Cricket 1897

F eb. 25, 1897. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 19 Slinn, George Atkinson, Tarrant, the late George Freeman, and others whom I could name, were as good and as straight as any modern bowler. The reason why leg hitting went out of fashion was because the ‘ cock-a-doodle ’ bowler came into existence, keeping the ball nearly always on the off, and placing the field nearly all on the off aide. Longstopping, which was a fine part of the game in the days of fast bowling, also went out. On many occasions in the present day it would be very desirable to renew it to save byes, 6nicks and boundaries. My old friend, the Hon. E. Chandos Leigh, Q.C. (now Counsel to the Speaker and Recorder of Nottingham), was one of the best long6tops I ever saw to fast bowling, as well as being a fine bat.” Mr. Wright used to be very fond of single wicket. “ In fact,” he said, “ I don’t remember ever being beaten, though, of course, I was always careful how I made my match, but it is harder work then, and vary different from regular cricket. Not so very long ago I played my young friend, Mr. J. A. Dixon (the Notts county captain), a match at Trent Bridge, and fairly beat him. Of course, there was great luck in it, especially after he won the toss and had the first knock, but I don’ t fail to remind him of it occasionally when we are comparing notes. I also played another very hard single match with a well-known cricketer at Trent Bridge, and it was eventually drawn, but I was getting a bit the worst of it at the finish. As my friend has since gone to another county and cannot remind me of it, except at distant intervals, I never talk about that match.” “ Did you ever see any of the historical single wicket matches ? ” “ I well remember the two great single wicket matches many years ago made by the late John Jackson (of racing renown), backing Hayward and Carpenter against Dr. Richai dson’s three Stockton men (Darnton, Hornby and Robinson). The other match was Hayward, Carpenter and Tarrant against five Stockton men (Atkinson and Halton being the additions). These matches caused great excitement at the time.” No one can have a greater admiration for Dr. W. G. Grace than Mr. Wright. “ Of course,” he said, “ it goes without saying that no player either before his day or since has ever been equal to Dr. Grace, who at one time was 100 years ahead of everybody. Years ago I played against his eldest brother, E. M., when first he came out, and he for a time seemed to revolutionize the game by his indiscriminate hitting and heavy scoring, but nobody had then any idea of a younger brother coming out to eclipse him, except perhaps their mother, a lady who is said to have been a keen supporter and marvellous judge of the game. Mrs. Grace wrote a letter to the late George Parr over thirty years ago, asking him to give her boy W. G. a trial in his All Eugland Eleven, fully describing his play and saying that he would be a finer player than his brother E. M. George Parr afterwards gave me the letter, and I believe it is now somewhere in my possession.” Speaking of the curiosities of cricket Mr. Wright said, “ Many players, as well as myself, have seen a ball bowled clean through the wicket (from its being set a shade too wide) without disturbing the bails, but I once saw a ball thrown in from long field and knock the wickets down at both ends. My son relates a story of seeing a ball bowled clean through the wicket without touching anything, but the funny part of it was the batsman was given out ‘ caught at the wicket ’ for having slightly played it. I never saw such a thing myself, but these young cricketers of the present day have travelled far more than I have.” Mr. Wright does not seem to confine his attention to cricket, being a good man to hounds, he is very keen about fox hunting, and, in fact, devoted to all outdoor sports. Besides managing an extensive business, he is a County Magistrate for Notts, a County Councillor, amember of Council at the Surveyor’s Institution, Westminster, and holds other offices, in all of which he takes his fair share of work. Anyone who is fortunate enough to spend an hour with him, and hear him relate his varied experiences and anecdotes of byegone years, as he sits quietly smoking a pipe, will find that he is the most entertaining companion imaginable. Mr. Wright is the father of Mr. C. W. Wright, the famous Cambridge Blue and Notts amateur. W. A. B ettesworth . SURREY 2frn XI. BATTING AVERAGES, 1896. No. Times Most of not Total in an inns. out. runs. inns. Aver. Baldwin.................. ... 10 ... 1 ... 422 ...149 ... 46*88 Henderson ........... ... 14 .,.. 0 ... 653 .. 130 .... 46*64 Hayes ................... ... 13 ... 2 ... 506 .,..109 .. . 46 Ayres .................. ... 11 ... 2 ... 326 .. .145 .. . 36-22 Braund ................... ... 14 ... 0 ... 453 ... 84 .. . 32-35 Smith .................. ... 11 ... 0 ... 302 . .130 ... 27-45 L ees......................... ... 13 ... 0 ... 320 ... 64 .. . 24-61 Marshall ........... ... 12 ... 5 ... 170 ... 32*... 24-28 W . T. Grabum ... ... 13 ... 1 ... 276 ... 48 .. . 23 Thompson ........... ... 13 ... 1 ... 241 ...106 .. . 20*08 Nice ................... ... 13 ... 2 ... 149 ... 51 .. . 13-54 Keene ................... ... 10 ... 3 ... 47 ... 31 ... 6*71 The following batted in four innings only :— Higgins, 3, 16, 34*, 33*. The following batted in three innings only H, R. Parkes, 5, 18, 48* ; C. E. Wilson, 20,17, 17 ; Y. F. S. Crawford. 16, 1‘2*, 14. The following batted twice only :—H. B. Chinnery, 25,122 ; 8. J . Bowles, 24, 38 ; K. E. M. Barker, 0. 8 ; S. Colman, 29, 29*. The following batted once only E. M. Dowson, 3 ; Mills, 7*; Keeley, 2; Baker, 0. • Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. V. F. S. Crawford. . 27 .. 13 .. 35 .. 4 .. 8-75 N ice........................ . 305 2 ..110 . . 674 .. 43 .. 1567 Smith ................. . 303*3 .. 99 .. 617 . . 39 .. 15*82 Lees......................... 459 2 ..163 .. 928 . . 58 .. 16 B ra u n d ................ . 78 .. 28 .. 155 .. 9 .. 17-2 Thompson ... . . 167-3 .. 58 .. 335 .. 17 .. 19-70 Hayes ................ . 21 .. 4 . . 65 .. 3 .. 21-6 Keene ................ . 203-2 .. 80 .. 365 .. 16 .. 22*81 The following bowled in three innings on ly:—C. E. Wilson, 3-40. The following bowled once only:— E. M. Dowson, 6-5; Higgins, 2-23; H. B. Chinnery, 1-11; S. -I. Bowles, 0-27; K . E. M. Barker, 0-7; Mills, 0-10. BETWEEN THE INNINGS. When one writes in haste, and away from works of reference, as I am occa­ sionally obliged to do, one is very apt to go wrong. I ventured to suggest that the feat of the colt, Thompson, and his comrade McMichael in each scoring over the second century in a recent innings at Melbourne must surely be unique; but my friend Mr. F. S. Ashley-Cooper re­ minds me of several similar instances, none of which, as may be imagined, is new to me, though I had somehow managed to forget them. Those he mentions are:—(i) A. H. Trevor (338) and G. F. Vernon (259), Orleans Club v. Rickling Green, 1882; (u) Capt Oates (313*) and Private Fitzgerald (287*), 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers v. Army Service Corps; (in) S. Colman (209) and P. Coles (247*), Devonshire Park v. G. W. Morri­ son’s Eleven; (iv) L. Wilson (246*) and W. G. Wyld (203*), Beckenham v. Bexley, 1885. He also suggests that Gunn and Shrewsbury have performed a similar feat in a first-class match. I think not, however. In Notts v. Sussex at the Bridges in 1890, Gunn scored 196 and Shrewsbury 267—very nearly, but not quite a parallel record. No, I think I can say with confidence that the feat is still unperformed in first-class matches. Mr. Ashley-Cooper has also been good enough to thoroughly overhaul my figures with regard to the cricket of 1896, and has found a number of (mostly) slight errors, many of them printers’ slips, though I cannot lay to my soul the flattering unction that all are so. “ Wanderer ” of the Sportsman, too, while paying me a genuine compliment which gave me real pleasure, is good enough to point out one or two omissions from my tables, notably the 400 of Yorkshire v. Somerset at Taunton. I find that 19 men appeared for Yorkshire during the season, and 23 for Sussex; but Mr. Ashley-Cooper is wrong in saying only 19 for Essex—Burns played in the match v. M.C.C., though his name does not figure in the purely county averages. C. J. Bumup appeared in all the Cam­ bridge matches, and Huish in every match for Kent. Most of the other variations between my figures and those of the gentleman who has been good enough to check them are very slight, often mere printers’ errors; and, anyway, they are not of sufficient importance to be given here. I can only cry “ Peccavi,” and own that in spite of all my care I have made more mistakes than I had thought. I want to get a complete list of scores of over 300. There are not so many such that it will be of huge proportions. The list I have in my Cricket Record Book is, I know, by no means complete; but I am going to give it here, and to ask all and sundry of my readers if they will be good enough to furnish me with acy genuine additions to it. Here are N E X T ISSUE, THUR SDAY , MARCH 25.