Cricket 1898

FINEST BAT THE WORLD PRODUCES J une 2. 1898. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 163 BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S B E T W E E N T H E IN N IN G S . A QUARTER OF A CENTURY’S UNIVERSITY CRICKET, (Continuedfrom page 148.) 1884. During the seasons 1878-83 (inclusive), Ox­ ford had won only 6 matches and had lost 21 ; Cambridge had won 27 and lo&t 9. In no season during the period had the Dark Blues had the better record, although once (in 1881) they had managed to win the ’ Varsity match. But in 1884 came one of the most remarkable changes ever chronicled. Each side played 8 matches. Oxford icon seven, lost one ; Cam­ bridge lost seven and won one. To make the results even stranger, the Gentlemen of Eng­ land were the only side which beat Oxford, and the only side which Cambridge beat. If the Oxford team of 1884 was not the strongest Dark Blue combination of recent years, it was, indisputably, the most success­ ful. As a battiDg side, it must be held inferior to those of 1887, 1895 and 1896 ; but no Ox­ ford eleven since has dismissed its opponents so cheaply. It was a singularly level team, too. M. C. Kemp, a second-time captain, headed the batting averages with 29 ; but five other members of the team averaged over 21. II. 0. Whitby’s fast bowling had a considerably larger number of wickets than fell to the lot of any other bowler ; but two others had better averages than he, and of the six who were put on to bowl, only one averaged as much as 20 per wicket. The highest total which Oxford made during the season was only 251, but then the lowest for a completed innings was 110; and while one team (the Gentlemen) made 337 against them, the highest among the other fifteen totals were only 220 and 202. The team differed in no fewer than seven instances from that of 1883, Walker, Grant-Asher, Bolitho, Ruggles- Brise, Leslie, Peake and Robinson, being replaced by O’Brien, Key, Brain, Nicholls, Buckland, Whitby and Hildyard. Of the four members of the 1883 eleven who were left, all did better work than in the previous year. Kemp’s batting average rose from 14 to 29, Page’s from from 22 to 27, Hine- Haycock’s very slightly. Bastard had 34 wickets for 17 each, against 8 for 29 in 1883 ; and Page’s wickets cost ten runs less each. Only two players apart from those who ulti­ mately made good their places were tried. On the strength of a fine innings of 190 for the XVI. v. the X I., A. R. Cobb was given a really good trial, but as his highest score in six matches was only 23, he had to be left out after all. Grant-Asher played in four games, but showed nothing like his 1883 form, and so stood down. Cambridge seemed at the outset to have suffered far less than Oxford from the loss of seasoned players. Except for C. T. Studd, P. J. T. Henry, and W . N. Roe, every mem­ ber of the 1883 team was available, though the Hon. M. B. Hawke, owing to ill-health, played in only one match. Of the few new men in the team, H. W . Bainbridge was beyond doubt the best and soundest batsman on the side, and C. W . Rock bowled as well as anyone. But the backbone of the 1883 team was gone. There were no two men who were together equal in value to C. T. Studd. The Dark Blues’ first match furnished proof positive that their team was a very strong one, for in it they beat the powerful fourth Australian team by the good margin of seven wickets. The Colonists went in first, and were all out for 148, Whitby signalising his debut for Oxford by taking 8 wickets for 82 runs—five of them caught at slip by B. E. Nicholls. (Only one other bowler took 8 in an innings against this Australian team.) The highest score was Alex. Bannerman's 32. Towards Oxford’s total of 209, O’Brien contributed a hard-hit 92; Page scored 33, and Key 30. In the Australians’ second innings, Bastard had 5 wickets for 44 ; Midwinter (45) and McDonnell (36) were highest scorers. Wanting 108 to win, Oxford lost O’Brien, Page, and Cobb, with only 24 up; but then the Captain, and Hine-Haycock, the Dark Blue stonewallcr, came together, and scored the remainder with­ out further loss, Kemp being 63 and his partner 25 at the finish. It was really a notable victory. Oxford had all the best of the firstinn­ ings in the game with the Gentlemen which followed, heading the scratch teams score of 140 (E. J. C. Studd 31, J. G. Walker 25, S. Christopherson 24) by 7.2. Page (72) and Key (47) scored more than half the runs, and put on 108 together for the fifth wicket. On the second day J. G. Walker (92) and E. J. 0. Studd (31) sent up 80 for the first wicket of the Gentlemen; J. G. and I. D. Walker (55) added 103 for the second; and S. S. Schultz (63) and T. S. Pearson (38) quickly put on 70 while in partnership. The total was 337. In the early part of their innings the Oxonians never looked like winning, for O’Brien and Hine-Haycock were both out before a run was scored ; but later on Nicholls, Grant-Asher, Kemp, Page, Brain, Key, and even Whitly, all made really fine efforts, and in the end the margin in favour of the Gentlemen was the comparatively small one of 31 runs. Nicholls (44) and Grant-Asher (43)put on 70 runs for the eighth wicket in very quick time; and it is distinctly to the credit of these two gentlemen that each played his highest innings for the ’Varsity in 1881 in time of need. Hugh Rotherham had 14 wickets for 150 in the match; and to him and J. G. Walker the victory of the Gentle­ men was chiefly due. Another really exciting match was that with Lancashire which followed. Page was absent, and his place was taken by a freshman, E. H. Buckland. Oxford had first innings and made 224. The chief credit of this was due to the captain, who went in third wicket down and was last out for a splendid 95. Buckland (28) helped him to add 63 for the seventh wicket. Brain scored 34, and Cobb 23. Lancashire could only make 115 (H. B. Steel (58), Nicholls bowling really well and taking 5 for 46. Only 111 were made in Oxford’s second, and Kemp was again considerably the highest scorer with 43. Buckland made 26, not out, and Hine-Haycock 20. Whitby was very deadly when the county went in to make 191 to win, and 6 wickets fell for 51 ; but the tail played up with fine determination O. P. Lancashire scoring 50 and getting* good help from Watson and Pilling, so that Oxford’8 margin in the end was only 36 runs. Five wickets for 38 were Wbitby’s figures in this innings. Crossland had 10 for 106 in the match. Scores ruled very low in the 12 a side match with the M.C.C. which followed, Kemp’s 41 for the ’ Varsity and J. G. Walker’s 39 for the Club being considerably the highest. Page and Buckland were very deadly with the ball, the former taking 7 for 56 in the match, and the latter, who did not bowl in the first innings sevenfor seventeen in the second ; and Oxford won by 5 wickets. The first of the out-matches was the return with Lancashire, at Manchester. It was mainly the splendid hitting of O’Brien which won this game for the ’ Varsity by 5 wickets. Going in first wicket down in the first innings he carried his bat for 91, the total being only 160 ; in the second he was again highest