Cricket 1898

S e p t . 2 2 , 1898. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 427 BUSSEY’S HOCKEY. FINEST CLUB MADE IS TH E BEST < C C {K < mflR*. APPLY FOR CATALOGUE TO Geo. G. BUSSEY & Co., 36 & 38, Queen Victoria Street, L O N D O N ; OR DEALERS ALL OVER THE WORLD. MANUFACTORY— PECKHAM , LONDON. T IM B E R M IL L S — ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. B E T W E E N T H E IN N IN G S . FIRST-CLASS CRICKETERS o p 1898. To Yorkshire, the champion county, undoubtedlybelongs thehonour of having the best side of the year. Whether that side was—as some enthusiasts aver— the best that ever represented a county is another matter. Where the field is so wide, the unwisdomof superlatives seems to me apparent. One remembers the magnificent Surrey teams of a few years ago (this without disparagement to the Surrey eleven of to-day); the Notts elevens of the days whenShrewsburyand Gunn were backed up by four or five other first-classbatsmenof varying types, aud Dick Attewell was not the only bowler on the side; the Yorkshire team i'self in the primeof George Ulyett (poor old “ Happy Jack”—scarcely, even yet, can one realise that be is dead!), Louis Hall, Billy Bates, TedPeate andEphraim Lockwood, and one doubts. But, all said that need be said, the broad-acred county had a grand eleven iu 1898 ; four first-class bowlers in good f mu, threeor fourgood changes, batting down to the very last man (let him who doubts of Dave Hunter look at the table of last wicket partnerships in my last), and a splendid fielding side, keen, quick, and sure. One scarcely knows of which of them one should speak first. Perhaps the colt Rhodes merits first place. Such a record as his for a first season in big cricket is almost unique. Only A. G. Steel’s in 1878 can be compared to it. The youngster, he is not yet twenty, I believe tookpart in 33 first-classmatches, two more than any other player in the whole county shared in. He sent down 6,200 balls, and took 154 wickets at an average of over 17, making 78 v. Middle­ sex at Lord’s, 67, not out, v. Derbyshire at Harrogate, 50, not out, v. Notts at Nottingham, and some seven or eight other scores of over 20. His most pro­ minent bowling feats were 13 for 45 v. Somerset at Taunton, 12 for 70 v. Surrey atBradford, and 11 for 92 v. Essex onthe same ground; but these are only three good performances among many. Only inone match in which he played did he fail to get a wicket; and, after the first few weeks of the season, his claims to a place would always have had to be con­ sidered had it been necessary to choose a representative Eugland Eleven. One cannot help but feel sorry that Peel’s career has ended so untimely; but it would be affectation to deny that young Wilfred Rhodes fairly filled Peel’s place in the county team. While the wickets were bad there were critics galore who were certain that, on good grounds, Rhodeswouldbe ineffective. As amatter of fact, half of his wickets were taken under conditions that favoured the bats­ men, and it would be difficult to point to any match in which his bowling was thoroughly collared. One looks to see a great career for him. Let him not be discouraged if 1899 is not such a season of success as 1898 has been. It is a noticeable fact that great players who have done exceptionally well in their first season have been somewhat less success­ ful in their second. To F. S. Jackson alone, among York­ shiremen, belongs the double honour of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in 1898. Peel and Hirst did it in 1896, Wainwright and Hirst in 1897. To the old Cantab, too, belongs the honour of being the highest Yorkshireman in the batting averages of the season, though Tunnicliffe is ahead of him in the county figures, and thefurther distinction of having decidedly the best record achieved by any amateur bowler. Certainly he has never bowled better. He was quite one of the mainstays of his side in the attack, and his record—104 wickets for 1,630 runs—is of a quality that speaks for itself. He bowled in 27 matches, and only failed to take wickets in three of them. Once he had seven wickets in an innings, twice six, and five times five, three times four, and twelve times three; yet he never had more than eight wickets in any one match, and his figures are the result of consistency, not of fireworks. To see an amateur bowling so steadily and so well in match after match was in itself anobject-lesson. As a batsman, the oldCambridge captain was as good•as ever; better than that one need not ask for. Up to the begin­ ning of August he looked like eclipsing all his former records, but after he was hurt iu the Surrey match at the Oval he did not once make a really long score, and his aggregate and average were slightly below those he secured in 1896. Five times he passed the century, once more than in 1893, his first great year; but his big innings varied a good deal in degree of excellence, and that v. Somerset at Scarboroughwasvery faulty. It is questionable whether he or John Tunnicliffe was the batsman on whom Yorkshire relied most in 1898. Both did fine work on all sorts of wickets; and neither was ever really out of form. “ Long John, of Pudsey,” was un­ questionably a far greater player than ever before. In the early days of the season he seemed inclined to play a pottering game, which made one sigh that a man so liberally endowed by Nature with height, strength and ability, should sowaste time. Later onhe settled down into thatmost reliable of batsmen— a strong defensive player who can hit well. His 107, not out, v. Gloucestershire at Bristol, in May, was made in three hours, ten minutes; his 108, not out, v. Kent, in June, in three anda-half hours ; his 102 v. Lancashire, in July, in three hours, twenty-five minutes; his 243 v. Derbyshire, in August, in five hours, five minutes. Besides theseinnings, hescored 84 v. Derbyshire, at Harrogate ; 83, not out, v. Sussex, at Brighton (an innings which had much to do with winning the game for his side); 66 (twice), 58, 57, 55, and 50 (twice), in other matches; seven scores of between 40 and 50 ; and seven others of 20 or over. In the slips he was as useful as ever. A long arm, a sure eye, ji quick brain, are excellent qualities in the slips. “ Long John ” has themall.