Cricket 1898

188 OftlCKEIT: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J une 9, 1898. conli ibvittd a century irjiii)(?“. Mr. L. de Montezuma contributed 100, not out, to? Norwood v. Addiscombe in 1892, and 119 for Croydon v. Bohemians in 1894, t.nd 162, not out, for Kensington v. Finchley in 1896. He was born at Crow- borough in Sussex. The management under which the next team will visit Australia may, therefore, continues the Melbourne Age, he considered settled. “ The venture will be undertaken and carried out solely by the Melbourne Cricket Club this time, with­ out any partnership coadjutors, and all arrangements iu connection with the use of grounds in the other colonies will be made by the club’s representative, who, of course, everybody hopes will be the popular ‘ Major,’ as he possesses the remarkable faculty of pleasing the players on both sides and the public.” E dited by Mr. Jerome Flannery, the “ American Cricket Annual for 1898 ’’ is a complete record of the game in the United States and Canada, and includes the scores and analyses of the chief matches. It is the “ Wisden ” of America. T he book contains several articles by well-known players, among them one by Mr. A. M. Wood on the Philadelphian tour in England. Referring to the results of the tour, Mr. Wood says:— “ Although the result of the tour proved disappointing in the matter of games won, there is no doubt that from an educational standpoint much was gained thereby. Unlike the tourists of 1884 and 1889, we latter-day Quakers challenged the full strength of the opposing counties, consoling ourselves with the thought that while whippings in galore "were in store for us, we would gain a good insight of English first-class cricket, and at the conclusion of the tour have a fair idea of our true standing in the cricket world. While this ultimate knowledge may not have been particularly flattering, it certainly made clear to us that the home committee had acted wisely in not barring professionals from the opposing sides. Any other course would have robbed our tour of interest, and in the eyes of the English sport-loving public, labelled the games second-class from the start. As it was, considerable interest was manifested in our early games, and it was due solely to our inability to win that this interest was not maintained to the end.” The unfortunate accident which hap­ pened to A . Hearne last week, writes Mr. L. P. Monk, leads me to ask whether you or any of the numerous readers of Cricket can name a single instance of a batsman being run out in the way in which Wood­ cock attempted to get rid of Hearne : i.e., by the bowler throwing down the striker’s wicket after the latter had played the ball back to him ? In over twenty-five years’ experience I have never known the manoeuvre to succeed, but have often seen runs obtained through the over­ throwing of the ball. T he ability of Mr. W. H. Patterson to make runs after a long absence from the cricket field is well-known. With little or no practice before a match he is at least as likely as any other member of bin team to score largely. Last year he did not play at all in first-class cricket, but on Monday he was in as good form as ever, and at the end of the day was not out 89, increasing this total to 91 on Tuesday morning. But he has an even better record than this, for ia 1890 he scored an innings of over a hundred for Kent without any practice whatever ex­ cept what he could obtain in a few hours at the nets on a school ground. E x tra cts from a Hampshire cricketer’s diary as it might have been written last week:— June 2.—In Manchester: Seems to be a damp sort of place. Eain all day. June 3.—Got a duck against Lancashire. No rain, hut no sun. June 4.—Only one over bowled. Rained until three o’clock. Match abandoned. Nice game, cricket! A contemporary has annexed a story told by Captain H. H. Haiington last week in “ Chats on the Cricket Field,” but has described the Captain as a mem­ ber of the “ Incognito.” This is sad ! T he M.C.C. has requested county committees to give their opinion as to whether tbe present county qualification requires “ greater stringency or elasticity, and whether amateurs and professionals should be treated alike.” T he distinguished honour of being the best man-at-arms of the year was gained at the Boyal Military Tournament by Major Poore, of the 7th Hussars, the Hampshire cricketer. Not only had he the highest aggregate of marks in the various prize lists, but his record is the best for many years. T he “ no play ” record of the last week:— June 2.—Hampshire v. Lancashire, at Man­ chester. Middlesex v. Gloucester­ shire, at Lords. Warwickshire v. Kent, at Birmingham. Sussex v. Somersetshire, at Eastbourne. ,, 3.—Surrey v. Leicestershire (two hours). ,, 4.—Hampshire v. Lancashire, at Man­ chester (one over). Warwickshire v. Kent, at Birmingham. ,, 6.—Surrey v. Yorkshire, at Bradford. T he style of batting adopted by Dr. Grace, when his side had to make 1536 against Gloucestershire, has been the sub­ ject of much comment. The Doctor played a game which Bannerman or Louis Hall might have regarded as too slow for anything — he was at the wickets for about three hours for 39 not out. But there was a good deal of method in this. The object was to win the match, and with Hearne bowling on a somewhat difficult wicket for a couple of hours without a change, as steadily as he always does, it must graduaUy have become easy to W. G. to play him, although to hit him was another question. If the bowling had been changed more frequently at first the runs would have been made more quickly —or the Doctor would have got out. Two men who stood out of county matches during the past week did re­ markably well in other matches. Mr. Webbe scored 120 for Mr. Foley’s X I. v. the Household Brigade. Mr. Y . F. S. Crawford made 53 and 18 for Surrey Second v. Glamorganshire. THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS. (By our Agricultural Correspondent). I t must be admitted, even by the most thoughtless, that the weather has lately been on the damp side; on the other hand it has certainly kept grass enclosures nice and moist, so that on grounds where sheep are employed there has been plenty of food for them. Last week Hayward invested in as fine a cold as any in the market, while Baker has taken a fine crop of influenza and whooping cough to Nantwich, where, it is hoped, he will readily dispose of it. Bowlers’ averages have gone up a point or two in the market; the batting averages have suffered a good deal from dry rot. Some of the choicest varieties of Anglo-Saxon flowers of speech ever known are to be met with on almost every cricket ground. M r . B. J. P arker points out that in the match between Guy’s Hospital v. Beigate Priory on Guy’s ground on Saturday last, a bitsman on each side carried his bat through the innings, a very unusual occurrence. For Guy’s F. C. Wetherell made 77 not out—total 157 : for Beigate Piiory, F. Nightingale, 47 not out—total 128. The following amusing lines from this week’s Punch might, as far as appear­ ances show, serve equally well for play in J une:— A DAMPED CRICKETER ON PLAY IN MAY. The fielders stocd out in a knee-deep lake, While the downpour was just a-lulling ; When the batsmen ran (I make no mistake), ’ Twas a sort of double sculling. And then the umpires would hale the wicket, An amphibious game, hut it was not cricket! O xtr war telegrams:— Cape Haytien. Oregon, the big American hitter, drove a hall with such force that a small Spanish boy named Terror (Furor ?), who happened to he in the way of it, met with a fatal accident. Pernambuco. There is absolutely no truth in the state­ ment that the boy Furor met with an accident at the hands of Oregon. He was in bed at the time that it is said to have occurred, and was under the doctor’ s hands. Madrid. In the course of the match which is said to 'be taking place at Santiago, a player named Merrimac deliberately tried to cut up the wicket in order to assist the American howlers in the next innings. The Spanish captain, Cervera, objected, and in the course of the row which followed, Merrimac was so seriously injured that he will take no further part in the contest. New York. Merrimac played one of the pluckiest innings againBt the Spaniards ever seen. He completely paralysed the Spanish bowlers. He was coached by Lieut. Hobson, who is to have a medal for his pupil’s success.