Cricket 1899

408 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 14, 1899. AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. B y F. S. A shley -C ooper . As in several previous years the cricket season has been brought to a conclusion by the last match of the Hastings festival. The season, chiefly on account of the prolific scoring which has taken place, is one which will long be remembered. The fine weather experienced and the perfec­ tion of the wickets have caused it to be a wonderful year for batsmen. Chief bat­ ting honours have been carried off by Major Poore and K . S. Bm jitsinhji, the former delighting everybody by making a succession of large scores, and winding up with an average of over ninety, and the latter scoring over 3,000 runs— a feat hitherto unprecedented in the annals of first-class cricket. Nobody will deny that the finest professional batsman of the year was Hayward, who scored runs on all kinds of wickets against all kinds of bowling, and exceeded the century twice for England against Australia and once for the Players against the Gentlemen. Abel ran Hayward very closely, and made several large scores, his best innings probably being his 193 against Yorkshire at the Oval, when, in conjunction with Hayward (273) he assisted in adding 448 runs for the fourth wicket— a partnership which will be spoken of for many years to come. In the bowling department Trott and Rhodes carry off the honours, the former being in addition the best all-round player of the year. His play at times reminded one of Mr. W . G. Grace in his best days, and no greater praise can possibly be given to any cricketer. Lockwood, when in his best form, proved as difficult and deadly as ever; but Hearne, although he obtained a great number of wickets, was certainly not in such deadly form as in some of the preceding years. The great disappointment of the year as far as bowling is concerned was Bichardson. It is a painful remark to have to make, bat the truth must be told. Slili, his statement that he intends going into training during the non-cricket season fills one with the hope that next year w .ll see him bowling again with all his old marvellous pace and skill. The feature of a wonderful season has been the visit of the Australians. Mr. Stoddai t’s team, when opposing them on their own soil, met with such a series of reverses that their visit was looked forward to with more than ordinary interest. Now that the tour is over, and we can look back upon the doings of the team in all its engagements in a long programme, wa can truthfully describe it as one of the finest teams which has ever left Australia. To compare it with the great 1882 team would be impossible, as 1882 was a different summer altogether to that of 1899. The team was strong in all departments of the game, but perhaps hardly so strong in bowling as we had been led to expect. The finest bowler on the side was undoubtedly Trumble, who met with success on the smoothest wickets. Jones was as fast and dangerous as in 1896, and could generally, by bowl­ ing his hardest, be relied upon to dispose of the first two or three batsmen of any fide at a reasonable cost. Three years ago, it will be remembered, his action caused a great commotion in cricketing circles, and that he did throw is beyond a doubt. This season there has not been so much discussion on the subject, probably because he has disguised his action so well, but whether he always did bowl quite fairly is open to doubt. W ith Noble the case is entirely different, as there cannot ba any room for doubt in the minds of those who have seen him bowl on several occasions that now and again he most certainly threw. He has not been no-balled for throwing, it is true, but there is an old proverb which declares that “ lookers-on see most of the game,” and, as one who has seen several of the Australians’ matches, I have not the slightest hesitation in de­ claring that Noble often threw. And in this opinion I am not alone, as several authorities, players and otherwise, have entirely agreed with me. It is a subject of which we shall probably hear more later. It was in batting that the chief strength of the team lay, and the manner in which the side generally recovered itself after a bad commencement was often little less than marvellous. Darling is to be congratulated on heading the batting averages and for having captained the team in such an able manner. Worrall and Noble both met with success, whilst Trumper proved himself to be one of the finest batsmen Australia has yet sent over here. It was unfortunate that the best batsman on the side, Clement Hill, was unable to participate in so many of the matches owing to the effect of an operation, but no higher compli­ ment can be given to the batting strength of the team than to state that his absence was little felt. Kelly proved as active and reliant behind the wicket as ever and was seldom at fault, whilst his batting was at times of the greatest service to his side. In summing-up it may be stated that the team was a splendid one and one worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as that of 1882. Mr. William Carless, the ever-busy, ever-kindly hon. secretary of the Hast­ ings Festival, is to be heartily congratu­ lated on bringing together the splendid teams that met during the past week. The eleven which represented the South of England against the Australians could hardly have been improved, although the appearance of Warwickshire at the Oval prevented any of the Surrey men being chosen. The appearance of the Australians proved a great attraction, and a capital match was witnessed. Up to a certain point the Englishmen held their own, but a splendid innings by Darling placed the Australians in a winning position. The second innings of the home eleven cells for little comment, nobody, with the exception of Ford, making much of a stand. The second match of the week— Home Counties v. Best of England— although it produced much good cricket, did not prove nearly so great an attrac­ tion as the former game. It was during this match that Mr. Townsend, having previously scored over two thousand runs, obtained his one-hundredth wicket during the season. In order to perform this feat he was kept on bowling hour after hour, and, whilst congratulating him, we must state that it is hardly consistent with the best traditions of the game for a captain to keep a man on bowling so that he may perform a certain feat, whilst his side suffers in consequence. As in all previous Hastings Festivals “ Bob ” Thoms, who has umpired in over five hundred county matches and in every county in England except Cumber­ land and Westmoreland, took part. One of these days he will probably publish his reminiscences, and very interesting they should prove, for he has mixed with all classes of players during the past fifty years, and must possess a wonderful cricket repertoire. To give an idea of how great an experience he has had it may be mentioned that he has called “ Over” to every bowler, with but one exception, whose name appears in the list published in the last issue of Wiaden of those bowlers who have obtained a hundred or more wickets in one season. Another enthusiast who may always be seen at Hastings during the week is Mr. F. Gr. Harding, the Father of the Islington Albion Club, which in six or seven years time will be celebrating its centenary. LLOYD’S REGISTER v. COLUMBIA —Played at Honor Oak on September 9. L lo y d ’ s R eg ister . C. F. Redman, b P. R ook ........................ 1 S. A. Hill, o Gann, b Bodell ........... 41 C. H. Bradshaw, b P. R ook ........................ 2 F. B. Wood, b Gann... 11 E. Carey, c Bodell, b Line ........................13 A. S. Hill, stAllanson, bTingay ... ...........21 M. F. Alexander, run out ........................ 1 J. R. Boxall, b Bodell 3 F . A. Spry, not ou t... 24 A. J. Barwick, c and b Tingay... .......... 0 F. A. Mayne, b Gann 1 B 13, lb 2 ..........15 Total ...133 C o lu m bia . H. Line, e Redman, b Carey........................ 0 P. Rook, run out ... 6 J. Bodell, not out ...43 E. T. Gann, c Barwick, b Alexander ............40 E.H. Rook,bAlexander 2 W. Tingay, o and b Alexander .......... 6 H. Allanson, not out 4 Total (5 wkts.)i:0 C. Neate, W . Tingay and P. Line did not bat. OLD CITIZENS v. ENFIELD.—Played at Enfleld on September 9. O ld C it ize n s . 13 R. C. Cole, b Argyle .. W. D. Waller, b Star- key ........................ 3 L. Mirylees. b Argyle 0 J. H. Barnett, b Bux­ ton ........................ 3 H Blewett, b Starkey 13 H. C. Kiogham, e and b Whitaker .........18 H. H. I/ivington, b Buxton .................51 H. Hoehstrasser, lbw, b Starkey................. 1 F. C. Armitage, run out ........................ 18 J. F. Cole, c Prit- chaid, b Starkey ... 10 W. W. Miller, not out 4 Byes ................. 29 Total ...163 E n fie ld . F. Rowley, b Hoch- slra'ser .................32 W . Pritchard, b Ble­ wett ........................ 5 W.Chait, c Lavirgton, b Blewett................. 0 8. G. C. Starkey, b Hochstrasser..........40 Buxton, b Blewett ... 2 G. M. Pratt, b Hoch­ strasser ................. 1 G. E . Argyle, b Blewett ... .......... o A. Syde, b Waller ... 8 E. W. A. Moore, lbw, b W aller.................10 C. W. Whitaker, b Waller ................. 0 L. M. Leggatt, not out 4 B 12, lb 1 ..........13 Total ...115