Cricket 1898

86 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pril 28, 1898. t-plendid form against Yorkshire, Steel was at his best with ihe h a ll; and the hardy Tykes had to submit to defeat by ten wickets. In the first innings of Cambridge, Bligh made 70, C. T. Studd 68, O. P. Lancashire 42, not out, P. H. Morton 25 and H . Whitfeld 24. In the second Bligh and Whitfeld went in and hit off the 74 runs wanted to win, the Kent man’s share being 57, his comrade, of Sussex fame, making 17—a proportion which reminds one strongly of the Hornby and Barlow partnerships. The captain’s share in the victory was eleven wickets for 123. Ulyett, with 64 and 30, was far and away highest scorer for the losers. The match with the Gentlemen, which followed this with only the Sunday interval, saw Cambridge run up, with one exception, the highest score a Light Blue side has ever made in a first-class match. The Gentlemen began, and scored 232 (F. Penn 88, A. Lyttelton 67, I. D. Walker 32, A. J. Webbe 20); then Cambridge ran up 593, every man on the scratch side taking a turn with the ball. In the first match of the Cambridge season Mr. Hugh Rotherham had taken seven wickets for 42 against th em ; now his 74 overs produced 153 runs and not a solitary wicket. B ligh and Whitfeld laid the foundations of the b ig score by putting on 150 together for the first wicket, when “ St. I v o ” went for 90. Then 11. S. Jones joined Whitfeld, and 121 more were added before the old Etonian left for 116. C. T. Studd (23) helped Jones to add 39; then the captain came in, and at call of time on the second day (25 runs had been scored on the first) the score was 343 for three wickets. Steel and Jones carried this to 404 in the morning before they were parted; and even after they had both left (Jones for 124, his skipper for 56), there was a long stand for the eighth wicket b y O. P. Lancashire (60) and P. G. Exham (43), who put on 89 while together. The ninth wicket fell with the score at 586, but the last two only added seven more, and at 5.20 on the Wednesday the tired fieldsmen, after over two days’ leather- hunting, at last found rest. F or twenty- two wickets a total of 825 runs was made in this match, which of course ended in a draw. A t the Oval three weeks later, in the next match, the Light Blue captain was seen at his very best. His innings of 118 was, by 84 runs, the highest individual score of the m atch; it was made while his various partners scored between 30 and 40 ; and he followed it up b y taking eight wickets for 105 runs in the two innings of Surrey. Morton had six for 43 and C. T. Studd, five for 30; and, though there were three scores of over 20 in each innings of the county, the highest was only 27 'by Maurice Bead (Dick Humphrey, with 26 and 24, and W. Lindsay, with 25 and 25, did best, how ­ ever), and Surrey suffered defeat by seven wickets. Like only two or three other great all-round players, the greater for the fact, Mr. Steel has always been apt to do big things both with bat and ball in the same m atch; and this game was a notable demonstration of his genius. After these three games, it was rather disappointing for the Cmtabs when a strong eleven of the premier club lowered their colours at Lord’s by 49 runs. With 51 and 37 and 10 for 98, the Light Blue captain was again well to the fore; but, except that C. P. Wilson, of greater fame in football than in cricket annals, took six for 49, no one gave him very efficient help. Morley had 14 wickets for 143 for the winners; A. P. Lucas scored 37 and 46 ; and T. S. Pearson, with 64 in the first innings, made the highest individual score of the match. A t Oxford, a notable feature of the early trial-matches was the bow ling of E. Peake, of Marlborough, who afterwards did good work, both for his ’Varsity and his county, Gloucestershire. In the Freshmen’s match, this gentleman took seven wickets for 19 and four for 35, for Sixteen Freshmen v. the Eleven, he had five for 29, and for the Next Sixteen v. the Eleven, four for 32 and three for 26 ; in all, 23 for 141. Yet he was only played in one of the “ foreign ” matches, and in that one was not put on to bow l at all ! He won his Blue in 1881 and played three times against Cambridge; but one cannot help thinking that Mr. Greene was as far wrong in not giving him a really good trial in 1880 as were the rival captains of 1874 in leaving F. M. Buckland and W . S. Patterson out of their selections. Though Oxford lost every match this season, the first three were lostby comparatively small majorities. The M.C.C. beat the Dark Blues at Oxford by one wicket only, after a match in which the bowlers had matters all their own way, the best batting per­ formance being W . A. Thornton’s 12 and 30. Shaw and Morley bowled unchanged for the club, their respective figures being twelve for 53 and eight for 62. For the ’Varsity Evans had nine for 65, and G. C. Harrison, the Clifton freshman, eight for 4 9 ; C. E. Horner and E. Peake, who were (nominally) being tried for their bowling, were not put on at all, and were not given a chance in any of the later matches. A margin of 32 runs only separated Oxford from the Gentlemen at the end of the annual match, in which A. J. Webbe’s 53 in the first innings of the scratch team and C. I. Thornton’s 44 in the second, W . A. Thornton’ s first of 39 and W . H . Patterson’s second of 31 for the ’Varsity, were the best scores. Jellicoe had eight wickets for 41 runs for the beaten side; Hugh Rotherham ten for 49 and David Buchanan eight for 84 for the winners. A little wider margin— 52—was that by which the Dark Blues were beaten in the twelve a side game v. Middlesex, at Lord’s. I. D. Walker, with 27 and 74, for the winners, Howard. Fowler, with 51 and 49 for the losers, were the foremost rungetters in the m atch; but there were twenty-two other double-figure scores, ranging from 10 to 45. Mr. Walker’s lobs proved very effec­ tive, accounting for eight wickets in all at a cost of only 66. The return with the M .C.C., lost by nine wickets, was chiefly notable for a splendid innings by Billy Barnes, who carried his bat right through the club’s innings of 236 for 118. J. S. Rus3el, who scored 47, helped to send up 84 before the first wicket fell. The highest score in either innings of Oxford was W . A. Thornton’s 36 in the first; but A. H . Trevor, with 20 and 30, and A. H . Evans, with 30 and 22, also did fairly well. Shaw and Morley again did most of the bowling for the club. There seemed very little hope for Oxford in the ’Varsity match, and though they managed to get out the Cantabs, who had first innings, for 166 (Ivo Bligh 59, G. B. Studd 38), they never once really got on terms with their opponents. A t the end of an innings each they were only 34 behind, however, in spite of the fact that their score with nine wickets down had been but 81, for E. T. Hirst (49 not out) and Norman MacLachlan (27) did splen­ did service by adding 51 for the last wicket. Five Cambridge wickets were down for 78 in the second innings ; but the tail wagged vigorously; the brothers Studd added 69 runs for the sixth, when G. 13. was out for 40 ; then C. T. (52) and Lancashire (29) put on 58 for the seventh, and the total reached 232. Wanting 267 to win, ihe Dark Blues lost five wickets for 39 ; then Fowler (43) and E. L. Cole- brooke (34 not out) added 64, the former hitting out grandly while Colebrooke stonewalled. But, though Evans hit up 22 of 28 while he was in, little more was done; the innings closed for 151, and the Cintabs were left winners by 115 runs. P. H . Morton took six wickets for 45 in Oxford’s first, A. G. Steel seven for 61 in the second (ten for 98 in the m atch); and A. H , Evans, for Oxford, had ten for 133, grand work by a bowler on a losing side. The teams w ere:— C am b rid g e H on. Ivo Bligh, C. W . Foley, A. F. J. Ford, R. S. Jones, O. P . Lancashire, P. H . Morton, A. G. Steel, C. T. Studd, G. B. Studd, H . Whitfeld and C. P. Wilson. Oxford :—E. L. Colebrooke, A. H . Evans, F. L, Evelyn, H. Fowler, A. D. Greene, G. C. Harrison, E ; T. Hirst, N. MacLachlan, W . H . Patterson, W . A. Thornton and A. H . Trevor. It will be seen that in the batting averages that follow the Dark Blues are represented b y only one player. The second average for them was 16-50 by E. L. Colebrooke; and the highest indi­ vidual score hit by an Oxford man in the five matches was 51. Mediocrity, in first-class cricket, could scarcely further go- PRINCIPAL AVERAGES. B atting . Not H’st Inns. out. Runs. Aver, score. A. G. Steel (C .)......... . 11 .. . 0 ... 377 .. . 34-27 ...118 H. Fowler (O.) ... . . 6 ... 0 .,. 183 .,,. 30-50 .. 51 C. T. Studd (C.)........ . 10 ... 2 .... 241 .. 30-12 ... 68 Hon. Ivo Bligh (C.) .. . 13 ... 1 ..,. 333 ..,. 27*75 ... 90 R. S. Jones (C .).......... 8 .... 1 ... 162 ..,. 23-14 .. 1-24 O. P. Lancashire (C.) 8 ... 2 .... 157 .. 22 42 ... 60 H. Whitfeld (C.).......... 13 ... 1 ... 257 .,.. 21*41 ...116 B owling . Overs. Runs. Wkts. Aver. A. G. Steel (C.) .......... 489 ... 640 ... 50 ... 12-80 G.C. Harrison (O.).......... 248 ... 373 ... 28 ... 13 32 A. H. Evans (O.) ..........291‘3 ... 517 ... 33 ... 15-66 P. H. Morton (C .).......... 257’2 ... 389 .. 23 ... 16-91 J.N .P. (To be continued .)