Cricket 1900

98 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME M a y 3 , 1900. Since then I have not missed a single match for the county.” “ You would naturally be of opinion that the practice of having a couple of good bowlers to coach before the season begins is attended with good results ? ” “ I think that it has done us a great deal of good in every way. It is good for men who are already regular members of the eleven, and it is far better, in my opinion, for youngsters than a colts’ match. As far as I myself am concerned, the chances are that I should not have been chosen to play for some years at least if it had not been for Mr. Green’s idea of engaging the two Surrey cricketers. Indeed, but for the good sportsmanship shown by Mr. Green and Mr. Tebbutt, I am convinced that Essex would never have done half so well as it has in the county championship.” “ Can you explain how it is that you now sometimes score more slowly than when you first played P” “ There is no possible explanation that I know of. Sometimes you cannot get the ball away; even in the middle of a long innings, at a time when you seem to understand the bowling thoroughly, a period will occasionally come when you cannot see the slightest chance of even making a single. Last year, for instance, it took me something like four hours to make 104 against Kent ; in the second innings, in just over the hour, I made 61. Of course, there is another side of the question, which is, that a batsman must consider the interests of his tide. I may perhaj s refer t ) the Hampshire match last season, when my score was 168. There were five wickets down for about 70, and I think that if I had given my innings away by taking any risks what­ ever it might have placed the team ia an awkward position. Sometimes again, it is obviously the best policy for one of the two batsmen to play very steadily. For example, in the Lancashire match at Manchester in 1898, we had to make 350 odd in the fourth inning,-!. When McGahey joined me there were two wickets down for about 90, and as soon as I saw that he was beginning to 1it tremendously hard I kept very quiet in­ deed, letting him do as much of the tcor­ ing as he liked; he made 145 while I made 61. In the end we won the match by four wickets. During the last two years I have not been able to make any runs at the beginning of the season; I can only account for it by supposing that I take some time to get into the swing of the game. In the winter I do a good deal of shooting and coursing, which keeps me in fairiy good training, but, as I weigh fourteen stone and a-half, I am generally a little stiff when the cricket season begins.” “ You do not often bowl in county matches ? ” “ Very seldom. I can only claim one victim in county cricket during my career. This was Waiuwright, whom I once bowled in a YorksLire match. We were in a tight place at Bradford, and Owen asked me to go on. As it happened, 1 made the ball turn two or three inches, &nd Wainwright, thinking that it would go harmlessly past the wicket, did no attempt to stop it. But I have no duubt that Owen showed excellent judgment in taking me cff at the end of the over. Occasionally I bowl in locil matches, and as a boy at school I was considered a good right hand medium pace bowler; but for some reason or other whatever skill I possessed left me entirely soon afterwards.” “ What is your highest score in county cricket ? ” “ It was 196 against Derbyshire. I was very anxious to make four runs more, so that I began to play very steadily indeed, with the result that from over­ anxiety to make nothing but safe strokes, I just touched the ball before it went into the wicket-keeper’s bands. I reme iiber that in this match Derbyshire won the toss and put us iu ; the wicket was wet, and there seemed a reasonable possibility that the sun would come out strongly, whereas it kept behind the clouds all day. The first time I ever made a hundred was at Birmingham against Warwickshire, and when I was in the nineties I became very nervous. Fortunately for me I was able to make the next few runs very quickly.” “ You made runs in your first match for Essex ? ” “ This was against Surrey in 1896. I was a little nervous when I went in the first innings, but as soon as I scored a single all nervousness entirely left me, and 1 felt quite able to play the bowling. But I got cut in about the next over without increasing my score. In the second innings I made my fifty, when Owen, who was at the other end, came up and said, ‘ PUy steidily and go for your hundred.’ But when I had only made one more run I was out.” In the memorable match in 1897 in which Essex beat Yorkshire at Hudders­ field, in which so m%ny chances were missed by the visitors, Mr. Perrin was not chosen by Fortune to make au example of himself like so many of his companions. “ I didn’ t have a single chance during the innings,” he said, “ and as there was a preverse fate against us on that day I thought myself very lucky. Ic was altogether a rernaik- able finish, for when stumps were drawn on the second evening Yorkshire had four of their best men out, and had about 200 more to make. So bad was the position of the game for them that Frank Milligan had £20 to £1 about it over­ night, and even that seemed too little in the way of odds. But Moorhouse, Frank Milligan, and Wainwright all mtde over 60, while Hirst made 54, and Lord Hawke 24 not out, and I don’t suppose that any of us had much hope of victory— not even Owen, who never believes in the possibility of defeat till the last ball is bowled —aLd when Mead got Bristow l.b.w. with a full pitch, and we had won by a single run, we could hardly believe in our good fortune.” Mr. Perrin once had a curious ex­ pel ience of the way in which the absence of any laws about boundary hits may tell upon a batsman. “ I was playing for Tottenham,” he said, “ and hit a ball to the boundary, as I thought. So I did not attempt to run. But the wicket-keeper, noticing that the umpire had not called four, signalled to the fieldsman to throw in the ball quickly, with the result that the bails were off in a moment. There was considerable discussion as to whether I ought to go out. The ball had incon­ testably reached the boundary—there was no question about it at all. One umpire said that in such a case the bats­ man ought not to go out, since a boundary was a boundary, and since it was always agreed on this ground that boundary hits should count four. The other umpire said that as four had not been called, I ought to have continued to run. In the end I had to go out. I don’t profess to know which umpire was right, but I must own that I thought that the umpire who said that I ought not to be out showed very sound judgment.” W. A. B ettesworth . The following are Mr. Perrin’s batting averages in first-class matches :— Not Highest Total Year. Inns. out. score, runs. Average. 1896 ... 32 ... 2 .. 139 ... 808 ... 26 93 1897 ... 28 .. 2 ... 153 ... 964 ... 37’2) 1898 ... 35 ... 5 ... 10(5* ... 1073 ... 35 76 1899 ... 36 ... 4 ... 196 .. 1491 ... 46'59 THE NEXT ENGLISH TEAM FOR AUSTRALIA. The following remarks on the subject of the visit of the next Erglish team to Australia are from the Sydney Referee :— Several months ago it was cabled to Aus­ tralia that arrangements had been made between the Marylebone and Melbourne clubs with regard to the visits of future teams to England and Australia. The London Press contained statements to a similar effect, whereupon the New South Wales Cricket Association communicated with the Maryle­ bone C.C. asking for information on the subject. The reply from Mr. F. E. Lacey has been received by Mr. R. K. Bowden, and is as follows :—“ Dear Sir,—In reply to your letter of December 19th, the next English team to visit Australia will go out under the auspices of this club. No arrangement or understanding has been arrived at with regard to the future beyond 1900.” Jhe New South Wales Association has instructed the secre­ tary to inform the M.C.O. that the association is pleased to learn that the next team will come out under the auspices of the club. The hope, too, is to be expressed that -all future teams should come out under the auspices of the club or some other representa­ tive body in England. NORTHBROOK v. DU LW ICH .—Played at Lee on April 28. D u lw ich . C. P. Tregellas, c and b F . Willis ...2 5 F. Huntley, c Fuller, b Symon ... 4 H .G.Cryer, b F. W illis 45 A.R Colyer, bF . Willis 2 R .L ongley,bF Willis 43 * Innings de?lared closed. N oktiibuook . J. F. Colyer, st West, b Symon .................]5 8. E. Huntley, nut cut 1 P. J. Loft not out ... 1 E xtras................. ]3 Tot^l (6 wkts) *149 C. O. Spriogthorpe, b Proctor ........... 1 D. M. GoodallcCryer, b Darby ... ........... 0 J.W . West,bS. Huntley 10 W . J. Symon. b Darby 4 A. Fuller, c Huntley, b Proctor........... 0 H. O. Goodall, not out 26 F. H. Willi*, c and b J. C olyer................... W .O. Willis,b J.Colyer W .D. Butler,b Huntley ; S.J. Holmes,cHuntley, b Colyer ................... W . J. Ford, absent ... E xtras................. Total ...........