Cricket 1897

196 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J une 10, 1897. BUSSEY’S < G C fr« BATS. H IG H E S T G RAD E . BUSSEY’S BALLS. H IGH E S T G RADE . BUSSEY’S -/ f \ n s s . GUARDS. H IG H E S T G RAD E . BUSSEY’S •<-CCB« GLOVES. H IG H E S T G RAD E BUSSEY’S < c c e < ( BAGS. H IG H E S T G RADE . CRICKETERS’ < C C B ^ DIARY I S A G E M FOB , 6d. CATALOGUES ON APPLICATION TO CITY DEPOT— 36 & 38, QUEEN YICTORIA STREET, LONDON. OR DEALERS ALL OVER THE WORLD. MANUFACTORY— PECKHAM, LONDON. TIMBER MILLS— ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. BETWEEN THE INNINGS. Is Mr. Francis Ford going to play regularly for Middlesex this year ? If so, not only will the eleven be greatly strengthened, but the attractiveness of the Middlesex batting, and at any time Middlesex is, with the possible exception of Somerset at its best, and Sussex when Ranjitsinhji is making a long score, about the brightest batting side in the country —will be largely increased. What a family of hitters the Fords are ! And Mr. Francis Ford’s 150 at Lord’s last Saturday was worthy of the family reputation. It was made at the rate of slightly better than a run a minute, as it took only 2 hours 25 minutes, and so was, with the single exception of Ranji’s 260 (made in 245 minutes) the quickest-got score of the year so far. Those which approach it closely are Mr. Norman Druce’s 227 not out (230 minutes), Mr. Key’s 110 (115 minutes), Hirst’s 134 (145 minutes), Baker’ s 140 (145 minutes), Mr. H. C. Stewart’s 142 (140 minutes), and Brockwell’s 131 (140 minutes). Contrast these with Willie Quaife’s 120 in 4 hours 5 minutes, and 136 in 5 hours 40 minutes, or Carpenter’s 141 in 4 hours 45 minutes* Yet little Quaife, slow as he is compared with bats­ men like Ford and Brockwell and the rest, is a g->od deal quicker than Louis Hall and Barlow and poor Scotton used to be, and really not much slower than Gunn and Shrewsbury have often been. As Mr. Ford was the only century-scorer of last week, I am going to devote aparagraph or two to his career. The first item of not© I find against his name is a score of 202 not out in a junior house-match at Repton in 1882. This at the age of fifteen ! Three years later he made 200 not out in a house-match. In 1886, just before going up to Cambridge, he had his first trial for Middlesex, but was not particularly successful, only scoring 47 runs in five completed innings, while his top score was 23 (made against the same county as his last century, by the way), and the one wicket he took cost 111 runs. In 1887, he got his Blue at Cambridge as a Freshman (there was never much doubt of his getting it after his taking 12 wickets for 96 in the Freshmen’s match), and scored 79 (including 13 fours) v. Mr. Webbe’8 Eleven, but was not at all suc­ cessful against Oxford at Lord’s. He only played in four matches for Middlesex that season, but in two of the four he did very good service, scoring 20 and 38 v. Gloucestershire at Clifton, and 58 v. Yorkshire (secondinnings) at Huddersfield. It was in this innings that the Middlesex captain made his splendid 243 not out, and Mr. Ford helped him to add 113 runs for the sixth wicket. Altogether he had an average for the season of just over 20, while his 35 wickets cost 22J runs each. The next season—1888—was his best bowling year, 61 wickets for a little over 17J each; but in batting he scarcely fared so well on the treacherous wickets of that rainy year, and averaged only 17 per innings. He ran up 78 against Sussex at Brighton, and 81 against the M.C.C. at Cambridge, but again did next to nothing in the ’Varsity match. For Mid­ dlesex his best innings was against Glouces­ tershire at Cheltenham—68. He played for the Gentlemen at the Oval, but not at Lord’s. In 1889 he was in capital form, especially for Cambridge, making 46 and 43 v. Yorkshire, 123 (in 1 hour, 50 minutes) v. Sussex at Brigh­ ton, 40 v. theM.C.C. atLoad’ s, and29v. Oxford. He was captain this year. His one big score for Middlesex (he only had six innings for the county) was 108 v. Gloucestershire at Chelten­ ham, again an innings of under two hours, like the Brighton one. He played for the Gentlemen at Lord’s, but not at the Oval. If 1 remember rightly, he was not in residence at Cambridge in 1890, and the only home- matches he played in were those v. York­ shire and the Australians, when he scored 28, 2 and 25. In two of the out-matches, how­ ever, he was seen to great advantage. Against Surrey at the Oval his second innings of 53 was the highest of the match for his side ; and in the next match—the annual big- scoring affair at Brighton—he contributed no fewer than 191 to Cambridge’ s 703 for nine- wickets (then an English record). For this 191 he was only in 2J hours, and just 100 of it was made by fours, so that his style of play may be judged. He did not give a chance, save one of stumping at 54. In the ’Varsity match (his last) the 32, not out, which he made in the second innings was the highest score. For his county this season he was not particularly successful, his average being only 15,his highest score 60 v. Kent at Tonbridge. At Nottingham he earned a pair. Absent from first-class cricket altogether in 1891, he was an almost total failure on his return to it in 1892, 25 being his highest score in 12 innings. In 1893, however, able to play more regularly than ever before, he was in capital form. Though he did not once score three figures, he made 912 runs with an average of 26. He only missed three of the Middlesex matches, and among his scores were 45 and 36 v. Notts (the match in which Stoddart made his double century, Mr. Ford being the only man who gave him good support in both innings), 29 and 74 v. Surrey, 57 v. Sussex, and 81 v. Lancashire (all at Lord’s), 29 and 48 (of a total of 98) v. Kent at Gravesend, 86 v. Notts at Trent Bridge (revenge for that pair in 1890 !), and 26 and 63 v. Somerset at Taunton. Wonderfully consistent scoring was this, for a hitting batsman. In 1894 he could only play occasionally, and the biggest scores which went to make up his aggregate of 286 (average 20) were 60 v. Kent at Tonbridge, 47 v. Notts at Trent Bridge, and 38 v. Sussex at Lord’s. In the winter that followed he was touring in Australia with Mr. Stoddart’s team, and was seen to no little advantage on the true Antipodean wickets. In the first important match, v. South Australia, he hit up 66 in ]^is first innings ; in the first of the test matches, at Sydney, 30 and 48; in the return with Victoria a fine second innings of 85 ; and in the return with South Australia (the last game of the tour) 106 and 18 not out. His average for the first-class matches was 26. Mr. Ford played in only two first-class matches in 1895, but his scores in these two were:— Middlesex v. Sussex, at Lord’s, in July— 34and 29. Stoddart’sX I v. England, atHastings, inSeptember— 1and 111not out. It was a merciless innings, that 111. Six wickets had gone down for 120 runs ; then he and Lockwood added 169 without being parted; Stoddart “ declared,” and England tumbled one for 68. In 1896, five matches for Middlesex gave Mr. Ford an aggregate of 246, and an average of 27. His great per­ formance of the year was his 77 and 61 v. Lancashire at Lord’s. This year he has started splendidly, with 41 v. Lancashire in a low-scoring match, and 66 and 150 v. Gloucestershire.