Cricket 1899

THE FINEST] S4T THE WORLD PRODUCES. J une 1, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 163 BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. B y F. S. A sh le y -C ooper . Early in April last South Australia sent a team selected by Mr. W . 0 . Whitridge to play two matches in Western Australia, this being the first occasion on which a team representing South Australia had visited that colony. The first match, against Western Australia at Perth, was won by the visitors by four wickets and the second match, against Thirteen of Freemantle, was left undecided, play being limited to two days. A curious incident occurred in the second match : in the first innings of South Australia, after two overs had been bowled and two runs obtained for the loss of one wicket, it was suddenly discovered that the pitch had been wrongly measured and was a yard too long. Accord­ ingly the game was recommenced. There are the following instances on record in which the wickets have, by mistake, been placed more than twenty-two yards apart:— 4 yards too long. Leinster v. Blackrock. at Dublin, May 15,1889. Leinster had lost four wickets for ninety-five runs before the error was dis­ covered. 4 feet too long. Free Foresters v. Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire. The former had completed an innings before the mistake was found out. l j yards too long. Cambridge University v. C. I. Thornton’s X I., at Cambridge, May 18, 19, 20, 1895. Two batsmen on the latter side had been disposed of before the error was discovered and rectified. The match was re-commenced. 1 yard too long. All England X I. v. X X II. of Middlesborough, at Middlesborough, July 4, 5, 6, 1870. After a few wickets of the latter had been lowered the mistake was discovered. It was arranged to finish an innings each before the alteration was made. 1 yard too long. South Australia v. X III. of Free­ mantle, on the Freemantle Oval, April 7, 8, 1899. The error was discovered and rectified after South Australia had lost one wicket for two runs. The match was re-commenced. 3§ inches too long. A. Bailey’s X I. v. Natal, at Durban, March 7, 1898. Any additions to the above list will be gladly received. Lord’s, when the wicket is hard and true, is one of the most prolific run-getting grounds in the country, but when the wicket is bad stumps are uprooted with marvellous rapidity. Such proved to be the case last week, when in two days sixty wickets fell for but four hundred and twenty-six runs. It is a long time since such low scoring has been witnessed at Lord’s. Years ago small scoring there was the rule rather than the exception, and indi­ vidual scores of fifty were few and far be­ tween. Wickets were rough in those days and hard knocks plentiful, and it required a certain amount of courage to stand up without flinching against the bowling of such men as Alfred Mynn, Harvey Fellows, and Wisden. Mr. Felix, one of the best cricketers of his time, sometimes used to pad even his elbow. One cannot hark back to those days without recalling to mind the superb defence of Mr. Haygarth, a gentleman who, by compiling the fourteen volumes of Scores and Biographies , and thereby saving from oblivion an enor­ mous amount of interesting matter concerning the game, has done as much, if not more, for cricket than anybody else. But to return to modern-day cricket. HearneandTrott,j udging by their performances this season, give promise of going down to posterity as a great pair of bowlers. It is curious what a large number of great bowlers have “ hunted in couples.” Broadbridge and Lillywhite, Slinn and Hodg­ son, Jackson and Grundy, Freeman and Emmett, Shaw and Morley, and Turner and Ferris are but a few examples. With Roche playing Middlesex should be one of the strongest bowling sides in the country. Roche is a right-handed bowler, and the amount of spin he can get upon the ball is wonderful when it is remembered what a sadly maimed right hand he has. A bowler who laboured under a somewhat similar mis­ fortune was Robert Clifford, a prominent member of the Kent eleven of one hundred and twenty years ago. When young he met with an accident, by which the two smaller fingers of his right hand were kept back in the palm of his hand. Yet he bowled, and with success, in the best matches for a period of about fifteen years. It was a noteworthy performance on the part of Worcestershire to defeat Oxford University by as many as seven wickets after being set 240 runs to obtain to win. There have been few better performances of its kind in first-class matches. At the Oval in 1863 Surrey defeated Kent by nine wickets, obtain­ ing the necessary 192 runs for the loss of Mortlock’s wicket. At Lord’s four years ago the Gentlemen of England obtained 172 runs without loss and so defeated the Zingari by ten wickets; Mr. W . G. Grace made 101 not out and Mr. A. Sellars 70 not out. The victory of Worcestershire was almost entirely due to the splendid doubles of Arnold (55 and 125 not out) and H. K. Foster (83 and 55), who, curiously enough, added 133 runs for the second wicket whilst together in each innings. The former is showing excellent form this year and is playing better than he has ever done before. His score of 102 against the London County C.C. is the third century he has scored tins season in great matches. Killick, as is now well known, has taken to wearing glasses. There are some people who declare it is dangerous to play in spectacles, yet there are very few instances on record of accidents befalling spectacled players. The writer always played in glasses, sometimes even keeping wicket, without the slightest mishap befalling him. W . H. Andrews, who used to assist Kent in the fifties, wore spec­ tacles; as did W . M. Rose, who went with Mr. R. A. Fitzgerald’s team to America in 1872, R. G. Henderson, of Middlesex; D. D. Pontifex, of Surrey; Dr. Thornton, of Middlesex; W . G. Grace, jun. ; R. T. Thorn­ ton, of Kent; and H. R. Bromley-Davenport, of Eton, Oxford University and Middlesex. Had another half-hour remained for play on Saturday last Leicestershire would in all probability have beaten Derbyshire by ten wickets. It was a good performance on their part to score 194 runs without loss towards the 223 required. If that large-hearted player, Mr. de Trafford, can regain his form there is every prospect of his county taking a much higher position in the county champion­ ship table than it occupied last season. The team which has been chosen to repre­ sent England to-day against Australia at Nottingham is strong in all departments of the game: how strong is shown by the fact that William Brockwell is twelfth man. The absence of the name of Shrewsbury from the list must have come as a great, surprise to all, for the great batsman has already given proof this season of being in first-rate form. Still, with such batsmen in the team as W. G. Grace, C. B. Fry, Hayward, F. S. Jackson, Gunn, Storer, Tyldesley, and K. S. Ranjit­ sinhji, there should be no difficulty about run- getting, but, if the match be played on a slow wicket, a place ought to be found for Shrewsbury. Lockwood’s inability to play, owing to a breakdown, causes England to take the field without a really great fast bowler, but with Rhodes and Hearne and four good change bowlers in the team the attack should, under ordinary circumstances, be found quite strong enough. Abel’s prodigious score against Somerset­ shire enabled Surrey to score their highest M o F e < S3 CO >S sE w 5 _ CO - s £ « = * A S e o » as > 2 s z C S J5 U J U J g w C/3 S ' "9! SC « o w cu