Cricket 1897

148 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 20, 1897. BUSSEY’S BATS. H IGHEST GRADE . BUSSEY’S m 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, LONDON. AGENTS ALL OVER THE WORLD. MANUFACTORY— PECKHAM, LONDON. TIMBER MILLS— ELMSWELL , SUFFOLK. BETWEEN THE INNINGS. For the third season in succession, the first fortnight of May— the very begin­ ning of the first-cla«s season— has proved a period of wonderful scoring’. Already such totals as 602, 560, 494, 448, 420, and 418 have been run up ; twelve centuries have been recorded; and long stands have been the order of the day. And this, in spite of the fact that the weather has been anything but favourable. At the time of writing, the sun is at last making itself felt, but during almost the whole of last week the atmospheric con­ ditions were far more favourable to the winter game than to cricket. The cold, of course, affected the bowlers and fields­ men far more than the batsmen; some of the long scores made were, doubtless, due in no small measure to the numbness of certain members of the out-side’s fingers. The May programme for this year is by no means so heavy as was that of 1896. The M.C.C. is busy, of course; and Sur­ rey, Lancashire, and Yorkshire make an eariy start, as usual; while Essex has five matches within the month, as has Sussex But Middlesex doesnot put a sideinto tbe field until the last day of May; and Kent, Derbyshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, and Hampshire decide only two matches each during the merry month. In 1894, Whitsuntide fell within the first fortnight of the season, which was consequently pretty busy. Twelve first- class matches in all were played; ani in these two centuries were recorded - J. E. H ill’s 139 and Pougher’s 109, both not out. Had it not been for the promotion of the four erstwhile second-class coun­ ties, not one would have been registered. Considerably the highest total was War­ wickshire’s 351 v. Notts. In 1895 there were nine first-class matches played during the first fortnight of the season, and in these eleven cen­ turies were made, the batsmen credited with them being Abel (217), Frank Mitchell (191), S. M. J. Woods (180), Ranjitsinhji (150), Lilley (139), Holland (123), G. F. Higgins (118), Burns (114), Tomlin (106*), H . W. Bainbridge (104*), and W. G. Grace (103). Among the totals scored were 448 (by Surrey), 330, 390, 330, 385, 410 (by Essex), 344 for 5 wickets, and 305. This was a sensational enough start, in all conscience; but it was far eclipsed in 1896. No fewer than nineteen first-class matches were got into the first two weeks of last season; and among them was that memorable game at Birmingham, when Yorkshire beat world’s record for a first-class match with 887, and four indi­ vidual centuries. Seventeen centuries in all were made in the nineteen matches, three of them— Abel’s 231, Hayward’s 229*, and Peel’s 210*— being “ two hun­ dred’s” ; while, besides the 887, scores of 443, 430, 400, 440, 422, and 512 were registered. Of the four 200-runs’ scorers of last week Abel is the only one who has “ been there before,” at least, as far as first-class cricket is concerned. Mr. Norman Druca scored 199, not out, in 1895 ; and it would have been a great pity if, like George Ulyett, he had never been able to get so far again. One would have liked to see George’s name in the list. It is only fitting that the Indian Prince’s should be there; had he a more robust physique, one would expect to see him beating record some day. Even as it is, it would not be wise to set a limit to his capacity. Mr. Dixon’s long tenancy of an arduous office — the captaincy of the Notts eleven, has never been exactly a bed of roses— is worthily crowned by his long score of the other day; but somehow I cannot help feeling as I felt when MacLaren lowered W. G.’s record. It would have seemed more fitting had Mr. Dixon just failed to reach the 267 of Arthur Shrewsbury — the greatest batsman Notts ever had. During the many years Mr. C. I. Thornton has taken down an eleven to Cambridge to play the representatives of his Alma Mater, he has never, I believe, had to put up with so severe a reverse as that inflicted by what looked (on paper) by no means a particularly strong Cam­ bridge eleven the other day. The last three matches between the teams have been drawn, in 1896 and 1895 owing to heavy scoring, in 1894 on account of rain. In 1893 the Cantabs won be eight wickets, thanks largely to Mr. “ Jimmy ” Douglas’s superb batting. In 1892 they were also victorious, by 97 runs, Mr. R. N. Douglas’s 69 being the leger score for them. In 1891 a splendid game ended in a victory for the scratch team by one wicket, in spite of the fact that Mr. R. C. N. Douglas played an innings of 131 for Cambridge. In 1890 the Cantabs won by four wickets, Mr. “ Sammy ” Woods taking all ten wickets of the Eleven in their second innings. In 1889 Lohmann and Briggs proved too much for the youngsters; they scored only 95 and 60, and were beaten by the heavy margin of an innings and 139 runs. In 1888 the Eleven won by ten wickets, just reversing the 1887 decision. Thus, of the lasteleven matches the Can­ tabs have won five and lost three, a highly creditable result. Looking at the strength ofthe teamwhich Mr. Thornton generally manages to get together, one is inclined, at first sight, to think it somewhat strange that the ’Varsity eleven (often including a large proportion of new men) should so frequently beat it. But it must be remembered that, although the fixture with Thornton’s team is generally the Cantabs’ first important match, the men engaged on the ’Varsity side have been devoting the greater part of their waking hours to hard practice for two or three weeks beforehand. The newcomers in the team are keen to win their spurs, and the older members have generally met the opposing bowlers before. On the other side are sure to be included