Cricket 1899

M ay 11, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME, 123 TH E BOYHOOD OF FAMOUS CRICKETERS. The follow ing anecdotes are for the benefit of the younger readers of Cricket. They have never before been published, and are not true :— When Dr. Grace was a child of three he was passionately devoted to natural history. One day, while he wis watching the airy flight of a bat in the twilight, he said to his uncle, “ Oh, I wi h I was a bat! ” With a foresight which can only be described as remarkable his uncle replied, “ So you shall, my boy—the finest bat that the world has ever seen ! ” It is reported that the young­ ster remarked, “ At the present moment I would rather be in a pastrycook’s shop.” Mr. 0 . R. Borradaile, who as a successful secretary has deservedly gained a great repu­ tation, gave evidence at a very early age that he was likely in the future to possess the business acumen required by a man who essays to bring a second-rate county team to a period of prosperity. Entering a cricket emporium, he asked the proprietor to show him his half-crown bats. After inspecting the stock, he pointed to one of them, asking, “ How much is this on e?” The proprietor', seeing a chance of adding an honest shilling to his income, promptly replied, “ Three and six.” “ I will take it,” said Mr. Borradaile, who had noticed that the bat was a slap-up Cobbett of the finest brand, and had evidently been placed among the half-crown bats by mistake. So he walked off with his purchase, leaving the proprietor to chuckle over his success. After making many hundreds in M.C.C. and Essex Club and Ground matches with this bat, Mr. Borradaile had it framed in gold, and it may still be seen hanging up in a conspicuous position in his study. Mr. C. 1. Thornton, the most famous hitter of all time, was once taking part in a match in Kent when he was a boy at school. When his turn came to bat he inquired of the captain of the opposing side, “ How many if I hit over the h ill?” The captain, after consultation with the members of his team, replied, “ We will give you six.” As the hill formed a part of the South Downs, it is hardly necessary to say that cn this occasion the future great hitter did not make a record. That the child is father to the man is a trite saying which is undoubtedly true in some cases, and an incident which occurred when Harry Wood, the Surrey wicketkeeper, was five years old goes far to prove it. He was standing at the wicket which divided his father’s estate from the roadway, when a disagreeable old lady, who was in the habit of leaving tracts at various houses, tried to pass him. But the boy kept the wicket so well that she at last had to give up the attempt in disgust. W.A.B. a n s w e r s t o c o r r e s p o n d e n t s . “ H G.P.” —The rule was altered for the year, as it was during the last visit of the Australians. 'Ihe Worcestershire matches will presumably count, although the two-day match with Notts may present difficulties. The Tenth Austra lian Tour in England. ONE PENNY. NOW READY. Containing P h o t o s and B io g r a p h ie s of each member of the team and interesting tables relating to previous tours. 168, U p pe r T hames S treet , L ondon , E.C. YORKSHIRE v. M.C.C. and GROUND. AN EXCITING . FINISH . Played at Lord’s on May 8, 9 , and 10. Yorkshire won by one wicket. With its usual pluck, the M.C.C. put a team into the field against Yorkshire, which, on paper form, would find it difficult to defeat any second-class county, and, as usual, it gave a good account of itself. It is true that pretty nearly all the runs in the first innings were made by two men, Chatterton and Storer, who came together with the score at 21 for two wickets, and put on 136 runs in partner­ ship, by remarkably good cricket. The remaining six batsmen were responsible for 13 runs between them, five of them being bowled by Haigh. At the close of the first day, Yorkshire had gained no advantage, for with eight wickets down they were still 42 runs behind. Mr. Jackson did not come off, nor did Mr. Mitchell; but Brown and Wain­ wright were in good form. On Tuesday morning the last wicket produced 31 runs, but the total was still 11 behind that of the M.C.C. In the M.C.C. second innings, neither Storer nor Chatterton did much, but Mr. Foley was in good form, and made 48, while others of the team did well—particu­ larly Mr. Somerset. Yorkshire had to make 196 to win, and at close of play were 91 runs behind with six wickets in hand. Fine play by Mr. Mitchell on Wednesday, and a deter­ mined stand for the last wicket by Haigh and Mr. Jackson enabled Yorkshire to pull the match out of the fire. When Jackson, who had injured his hand on Tuesday, joined Haigh 20 runs were required to win. M.C.C. First innings. Hearne (A.), c Bairstow, b Rhodes..................................17 C. P. Foley, b Hirst ........... 3 Chatterton, c Wainwiight, b Hirst..................................66 Stoier, c Bairstow, b Birst 81 Trott (A.E.), b Hirst ... 0 S. M. Tindall, b Baigh ... 1 A . F Somerset, b Baigh ... 0 Whitehead (Lees), b Haigh 0 Burns, b Haigh ................... 6 Hearne (J. T.). not out ... 2 Roche. b Haigh ................... 4 B 4, lb 4 ........................... 8 Total.......................... 188 Y orksh ire . First innings. Tunnic'iffe, c A ., b J. T. Hearne..................................18 Brown (J.T.), c Trott, b J. T. H earne.......................... 43 F. 8. Jackson, b Roche ... 2 F. Mitchell, lbw, b J. T. Hearne.................................. 7 Denton, c Somerset, b J. T. Hearne................. ...........13 WainwrigLt, b J. T. Hearne 31 Hirst, b J. T. Hearne........... 0 Haigh, b Trott ...................15 Lord Hawke, not o u t ......... 30 Rhodes, c A..b J. T. Hearne 0 Bairbtow. c Trott, b Rcche 8 B 4, lb 6 ...........................10 Second inciDgs. b Hirst...................14 c Bairstow, b Brown ...........48 b Birst................ c and b Hirst . b Hirst................ b H irst.............. b Haigh ... . b H irst............... c Wainwright, b Hirst.................. 0 c sub, b Rhodes... 17 not out ......... 5 B 15, lb 8, nb 1 24 Total ..185 Second innings. cA.,bJ.T.H earne 32 c "Whitehead, b J. T. Hearne... 20 not o u t .................19 b Storer ........... c J. T. Hearne, b Boche ........... b Trott ........... c Trott, b Hearne not out................... c and b Storer ... b Hearne ........... b Trott.................. B 15, lb 3 ... Total., ...177 M.C.C. Total ...197 First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W . O. M. R. W . Bhodes .............21 6 45 1 .......... 24 10 51 1 B irst....................20 5 35 4 ............ 27 10 47 7 Jackson ............ 9 2 18 0 .......... 9 4 23 0 Wainwright ... 7 0 31 0 ............ 2 0 8 0 Haigh .......... 17 1 4 45 5 ............ 12 4 4 32 1 Brown ........... 4 2 6 0 ............ 1 1 0 1 Jackson bowled one co-ball. Y orksh ire . First inniD gs. Second innings. O. M. R. W . O. M. R. W . Hearne, J. T... 37 14 70 7 .......... 37-1 14 68 4 T rott....................27 9 77 1 ............ 38 15 70 2 Rofhe ........... 9-4 4 20 2 ........... 9 4 4 24 2 Whitehead 3 1 6 0 Storer ... 2 0 11 2 THE AUSTRALIANS. THE CRYSTAL PALACE MATCH. FIRST MATCH OF THE TOUR. Played at the Crystal Palace on May 8, 9 & 10. Drawn. It is natural enough that the first match played by any Australian team in England should be looked forward to with very great intertst, and as this year there were more reasons than usual why the debut of our visitors should be regarded with attention, it is not too much to say that all England was on the watch. It is true that the number of spectators at the Palace was not as great as might have been expected, but he is a bold man who, in this miserable springtime, will hie him to a cricket ground merely to look at other people playing The team which Dr. Grace had got together was fairly representa­ tive of the South of England in batting but not by any means repr< sentative in bowling. On the whole, this was a very satisfactory arrangement. Whatever may be the strength or weakness of the Australian bowling, it is certain to be strong enough to dispose of a weak batting team for a reasonable score, so that it was as well to see what it could do with a strong team; on the other hand, it was, perhaps, as well that the Australian batsmen should have a chance of showing of what they were capable against moderate bowling. The result of the match does not settle the question of whether the bowling is very remarkable, but it leaves no doubt that on a good wicket the batting is at least as strong as ever. The South of England first innings was a curious mixture of good and bad play. Most of the team curled up in an unexpected manner, while the rest seemed to find no particular difficulty with the bowling. The new bowlers did not greatly distinguish themselves, and neither Worrall nor Trumper was tried, while Howell was left out of the team on account of a strain. But the redoubtable Jones was the Jones of old; if possible, he was even faster than in 1896, and very few of the Englishmen seemed happy when opposed to him. Trumble, as always, wanted a lot of playing. In batting, the chief honours rested with C. B. Fry, who is in such great form that he seems likely to eclipse his splendid performances of last year. He and Hayward came together when the score was 20, and raised it to 134 before they were parted. Fry was then within 19 of his 100, and was nicely taken at cover-slip by Hill off Jones; he had been batting for two hours, and had played the very best of cricket. After his dismissal there was a startling collapse. Ranjitsinhji was lbw before he had got his eye in; then Hay­ ward fell for a successful innings of 50 ; he had batted very steadily and well for a couple of hours, but made one over memorable to Noble by hitting the Australian for three fours. It was a fine catch which disposed of him. W . G. had no chance of sampling the new bowlers, for he was at sea with a very fast one from Jones. Jessop did nothing, and seven wickets were down for 164, the last four having only put on 30 runs. J. R. Mason seemedlikely to get set,when hewaswellcaught at pointby Noble, and C. L. Townsend seemed quite at home when he was run out. Fortu­ nately Lockwood, who was in no way awed by the reputation of the bowlers, was in fine form, and in less than three-quarters of an hour increased the score by 41. The innings closed for 240, which, for a good wicket, was not likely to be enough. The Australians did not make a very good beginning, for Dar­ ling and Iredale were both out when stumps