Cricket 1899

20 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. F e p . 23, 1899. which had much to do with one of his side’s -victories, and one creditable battiDg feat (54 v. Notts, at Nottingham ). S. M. Crosfield (in two matches) and C. H . Benton (in one) appeared without success, and tw o professional colts, Taylor and Payne, were not fortunate. Kent’s first season under their new captain was a decided satisfactory one; and it is tome yfars since the ccunly cf the W hile Horse has done so well, while, perhaps, never since those great days of old when “ W ith five such mighty giants ’(.was hut natural to win, As Felix, Wenman, Hillyer, Fuller Pilch, and Alfred Mynn,” has she been represented in the field by so good an all-round eleven. It is true that the bow ling would still bear strengthening, but if Kent has no great bow ler she has at least five good ones, and that is more than can be said for half the first-class counties. J. B. Mason, alike in batting and bow ling, improves each year, and his record of over 1,500 runs, with an average of nearly forty, and seventy-two wickets for less than tw enty-four each, was a really great one. Save for a week or two in the middle cf the season he was always making a lot of runs, and at times he was quite the most dangerous bow ler on the side. Scores of 39 and 80 out of totals of 192 and 162, and five wickets for only eight runs in the first innings of Kent’s opponents in his first match (v. M .C.C. at L ord’ s), struck the true keynote of a very success­ ful season, and it was not long before Kent’s partisans had quite forgotten the disappointment they had felt at his lack o f success in the great matches of the Australian tour. Mason is one of the really great all-round players of the day, to my mind ; he is not a batsman in one match and a bowler in another, but is just as likely as not to follow up a long score w iih a fine bit of bow ling. Thus against Sussex, at Catford, he scored 81, and tcok six wickets for 81; against Warwick, at Tonbridge, 94, and nine for 141,foim cd his share cf the w ork ; against Sussex, at Hastings, 133, and five for 33 ; against Middlesex, at Lord’s, six for 142 (in an innings of 448), and a second score of 70. His highest innings of ihe season was 152 v. Gloucf stershiie, at Gravesend ; that and his 133 v. Sussex, already alluded to, were his only centuries, but he made in all ihirteen scores of over 50, and a dozen more of 20 and under 50, while he was only twice dismissed score­ less, and only ten times in all (out of forty innings) under double figures. There is plenty of brains in his bow ling, and plenty of powder in his b a ttin g ; he is as keen as they make them , and apparently as tireless as Lohmann or S. M . J. Woods. Already he is a most popular captain, and under his leadership Kent seems to have taken a new lease o f life. N ext to Mason in value to the side one may fairly rank A lec Heam e. The little man was somewhat under a cloud in 1897, when, ow ing to strains, he seldom showed a glimpse of his best form ; but this season he was quite himself Again, and his batting average (33 61) was higher than his previous best, though he made more runs in 1895 than he did this year. Three times during the month of June did he overtop the hundred (117 v. Sussex, at Catford; 112 v. Somerset, at Ton­ bridge ; and 117 v. Notts, at N otting­ ham), on the third occasion after he had broken down while bow ling ow ing to an in ju iy to bis head, received during one of the eailv M .C.C. matches at Lord’s— a breakdown which caused some of us to fear that his services m ight he lost to his side for some time. It was a great sur­ prise, but still more a great relief, to hear of his century directly afterwards. H is highest score in July was only 25, but at the beginning of August he was in great fettle. In the first match of the Canterbury week (the game set apart for his benefit) he ran up 80 and 74, both not out, v. Lancashire ; in the second he made 58 and 34 v. Notts. Later on he scored 54 in his second innings v. Somer­ set, at Taunton, staying in a long time when Kent’s only hope was a draw ; and at Tonbridge he made 51 and 48, not out, against the strong and varied bow ling of Essex. Nor was his usefulness to his side confined to the run-getting depart­ ment. Since his wickets cost nearly 23 each, it cannot be argued that he was among the best bowlers of the year ; but on his day he was as deadly as most. In the second innings of the M.C.C. at L( rd’s he sent down only 51 balls for six wickets at a cost of but 24 runs; against Somerset, at T onbiidge (and here he had Scored a century in his first innings, while at L ord’s his batting figures had been 55 and 18), he took six for 34 in the second in n in gs; while in the first innings of Sussex, at Hastings, he had five for 23. C. J. Burnup’ s style underwent a re­ markable change, somewhat similar to that which we saw in George Brann’s a year or two back, in 1898. On his previous form he was a very fine bat, and for so small a man a very quick run- getter. I remember seeing him score 108 in very good time indeed against Nottp, at Gravesend, in 1897, just before he left for the South African football tour. His vigour then was undoubtedly tempered with discretion; but, on his general form of 1898, one may more fairly ascribe to him discretion tempered with occasional vigour. Possibly he is an even more useful man on a side with his new style, but he is certainly not as bright a batsman to watch. One would judge that it was the responsibility of his position in the Cambridge team, where he found himself the only high-class bats­ man on his side, that worked the change in him. W ithout doing anything out of the way, he nearly always justified the reliance which his comrades in the Light Blue Eleven reposed in him, almost his only failure being in the ’Varsity match — just the gsme, of course, when failure mattered most. For Kent he did even better w oik, though be somewhat dis­ counted the value of it by badly running out Alec Hearne on one or two occasions. His greatest performance by figures was in the Essex match, at Leyton, when he scored 193 for once out, batting just upon four hours for 131 in his first inn­ in gs; but for intrinsic merit one would place first his 84 and 66 (of totals of 103 and 139) v. Gloucestershire, at Chelten­ ham, when, with his comrades almost heljless Against the deadly bow ling of Charles Townsend, he played a giant's game for his side, though he could not quite manage to avert defeat. H is 30 and 45 v. Surrey, at Blackheath, his 69, not out, in the second innings against Yorkshire, at Maidstone, and his 56 in the second innings v. Somerset, at Taunton, were all very valuable innings, too, Like his captain and Hearne, he was among the thousand-runs scorers of the year. J.N.P. (To be continued.) L O R D H A W K E 'S T E A M IN SO U TH A F R IC A . ( Continued from page 6). THE BORDER MATCH (XV.). SEVENTH MATCH OF THE TOUR. Played at King Williamstown on January 25 and 26. Lord Hawke’s Team won by an innings and 63 runs. On the usual matting wiiket, the h( me team could or ly see re 84, but the Englishn en, who began very badly, soon recovered themselves, and at the close of the first day had gained a very b ig lead, their total being 262 fcr nine wickets. This was chiefly ow ing to fine batting by Haigh, Wilscn, Warner, and Mitchell, who all went in out of their usual order, the match not being o f any very great importance. The last two men were not separated until the total was 294, when Tyldesley was stumped. M itel ell carricd his bat for 61. The scores were as fo l­ lows: Board, 0 ; Archer, 5 ; Milligan, 6 ; Trott, 2 5 ; Warner, 2 4 ; Wrlson, 3 2 ; Haigb, 79; Lord Hawke, 8 ; Brom ley- Davenpoit, 20; Mitchell, not cut, 61 ; Tyldeeley, 21 ; extras, 13. Total, 294. With a bilance c f 210 against them, the Border men did a little better, thanks to a bard-hit innings of 66 by Giddy. Trott took S'X wiikets for 36, and Haigh four for 29. THE JOHANNESBURG MATCH (XV .) EIGHTH MATCH OF THE TOUR. Played at Johannesburg on Feb., 1 2 and 3. Drawn. After a long delay, owing to rain, Mitchell and Warner put up 64 fcr the first wicket of the visitors, Warner being ihe first to go with a score of 33. Rain then again came down and play was adjourned until the follow ing day, when the Englithmen made a good total. The scoring at first was very slow, more especially when W ilson was batting—he was in for about an hour for his score of 14. Towards the end of the innings there was some hitting. The Ecores were as