Cricket 1898

M ay 5, 1898. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 99 BUSSEY’S 9 Q , CRICKET BATS A R E TH E GRANDEST MADE. BUSSEY’S <CCfrff CRICKET BALLS RETAIN THEIR SHAPE, AND LAST LONGER THAN ANY OTHER. BUSSEY’S <CCfr« LEG GUARDS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD, AND THE LIGHTEST MADE. BUSSEY’S BATTING GLOVES ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO THE USUAL CLASS, BUSSEY’S CRICKET BAGS AR E OF TH E H IGH E ST GRADE. BUSSEY’S SCORE BOOKS AR E TH E MOST APPROVED. BUSSEY’S DIARY AND COMPANION IS A GEM FOR SIXPEN C E. CATALOGUE ON APPLICATION TO 36 & 38, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, LON D ON ; OR DEALERS A L L OVER THE WORLD. MANUFACTORY— PECKHAM , LONDON. TIMBEE MILLS— ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. BETWEEN THE INNINGS. A Q U A R T E R OF A C E N T U R Y ’S U N I V E R S I T Y C R IC K E T . (Continuedfrom page 83.) 1881 . Neither ’Varsity team had a very suc­ cessful season in 1881 ; yet both elevens were well above the average. Oxford only won one match, that against the sister ’Varsity; yet the Dark Blue batting was as nearly as possible (by figures) twice as strong as in 1880, and, as all the principal bowlers of 1880 were available, reinforced by E. Peake and G. E. Robin­ son, the attacking department could scarcely be said to be weaker. There were a good many charges in the team, A. D. Greene, E. T. Hirst, H . Fowler, and E. L. Colebrooke all having gone down, while F. L. Evelyn had to yield his place to a stronger player; but in C. F. H. Leslie, M. 0 . Kemp, G. E. Robinson, E. Peake, and A. O. Whiting, Evans, who was captain for the season, had at his command new blood of the best sort. P. H. Morton, R . S. Jones, and C. W . Foley were the Cantabs no longer available, and O. P. Lancashire also failed to secure his place in the final team a second time; but among the new men were J. E. K . Studd, the eldest of the three famous brothers, who played in great form in the four Cambridge matches, though far less successful away. Oxford’s first match— a drawn game with the M .C.C.—was marked by much higher scoring than had been associated with any of the 1880 matches, 775 runs being scored in it for the loss of 29 wickets, though play was interrupted several times b y rain. The most remarkable fea­ ture of the game was the splendid second innings of 111 not out, played by C. F. H . Leslie, the freshman from Rugby. This was not Mr. Leslie’s debut in first-class cricket, as he had already played two or three times for Middlesex; but it was his first appearance for Oxford, and his score, made with but one chance against the bow ling of Shaw, Morley, Barnes, and Flowers, was one of the best on record in Oxford annals. The Oxford captain ran up 49 in the first innings, the highest he made duiing his four years in the team ; W. A. Thornton scored 28 and 40 ; M. C. Kemp had an initial effort of 37, and Patterson and Trevor were also seen to some advantage. For the M.C.C. G. S. Foljambe scored 99, Barnes 68, W . H . Fowler 61 (out of 84 while he was in) and Gunn 36 not out. Mr. F ol­ jambe and Barnes put on 131 for the third wicket. There was more heavy scoring in the match with the gentlemen, the venue of which had to be changed from the Christchurch ground to the Parks after the game had been in progress nearly an hour— 1,064 runs being scored for 36 wickets ; and again the game was drawn. The Gentlemen had gone in first originally; but when a fresh start was made the Oxford captain won the toss, and elected to bat first. A splendid 80 (another fine debut) by A. O. Whiting was the feature of the innings, which realised 232, Leslie making 36, MacLachlan 26, and five others double figures. The Gentlemen could only make 146 at the first attempt; but, follow ing on, Webbe (112) and I. D. Walker (88) hit out brilliantly, and put on 195 runs for the second w icket; and later in the innings G. F. Vernon ran up 119, including 21 fours. The total was 415; and the Dark Blues were thus set 330 to win. A. H . Trevor was out at 16; but then Leslie was joined by C W . Wilson (whose only match for Oxford this was—he died but a few days later), and these two put on 124 for the second wicket before Wilson was caught and bowled for 51. Leslie was out at 27 runs later for a splendid 93 ; but Thornton hit out hard for 54, and when time was called and the match drawn only 59 were still required for victory, and there were four more wickets to fall. Not for four or five years had an Oxford team been seen to such advantage. In the first innings of the Gentlemen, by the way, G. E. Robinson had 7 wickets for 47. The two London matches before the ’Varsity game were both lost. Con­ trary to general custom, the M.C.C. match was played before that with Middlesex. The club put a tremendously strong team into the field ; and the defeat by 56 runs was no disgrace to Evans and his men. Leslie was again highest scorer, with 57 and 17; Trevor made 33 and 32, Peake 16 and 39, and Thornton 43 in the first innings. All the first eight men on the side made double Bgures in the first innings of the M .C.C., D. Q. Steel with 54 being run hard for the honour of being top scorer by T. S. Pearson with 48 and Midwinter with 47, while G. F. Vernon made 42. Steel was again highest scorer in the second with 29, not out. Morley had 10 for 123 in the match. In the Middlesex match, as in the game with the Gentlemen, I. D. Walker and Vernon were thorns in the sides of the Dark Blue bowlers. Both hit tremen­ dously h ard; exactly half of the county captain’s score of 128 was in 4’s, while Vernon’s 85 contained three 5’s and eight 4’s. Peake (38) and Thornton (35) did best in the first innings of the Dark Blues ; but when they followed on L :^.ie, with 106, was again the mainstay of the batting. Trevor (45), Evans (40 not out) and Peake (32), all gave useful help, however; and the County men were set 129 to win, with I f hours to get them in. Two new men on the side, C. Robson (now the Hampshire wicket-keeper), and W. C. Wilkinson, were chiefly instrumen­ tal in carrying the county triumphantly through. Robson made 57 not out, his partner 5 2 ; and thanks to their quick scoring the runs were made with a good margin of time to spare. It was unfortunate for the Cantabs that their captain, the Hon. Ivo Bligh, was unable to take his place in the team in any of the home matches. Three more of the old hands in the team—H. W hit­ feld, C. P. Wilson and A. F. J. Ford— were also unable to play regularly; and the consequence was that trials were given to no fewer than thirteen men apart from the eleven finally selected. Among the thirteen were three, F. D.