Cricket 1899

358 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 24, 1899. favourite bowler, who, no matter what the state of the game, is always bright and cheerful. It is a splendid sight to see Richardson bowling, when in form. Every action of bis, tbe run, the swing of the arm, denoted power, and one derived the same satisfaction watching him, as one derives from watching an express engine in full career, with the vast difference that tbe bowler is not a machine. PART n . As a batsman Richardson has an airy way of walking to the wickets as of one who would say, “ Now we shall see what we shall see! ” and he makes a duck or twenty with equal ease. When he comes in the field spreads itself, but no captain has suc­ ceeded in placing the field right for him, except by chance. If Tom stays at the wickets he hits with a charming aban­ don, and the onlookers would readily undertake to put up with an hour of him with great equanimity. Unfortunately, his time is generally limited, but he has during his career made several good scores. In one memorable inrings, at Nottingham, in 1895, he and Mr. Key put on 70 iuns in twenty-five minutes, and goodness knows what might have happened if Mr. Key had not got out ! Of his first match for Surrey— against Essex in 1892—Richardson said, “ I had previously taken a good many wickets at Mitcham. I was lucky enough to get a wicket with the first ball I bowled in county cricket. It encouraged me a good deal, and in the course of the match I managed to take a dozen wickets for about a hundred runs. After that I played on and off until the end of the season, when I was regularly in the team. As far as I know, my action has never been called into question, ex­ cept in my first match against Notting­ ham, when some of the players said that I threw. I took a good many wickets in that match, and I don’t think they altogether liked it.” “ Were you always a fast bowler ? ” “ Yes. As a boy I was tall, and fast bowling came naturally to me. Of course, at that time I had no real know­ ledge of bowling. As far as I know I never studied anyone else’s style, but, of course, I gradually picked up things as I went on— such as variation of pace and length. As a boy I was always trying experiments, in order to get command of the ball.” “ You always had a natural break ? ” “ Yes. But it only came off at times, which I am told was a very good thing for me. The odd part about it was that when I tried to put on an off break, it very often happened that the ball went the other way. But even this was very useful at times, as the batsman was perhaps as much surprised as I was myself.” “ You have never hurt anyone badly when you have been bowling ? ” “ Not very badly, I am glad to say. But I once hit Wainwright on the head at Scarborough, though this was not my pwnfault,forthe wicket was bad. If I ever bowled very short, I can safely say that it was unintentional on my part— a fast bowler cannot always pitch on a six­ pence— for I found that I was more succesful when I kept a good length. If I had not met with success by keeping the ball well up, 1 don’t think I should ever practise the short ball.” “ You generally bowl at the wicket rather than for catches ? ” “ I generally bowled at the wicket because I found that it paid me best to do so. Occasionally I kept the ball a little away from the off-stump to allow for its coming back, but sometimes I bowled off the wicket for a catch. A yorker has often been most effective. “ Did you find it much easier to bowl in England than in Australia ? ” “ Ihe last time I went to Australia I had rheumatism a great part of the time, which handicapped me very considerably. But during my previous visit I did not find any difficulty except in getting a foot­ hold at first. The wickets there are so hard—although there is not the differ­ ence between them and ours which people seem to think—that until you wear the crust away you can hardly get a foothold if you bowl fast. I have never found this happen in England, even on the hardest wickets. In England I make a fairly big hole, but it is not so big in Australia.” “ Are there any men against whom you did not like bowling ? ” “ I can’t Bay that I ever cared to bowl more than I could help to K. S. Ranjitsinhji, or to Sir T. C. O’Brien, and there were a few others who have knocked me about.” “ Do you remember what was your highest innings ? ” “ I have made so few scores over double figures that I am not likely ever to forget it. It was 69 for Surrey against Glouces­ tershire, about six years ago. I am not a great hand in making runs when they are very much wanted, but in this case it happened that they were very useful. Brockwell and I put on over a hundred runs for the last wicket. I have very seldom had to go in when only a few runs were required to win— in fact, I don’t remember to have ever done so. Once I had to go in at the finish of the match— it was in the Gentlemen v. Players match a year or two ago, at the Oval, and as it turned out I made all the first 27 runs which were scored, and then got out. It is so seldom that I have ever done things of this kind that you know how easy it is to remember them.” “ Did you ever try to learn to bat well f ” “ I never could bat, and although I like to get runs, I don’t enjoy being at the wickets as much as most people. 1 don’t think it is a good thing for a bowler to take to batting, or for a batsman to take to bowling. A man may stand a season or two if he does, but it is next to impossible for him to last long—he is bound to go offin one thing or the other— that is my opinion. Of course, I speak from a fast bowler’s point of view. But things have changed very much of recent years.” “ Is it your opinion that bowling is not as good as it was ? ” “ I don’t think that as many youngsters take up bowling as in former years. Now that the wickets are so wonderfully good a youngster finds it is very much easier to get forty or fifty runs than to bowl through an afternoon and perhapB take a couple of wickets. You can hardly wonder at this. But I cannot help thinking that it will tell on the game in the course of a few years—at least, as far as English bowling is concerned.” W . A. B e t t e s w o r t h . [ N o t e .— M r . Bettesworth s not responsible f o r Part I. of this Chat , which is inserted by request ] RICHARDSON’3 BOWLING AVERAGES IN FIRST-CLASS MATCHES. O. M. R. W . Aver. 1892 ........... 234.3 ... 77 ... 602 ... 29 ... 20*22 1893 ........... 993.4 ... 2fc8 ... 2,680 ... 174 ... 15*70 1894 ........... 936.3 ... 293 ... 2,024 ... 196 ... 10*61 1895 ........... 1,690.1 ... 463 ... 4,170 ... 290 ... 14*110 1896 ........... 1,6 6.2 ... 526 ... 4,015 ... 246 ... 16*79 lfc97 ........... 1,6(3 4 ... 495 ... 3.945 ... i73 ... 14*123 1898 1,223.4 ... 842 ... 3,147 ... 161 ... 19*54 IN A U S T R A L IA -X I. A SIDE MATCHES. •O. M. R.W . Aver. 1894-5........... 592.2 ... 148 ... 1,616 ... 68 ... 23 52 1897-8 ........... 618.2 ... 107 ... 1,593 ... 54 ... 29*50 * Six balls to an over in Australia. RICHARDSON’S CHIEF SCOBES. 69, Surrey v. Gloucestershire, at the Oval, 1893, Brockwell (30 not out) assisted him in adding 105runs for the last wicket. 43, Players v. Gentlemen, at Lord’s, 1895. 42, Surrey v. Derbyshire, at Derby, 1896. *41, Surrey v. Nottinghamshire, at Nottingham, 1895 (he and Mr. K . J. Key added 70 runs to the score in 25 minutes). *41, Surrey v. Sussex, at the Oval, 1895 (he and Brockwell added 63 runs for the last ticket). 34, Suirey v. Derbyshire, at Derby, 1893. 34, Surrey v. Cambridge University, at Cambridge, 1898. 33, Surrey v. Gloucestershire, at the Oval, 1896. 32, Surrey v. Gloucestershire, at the Oval, 1897. 30, Players v. Gentlemen, at Lord’s, 1897. * Signifies not out. PANTBER v. DULW ICH .—Played at Dulwich on August 12. D u l w ic h . T. C. Stafford,notcut 118 L. PLillips, b Prier ... 4 C.P. Tregellas, b Prior R. Long.ey, b Bayley 4 T. S. T. Tregellas, b P rio r.......................... 5 F. Buntley, not ou t.. 1( 7 B i5, lb 3 ...........28 Total (4 wkts) *266 H. G. Ciyer, W . A. King, P. J. M. Left, M. W . Ellis aLdF. J. Finlir.ton did not I at. * Innings deilaied doted. P a k t b e r . A. r . D. le v ie , llw , K. St. A. K hun, not b Loft ...................42 S SilTerthcrne, c Phil­ lips .......................... » O. G. Ferry, b Illis .. 20 W . L. Bayjey, c King, b Stafford ...........35 out ................... ... 1 W . Stardith, jun., not out ........................... 0 B 14, lb 4 ...........18 Total (4 wkts) 124 E. W . Mantle, S. Trier, W . A. Stincub, B. W . Green ard G. W . Eodgscn cid rot lat. -Placed at Nor\h GRECIAN v. MANOR BOUSE Dulwich cn August 18. G b e c ia n . M. R. Holman, c Dtm low, b Jeffs ... 24 H. O. Wells, b toper... 58 M. C. Pope, b, Soper... 2 C. C. Percy, not out ... <5 W .W . Gill, b Hayes 19 A. C. L lojd, not out Extras...................18 Total (4 wkts)*130 T. M. Richards and V . Doughty did not bat. * Iniings declared ciesed. M a k o r H o c sb . Soper, c Pope, b Lloj d 2 Simpson, b Holman ... 12 Denslow, b Holman ... 2 Ashton, run o u t .......... 23 Robinson, b Holman 0 Hatcher, not out ... 7 Jeffs, b Doughty ... 4 Hayes,cGill,b Holman 0 Parry, not o u t ........... 0 Extras ...........11 Total , 61 Thistleton did not bat