Cricket 1899

302 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u ly 27, 1899, with 96, Hearne 92, Tate 90, and Bland 85 may shortly place their names on the list. T h e list of scorers of a thousand runs continues to increase. It now includes the names of Ranjitsinhji (who only wants 85 runs to complete his second thousand), Hayward,Townsend,Noble, Abel, Tyldes­ ley,F. S. Jackson,J.T. Brown, AlecHeame, C. B. Fry, Storer, F. Mitchell, and Brock­ well. Meanwhile Shrewsbury 932, Ward 991, Brann 972, Trumper 969, Darling 981, Tunnicliffe 933, are not far behind. S c e n e : A cricket ground. Two Aus­ tralians batting. Spectator (who would seem to be better acquainted with racing than cricket) : “ Dear me, how annoying ! I wonder which are the Australians. They really ought to wear some distinguishing mark or badge by which one could know them.” A c o r r e s p o n d e n t , who forwards a cut­ ting from a northern paper which states that “ over60,000bottles were collected on each evening by the weary attendants at Old Trafford after the England ,v. Aus­ tralia match,” says that he considers this a rare opportunity for the gentlemen who do the statistics for the magazines. Would the bottles reach across England if placed from end to end ? Would they hold enough lemonade— no doubt they were chiefly aerated-water bottles—to supply the wants of a healthy family for a year F Would they hold enough water to float a bogus company ? On Monday, the captains of the Derby­ shire and Leicestershire teams won the toss, and decided to put their opponents in first. In each case the result was most satisfactory for their opponents. Essex making 454 against Derbyshire, and Worcestershire 206 against Leicestershire. From the Australasian :— “ The London urchin is fairly smart,” writes a member of the Australian team. “ Outside the Crystal Palace ground we saw an immature All England Eleven practising with the usual kit—a battered bat, an india- rubber ball, and a kerosene-tin wicket. They recognised us as Australians, and invited us to have a hand. One of the team tried it, but the bat broke short off in his hand at the first stroke, and they looked so disconsolate that we subscribed five shillings to buy another bat. The incident was men­ tioned after lunch, when one of theteam, who had not been present, said, ‘ Why, I broke that same bat yesterday morning, but they let me off for half-a-crown.’ ‘ Ah,’ said the caretaker, smilingly, ‘ them boys hare struck a gold mine in that broken bat. They took Ranji down for five shillings over it the day before yesterday.’ ” O n the last three days of last week three men came within respectable dis­ tance of scoring two separate hundreds in a first-class match. They are :— K . 8. Ranjitsinhji, 174 and 83 not out. G. Brann, 81 and 86 not out. Tyldesley, 95 and 82 not out. O n Thursday last some Australians who are staying in London made a presentation of a gold watch and sovereign purse to W . P. Howell in commemoration of his feat in taking all ten Surrey wickets at the Oval in May. I t is by no means an unusual thing for a big score to be made on the United Service Ground at Portsmouth, but it was a little out of the cimmon for the Hampshire Rovers to put up 609 for seven wickets in the course of Friday last against the United Service. Two men made over a hundred (D. Mercer 150, S. Brutton, 106) and two others over 90 (Rev. A. L. Porter 93, M. R. Foster 98). T h e crop of eighties and nineties has been remarkable during the present week in first-class cricket, and the following batsmen have all had to bewail their mis­ fortune in getting so near, and yet so far, from the hundred :— Soar 95, Brann 81 aud not out 85, Ranjitsinhji not out 83, Townsend 91 and 96, Fry 94, Wynyard 89, Tyldesley 82, not out, 83, and 95, A. O. Jones 87, Shrewsbury 89, C. J. B. Ward 91. Perrin was even nearer to fame, for he made 196. I t has been decided by the Yorkshire County Committee to recognise next season the services of Moorhouse to York­ shire cricket, but at present no definite arrangements have been made. S o m e well-known cricketers who have given up playing in first-class matches, have been making a lot of runs lately. Among them are A. J. Webbe, 185; G. J. Mordaunt, 109; |A. M. Sutthery, 70; O. G. Radcliffe, 71 (Wiltshire v. Glamorganshire); L. C. V. Bathurst, 63 (for Norfolk v. Northumberland); J. H . Brain, 74 and 53 (Glamorganshire v. Wiltshire); H. J. Ford, 72 ; Sir T . C. O’Brien, 95 (M.C.C. v. Minor Counties); G. G. Hearne, 55 (M.C.C. v. Glamorgan­ shire.) T h e weather of last week was so remarkably hot that the record which appears below may be of interest to readers of Cricket. I n th e S h a d e . 9 a.m. 2 p.m. 7 p.m. Sunday, July 16 .. .. Monday, July 17 Tuesday, July 18 Wednesday, July 19. Thursday, July 20 . Friday, July 21 ... . Saturday, July 22 The maximum solar temperature re­ corded on the Monday was 115°, Tuesday 122°, Wednesday 129°, Thursday 125°, Friday 130°, Saturday 142°. T h e following anecdote from this week’s Athletic News forms a supplement to another which was given in last week’s “ Gossip ” :— “ Mr. John Prescott, the old Bootle cricketer, bears a remarkable resemblance to a famous cricketer, generally known as “ W .G .” That resemblance has often caused him to be mistaken for the Gloucestershire Grace, and he rather enjoys the embarrass­ 75° 71° 70° 69i° 76° 73° 77° 82° 77° 80° 88i° 86° 81° 83r 78° 84° 92° 81° 70° 7t° 82° ment of those who desire his acqaintance. The other day at Old Trafford Mr. Prescott had occasion to wander in the vicinity of the ladies’ stand, when a fair and dainty maiden came up, and with a a bewitching smile said : “ Oh, Doctor, I should be so delighted if you would write your autograph in my Birthday Book.” Mr. Prescott hadn’t the heart to refuse the request, and therefore wrote in a nice bold Roman hand “ John Prescott.” The look that autograph huntress gave him when he returned the book, and she saw the name, prevented him enjoying the cricket on Wednesday. T he matches between Elstree School and the Abbey 8chool, Beckenham, are always productive of much excitement, and I believe that neither school is often beaten on its own ground. This year, however, Elstree has had to submit to two defeats— the first at Elstree by 6 runs, and the second at Beckenham by 67 runs. The last match was remarkable in its way, for the Abbey School had lost 8 wickets for 38, and nine for 84, while the last wicket put on 100 runs, which is doubtless a record for preparatory schools. Of the twenty matches plnyed by the Abbey School, two only have been lost— one by 6 runs and the other by 9 runs. S ome remarkable scoring was seen on the ground of the Green Jackets (St. Cross, Winchester)last week. Theopposing teams were Green Jackets v. I. Zingari, Green Jackets v. Eton Ramblers, and the Rifle Brigade v. 60th Rifles. In the Zingari match 1109 runs were made in the two days for the loss of 26 wickets ; the Eton Ramblers match produced 652 for 33 wickets; and the Rifle Brigade match 855 for 26 wickets, a total for the week of 2616 runs for 85 wickets. Hun­ dreds weremade by Captain G. L. Soltau- Symons (103) Captain Quinton (129), G. B. Stephens 160 and 179, and D. H. Blundell 156. The length of the list of hundreds made by Englishmen against the Austra­ lians has gone up about 70 per cent, since the last issue of Cricket, and is now as follows :— F . H . B . C h a m p a in , f o r O x fo r d U n iv e r s ity ... 120 L . J . M o o n , fo r C a m b rid g e U n iv e r s ity ...............181 T . L . T a y lo r , fo r C a m b rid g e U n iv e r s ity ...............110 J . T . B ro w n (D riffie ld ), fo r Y o r k s h ir e ...............166 T . H a y w a rd , fo r E n g la n d (4 th m a tch ) ... ... 130 B ra u u d , fo r D r . G ra ce ’ s te a m ......................................... 123 A le c H e a rn e , fo r D r . G ra ce ’ s t e a m ...............................168 H a y e s , fo r S u rre y .......................................................................... 131 In 1896 only three hundreds were made against the Australians. Toe following are some of the latest hundreds:— JULY. 13. G. Swinstead. Artists v. Rev. T.W right’s X I. 139 ; 19. G. 8. F. Griffin, Teddington v. Hampstead 157* 19. D . Y . Haszard, Mr. Lovell’s X I. v. Brixton Wanderers ... ................... 133. 19. J. Faulkner, Brixton W . v. Mr. Lovell’s X L 100* 19. J . F. Hadow, Incogniti y. Household Brigade 107* 20 . J . N . M a rtin , W ith a m v . I n c o g m ti ...............12 3 20 . S t o k e r , D e r b y s h ir e v . L e i c e s t e r s h ir e ... 216* 20. K. S . R a n jit s in h ji, S u s s e x v . S u r r e y ... 174 20. H e a r n e (A ), D r . G r a c e ’ s X I v . A u s t r a lia n s 168 20. H o lla n d , S u rre y C . & G . v . B r ix to n W a n d . 146* 20. G . L . J e s s o p , G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e v . N o t t s . .. 126 20. B r a u n d , D r . G r a c e ’ s X I . v . A u s t r a lia n s 125 20. C . G . S m tih , B rix to n W a n . v . S u rre y C . & G . 116* 20. C . L . T o w n s e n d , G lo u o e s t e r s h ir e v . N o t t s 114 21 . M a jo r P o o r e , H a m p s h ir e v . S o m e r s e t ... 304 21 . C a p t. W y n y a r d , H a m p s h ir e v . S o m e r s e t... 226 21. F . S . J a c k s o n , Y o r k s h ir e v . M id d le s e x ... 155