Cricket 1899

THE FINEST BM' THE WOULD PRODUCES. J uly 27, 1899. C R IC K E T : A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 295 BUSSEY’S C/3 LU * O fa fa & co j H £ co & W CO LU O CD 43 H _ CO 0 0 I ! c o ^ < * CO CO H co - * P & S M o H n - . fa 0 3 I CO c o I s § & BUSSEY’S AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. B y F. S. A bh ley -C ooper . One of the most remarkable events during the past week has been the debut of Mr. N. Miller in first-class cricket. Those who take an interest in club cricket need not be reminded that Mr. Miller’s scoring for the Streatham Club during the past few seasons has been prolific, and that he has made his hundreds with great regularity against all kinds of bowling. His score of 188 for the second eleven of Surrey against Wiltshire last week earned him promotion to the ranks of the first eleven, and his first appearance for the county was against Sussex at Brighton on Thursday last. He was fielding the whole of the first day, but on the Friday went in first with Brockwell, and scored 124 before a smart catch at square-leg brought about his dismissal. By this performance he has caused his name to be added to the short list of those batsmen who have notched a century in their first innings for a first-class county. Mr. Miller—who, by the way, is in no way related to the late Mr. Frederick Peel Miller, the captain of the famous Surrey eleven in the fifties and sixties—is young, has confidence, and possesses a good style, his play on the on-side being particularly fine. It will be surprising indeed if he does not make a name for himself in the world of cricket. For the statistics which follow 1 am indebted to Mr. Miller, who has been kind enough to furnish me with a full, true, and complete account of his doings in minor matches. BATTING AVERAGES FOE STREATHAM . Not Highest Total Year Inns. out. Score. Runs. Aver. 1894 .. 19 ... 3 .. 148* ... 611 ... 38.18 1895 .. 21 ... 5 .. 122* ... 876 ... 5175 1898 .. 18 ... 0 .. 97 ... 572 . . 31*77 1897 ... 26 ... 2 .. 148* ... 1,128 . . 47*00 1898 .. 25 ... 5 .. 195 ... 1,514 ... 75*70 1899 .. 15 ... 2 .. 181 ... 700 .. 53-84 124 17 195 5,401 .. 54-76 BOW LING AVERAGES FOR STREATHAM . Year Balls. Runs. Wkts. Aver. 1895 839 ... 920 .. 27 .. 19-25 1896 192 ... 258 7 .. 36 85 1897 923 ... 674 .. 34 .. 19-82 1898 ... 1,565 ... 1,087 .. 61 .. 17-81 1899 — 555 .. 33 .. 16-81 — 3,494 162 21*50 MR. M ILLER’S CENTURIES IN A L L MATCHES. •106.—Streaiham y. Teddington, May 12,1894. •148.—Streatham v. The Village, July 11, 1894. •122.—Streatham y. Hampstead, July 10, 1896. •104.—Streatham v. Old Westminster*, July 27,1895. •148.—Streatham v. F. G. Wagener’s X I., July6,1897. 119.—Streatham v. M.C.C. and Ground. July 8,1897. *11,6.—Streatham y. Merton, July 81, 1897. 113.—Streatham y. Richmond, July 9,1898. •120.—Streatham y. Old Paulines, July 12, 1898. •105.—Streatham v. M.C.C. and Ground, July 14,1898. 100.—Streatham T. Merton, August 6,1898. 195.—Streatham v. Surbiton, August 20, 1898. •109.—Streatham y. Chelmsford, July 8, 18.;9 181.—Streatham y. Oxford Authentics, July 10,1899. 112.—Streatham y. Old Paulines July 12, 1899 188.—Surrey 2nd X I. v. Wiltshire, July 18,1899. 124.- Sukbey y. S u ssex , July 22,1899. • Signifies not out. In addition to being remarkable on account of Mr. Miller’s performance, the Surrey v. Sussex match will long be remembered as the one in which Mr. Brann and K . S. Ranjitsinhji secured such splendid doubles, the former making 81 and 85 not out, and the latter 174 and 83 not out. It is only fair to state, how­ ever, that Lockwood, the most successful bowler in the match, did not bowl in the second innings. During the past few weeks Tyldesley and Mr. C. L. Townsend have been showing excellent form with the bat. In nine consecutive innings the latter has made 606 runs, being twice not out; his three best scores having been 152 not out, 114 and 91. Tyldesley’s success hai been even greater, for he has made 612 runs in six innings by means of con­ secutive scores of 249, 27, 74, 95, 82 not out and 85. If he can succeed in mak­ ing a few more large scores his place in the England team at the Oral on the 14th prox. should be a certainty. Another batsman whom it is pleasing to see doing himself justice is Captain Wynyard. We have so long been accustomed to associate Captain Wyn- yard’s name with large scores that it is strange he was not considered worth a place in his school (Charterhouse) eleven, and that he was not chosen to represent the Gentlemen against the Players until the year before last. During the early part of the season he was handicapped by a serious injury to his fingers, which necessitated an operation being per­ formed a fortnight ago. Since that time, in three matches, he has made successive scores of 89, 81, 225 and 89, or 484 runs in four consecutive innings in eight days. The double-century was made at Taunton on Friday last against Somersetshire, who seem fated to have wonderful performances recorded against them. In the same innings Major Poore made 304—the highest score of his career- and whilst in with Captain Wynyard helped to add 411 runs for the sixth wicket, the runs being obtained at about the rate of a hundred an hour. In fact, so fast was the run-getting on that day that although Hampshire lost only two wickets they scored as many as 607 runs— the largest number ever obtained in one day in a first-class match, beating the previous best by twenty-four runs. The partnership of Poore and Wynyard, it may be as well to state, has only been exceeded in first-class matches by the 554 made last year for the first wicket of Yorkshire against Derbyshire, at Chester­ field, by Brown and Tunnicliffe, who, like the two Hampshire batsmen, each scored over two hundred. Some of the best players who have participated in Hampshire matches have belonged to the Army — Sir Frederick Bathurst, Colonel Spens, Major Poore, Barton and Captain Wynyard are but a few examples. Mention of Sir Frederick reminds me that at Lord’s, in 1844, he obtained four wickets in eight balls for no runs when representing England against Kent — a fact which should have been mentioned on page 35 of Mr. Coxhead’s carefully-compiled “ Cricket Records.” ) The Hampshire Eleven is in great run-getting form just now, three members of the team, in the space of three days, having each made a score of over a hundred and fifty, whilst Soar, in following up his 95 against