Cricket 1897

S e p t. 16, 1897. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 425 now it is short of bowling; a really first-class bowler—slow left-hand for choice, perhaps—would greatly improve it. Bland did fine work throughout the season; and Tate, so long to all intents and purposes the bowler of the side, was unmistakably a better man for having a comrade capable of doing a fair share of the work. These two were both among the few who took a hundred wickets in first-class cricket during the season ; and though both were somewhat expensive they were a long way more successful than anyone else on the side. J. C. Hartley bowled well iu two or three matches ; but he is unlikely to be able to assist at all regularly in the future, so that he cannot be looked upon as any­ thing more than a bird of passage. Parris was very expen«ive, his wickets costing 30 runs each; but when we again get a wet season like 1891, I shall not be surprised to find Parris as deadly as he was that year. Killick did but little with the ball, and was quite off form with the bat, so much so that he had to stand down about the middle of the season. It is to be hoped, especially in view of “ Rtnji’a ” absence, that the young Horsham player will next year regain his form of 1896. Parris, on the contrary, was a distinctly improved bat. He started none too well, but in the latter half of the season played several good innings, and finished up with an average of 20. Bean did practically no bowling, but he was in better batting form than in any season since 1893. He scored (curiously enough) exactly the same number of runs as last year, narrowly missing four figures each time, and has an average only slightly better ; but he was of more use to his side, his 69 v. Notts at Hastings, 115 v. Yorkshire and 53 v. Surrey at Brighton being really notable innings. Marlow was scarcely in as good form as he generally shows. Though he nearly always scored some runs, he never once made a really long score, and in the last few matches in which he played did very little indeed. Yet at times he did well, and from July 17 to August 5 his scores were 6 1, 48, 12, 59, 27 aud 34, while earlier in the season he played innings of 40, 60, 49 and 61. For a man of his admitted ability, how­ ever, an average of 20 was certainly not quite satisfactory, and he is pretty sure to do better next year. Butt kept wicket better than ever, and made runs occa­ sionally. Ouly two new men were tried, Joseph Vine of Etsiboume and Cox. It is not unlikely that the former might do well if it were practicable to give him a regular place. I have left until last the five great amateur batsmen of the team, K. S. Rtnjitsinhji, G. Brann, W. L. Murdoch, W. Newham and C. B. Fry. It was very largely to these men that its success was due, though in saying this I don’t want to slight the services of hard working loyal professionals like Bean, Marlow, Parris, Tate, Butt and Bland. Of the five, Fry alone did not play regularly, only taking part in one match before August. Wnen he did join the side, however, he played fine cricket, batting with greater freedom than was his wont. Branu was a greater batsman than ever before. He changed his style entirely, adopting defensive tactics iu lieu of the hard hitting which had made him famous; and the change met with singular and unprecedented success. During the season there were but four matches of twenty-five iu which he took part (Gentlemen v. Players at Hastings is still in the future as I write) in which he did not score 25 or more in one single innings or the other; whi'e among his scores were 126. 109, 107, 87, 77, 75, 69. 68, 66, 64, 60, 57, 55, 55 and 52. Tae Prince was scarcely in his great form of 1896 ; but there were fair causes for any temporary falling off, aud his record would have been a grand one for almost any other player. It was a noticeable fact that many of his best scores were made in the second innings of his side. At one time in the season it looked as though he would easily reach 2,000 runs, with an average only slightly below that of 1896 ; but in August he made no long score, 58 being his highest during that month. The veteran captain was in greater form than he has shown since the palmy Australian days of the early eight es. More need not be said, for I alluded at length to his success some four { or five weeks ago. His predecessor in j the captaincy, Newham, was scarcely at ' his best at the beginning of the season, and finished up very badly with “ a pair; ” but from the middle of June to the middle of August he played great cricket, though hardly as consistent as of old. He, Braun, Murdoch and the Prince are all among the scorers of 1,000 runs. Oaly the three counties which play full programmes have more or as many re- | presentatives iu the list, Yorkshire claim­ ing six, Surrey five and Lancashire, like Sussex, four. Warwickshire is becoming as notorious for drawn games as Notts has for many years been. Unless a county has excep­ tionally deadly bowling, three days is a space of time all insufficient for it to beat \ir. Bainbridge’s men. With a bowler like Richardson or Mold, the Warwick­ shire team might easily take high rank, for the batting is exceptionally strong. In the captain, the brothers Qiaife, Lilley, Diver, A. C. S. Glover and J. F j Byrne, the county has seven batsmen j who, on their form of the season, are quite first-class; while Pallett, Santall aud Forester, the three principal bowlers, can all make runs. Little William Quaife is easily at the head of the batting aver­ ages for the county; and if his cautious defensive tactics make somewhat for drawn games they are also of use iu preventing beatings. He began iu great form, playing early in the season succes­ sive innings of 69, 120, 62 and 136.* Iu July, however,he was very unsuccessful; but iu August came a tremendous innings of 178, not out (the highest ever made for Warwickshire) v. Htnts. at S>uth- ampton. He reached his thousand runs in his last innings of the season, his cip - taiu j ust failing by two runs to do so, to the general disappointment. Oa the whole, though, H. W. Bambridge was more consistent than his sturdy little henchman. Like him he had a great four innings run of success, with scores of 101, 52, G2 and 162, ten fewer than Quaife made in his four innings. Lilley was always making runs, though for nearly two months he did not once reach 40. Since then he has played innings of 79,* 53, 70, 78, 52, 57, 82 and 76,* and the last fixture of the season is left to determine whether he is to be numbered among the 1000 runs scorers. Walter Quaife, though somewhat overshadowed by his younger brother, was never throughout the season out without scoring, but on the other hand, only three times scored over 50. Diver’s record was somewhat similar, though his style was very different. Two centuries —both v. Leicestershire—a 59 and a 53 were all his scores that could be caded at all big ; but, like Q laife, he made many useful smaller scores. Glover batted in a style far in advance of all his previous form, and is now a fine batsman, of the fearless, hitting type, invaluable to any side. Byrne, the famous Rugby foot­ baller, was a recruit of the utmost value. His first innings for the side this season was 100, and ten of his other nineteen innings were between 20 and 70. T. S. Fishwick, the old Wellingtonian, was given a splendid trial, but utterly failed to realise anticipations, and was dropped after playing in eleven matches. J. E. Hill, as usual, could play but seldom. Pallett was very useful on several occa­ sions. He seems to have lost a great deal of his bowling, though it must be admitted that the wickets did not as a rule favour him. Sin tall is developing into a good batsman, but I am afraid he will never be the great bowler that some of his performances of a year or two back seemed to foreshadow his bee imiug. Perhaps Forester bowled better than any­ one else on his side, but he cannot play regularly; indeed, he only took part in nineof thenineteen matches. Two or three colts were tried, aud one of these, Lord, is thought to show some promise, but the best average of the year is secured by an older player, Cresswell, who, curiously enough, was only given a place iu three matches. Whitehead, who had a little better trial, seems to have quite lost his form. It is scarcely necessary to praise Lilley’s “ keeping.” That Middlesex’ s position in the championship table was scarcely a true index of the strength of the side goes without saying. But even that position is far better than at one time looked likely, for at the end of July Middlesex had not won a single county match. The metropolitan county suffered, as of old, from fluctuating representation. Five of the eleven—Webbe, Htyman, Riwlin, Hearne and Warner —played throughout the season; but a nucleus of five is not large enough, and it was a great misfor­ tune to the coun'y that an injury kept Stoddart out of the team in August, and that F. G. J. Ford could not, and Sir T. C. O’ Brieu did not assist after the middle of the season. Yet the individual per­ N E X T ISSUE, THUR SDAY , OCTOBER 28.