Cricket 1898

A p r il 21, 1898. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 67 BUSSEY’S " A ' f ’/ V v CRICKET BATS A R E T £ E GRANDEST MADE. BUSSEY’S < c c b « : CRICKET BALLS RETAIN THEIR SHAPE, AND LAST LONGER THAN ANY OTHER, BUSSEY’S < C G f r f t LEG GUARDS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD, AND THE LIGHTEST MADE, BUSSEY’S BATTING CLOVES ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO THE USUAL CLASS, BUSSEY’S < Q C f r K CRICKET BAGS A R E OF TH E H IGH E ST GRADE. BUSSEY’S < CGS « SCORE BOOKS A R E TH E MOST APPROVED. BUSSEY’S K taCBK~^ DIARY AND COMPANION IS A GEM FOR SIXPEN C E. CATALOGUE ON APPLICATION TO 36 & 38, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, LON D ON ; OR DEALERS ALL OVER THE WORLD. MANUFACTORY— PECKHAIY1, LONDON. TIMBER MILLS— E L M S W E L L , SUFFOLK . BETWEEN THE INNINGS. A Q U A R T E R OF A C E N T U R Y ’S U N I V E R S I T Y C R IC K E T . (Continuedfrom page 52.) 1875. Both Universities had very strong teams in 1875; seldom, indeed, have they had sides so equally matched. Between them they won eight matches and lost only three, Oxford winning four to one lost, Cambridge winning four and losing two. As was but fitting, the great struggle was a very close affair indeed, Oxford pulling through by six runs only. Two of the most famous of University batsmen appeared in opposite teams as freshmen thii j ear, A. J. Webbe at Oxford and A. P. Lucas at Cambridge. They were conspicuous in the Freshmen’s matches, too, Webbe making 91 and 26 not out, Lucas 66. In Oxford’s first “ fo re ig n ” match (v. the M.O.C.) Webbe made 33 and 12 in a small scoring game. R. Briggs scored 45; but undoubtedly the most considerable factor in Oxford’s fine win by seven wickets wasFoord-Kelcey’s bowling —eleven for 43. G. IT. Wyatt made 48 and 23 for the clu b ; and it is worthy of note that both Shaw and Morley were playing. Webbe made his mark very decisively in the next match, v. the Gentlemen, playing a fine innings of 120. T. W . Lang, who scored 54, helped him to mako 143 for the first w icket; Briggs scored 48, Game 45, »nd Ridley 43 not out, and the total was 358. Nine of the scratch team bowled. The Gentlemen could only make 133 and 47, Foord-Kelcey being simply irresistible in the second innings, when he took seven wickets for 15. The Middlesex match was very easily won, A. J. Webbe’s two innings realising 101 runs, and Foord- Kelcey taking thirteen for 128. Then came a defeat (the only one of the season) in the return with the M.C.C. G. N. Wyatt was again in form for the club, scoring 74 and 18. R idley’s 64 ia the second innings was by far the highest innings for Oxford. Foord-Kelcey bowled but little, probably held in reserve for the ’Varsity match. Cambridge’s first match was drawn, less than an innings being got through by the Eleven of England, while the Cantabs were all out for 96, of which the freshman Lucas’s share was 47, a goodly proportion, in faith ! Then Surrey was well beaten in an innings, playing a purely professional eleven, for which Clifford, with 45 and 41, did best for the bat. There were nine double-figures in Cambridge’s 342, the best of them being Longman’s 80, Sims’ 71, Edward Lyttel­ ton’s 63 (Lyttelton, like Lucas, was a freshman this year), and Blacker’s 40. C. M. Sharpe, whose great ability with the ball seems to have been discovered late, since this was his only year in the Light Blue team, took fourteen wickets for 137. Then the M.C.C. were beaten by nine wickets, Shaw and Morley notw ith­ standing. Again there were nine double­ figure scores in Cambridge’s first innings, though they ruled smaller, and again Sharpe was to the fore with the ball (nine for 139). The Gentleii en went down by seven wickets, Blacker scoring 46 and 64 not out, Patterson 21 and 60 both not out, Greenfield 77 and 18, A. P. Lucas 48, and Macan 47. Sharpe had nine for 167, in a match in which 33 wickets realised 921 runs. For the Gentlemen C. I. Thornton scored 41 and 64, and A. F. Smith, a Cam­ bridge man, 48 not out and 23, a good per­ formance which gained him his blue. Then Surrey fell at the Oval b y 192 runs. Blacker scored 40 and 53, Sims 9 and 68, E. Lyttelton 36 and 31, A. P. Lucas 13 and 45. Sharpe took twelve for 108. It was now evident that Cambridge had a tre­ mendously strong batting side and, in Sharr.e, a bowler good enough to turn the tide of any game. A t this period both ’Varsities werestill unbeaten,but both had yet to face the M.C.C. at L ord’s ; and any amount of interest was centred in these two matches. Shaw and Morley had their revenge, and both lost. Against Oxford Shaw had been most deadly (twelve for 80), against Cambridge it was his partner (11 for 89). G. N. Wyatt, who had scored so well in both matches against Oxford, made 52 and 36 in this game. He had six innings against Uni­ versity bow ling in 1875, and scored 125 runs therein. The Cimbridge defeat was somewhat less decisive than that of Oxford, which followed it ; but on their records there was little to choose between the two sides when the great tug-of-w ar came. If I remember rightly, there is a long and vivid description of the match in the Badminton “ Cricket ” volum e; I have not space to deal with it adequately here. It was a grand fight, won for Oxford at the finish by Ridley’s lobs. The Cambridge crack trundler, Sharpe, came off as usual, taking eleven wickets for 155 ; but the Oxford crack, Foord- Kelcey, could only manage one for 71. But Oxford had Lang, Buckland, R id le j, and Royle to fall back upon; and these pulled them through. With 55 and 21 A. J. Webbe was top scorer in the match ; and he and T. W . Lang (45) sent up 86 on the board before the first wicket of the match fell. Longman (40 and 23) did worthily in his last match for Cam­ bridge ; Sims scored 44 in his two inn­ ings, and E. Lyttelton 43. Pulman made 25 and 30 for Oxford. The teams were :— O x f o r d R. Briggs, F. M. Buckland, D. Campbell, W . Foord-Kelcey, W. H. Game, T. W. Lang, W. W. Pulman, A. W. Ridley, V . F. Royle, H . G. Tylecote, and A J Webb© Cambridge: —W . Blacker, F. F . J. Greenfield, H. A. Hamilton, G. H. L on g­ man, A. P. Lucas, H on. E. Lyttelton, G. Macan, W . S. Patterson, C. M. Sharpe, H. M. Sims, and A. F. Smith. PRINCIPAL AVERAGES. B atting . A. J. Webbe (O.) W. blacker (C.)... A. W. Ridley (O.) H. M. Sims (C.) Not H’st Inns. out. Runs. Aver. score. .. 9 ... 0 ... 376 ... 41-77 ...120 .. 11 ... 1 .. . 284 ... i8 40 ... 64* .. 8 .. . 1 ... 197 ... 28-14 ... 64 .. 9 ... 0 ... 225 ... 25-00 ... 71 .) 10 ... 0 ... 219 ... 24*90 ... 63 .. 12 .. . 1 .. 266 ... 24-18 ... 80 .. 11 ... 1 .. . 232 ... 23-20 ... 48 .. 9 .. . 1 .. ,. 183 ... 22'87 ... 46 .. 7 ... 2 ... 105 ... 2100 ... 47 .) 12 .. . 0 .. ,. 242 ... 20-16 .. 77 .. 11 ... 2 .,.. 181 ... 2011 ... 60* A. P. Lucas (C.) W. W. Pulman (C G. Macan (C.) ... (Eight of the Cambridge team averaged over 20 ) * signifies not out.