it matters much, of course; and, any way, one is pleased to see that the captain, Tomlin, and young Mr. Joyce, were all in form. To my mind, Knight is the most prcmisicg mem­ ber of the midland county’s team; but I wish he would learn to hit out a bit. I have to thank Mr. J. H. Ferguson for a copy of the score of the match between New Zealand and Queensland, played at Wellington, N.Z., last Christmas-time. I am afraid it is somewhat out of date for inclusion in Cricket now ; but, as it is un­ doubtedly a genuine intercolonial game, and, as I believe, that both colonies will be found playing a much more important part in Australasian cricket during the next few years than of old, I wanted it to place among my own records of the game. The island colony won in really fine style by 182 runs, outplaying their opponents from Bananaland throughout. The scores were:—New Zealand, 207 and 241; Queensland, 146 and 120. The principal scorers for the winners were:—H. B. Lusk (59 and 23); A. It. Holdship (7 and 69); J. Baker (36 and 19); L. A. Cuff (17 and 41); and W. Pearce (52 and 5). A. B. Williams, who played an innings of 73 against the Australian team, was not included in the side, nor was Fisher, the left-hand bowler, of whom the tourists formed so high an opinion. Baker scored 40 in his second innings against the Aus­ tralians ; and A. E. Ridley, who made 9 and 30 v. Queensland, also performed well against the stronger side with 23 and 20. 1 am lumping these two matches to­ gether (though that against the Austra­ lians cannot be considered as first-class, since the home team played fifteen men), because they are undoubtedly the most important matches played in the colony for some time past. It is to be hoped that Mr. Stoddart’s next team will visit New Zealand, for the cricket there would seem to have improved a good deal since the last visit of an English team—Shrewsbury’s, nearly ten years a g o . _____ A glance at the January and March numbers of Cricket (op. 11, 12, 39) will show anyone who is interested some more New Zealand ciicket. I cannot forbear to give here, however, the figures of A. H. Fisher, the crack Otago bowler, in the two matches in which he played for his province against the Australian team and Queensland respectively. They were:— v. Australians | ™ b*Us ;;; « "i<*eto. v. Queensland I 1® ” ;;; g » ® » Twenty wickets for 161 runs is a capital record, and it was a great pity that Fisher was unable to play in either of the more important matches. Only three men did much for the beaten side. S. Donahoo, the man of whom Melbourne folk had such high hopes a few years back, scored 70 and 11; Doctor Macdonald made 1 and 30; W. W. Mc- Glinchy scored 25 and 16, and took ten wickets for 137 runs. Is this McGlinchy the same man who appeared a few times for New South Wales some years ago ? can anyone tell me ? By the way, we have still to hear of Queensland’s most important game of the season, the match v. New South Wales, at Brisbane, fixed for April 17 and following days. It is too much to expect that the Banana- landers will have taken down the number of the undefeated Cornstalks, especially as the best all-round man Queensland has ever had, Coningham, will probably be playing against his old mates. But it is scarcely probable that the Sydney men will have been quite in full force at Brisbane; indeed, it is tolerably certain they will not have been, for Iredaln, Gregory, McKibbin and Kelly were all, if I mistake not, under promise to accompany George Giffen’s Australian team to the Golden West at Easter. Mr. Ferguson tells me that it was not Poidevin who made the three-hundred score in Sydney early this season, but L. W. Pye, a young batsman owing allegiance to the Central Cumberland, Frank Iredale’s club. The score was 300, not out, but, further than saying that it was made in an off-match (that is, not an electorate contest) Mr. Ferguson gives no other details. A really good cricket story is such a rare treat that I feel compelled to recom­ mend to all my readers, Mr. E. W. Horning’s “ A Bowler’s Innings,” which appeared in Chambers’ Journal for April 10th. It should, perhaps, be called a sketch rather than a story, and it is a sad and sombre enough sketch; but no one who loves ciicket should miss it. I remember some years back reading in Cornhill a capital story—I believe also by Mr. Horning, and his name is a surety for good work—of a batsman who scored 99 in a ’Varsity match. Was there not some Oriental vase in it? I don’t remember much of the vase, but the 99 has stuck in my memory. One of my correspondents was kind enough last year about this time to ex­ press approval of some old verses of mine, which I had resurrected to give variety to one of my articles. It is perhaps too bad to punish the many for the fault of one ; nevertheless, I am once more about