Cricket 1899

S e p t . 14, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 413 Surely there are five, unless Cyril Bland’s ten wickets for 48 runs in the second innings of Kent for Sussex is not worth mention. I should say it was, as it is not of everyday occurrence for men to capture all wickets in an innings.” S e v e r a l correspondents have pointed out the fact (which has also been re­ marked by the Field and the Sportsman ) that the position which would be held by the Australians in the County Champion­ ship table, according to their doings in matches against the counties, would be fourth. The record reads as follows :— Pis. Finished Per Played. Won. Lost. Drawn, in. games, cent. 18 ... 7 ... 3 ... 8 ... 4 ... 10 ... 40 T he scores made by Surrey against Warwickshire during the last three years are as follows :— 1897. At Oval, May 13—602. At Birmingham, June 24—568. 1898. At Birmingham, May 53—no play. At Oval, September 1—639. 1899. At Birmingham, June 1—317, 202. At Oval, September 4—462 (six wickets). B elow will be found the results of all the Australian tours in eleven-a-side matches. It will be seen that the present team has only once been beaten in the matter of drawn games, and that in the number of losses—since thirty or forty matches have been played— it has the best record of any team, while in the number of wins it stands sixth. All the other teams, except two, have managed to win at least half their matches. But after all the great thing nowadays, thanks to the system of scoring in the county champion­ ship, is not so much to win matches as not to lose them. 1878. 17, won 9, lost 4, drawn 4. 1880. 11, 5, „ 2, 4. 1882. 38, ,, 23, „ 4, n 11. 1884. 32, ,, 18, ,* 7, a 7. 1886. 38, 9, a 7, 22. 1888. 40, 19, „ 14, 7. 1890. 38, 13, „ 16, 9. 1893. 86, 18, „ 10, 8. 1896. 84, H 19.. „ 6, i, 9. 1899. 35, >» 16,• a 3, a 16. In the September number of the Popular Phrenologist the representative of that paper who interviews various cricketers, describes “ how it is done.” Of Ranjitsinhji he says :— “ The greatest interest was manifested when delineating Prince Ranjiteinhji, who remarked when the tape was being put round his head, ‘ I should not think there is much in my head.’ ‘ W ell,’ said I, unthinkingly, ‘ it is the best head you have.’ Up jumped the Prince, almost to the ceiling, and in the space of a moment he had whipped past me, rushed to the other end of the room, round a long table and was back again in his chair. I stood amazed. *You are clever,’ said he. I failed to see any cleverness in the remark I had made, but it pleased the Prince and put the rest of the company in a good humour for the few minutes longer I had to stay.” A question about records has been asked by Mr. P. J. Cawthorne, who writes:— “ In a cricket match, Burlington House, Cambridge, v. New Chesterton, played August 26th, on Parker’s Piece, Cambridge, Mr, Shute, a member of the former club, in the first innings of his side made 75 runs, the highest score, and also obtained all ten wickets of the opposing side. On the Thursday follow­ ing, the 31st, in a match in which Mr. Shute played for Trumpington v. Little Shelford, he made 36 (second highest score), and again took all ten wickets. Can you tell me whether it is at all a record for a bowler to thus take all ten wickets in two consecutive matches ? Also, does his first perform­ ance— that of scoring 7 5—the highest score for his side, and obtaining all ten wickets, rank as a record ? I shall be very much obliged if you answer these questions. [W e should doubt whether any com­ plete records of this kind have been kept.— E d .] ABELL MSPLING m fiOOSEVELT. The above startling headline appears in a New York paper. A t a first glance one imagines that the famous Surrey professional had been up to something which had escaped the notice of English newspapers, and that the American paper had gone wrong in its spelling and grammar. But it turns out that the Abell is only a mere commissioner who has made remarks about Governor Roosevelt. In a match between Ladies and Gen­ tlemen, at New Malden, in Surrey, an innovation was made in handicapping the Gentlemen— at least, we believe that it is an innovation. The Gentlemen, as usual, had to bat with broomsticks, to bowl underhand, and to field with one hand only. But a penalty was invented for an infringement of the agreement to use only one hand, and the offender’s side was fined a bye for each transgression. W ith reference to the objections which have been made to the engagement of two Australian professionals by Middle­ sex to play in county matches, the Daily Telegraph says:— “ The importation of players of proved skill must of necessity discourage the production of home-grown talent. It is not easy, how­ ever, to suggest a remedy. Half our best players would be excluded from county cricket if a hard and fast birth qualification were insisted on, and it is important to bear in mind when considering such a case as Trott’s that if an English player went out to Australia he would be able to take part in Inter-Colonial matches without having to wait anything like two years for the privi­ lege.” But, in the unlikely event of an Austra­ lian colony engaging an English profes­ sional or two to represent it against other colonies, how long would it be before the other colonies suggested that a rule should be made about qualification f For many years Dr. Grace has held the unique record of scoring over 2,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in the same season. He has now a companion in Mr. Townsend who, on Friday last, having already made the runs, took his hundredth wicket. It is pretty certain that he would not have accomplished bis object in the ordinary run of things, but the Doctor, with the greatest good nature, kept him on for about three hours with little success, until in sheer despair he was obliged to give him a rest. But by giving him further opportunities the thing was at last done. A correspondent writes to the Field to know “ by what possible ‘ derange­ ment of epitaphs’ can Sussex be described as a ‘ home county,’ as in the second match of the Hastings Week ? ” Ranjitsinh ji’s amateur team for the United States is at present constituted as follows : K . S. Ranjitsinhji (captain), A . C. MacLaren, A. Priestley, G. Brann, C. L. Townsend, A. O. Jones, G. L . Jessop, S. M . J. Woods, A . E . Stoddart, B. J. T. Bosanquet, C. Robson, G. C. B. Llewellyn; while Victor Barton, the Hampshire professional, will go as attendant to the team. Whether the team wins or loses, it is certain that the Americans will see some of the most attractive batting in the world, and some varied bowling. D u r in g the tour of the Belmont Cricket Club (Philadelphia) in Canada, J. B. King, the fast bowler with a curve, had the excellent analysis of 875 balls, 61 maidens, 262 runs, 57 wickets; average, 4 05. He also headed the batting averages with 40'06, his highest score being 176, A t Montreal, the team met W . R. Gilbert, the old Gloucestershire cricketer, but he did nothing against it of note. In the second match at Montreal one of the opposing side was out in a heartrending manner, a ball from K ing knocking him insensible, and then rolling on to the wicket and removing the bails— bowled. The Philadelphians had an unbroken series of successes. A correspondent, who writes from Henley - on - Thames, asks : — “ Why haven’t you put in your paper the repre­ sentations of each side for ’99, and the comparisons of different counties ? ” Un­ fortunately we have no idea what the writer means. Scene. —Smoleing room in a village inn. Saturday night. The news o f the decision in the Dreyfus case just arrived. Ira te Cricketer : “ W h a t! Ten years and extennyatin’ circumstances! Why it’s like a umpire giving a man out leg afore, and then tellin’ ’im ’e warn’t altogether to blame, for the ball never pitched anywheres near the wicket I ” Mr. C. Montagu Richards writes: “ Mention has been frequently made in the cricket columns of various papers of the fact that this year’s Gloucestershire Eleven contains the captains of the year’s Oxford and Cambridge teams, in the re­ spective persons of Messrs. F . H . B.