Cricket 1897

A pr il 15, 1897. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 77 BETWEEN THE INNINGS. (Continued from pape 68.) TEN YEARS OF FIRST -CLASS CRICKET IN ENGLAND (1887-1896). III. According to my reckoning there were 643 three-figure scores made in first-class cricket in England during the ten years 1887-96, thus divided among the ten different seasons:— In 1887........................ 69 centuries. In 1888 ...................... •• 23 „ In 1889 ......................... 32 In 1890........................ .. 38 „ In 1891.......................... as „ In 1892 ......................... 42 „ In 1893........................ 72 „ In 1894.......................... 56 „ In 1895........................ .. 117 „ In 1896........................ .. 151 Grand t'jtal ... 613 It is curious to remark that thefouryears 1888, 1889, 1890 and 1891 together pro duced fewer three-figure scores than the Hingle year 1896, and that more than half the total number of centuries belong to the last three years of the decade. But the extension of the first-class list has had a good deal to do with this, though not so much, perhaps, as the dry summers of the last two years. In a broad way I should thus characterise the ten seasons : 1887. Mostly fine and dry, not breaking up, until August. 1888. “ A year of rain, a yea* of woe.” (Andrew Lang) 1889. A considerable improyement on 1883, but not a dry season. 1890. Wet, but not so bad as 1883. 1831. A trifle better than 1890, but still wet. 1892. Patchy, but on the whole to be classed with the wet summers. 1893. A glorious cricket year. 1891. Another 1838. 1895. Another 1893. 1896. Gloriously fine till August, save for one wet week in June. There can be no doubt that the weather is the greatest factor in determining the number of centuries. Scarcely a match passes in fine, dry weather but one or two are recorded; in a wet season two or three weeks together may pass without one. The four really fine years of the ten over which these summaries extend claim 409 of the 643 centuries—roughly, rather more than five-eighths, leaving less than three-eighths for the other six seasons. The 643 big scores are divided among no fewer than 179 batsmen, 86 of whom were credited with but one such innings each, 28 with two, 13 with three, 13 with four, 13 with five, five with six, six with seven, and five with eight; while fifteen made more than eight. W.G.—who else should be ?—is at the head of the list; but Shrewsbury is a splendid second, and besides these two Gunn and Abel have really fine records. But here, without further remarks, is the list of CENTURY-SCORERS, 1887-1896. Dr. W . G. Grace Shrewsbury (A.) Gunn (WO Abel (R.) ... W .W . Read A . E. Stoddart .. K. 8. Ranjitsinhii Sugg (P. H .) ... Barnes (W .) Brockwell (W.) Brown (J. J.) Bean (G.) H. T. Hewett K. J, Key Flowers (W .) Marlow (F. W .) Peel (R.) H. W . Bainbridge Briggs (J.) Chatterton (W .) J. A . Dixon C. B. Fry Hall (L.) Lord Hawke Carpenter (H.) J. Cranston N. F. Druce F. G. J. Ford G. Giffen 8. E. Gregory Hearne (A.) Bagshaw (H.) J. Darling Moorhouse (R.) Painter (J.) Paul (A.) Pougher (A. D.) ... 31 Hayward (T.) ... . . 11 ... 28 L. C. H. Palairet . 11 ... 24 F. S. Jackson ... . . 10 ... 22 W . Newham ... . . 10 ... 17 Sir T. C. O’Brien . . 10 ... 16 Ward (A .)................ . 10 ... 14 G. Brann ................ . 9 ... 12 Eight each:— A. C. MacLaren Ulyett (G.) A. C. Bannerman G. J. Bonnor C. E. De Trafford J. Douglas W . G. Druce J. Eccles C. P. Foley H. Graham L. H. Gwynn Hide (J.) C. Hill Hirst (G. H.) A. O. Jones Killick (E. H.) Lee (F.) Seven each:— [ J. R. Mason G. H. S. Trott Six each :— f Rev. W . Rashleigh Storer (W .) I 8. M. J. Woods Five each |Lilley (A. A.) |F. Marchant W . L. Murdoch W . H. Patterson I Read (J. M.) ! Wainwright (E.) Four each:— I Holland (F. C.) I F. A. Iredale Lockwood (W . H.) |Q uaifefW .) A . J. Webbe Capt. E. G. Wynyard Three each:— O. G. Radcliffe W . E. Roller E. Smith Tomlin (W .) Tunnicliffe (J. W .) G. L. W ilson Two eaoh:— H . H. Marriott F. Mitchell G. J. Mordaunt R. C. N. Palairet H . Philipson Quaife (W . G.) 8. W . Scott A . Sellers J. Shuter Smith (A.) G. O. Smith E. C. Streatfeild H. F. Ward Wardall (T.) Bagguley (R.) Baker (G. R.) Baldwin (C.) Barton (V. A.) Bates (W .) Board (J. H.) M. P. Bowden W . C. Bridgeman W . Bruce E. H. Buckland Bums (J.) C. J. Burnup Butler (F.)' C. D. Buxton J. B. Challen E. Crawley Davidson (G.) Denton (D.) Diver (E. J.) H. Donnan R. N. Douglas S. H. Evershed J. J. Ferris H . K . Foster C. J. M. Fox G. Fowler F. H. Gresson Guttridge (F.) A. P. Gwynn Capt. L. A. H. Hamilton Lord Harris H. B. Hayman Hearne (F.) Hearne (G. G.) Capt. W . C. Hedley W . M. Hemingway Henderson (R.) P. J. T. Henery G. F. Higgins J. E. Hill Y. T. Hill A. N. Hornby R. H. Howitt One each :— Humphreys (W . A.) M. R. Jardine P. H. Latham J. Le Fleming W . D. Llewellyn Lohmann (G. A.) A. P. Lucas R. S. Lucas J. J. Lyons M ajor (J.) L. Martineau P. S. McDonnell C. McGahey G. MacGregor H . J. Mordaunt H. G. Owen P. Perrin T. N. Perkin* Capt. F. W . D. Quinton Robinson (W .) W . N. Roe Russell (T. M.) Lord Geo. Scott Dr. W. J. Scott C. O. H. Sewell R. P. Spurway A. G. Steel Street ( \ . E.) Sugg (W .) E. I j . Thomas F. Thomas A. J. Thornton C. I. Thornton Dr. G. Thornton H. Trumble C. T. B. Turner Tyldesley (J.) G. F. Vernon P. S. Waddy Ward (F.) W elford (J. W .) L. Wilson C. W . Wright Of the 643 three-figure innings, 37 were of over 200, no fewer than 22 of these belonging to the records of the last two years. These 37 scores are shared among 24 players, 18 of whom claim one each, while the other six share 19 among them, W.G. claiming five, Gunn four, Walter Read and Shrewsbury three each, Abel and MacLaren two each. The following is a complete list for the decade, the scores being arranged in order of size : — INNINGS OF OVER 200 RUNS 7N ENGLISH FIRST-CLASS CRICKET, 1887-1896, _NCLUSIVE. Score. Batsman. For. Agnst. At. Year. 424 ...A.C.M acLaren ...Lane...Somt...Taunton...1895 338 ...W . W . Read ...Sy. ...O.U. ...Oval ...1888 301 .. W . G. Grace ...Glos ...Sx. ...Bristol ...1896 292 ...L.C. H. Palairet...Smt....Hnts...S’ hmptn .1896 288 ...W . G. Grace ...Glos ...Smt. ...Bristol ...1895 281 ...K. J. Key ...........O.U....Mdx....Chiswck...l887 274 ...Davidson ...........Dby ...Lane....M’chstr ...1896 268 ...E. G. Wynyard ...Huts ..Yks. ...S’hmptn...l896 267 Shrewsbury ..........Notts.. M dx....N ’ham. ...1887 267 Shrewsbury ..........N otts..Sx. ...B’ton. ...1890 2fi4*G. J. Mordaunt ...O.U....Sx. ...B’ton, ...1895 257 W . G. Grace ...........Glos ...Kent ...G’end. ...1895 247 W . W . Read .......... Sy. ...Lane,...M’chstr ...1887 244*W. W . R e a d ...........Sy. ...C.U. ...Oval ...1887 243*A. J. W ebbe ...........M dx...Yks. ...H’field ...1887 243*W. G. Grace ...........Glos .. Sx. ...B’ton. ...1896 231 A b e l .........................Sy. ...Ex. ...Oval ...1896 229*Hayward..................Sy. ...Dby. ...Derby ...1896 228 Gunn..........................Plyrs ..Austr...Lord’s ...1890 226*A. C. MacLaren ...Lane...Kent ...C’bury ...1896 226 W . L. Murdoch ...8x. ...C.U. ...B’ton ...1895 221 S. W . 8cntt ..........M dx....Glos....Lord’s ...1892 220 Sugg (F.H .) ...........Lane ...Glos....Bristol ...1896 219 H. Graham ...........Austr ..Dby....Derby ..1893 219 Gunn..........................N otts..8x. ...N’ham. ...1895 217 A b e l..........................Sy. ...Ex. ...Oval ...1895 215*A. E. Stoddart ...M dx....Lane...M ’chstr....1891 215 W . G. Gtraoe ...........Glos....Sx. ...Bristol ...1888 215 S. M. J. W oods ...Sm t...,Sx. ...B’ton ...1895 212 Shrewsbury ......... Notts..Mdx. ...Lord’s ...1892 210*Peel .........................Yks. ...Wwk . B’ham .. 1896 207*Gunn........................Notts..Dby. ...Derby ...1896 205*Gunn ................ Notts..Sx. ...N’ham ...1887 203 Brown (J. T .) .........Y k s... M dx ..Lord’s ...1896 202 Sir T. C. O’ Brien ...M dx...Sx. ...B’ton ...1895 201*W. N ew ham .......... Sx. ...Smt....B’ ton ...1896 201 H. T. H ewett..........Smt....Yks....Taunton ...1892 Two players—George Ulyett and Mr. Norman Druce—very narrowly missed the distinction, the Yorkshireman scoring 199, not out, in 1887. and the Cantab exactly the same in 1895. To the Hove Ground at Brighton is due the credit of having had the biggest share of these big scores—-seven; though whether this be chiefly due to the ac knowledged easiness of the ground, or the no less acknowledged weakness of the Sussex bowling, deponent sayeth not. To Ashley Downs, Lord’s and the Oval are credited four each; to Trent Bridge, the Old Trafford, and the County Ground at Derby three each; to Southampton and the Somerset enclosure at Taunton two each. Lastly, let me give the number of cen turies made for and against each of the various sides playing a regular first-class programme during the decade— i.e., the fourteen principal counties, the two uni versities, the M.C.C. and the Australians. This will not, of course, include quite the whole of the 643 big innings, scores made in such matches as North v. South, Gantlemen v. Players and other mixed games not being included. CENTURIES FOR AND AGAINST THE V A R I OUS FIKST-CLASS SIDES IN DECADE 1887-1896. Centuries Centuries • for. against. Australians ................... ... 38 ... ... 19 Cambridge University ... ... 27 ... ... 34 Derbyshire ................... ... 15 ... ... 20 Essex.................................. ... 9 ... ... 9 Gloucestershire ........... ... 33 ... ... 59 Hampshire .................. ... 7 ... .. 11 K e n t .................................. ... 34 ... ... 4S Lancashire .................. ... 46 ... ... 35 Leicestershire.................. ... 7 ... ... 22 M.C.C. aud Ground ... 23 ... ... 17 M iddlesex......................... ... 28 ... ... 41 Nottinghamshire ........... ... 60 ... ... 32 Oxford University......... ... 20 ... ... 28 Som erset.......................... , ... 27 ... ... 31 Surrey .......................... , ... 78 ... ... 24 Sussex .......................... ... 57 ... ... 86 Warwickshire.................. ... 15 ... ... 24 Yorkshire.........................., ... 53 ... ... 49 J.N.P.