Cricket 1898

404 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 8, 1898. T H E C O U N T Y SEA SON . The Chinese muddle, the German Emperor’s proposed visit to Palestine, the Dreyfus affair, and other things of passing interest, such as the war between Spain and America, have to some extent ousted cricket from the contents bills of the evening papers this season. For all that the British public, with the excep­ tion o f the racing part of it, has, as usual, studied the cricket news befoie anything else when it has opened its newspaper, the cricket news this year consistiog almost entirely of details of the matches in the county championship. Never have the doings of the various competitors been studied with greater eagerness, and even when Yorkshire was winning match after match, with an almost irritating regu­ larity, there were no signs of decreasing interest in the struggle. For every cricketer knows that a team may become Stale, and when a downhill path is once entered upon there is no telling where it will lead. Until the last two or three matches there was always a chance that the numer­ ous victories of Yorkshire in the earlier part of the season might be counterbalanced b y a rush on the part of some other county. I f Surrey had done this and that, there is no saying what might have happened. But at the critical moment, which, as it has done before, came during their Western tour, Surrey disappointed their friends, and Yorkshire quietly walked in to take the place of Lancashire — last year’s holders of the Champion­ ship. Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, there was a fascinating race for the last place. For a time Sussex vied with Leicestershire in the number of matches lost, but a victory or two towards the end of the season placed it quite above reproach. Leicestershire was thus left quite alone, for Derbyshire, unlucky though the team was, continued to make an opportune draw now and then. Hampshire, however, ow ing to the continued absence of some of its best players, began to run the Midland county close, and finally Somerset descended exactly to its level, ending up the season with the same proportional number of points, whatever that may be. Moreover, as Somerset comes after Leicestershire in point of alphabetical order, the latter county takes precedence of it in the table, not that this makes the position of Leicestershire any better, except for the look of the thing— which is not very much after all. Quite early in the season Lancashire, the champions, had a startling surprise when they met Warwickshire. They had previously played two drawn games, of one of which they had much the worst, and beaten Derbyshire—not a very satis­ factory record. Fortune, as well as the wicket, was against them in the Warwick­ shire match, but the defeat was severe enough to awaken misgivings for the future. After this they had a chequered career, drawing a lot of matches, not by any means always in their favour, losing a few, and winning a few. It is a quest ion whether the bow ling or the batting was the more in fault. Mold was not the Mold of other days, owing chiefly to accidents and strains, and in some of the matches he was not able to bow l at all. W ith Mold not quite at his best, the hope of the county rested on Cuttell, who, onthe whole, improved his position. Towards the end of the season Mr. W . B. Stoddart, with the now fashionable leg-break, was often of the greatest service, while Briggs occasionally did himself justice. It was hoped that Mr. MacLaren would do wonders for the team when he was at liberty to play in August, but except once or twice he was not at his "best. Ward and Tyldesley were the mainstays of the team. The former has been blamed for persistently playing a barn­ door game, but with the rest of the team likely to crack up at any moment, it is obvious that a man who could keep up his end was tho man who was wanted. Frank Sugg, after a period of almost total failure, had a period of the most brilliant success, and it was just about the time that the county was at its strongest. Baker, Cuttell, and M t . Hartley often gave a good account of themselves. As for Tyldesley, he was one of the two or three men of the year, notwithstanding that, to the general surprise, he did not get a place in the Players’ team at Lord’s. He was nearly always consistent, and nearly always made a big score. I f only he and Mr. MacLaren could have got going together half-a-dozen times, the county would have been higher on the list than sixth. Of Yorkshire it may be said that the team was captained with judgment, that it had no tail, that it worked together instead of individually, that it generally fielded brilliantly, and that its bowlers were, as a whole, better than those of any other county. Until the middle of July Yorkshire marched forward in triumph, leaving a trail of victories behind. It is true that there was not much to crow about in two or threei of the matches which were drawn, for Warwickshire and Notts both looked “ all over winners,” to use a sporting phrase, while Essex was only just beaten. But in a triumphal progress one does not pay much attention to inconvenient inci­ dents, and it was not until the team bearded Kent in one of its own homes at Maidstone that a check was given to the onward course. For the defeat there were explanations innumerable, and when in the next match the forward march was resumed with all the old elan, who so confident as Yorkshiremen ? But the team was getting a little stale. There was a sudden halt while Derbyshire was encountered at Derby, and again during the Warwick­ shire match at Birmingham. Then came the crash. A t the Oval the Yorkshire­ men were routed in the most complete manner, and for the first time the world really woke up to the fact that the championship had not yet been won. There was yet another defeat, but it was counterbalanced b y three easy victories, and a favourable drawn game. It would be superfluous to enter into careful detailsof the batting and bowling. Suffice it to say that Mr. Jackson and Tunnicliffe were in great f orm all through the season ; that Brown covered himself with glory in the second part of i t ; that Lord Hawke was almost as good as he was in his very best days years ago— there are those who affirm that he was even better—and that every man in the team was likely to make a good score. Thelast wicket was oftenagreat stumbling block in the way of opposing teams. In bow ling, Rhodes proved to be a recruit of inestimable value; he was seen at his best on sticky wickets, as was but natural, but he quite held his own when the good weather came, and is almost certain to prove a worthy successor to Peel and Peate. Hirst fell off a little, but the other bowlers were nearly always to be depended upon. The performance of the Surrey team afforded numerous opportunities for com­ ment. A t times the county was ifresis­ tible, at other times it curled up in the most unexpected manner. Never did a county begin a season under more dis­ couraging circumstances. As a send-off it was beaten by Essex, and beaten badly. The next two matches had to be aban­ doned before a ball could be bowled. Then followed such an easy victory over Gloucestershire that a successful season was prophesied, but rain caused two more matches to be drawn, and to add to the disappointment of the team the Yorkshire match was lost b y an innings and 121 runs. Thus up to June 9 the record was a single victory, two defeats, two drawn games, and two unplayed games. There seemed ,n o t the remotest chance that the race for the championship could possibly have any concern for Surrey. But there was now a sudden turn in Fortune’s wheel, and until August the county met with nothing in the way of a check. A t the Oval the team was invincible, and almost irresis­ tible. In every match the toss was won and this was followed up by a b ig innings. So all went well until the second week in August, when at Lord’s Surrey had much the worst of the wicket and was beaten. This was only a temporary check, but it meant a great deal, for to win the championship it was necessary to winnearly every match. When the fatal Western tour was begun there was still a chance that Surrey might, despite their manifold misfortunes, come out at the top of the tree, but a defeat by Gloucester­ shire settled the matter in favour of Yorkshire, and in the end two other counties had a better percentage. But Surrey men can congratulate themselves that their team made one of the most brilliant fights for the championship ever known. A t the beginning of the' year it was feared that Surrey would be terribly weak in bowling, for Richardson, after a few successes on difficult wickets lest his pace, and was no longer the Richardson of last year. There seemed no one to take his place, for he had been head and shoulders above the other bowlers. Happily Lockwood again came into the team, and from first to last bowled in splendid form, and as Richardson occa