Cricket 1897

S ep t. 2, 1897 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. ----------------------------------------------------------- LI--------------------- - ^ ■____ 399 ^ other county, except perhaps Essex. It was a fortunate thing for the side that Mr. MacLiren, who did not begin to play until the end of July, was in such fine form at a time that some of the men were beginning to show signs of falling off, and his bitting was of the utmost value. In the great match at the Oral, on which it was thought that the results of the championship depended, Lancashire had to put up with defeat, but their misfortunes during the game were very disheartening. The Lancashire tail cannot be compared with that of Yorkshire or Surrey in batting, but the team was fortunate in its young bowlers, Hallam and Cuttell, who, when Briggs and Mold happened to be a little “ off,” were capable of bearing the brunt of the attack with very great credit. Moreover it happened almost invariably that if one or two men fell off in batting others oime on just at the right moment. Mold was hampered more or less all through the season by a bad leg, and Frank Sugg, when he had played himself into brilliant form, was injured so badly that he had to retire from cricket. On the whole Lancashire deserve great congratulations on winning the championship in the face of many discouragements. At the beginning of the season it was feared by the friends of Surrey that the bowling would be found wanting, for with the exception of Richardson there was no one who seemed likely to keep up an end when things were going badly for the side. To a certain extent this fear was justified at first, for Richardson went through a short period of failure, while the other bowlers hardly rose to the situation. But it was not long before Richardson was quite himself again; in fact, better than ever, for notwithstand­ ing that he found a most effective helper in Lees, he it was who generally broke up powerful combinations, and took wickets when the other bowlers were powerless. It was, perhaps, fortunate for the county that the bowl­ ing was seldom very severely tested. In batting Surrey had curious periods. At times the first wicket or two in match after match accounted for most of the runs, at other times the scoring was left to the middle of the team, while again the tail would be the champions of the side. But there were hardly any occasions when the whole team failed. As usual, there were many fine partnershipsbetween Abel and Brockwell and Abel and Hay­ ward, while Mr. Key found in Lees a batsman after his own heart. Every man on the side was capable of making runs. It cannot be said that the fielding was as perfect as it might have been, although many brilliant things were done, while in the matter of running between the wickets there were some appalling mistakes. It is rather a pity that Essex did not have the opportunity of playing a few more matches, but whether it was in spite of their short programme or because of it, they managed to draw the attention of the whole cricketing world to their doings. It was a great thing for a county, in its infancy as regards first- class cricket, to beat Yorkshire twice, Lancashire once, and to make a favour­ able draw in one of the Surrey matches, in addition to several other fine perfor­ mances; and it was, p9rhaps, a still greater thing to be the only county not beaten twice by some opposing county or other. It is an odd thing, however, that though .everyone who saw Essex play was agreed that the team was exceedingly strong, hardly anybody was greatly im­ pressed by their batting. They made runs, and a lot of runs, but, for some reason or other, they never inspired connoisseurs with the confidence which is felt when Surrey, Sussex, Lancashire, or Yorkshire are going strong. It may be that the team used to break down so often, and that there has not been time to become accustomed to see it always flourishing. As to the Essex bowling, there was no question as to its efficiency; there was so much variety about it, so much head work, and, moreover, all of it was good. Mr. Bull is, if possible, more wily than ever, while Mr. Kortright, ou account of increased confidence, has enormously improved. Mead has practically been relegated to first change, but he is none the less difficult for all that, and in a crisis is invaluable. But in the midst of the satisfaction which every Essex man feels at the great success of his county, there must sometimes come an uncomfortable reflection that these three men have taken the whole of the wickets between them except 23. There is absolutely nobody else who can be relied upon to take a wicket, for Pickett is not the man that he was a year or two ago. 11 is pretty obvious that any pro­ mising Essex bowler has a fine chance of getting a trial next year, for goodness knows what would happen if one of the three bowlers was obliged to keep out of two or three matches, at a time when the wickets were hard and good. What if two of the three were injured at the same time ? For a month or two there seemed a possibility that Notts, by means of drawn games and a victory or two, might be found at the head of the championship table when the season ended, but it was obvious that the team could not keep on drawing matches for ever, and its bowling was so weak that a c jllapse was almost bound to come sooner or later. It speaks well for Notts that with Atte­ well as their only bowler of note, they should have succeeded in staving off defeat for so long, but they were very fortunate in some of the drawn games. There was very little the matter with their batting at any time during the season, but how­ ever many runs they made it was pretty certain that the other side would take a rare lot of getting out. It was not for want of trying his men that the Notts captain failed to make much impression on his opponents, for almost every man in the team had a fair chance of distinguishing himself with the ball. Fortunately Shrewsbury, Gunn, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Jones and Dench were nearly always to be relied on to make runs, and it is curious that Danch, who was tried simply for his bowling, should have be­ come a bat and nothing else. Shrews­ bury^whose batting is always delightful to watch, partly because it is so graceful, and partly because he seems to play with the greatest ease all the bowling which can be brought against him, did not make a hundred, but nevertheless had an aver­ age of 38, which speaks well for his consistency; his average would have been even better if he had not in some myste­ rious manner managed to get run out three or four times. One of the features of the season was the regularity with which for several weeks Mr. Dixon and Dench made a stand together. The years go on, and W. G. gies on too, not quite as active as of old, not quite as patient (until just lately) but still a man to have in any team whatever. He has not even forgotten how to bowl. One can imagine his delight when his team beat both Surrey and Yorkshire. Gloucestershire, more particularly to­ wards the end of the season, has been a very difficult county to beat; it is strong in bowling and in batting, while in fielding—on the whole be it understood— it can hold its own with almost any county. There are no “ old crocks” in the team, for although W. G. and Roberts are veterans they both act up to the old adage “ a man is as old as he feels ; hence they are both youngsters. There is usu­ ally plenty of interest in the batting of the team, and when Mr. Jessop gets going there is excitement, while the bowling is of a high class and very diversified. The epithet of “ poor,” which used to be applied to Sussex, has long ago been shifted on to the shoulders of other counties. This year Derbyshire and Leicestershire bore the burden in about equal proportions. Nowadays there is always a pleasurable excitement in look­ ing at the reports of Sussex matches. It is true that they may come a most repre­ hensible cropper. But they are just as likely to do something brilliant, and this despite the fact that the Prince, who last year was almost the team, has not been himself for some time; indeed, “ Braun in form again,” has much more frequently been seen as a headline in news­ papers than “ Ranji to the fore.” At the beginning of the season the Prince con­ tinued the brilliant performances which had gained him such fame in 1896, but he has had a long period of comparative failure, relieved only by one or two great innings. Can it be that the bowlers have learned wisdom from experience, or is it that the famous leg glances have become as risky as W. W. Read’s famous pull ? From the beginning of the season to the very end Mr. Brann has been consistent ; he has nearly always made about 60 in two hours and a half, or thereabouts, in one innings or the other, if not in both, and all through the season he has been one of the most difficult men to get out. Fortunately for the team Mr. Murdoch has also been in great form nearly always. In bowling, Sussex has gone up several steps, and Mr. Murdoch, when in the field, must sometimes have almost fancied that he was once more captaining an Australian team, with Bland as his Spofforth and Tate as his Palmer.