Cricket 1899

J in . 2 6 , 1899. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 3 BUSSEY’S HOCKEY . F IN E S T C LU B M AD E 13 THE BEST mAKK- a p p l y f o r c a t a l o g u e TO Geo. G. BUSSEY &Co., 36 & 38, Queen Victoria Street, L O N D O N ; * OR DEALERS ALL OVER THE WORLD. MANUFACTORY— PECKHAM, LONDON. TIM BEE M ILLS— E L M S W E L L , S U F F O L K . BETWEEN THE INNINGS. FIRST-CLASS CRICKETERS of 1898. ( Continued from page 476.) If Essex did not meet with quite the same measure of success in 1898 that attended their efforts in 1897, it was not because they were a weaker team. They had distinctly hard luck in two or three of the matches which they lo s t; and even as it stands their record is very good. The team is a singularly level one. No man stands out conspicuously above his comrades ; in fact,, there are (even or eight of whom it would be difficult to say which is the most valuable. The best batting records of the past season stands to the credit of Charles McGahey and Percy Perrin. McG they scored a few more runs than Perrin, bat completed one more innings, so that the younger man has fractionally the better average. The greatest innings played for Essex during the season was McGahey’s 145 ia the second innings at Old Trafford ground, and on that occasion he had splendid backing from Perrin, who scored 61, the two adding 191 while together, and fairly winning the game for their side. (Essex had to get nearly 350 to win, and yet they won by four wickets.) In the first innings v. Hants at South­ ampton, Peri in made 68 and McGahey 57, and they put on 118 while together. Against Derbyshire, at D_jrby, McGahey rau up 115 and Perrin 101, and their partnership realised 195. Against Leicestershire, at Leicester, Perrin made 77 and McGahey 58, but they had no partnership together, for Carpenter was playing a long innings, Perrin helping him to add 160 for the second wicket, and McGahey 108 for the third. Apart from these scores, M cG ihey made 72 v. Leicestershire, at L e y to n ; 68 v. Lanca­ shire, at Layton; 46 for Gentlemen v. Players, at the Oval; 73 v. Hants, at L ey ton ; 48, 44, 40 not out, and half-a- dc z n other scores of over 2 0 ; he was only once out for a duck, and only seven times under double figures. Perrin played a terribly slow innings of 106, not out (it lasted five and a-half he urs) v. Kent, at Layton ; a very valuable 81 v. Gloucester­ shire, on the same ground ; 76 v. Surrey, at the O va l; 65 v. Sussex, at Brighton ; and 36 and 51, both not out v. Warwick­ shire, at Birm ingham ; and, like McGahey, six other innings of 20 and over. He was twice out without scoiing, and eight times in all under double figures. The records of the two are not only curiously alike, but also very much like what each achieved last year. But Perrin was scarcely as good to watch as in 1897, for he has developed a tendency to play the wearing g am e ; wLile McGahey was slightly more attractive, his somewhat ungraceful style undergoing an improve­ ment. One brackets Carpenter and his captain as naturally as one does McGahey and Perrin, though in this case there is scarcely the same equality. In the early part o f the season there was little to choose between them. Both were in good form , Owen, perhaps, in better form than he had ever shown before. But later on, the professional ran clean away from his captain, and finished up with almost 40 per cent, more runs, and an average three or four points better. Generally going in first together, the two effected more than one good stand ia partnership, the most notable of these being 194 (Carpenter 95, Owen 92) v. Derbyshire, at Derby, and 140 (Owen 74, Carpenter 61) v. Warwickshire, at Lay­ ton. The ciptain also played good cricket v. H ints, at Southampton (63), Derbyshire, at Layton (61), Kent, at Leyton (51), in both games v. Lancashire (13, 44, 30 and 21 not out), and v. Leicestershire, at Leyton (51). Car­ penter’s biggest score of the season was 133 v. Leicestershire, at Leicester, made in three and three-quarter hours ; he also scored 103 v. Kent, at Tonbridge, and scores of 54, 53, 51, six of between 30 and 40, and five of between 20 and 30, in other matches. He was only twice out without scoring. A. P . Lucas, though it is nearly a quarter of a century since he began to play first-class cricket, was almost as good a man as ever. Like the other crack Essex batsmen, he was very consistent. Of his 19 innings, only four were single figures. Unquestionably, his best performance of the season was that grand 89 v. Surrey, at the Oval, when, with the game apparently lost, he and Perrin made a splendid effort, adding 103 while together, and nearly turning the tide of defeat. Sixty-two v. Warwickshire, at Leyton, was his only other innings of over 50, but he made scores of 49, 37, 31, 27, 25, 25, 23 not out, and 22 in other matches, and his average was only a fraction below 30. All three of the crack Essex bowlers did w e ll; but Mead and F. G. Bull have both done better, and one feels inclined to give C. J. Kortright the first place of the three. Like most very fast bowlers he was quite unsuccessful at times, but on his day there was no one more difficult to play, and some of his performances were really wonderful. In the second innings of Hampshire, at Southampton, he took six wickets fo r 10 runs (perhaps, on figures, the most phenomenal per­ formance of the season) ; against Glouces­ tershire, at Leyton, he had in all twelve for 98 ; against Warwickshire, on the the same ground, seven for 60; in three consecutive innings, the second of Leicestershire, at Leicester, and the two of Lancashire, at Layton, six for 41, six for 50, and six for 56—or, eighteen for 147 within three days. In the two matches v. Derbyshire, he had in all fourteen for 198. Against Surrey, at Leyton, he took eight for 130, and had exactly the same figures v. Lancashire, at Manchester. In the former match he bowled fifty-six in the latter fifty-four overs, facts which testify that he was able to get through a good deal of work with credit to himself and benefit to his side. H is batting figures were somewhat curious. His first two innings were 24 and 32. Then he went to the wickets /IS USED BY THE BEST PLAYERS, REGULATION CANE HANDLE HOCKEYS, 6 / 6 , 5 / 6 , a / 6 .