Cricket 1899

J une 1, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 169 TH E SH IELD ON THE ESSEX CAP. 1.—Its normal appearance. 2.—As it appeared to an excited Essex man after the Australian and Sussex matches. 8.—As it appeared to the excited Essex man after the Yorkshire match. F e w things can have given greater pleasure of late to cricketers as a body than the splendid effort of Mr. de Trafford and Knight to knock off the 223 runs which Leicestershire had to make in two hours and a half, after Derbyshire had declared their innings closed. Mr. de Trafford seems to have quite Recovered the form which is always so delightful to watch, while Knight hit in a way which was altogether to be praised. It was a wonderful feat to get within 29 runs of victory in such a short time without losing a wicket. The score of this un­ finished second innings of Leicestershire looks so pretty on paper that I append it h ere:— L e ic e s t e r s h ir e .— Second innings. C. E. de Trafford, not out ............................117 Knight, not out ..............................................71 Extras .................................... 6 Total (no ■wicket)... ...194 I t may be interesting to compare the chief bow ling feats of H owell, Woodcock, and Rhodes this season. Thebanalyses are given b e low :— 0 . M. R .W . Howell (Aua. Y. Surrey, 1st inn.) ... 232 14 28 10 W oodcock (Leic.r. M.O.C., 2nd inn.) 22 11 28 9 Rhodes (York. t . Essex, 1st inn.) ... 15'2 6 28 9 M a n y hard things have been said about May, the “ Queen of flowers” o f the poets, but it is doubtful whether her iniquities have been brought home to her in a more direct way than in the state­ ment b y “ R o v e r” in last Saturday’s Star, that more than 200 duck’s-eggs have been made during the month in first class cricket. “ This shows,” as small boys say. T h e “ New Ground Fund ” which is being raised b y the Leicestershire County Committee has now reached £2,800, and if £3,000 is promised b y the end of next month, the committee will accept the offer of the Corporation of Leicester of a twenty-one year’s lease of the proposed ground. S o m e curious things happened while Lanca­ shire were batting against the Australians at Old Trafford. In the first innings four wickets fell for 7, while the last three all fell with the total at 102. In the second innings the first three wickets put on 70, while the last seven only produced 11 runs between them. Ward was at the wickets for an hour and three-quar­ ters in making fourteen runs in the two innings. T y x d e s l e t ’ s batting for Lancashire against the Australians would have been considered as good under any circum­ stances, but as all the rest of his side failed it must be considered as very remarkable. In the first innings he went in when the total was eight, in the second when it was six. In the first innings he was out just before the end came, and not a run was scored after his departure; in the second innings he was out last. He made in the course o f the day 98 runs out of 159 from the bat. A l t h o u g h Yorkshire outplayed Essex at every part in this match, the result was greatly influenced b y tw o things which had nothing to do with the superiority of the northern team—Y ork ­ shire had much the best of the wicket, and the Essex fielding was not what it ought to have been. There is apparently something wrong with the fielding of the Essex men this year— they have never been numbered amongst the greatest field­ ing teams— and even in the Australian match, when they were winning hand over hand, there was a want o f life in picking up the ball, and a wildness in returning it. But as there is no earthly reason why the Essex team should not be as brisk in the field as any other, a determination to do better will, without any doubt, bring about good results. It is a pity to spoil a good ship for the sake of a ha’porth of paint to brighten it up, and it is this ha’porth of paint which Essex wants in the field. T h e question whether the tw o-day match between Notts and Worcestershire ought to be considered as first-class, or be counted in the Championship, came before the M .C.C committee last week. Although no decision was arrived at the opinion was general that a tw o - day match ought not to count in the averages or the championship. L a s t week some remarkable instances of fast scoring were given in “ Gossip.” A t the end of the week the slow scoring came to the front in a decided way. A few instances are as follows :— A. W ard, Lancashire v. Australians, 8 runs in an hour and a quarter, and half-an-hour for 6. S. E. Gregory, Australians v. Lancashire, 4 runs in an hour and five minute*. C. M’ Gahey, Essex v. Yorkshire, 8 runs in an hour. R e f e r r in g to a paragraph which appeared in “ G ossip” on May 11th, T. W . G. w rites: “ The point raised in your last issue of ‘ time ’ arriving in the course of an over, arose in a match between R oyton and Rochdale some time since, and on the M .C.C. being appealed to in the matter, Mr. Perkins wrote as follow s: ‘ I f an over is commenced before time, it must be completed unless a w icket falls, FACE TO FACE A T TRENT BRIDGE. JUST BEFORE TH E BATTLB.