Cricket 1898

274 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J uly 14, 1898. perfectly true and sparsely covered -wickets of England and Australia, and wonder how long it will be ’ere the Philadelphia authorities deem it -worthwhile to import a ground expert and have the beautiful lawns at Manheim, Elmwood, Wissahickon, and Haverford, changed into real cricket grounds, and our local groundsmen fully posted on the art of preparing a match wicket. It is just about this season of the year the Philadelphia wickets begin to show their worst quality, becoming so fiery as to render the experience of batsmen and stumpers, when facing a fast bowler, anything but a pleasant one. Any ball that is only a trifle short-pitched goes whizzing by the batsman’s ears like a projec­ tile from a sixty-ton gun, or else is apt to place him hors de combat with a dislocated jaw.” Th e funeral of Mr. I. D. Walker took place on Monday at Southgate, the village which has been the home of the family for many years. A great number of well- known cricketers were present at the ceremony, and very many others sent wreaths. Among the clubs which also sent wreaths were the Marylebone Club, the Surrey Club, the Middlesex Ciub, Old Middlesex Comrades, the Harrow Wanderers, Yorkshire Gentlemen, Old Derbyshire Comrades, and Southgate. The oak coffin bore a brass shield, with the inscription : “ Isaac Donnithorne Walker, bom January 8, 1844; died July 6, 1898.” W ith o u t any “ possible shadow of doubt whatever,” the doings of W .G ., at Leyton, have put in the shade every other performance of the season. That a man who is within a few days of his fiftieth year should score 126 and 49 against a county like Essex, besides tak­ ing seven wickets for 44 in the first innings, is altogether unprecedented. May his shadow never grow less ! O ne of the questions of the d a y :— “ When is Sussex going to win a match ? ” I n the City on Friday morning last. Sportsman (to his friend) : “ Go to Leyton yesterday?” His Friend : “ Slightly ! ” Sportsman: “ So you’ve seen W.G. at last then ! ” His Friend : “ Seen him ! Why, pink me if there was anybody else playing all d a y ! ” E xamination questions. From your past experience, calculate the number of newspapers in which the very original idea of referring to a cricketer’ s age as “ so many, not out ” will be used in con­ nection with Dr. Grace’ s birthday on July 18. “ The Gentlemen v. Players match will take place next week” :—What are the proba­ bilities that you think you could choose better teams than the M.C.CJ. committee ? In connection with the match between Lancashire and Notts, we may, says the Manchester Guardian, from an outside and friendly point of view, be allowed to express regret at the whole character of the batting of Nottingham in this as in late seasons. It is no wonder that the Nottingham crioket public keep away from Trent Bridge when their own side play a gajne which invariably tends to a draw. Eight drawn games out of ten is a record which speaks for itself. They have been beaten once, here at Old Trafford a week ago, and they have won once; the other matches have been for the most part easilyunfinished. Cricketers outside Nottingham take a sentimental interest in the fortunes of that county. It is, for one thing, one out of three counties playirg—with an odd exception, which is not worth mentioning—only native players. Yorkshire is the second, and Derbyshire the third county. Gloucestershire may almost, but not quite, be ranked with the three. L o r d ’s and the Oval had a good race in the way of high scoring in the early part of the week. At each ground the aggregate for Monday and Tuesday exceeded a thousand runs. In the mat­ ter of quantity there was a clear advan­ tage to the former. At the Oval, in the match between Surrey’s Second Eleven and Wiltshire, 1,028 runs were scored for 33 wickets, and in, roughly, 11 hours of actual play. Lord’s went more than one better, as iu the two days 1,082 runs were made for 31 wickets. The latter perfor­ mance was the more noteworthy as the game was stopped for an hour on Mon­ day afternoon on account of Mr. I. D. Walker’s funeral. In only one respect could it possibly be claimed that the Oval had the better of a comparison: the bowling there, perhaps, was all round of a somewhat higher class. Is it a fact that Abel in the Surrey and Hampshire matches these last two years has only had four balls from Mr. Hesel­ tine and been out three times ? List year, at Southampton, he got “ a pair” beyond doubt, though he made 173 in the return at the Oval, and last week, at Southampton, he certainly got another “ round ’un.” Anyway, it is a cricket curiosity of the most curious. C ric k e t is very much the poorer by the death of Mr. M. J. Ellison, the Yorkshire president. A good player in his day, he retained his love and enthu­ siasm for the game to the very last. Elected to the presidency of the York­ shire County C.C. on its formation in 1866 he retained it to the end, so that he died in harness. A liberal, as well as a keen supporter of cricket, he did very much himself to raise Yorkshire cricket to the splendid position it has occupied of late years. He was, indeed, a great personality in Yorkshire cricket. In the general life of Sheffield he had, too, for many years, played a conspicuous part. Universally and deservedly respected, his death will create a great blank in every circle of Sheffield activity. In a test match at the Oval on Satur­ day afternoon last, Oakey, one of the young players engaged on the Surrey ground, took five wickets with successive balls. C rick e te rs who play lawn tennis will be greatly pleased with ‘ ‘ Lawn Tennis Recollections,” a book which has just been published by Merritt and Hatcher, 168, Upper Thames Street, at the price of two shillings. The author is Mr. Herbert Chipp —a name well-known to every player of lawn tennis. It is not too much to say that there is not a dry page in the book. Among cricketers who are mentioned is Mr. Stoddart, of whom Mr. Chipp says “ I remember once playing against him in an inter-club match on the Hampstead C.C. ground. The impression I then formed of his play was that, could he have given the necessary time to its study, he might have reached as high a pitch of excellence in lawn tennis as he has in other games. And in a ehat we had after the match it was truly refreshing to hear a cricketer of Stoddart’s rank and achievements speak with admiration of a game for which in those days most followers of cricket had no epithet con­ temptuous enough.” O n the day after Frank Davidson did the hat trick at Derby, Richardson accomplished the same feat at Brighton. His victims are so famous that he may indeed be proud—Mr. Brann, Mr. Mur­ doch, and Mr. Newham! The race for the honour of being the first to make a thousand runs this season is beginning to become exciting. The biggest aggregates have now been made by Shrewsbury 920, Abel 917, Ward 901, Tyldesley 876, Storer 865, Brockwell 854. Mr. Mason falls into the background. DOCTOR WILLIAM. [Dr. William Gilbert Grace will be fifty years old on July 18. In the match between Gloucestershire and Essex at Leyton he scored 126 and 49, and took seven wickets for 44 runs in the first innings.] “ You are old, Doctor William,” the young man cried, ‘ 1Though you don’t seem to age very fast. For you knocked up a hundred and bowled Essex out; Pray, how do you manage to last ? ” “ In the days of my youth,” Dr. William replied, “ I discovered that fast howlers tire; So I went in for slows, with a nice easy run, And an action which all men admire.” “ You are old, Doctor William,” the young man cried, “ You must find it unpleasant to stoop, Yet in fielding you do quite as well as the rest, If you’re not quite as active as Troup.” “ In the days of my youth,” Doctor William replied, ‘ ‘ I could pick up a ball at my toes ; Even now I can do so; hut sometimes it’s wise To pretend I ’ve a fly on my nose.” “ You are old, Dr. William,” the young man cried, “ Yet you’re frisky as any young sheep ; With the speed of a hare you run very short runs, And you often make howlers look cheap.” “ I am frisky, young man,” Doctor William replied, 1 ‘ Because I feel lively and gay, In the days of my youth I made hundred and still I am able to keep in all day.”