Cricket 1898

406 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. S ept . 8, 1898 set. Mr. Wood, Brown, K ing and Tomlin all did well with the bat. Although Mr. Palairet, Mr. Phillips and Mr. W tod s often did great things for Somerset, and Mr. Roe was exceedingly useful in August, there was such a lamentable want of bow ling that the county had a most unsuccessful season. Mr. Woods worked very hard for the success of his team, but unless some new players of merit are discovered it is to be feared that the outlook for the county is bad. But the example of Gloucestershire is sufficient to show that no county need despair, even when its prospects seem almost hopeless. I f a new bowler or two can be found the result of the season for 1899 may be very much more cheerful than that of the present year. PALLINGSWICK NORFOLK TOUR. BOSTON PA BK v. EALING .—Played at E aling on Septem ber 1. B oston P a r k . A . S. B ull, h t w kt, b Chilm an ......................63 G. W . Bedlam , not out202 W . T. R ussell, run out 4 A .J.Crow der,cD angar, b C hilm an... ............ 7 F . W . Jam es, lbw , b Chilm an ..................... 0 C . F ran klin, b Chilm an 0 A . W orsley, c Jo h n ­ stone, b Chilm an ... 0 F. Thomas, b D angar 12 C.E. Saunders.c John­ stone, b Cbilm an ... 8 F . C. Buxton, not out 0 E x tra s ......................14 Total (8 wkts) 310 A . G. B u rt did not bat. E a lin g . E . H. S. Berridge, c R ussell, b Jam es ... 68 E .S.Littlejohn,c Crow­ der, b B u xto n ............12 V . P. Johnstone, c Saunders, b Beldam 50 W . G. Allcock, c Crow­ der, b B u x to n ............ 8 A . R . L ittlejoh n, b Jam es .................... D .R. D angar, b Jam es Chilm an. b Jam es ... E. Jo w itt, not out ... E x tra s ...................... T otal (7 w kts) 175 A . T. W eir, O. L . M atthias and H . R . Bow tell did not bat. KENSINGTON PA RK v. U PPE R TOOTING.— Played a t S t. Q,uintin’s P ark on Septem ber 3. K e n s in g to n P ark . C. M acdonald, b T h o rn to n ...................... 0 P . G reatorex, c W hist­ ler, b H a r v e y ............ 40 R . F . A . Orr, b W hist­ ler ...............................20 C. M . Skinner, b T h o rn to n .....................26 F . K endall,b Thornton 21 F. H . Palm er, c Pow­ ell, b Thornton ... 44 U ppe r T ooting . E. S. Blois, bThornton 9 A . P. Comyns, c B ut­ cher, b Thornton ... 14 C.C. Brown, b H arvey 0 O. D. Brooks, cW hist- ler, b H arvey........... 2 G. W ilkinson, not out 0 Byes ......................30 Total R . R . Sandilands, b K endall ... ... 42 C, R . Lucas, b K tndall 3 R . M . H arvey, b Comyns .....................17 D r. G. Thornton, not out ...............................37 D. C. B artley, not out 3 Byes ......................24 Total ^3wkts) 126 D. H B u ’cher, J . A. Lyon, E. F . W histler, D r. H. T anner, H . O. Carroll, and E. T. Powell did not bat. HAM PSTEAD v. KENSINGTON P A R K .-P layed a t H am pstead on Septem ber 3. H am pste a d . F . S. Young, o Lloyd, b T h r in g .................. 113 S. 8. P aw ling, c Lloyd, b T hring .........................22 H . W oodall, b H awks- w o rth ..................................33 E. L. M ar den, b H aw kew o ith ............ 8 W . S. H ale, b Nicholas 22 H. G reig, not out .. 41 E xtras ............ 21 T otal (5 wkts) *260 J . G. Q. Besch, D. M acGregor, C. D. D . M cM illin, C. K. M acdonald and L . E. Thomas did not bat. * Innings declared closed. K ensington P a b k . C. H . M . Thring, b M arsden .....................29 A . L . In gall, b H ale... 12 G. T. Brown, run out 3 C. S. G. Lloyd, b M ars­ den .............................. 0 C.E. Reynolds, bM ars­ den ............................... 1 A .B . Osmond, c Wood­ all, b M arsden............. 0 G. E. W . Money, lbw, b M arsden ............ 8 A .D .N icholas, b H ale 3 W . G. Thompson, not out ...............................16 J.U nw in-C larke.bH ale 8 H awksworth,bM arsden 4 E x tra s ......................20 T otal ..104 Considering the exceptionally enjoyable tour the club had last year in Yorkshire, the difficulty of raising a team on the present occasion was somewhat extraordinary. But in the face of countless refusals a very useful ten men were at length got together, though it was found necessary to take two profes­ sionals in order to complete this number. Travelling up to Norwich on Sunday, August 14th, was not very enjoyable, the heat being awful, and the train apparently overcome by it. We found comfortable quarters at the Royal Hotel, and on Monday proceeded to Dereham to play the local team. The wicket was not in a perfect state, as the scores will show, and it was only the resolute hitting of F. E. G. Johnson that saved us from defeat, even though we had got Dereham out for 57. A reporter had a chat with one of our team after the match, and to his and our disgust, as well as amusement, we found some of his quaintest remarks on cricket reproduced next day in the local paper. The memory of that “ interview” was not allowed to fade away in a hurry, and the member in question will in future ask the “ intentions” of reporters who chat with him over friendly pipes. Tuesday’s match was against the Norwich C.E.Y.M.S. (whatever that may mean). They have a magnificent ground and a useful team, but some of their men were away and we beat them easily. Our captain, H. V. Bate, played an exceed­ ingly good innings when things were going badly, and with assistance from L. Hutchin­ son raised the score to nearly double what had looked probable at one time. Perks bowled with great success for us, and with excellent judgment, for nearly everyone tried to hit him, and his change of pitch beat them one after another. After dining at our hotel we left for Cromer, which was our head­ quarters for the rest of the week. Being able to procure no vehicle for our bags, except a milk-cart, and having to walk a long mile from the station to the West Cliff Hotel it did not please us much, and when we found we were planted out in different houses it is to be feared oufjannoj ance showed itself some­ what plainly. The temporary loss of a Gladstone added fuel, and our first experience of Cromer was therefore not of the brightest. But our host proved himself a thorough sportsman, and the next night we were all accommodated in the hotel, and a happy family again. We had no difficulty through­ out in filling up our vacant place in the team, our various substitutes being very good fellows, though, as it happened, they did not distinguish themselves with the bat. On Wednesday we commenced a two-day match against Overstrand, on Lord Battersea’s ground. The wicket was on the soft side, and the ground rather small, but otherwise very good indeed. We met by far the hottest side of the week here, E. M. Dowson and Ayres being ihe “ stars” of a very useful comp iny. They had plenty of other bowlers besides these two, and though none of us found Dowson such a terror as we had expected, we had no reason to be pleased with our first knock, W . Alcock’s fine hitting alone saving us from making a very poor score. Strange to say he was missed in the country by Ayres, of all people in the world, from a hit which the fielder hadn’t to move a yard for. Overstrand’s innings showed nothing very wonderful, but a lucky 77 by A. W . Wood helped them to beat our score by 46. As there remained only half-an-hour to play, there was a talk of our not going in again until the morning. By the end of that half-hour we devoutly wished we had listened to the suggestion. With the sun exactly behind his arm Dowson sent us back as fast as we went in. No man on earth could have seen the ball from his end, and we lost six wickets for eight miserable runs. There was the usual talk of countermanding lunch next day, &c., &c. Fortunately we put a bold face on it, and though inwardly both furious and despondent we faced matters boldly and told our opponents they hadn’t done with us yet. And that they had not by any means. We were playing twelve a side, and had five fairly useful wickets to go. Three of the six men failed, but Johnson, Collins and Gooder hit so resolutely that we knocked up 171, and set our opponents 126 to win. This was good, but what followed was better. Off Gooder’ s first ball, Wood was well caught at the wicket. Dowson and Ayres again gave no trouble, and wickets kept falling steadily till ten were down, with about 20 still required. With 13 wanted, one of us missed an easy catch, and we groaned aloud. But with five still wanted Johnson proved equal to the occasion, and bowled the last man. It was a wonderful match and worth hundreds of ordinary victories. The joy of the man who missed the catch just mentioned was quite affecting to witness. We had a stroll round Lord Battersea’s splendid gardens, which are beautifully laid out, without any of the stiff formality of arrangement that one usually sees in these “ stately homes of England.” On Friday we had a lovely drive to Gunton, where weplayedour last match. Ofthe ground, whether to bat or field on, we have no words strong enough to express our appreciation, but the batting of our opponents rather spoiled the match. On an absolutely perfect wicket they produced 25 for nine wickets, and then we waited for their last man to arrrive, and swell the total by six. Johnson and Alcock bowled well, but not well enough to account for this performance.Gunton’s bowling was not dangerous either, and our score of 302 was by no means so large as it ought to have been, but their fielding was good. Bate, Collins, Bowstead, and Clarke all played well, but things weren’t quite so lively as they might have been, with the exception of Collins’ hitting. We put on change bowlers in the second innings, but it didn’t make much difference. The lunch here deserves special mention, Gunton pudding being the great feature. We were told it was capital stuff to field on, but didn’t have an oppor­ tunity of testing its “ staying” qualities. As we won every match the tour was most successful from a cricket point of view, but we didn’t care very much for Cromer, and with our skipper living away with his family at Bacton, and two pro.'s, and one vacancy, our party was a very little one at the hotel. We had a real hot bowling side, nine men being regular bowlers of sorts, while Johnson and Gooder were exceedingly good. Johnson took twenty-five wickets for an average of just over seven runs each. Gooder only came off once, but he didn’t have many other opportunities. All the bats came off on occa­ sions, Johnson, Collins, Bowstead, and Bate being the most consistent, while our fielding was good, except in the slips, where nobody seemed capable of holding anything, and we most of us had a try. Hall proved most useful behind the wicket, for we had no “ stumper ” at all, and it was almost his first experience with the gloves. In view of the success of the last two years’ tours, in both of which there was the utmost difficulty in raising a team, it is to bejhoped that members will show a little more esprit de corps next