Cricket 1897

350 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 12, 1897. over 79 per wicket. The scores w ere:— 317 against Old Westminsters for two wickets (innings declared); 324 for four wickets against Marlborough Blues (innings declared); and 467 for eight wickets. In the last match Mr. N. P. Druce played a splendid innings for the club, his 202 including 37 fours. I n a country match last week the wicket-keeper appealed for stumping against a batsman who was clearly out of his ground. The umpire gave him “ not out,” and made no further remark until after the match, when, on being ques­ tioned, he said, that on account of the whiteness of the ground, and the effect of a hot sun, he was unable to see the crease. Thereupon, the batsman who had escaped said that twice during the week he had been given not out for the same reason, although he was obviously out of his ground. But it was certainly the duty of the umpire, if he could not see the crease, to say so before he had an opportunity of giving a decision, in order that some mark m ight be placed for his guidance. ------- I m a g in e a team composed of veterans and another of young cricketers, and let both teams bat against the same fielding eleven. The veterans might be W .G., Shrewsbury, Abel, Gunn, Mr. Murdoch, K . J. Key, Lord Hawke, Capt. Wynyard, Mr. Stoddart, Chatterton, Mr. W ebbe; while the young cricketers m ight be K. S. Ranjitsinhji, Mr. Jackson, Tyldesley, Hayward, Mr. Mason, Mr. MacLaren, Mr. Jessop, Mr. Perrin, Denton, Mr. Druce, and Mr. Turner. Which, with equal luck, would win ? B y the inclusion of Mr. J. R. Mason, the number of cricketers who are to go to Australia has been brought up to twelve. The list is now as follows :— A. E. Stod­ dart, K . S. Ranjitsinhji, N. P. Druce, A. C. MacLaren, and J. R . Mason, with Richardson, Hayward, Hirst, Wain­ wright, J. T. Hearne, Storer and Board. The bow ling is still very weak, and although bowling averages may not be a wholly satisfactory test of ability, a glance at the Sportsman list of last Mon­ day is calculated to make Englishmen thoughtful. Richardson is fourth with an average of 16-10, Hearne tenth with 18’42, Hayward fifteenth with 19-30; the next on the list is Hirst who is no nearer to the top than twenty-sixth , Wainwright is thirty-second, and Mr. Mason thirty- fifth. In other words, only one of the bowlers is in the first nine, and only two others are in the first twenty-five. To use a colloquial expression, “ What price this ? ” T he performance of the Derbyshire team in their match against Notts is one of the most startling of the season, and to go in against a total of 415 and then to make 570 is indeed something to be proud of. Although only two hundreds were made (Mr. L. G. Wright and David­ son), the total was nearly brought up to four, as Mr. Evershed scored 90 and Mr. Maynard Ashcroft 99. . . . A c o r r e spo n d e n t , and one who knows about what he is writing, sends the follow in g:— Jessop’s 101 in 40 minutes is constantly referred to as “ must he the record,” and this is repeated, I notice, in Cricket. Perhaps you may like to note ihe following: 120 in 37 minutes by A. C. M. Croome, for Winterbotham’s X I. v. Thombury, men­ tioned in Cricket Field, 4th June, 1892. 104 in 35 minutes by F. W . Ninham, for Mount Banker®. Meadows in South Australia, mentioned in Cricket , 28th January, 1897. 259 in 100 minutes, E. M. Grace for Thornbury v. Tanner’s X I. at Thornbury, mentioned in “ Scores and# Biographies,” v. 12, page 916. The record is 40 runs in 10 minutes, by W . Sapte for Stygians v. Ealing, mentioned in “ Scores and Biographies,” v. 14, page 1060. But the remark in Cricket about Mr. Jessop’s score referred to first-class cricket only. T h e publishers have done well to re­ produce in separate form the cricket contributions of Mr. W . J. Pord, his brother, P. G. J., Mr. M. C. Kemp, and Tom Richardson to the Encyclopedia of Sport. Handy in size and well illustra­ ted as it is, Mr. Ford’s little volume can­ not fail to be of value to old as well as young cricketers. It has at least the great advantage that it is thoroughly practical and written by practical players and capable exponents of the game. M y good old friend P.G . who has been recently down in Sutton Yalance, near Maidstone, sends the follow ing epitaph which he found on a tombstone in the churchyard there: In memory of John Willis of Belpingham, in this parish. Bom 1777, died 1852 at Staunton, Gloucestershire. He was a patron of all manly sports and the first to introduce round arm bowling in cricket. This memo­ rial was erected by a few friends who remem­ bered him as a genuine sportsman, a staunch friend, a kindly neighbour, and genial com­ panion. M r . S t o d d a r t ’ s team is to play five j test matches during the com ing Aus- tralian tour, as on the last trip. The dates fixed are December 10, at Sydney; December 31, a t Melbourne; January 14, at Adelaide ; January 29, at Melbourne; February 25, at Sydney. A r u m o u r was current that it is in contemplation to send a cricket team over from India during the summer of 1898. The report no doubt arose from the enquiries Lord Harris has been mak­ ing in the interest of the Parsees whether the principal clubs would be prepared to give them a guarantee for a match. The executive of the Marylebone and Surrey County Clubs have both expressed their readiness to assist in the matter. T h e conspicuous success which attended the W. G. Grace Testimonial Fund, orga­ nised by the Daily Telegraph, has stimu­ lated the Sussex Daily News to institute a similar undertaking in recognition of K. S. Ranjitsinhji’s brilliant services to cricket during the last few years. The minimum subscription is one shilling, and the fund is not to be confined to the county of Sussex. B y scoring 379 for the first wicket for Surrey v. Hants, Abel and Brockwell hold the follow ing records :— 1. First wicket for Surrey:— Previous best:—231, Abel (156) and Brockwell (131), Surrey v. Sussex, Oval, 1897. 2. Any wicket for Surrey :—- Previous best: —306 for third, Abel (165), and Holland (171), Surrey v. Cambs. University,' Oval, 1895. 3. First wicket at the Oval:— Previous best:—283, W . G. Grace (180) and B. B. Cooper (101), Gents of South v. Players of South, 1869. 4. Any wicket at the Oval:— Previous best:—306 for third, Abel (165) and Holland (171), Surrey v. Cambs University, 1895. 5. Most productive partnership v. Hants :— Previous best:—183 for fifth, W . W . Read (168) and W. Read (91), Surrey v. Hants, Oval, 1883. 6. First wicket in any first-class match :— Previous best:—378, Brown (311) and Tunnicliffe (147), Yorks v. Sussex, Sheffield, 1897. N .B .—The scores of the players given above are their totals for the innings. T h is 379 by Abel and Brockwell is only 19 runs short of the record for any wicket in a first-class match—398 for the second, Gunn (196) and Shrewsbury (267), Notts v. Sussex, Trent Bridge, 1890. The figures, I may add, are given on the authority of Mr. F. S. Ashley-Cooper. T h e performance of Abel and Brock­ well is, in one respect, unique. No other two batsmen have put on over 200 runs for the first wicket on more than one occasion. But Abel and Brockwell have done it three times this season, as the following will show :— 379—Abel (173), Brockwell (225), v. Hants, Oval. 231—Abel (156,:, Brockwell (131), v. Sussex, Oval. 204 — Abel (113), Brockwell (83), v. Warwickshire, Edgbaston. T h e Bristol Cathedral School earned the distinction of a cricket curio in their match with Colston’s School at Ptapleton on July 6. O f their total of 27, Butt, who went in first and carried out his bat, contributed 25. The other two were extras. —— T h e guid folk of Glasgow, are, no doubt, easily satisfied with the cricket intelligence supplied them. But the “ latest news ” column of the Glasgow Evening News on Monday must have puzzled them a bit. This is the cricket information provided in the column mentioned:— Surrey all out for no wicket. Lancashire all out for 200. Yorkshire 133 for eight wickets. “ T h e Jubilee Book of Cricket,” the title happily conceived by Ranjitsinhji for his interesting contribution to cricket literature, will certainly not disappoint the most fastidious cricket lore. As the book has only just reached us from the publishers, Messrs. W . Blackwood and