Cricket 1899

A ug . 24 , 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 359 BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S AT TH E S IGN OF TH E W IC K E T . By F. S. A s h l e y - C o o i 'E R . Among the numerous batting triumphs of last week two performances stand out prominently—the score of 158 by Hay­ ward v. Somersetshire, and Hirst’s innings of. 138 against Nottinghamshire. By compiling these scores, the two bats­ men have caused their names to be added to the list of those players who have scored three separate centuries in con­ secutive innings. The scores made by each batsman were as follows:— T. H a y w a r d . 273, Surrey v. Yorkshire, at the Oval, August 10, 11 and 12. 137, England v. Australia, at the Oval,5August 14,15 and 16. 158, Surrey v. Somersetshire, at Taunton, August 17, 18 and 19. (>. H . H ir s t . 186, Yorkshire v. Surrey, at the Oval, August 10,11 and 12. 131, Yorkshire v. Hampshire, at Bradford, August 14, 15 and 16. 138, Yorkshire v. Nottinghamshire, at Nottingham, August 17,18 and 19. Hirst has never met with such success with the bat before. As a rule, he makes good useful scores, but nothing out of the ordinary. His recent performances with the willow must be very pleasing to all, for he is one of the hardest working and most popular players in the country. Hayward has been making such fine scores of late that on his present form he is the best batsman in the world. Of his three scores, his 137 against Australia was probably the best, considering the bowling it was made against; but only of slightly less merit was his huge score against the Yorkshiremen. Hirst and Hayward certainly deserve the congratulations of all cricket enthusiasts, for to score three separate centuries in successive innings is a marvellous performance, even in a great run-getting year. The recent match between Lancashire and Middlesex, at Lord’s, produced some of the best cricket seen this season. It was in this match that Trott obtained his two hundredth wicket. As he had previously scored over a thousand runs, he thereby credited himself with a per­ formance which nobody else has ever been able to accomplish. “ W . G.” nearly brought off the double event in 1875 and 1877, in the former year scoring 1,498 runs, and obtaining 193 wickets, and in the latter, crediting himself with 1,474 runs and 179 wickets. Had first-class matches been as numerous in the seventies as they are nowadays, the old gentleman would have frequently claimed over two hundred wickets and a thousand runs in a single season. R. H . Spooner made his first appearance for his county against Middlesex, and met with great success each time he batted; in fact, he made the highest individual score in each innings. It was trying him very highly to send him in first, after being in the field over five hours; but, by playing a masterly innings of forty-four, he showed that his captain’s confidence had not been misplaced. At his second attempt he did even better, for, going in first with Albert Ward, he scored eighty-three of the one hundred and twenty-eight made for the first wicket. Albert Ward once again showed his partiality for Lord’s Ground by carrying his bat right through the innings; whilst F. G. J. Ford astonished everybody by obtaining six wickets for fifty-six runs. But Mr. Ford has always been a man of surprises. After making a succession of small scores and making one think that he has per­ manently lost form, he suddenly treats us to bursts of tremendous scoring. Although by no means a great bowler, he is often very useful when two batsmen have to be parted, despite the fact that not very much bowling has fallen to his lot since his Cambridge days. One performance of his has seldom, if ever, been equalled in a first-class match, except by wicket­ keepers. Playing for Cambridge Uni­ versity against M.C.C., at Lord’s, in 1888, he caught five of the seven men who were dismissed in the second innings of the latter. In referring, last week, to the fact that each wicket lowered in the Surrey v. Yorkshire match at the Oval realised on an average 73'82 runs, I stated, through an oversight, that the previous record was 65-61 runs a wicket in the Sussex v. Australia match at Brighton. I should, of course, have mentioned that in the Hampshire v. Warwickshire match, at Edgbaston, at the end of July, 1,158 runs were made for the loss of seventeen wickets, giving an average of 68'11. I beg to thank the numerous gentlemen who have drawn my attention to this fact. When the English team, which visited Australia in 1876-7, played against X X II. of Goulburn it was stated that two young kangaroos and six hares were seen on the ground at one time. It will surprise many people to hear that a somewhat similar sight was witnessed at Worcester on Friday last, the second day of the match between Derbyshire and Worces­ tershire. According to a newspaper published in the Midlands, a rabbit scur­ ried across the field while the former were batting, dashed between the Worcester­ shire fielders, gazed reproachfully at the pair of Derbyshire batsmen, and dis­ appeared into the hedge on the opposite side of the ground. Nor was this all, for a little later on a pig strayed into the enclosure and made direct for the umpire. The players chased him off and the crowd lent their assistance, evidently enjoying the task. In a week noticeable for heavy scoring it is pleasing to come across a bowling performance above average merit. Lock­ wood has followed up his excellent bowl­ ing against Australia by a capital display at the expense of the Gloucestershire batsmen, and has now, for the first time in his career, scored over a thousand runs and obtained more than a hundred wickets, a feat he would have performed last season but for an accident. Another bowling feat which deserves more than a passing reference was performed on Mon­ day by Blythe. He was making his first appearance for Kent, against Yorkshire at Tonbridge, and clean bowled a wicket (F. Mitchell’s) with the very first ball he