Cricket 1900

THE FINEST B4T THE WOULD PRODUCES. M a y 3 , 1 9 0 0 . CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 9 9 BUSSEYS AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. By F. S. Ashley-Cooper. I GO CO QD BUSSEY’S “ Friends, Englishmen,Cricketers, lend me your ears! ” To all who take an interest in the grand old game let me heartily recommend “ Bat v. Ball, 1864- 1900,” an advance copy of which has been kindly forwarded to me by Mr. A. W. Shelton, of King Street, Nottingham. The feature of the book, which is pub­ lished at the low price of one shilling, is the table which gives a list of all indi­ vidual scores of fifty runs and upwards hit in first-class matches since 1864. As it was on June 10th, 1864, that Law X . was altered to “ The ball must be bow led; if thrown or jerked, the umpire must call no-ball,” we thus have all the chief scores made since all restriction as to height of hand in delivery was abolished. The names of the players are given in strictly alphabetical order, and every player’s scores in chronological order, thus enabling the performances of any bats­ man to be seen at a glance. In addition to this table, which occupies considerably over two hundred pages, are to be found bowling and batting averages of all the chief players who have taken a promi­ nent place in the cricket world duriug the past thirty-six seasons, together with various tables which will be found of vast interest to all who follow the game at all closely and of great use, as a work of reference, to those who have to answer all sorts of questions in connection with the game. Besides Mr. Lester’s excellent tables are to be found an introduction by Mr. Herbert E. Jewell, a short article on Curiosities of Cricket by Mr. Alfred J. Gaston, and the recently revised Laws of Cricket and Births and Deaths of Cricketers (reproduced by kind permission of the proprietor of Wisden’s Almanack). It is impossible to bestow too much praise upon Mr. Lester for the trouble he has taken to comjile the book—a self- imposed task which took him many years to complete—or to over-rate the enthu­ siasm of Mr. Shelton, which led him to generously undertake to bear the entire expenses of the production of the work. “ Bat v. Ball ” is certainly a book to be bought, read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested by all who follow the game. It should be stated that a portion of the profits, if any, will be handed to the Cricketers’ Friendly Society — a society which deserves not only the sym­ pathetic but the active support of all cricketers. Two gentlemen, one writing from Canterbury and the other from Bath, have asked me to furnish in this column particulars of the ten centuries scored by Fuller Pilch during his long and brilliant career. As the list will probably be of interest to many besides those who have asked for the information, the following table, showing his century-scores in the order in which they were hit, is ap­ pended :— 127*, Bury v. Woodbridge (with W . Caldecourt and W . Pilch), at Bury St. Edmunds, July 22nd and 23id, 1830. (The runs were made against the bowling of Mathews, W . Pilch and Calde­ court, out o f 186 from the bat.) 115*, Norwich v. Norfolk, nt Norwich, July 4th, 1833. (Out of 172 from the bat.) 100, F. Pilch v. T. Marcden, on the Hyde Park Ground. Sheffield. August 5th, 6th and 7th, 1833. (Pilch made 78 and KO from the bat, Marsden 25 and 31.) 105*, England v. Sussex, at Lord’s, July 2nd and 3rd, 1834. (Jas. Broadbridge, Lillywhite and Brown bowled f >r Sussex.) 153*, Norfolk v. Yorkshire, at bheffield, July 14th, 15th, 16th. 17th and 16th, 1834. (Out of *51 from the bat.) 107, Benenden (with F. Pilch) v. Kent, at Hempstead Park, near Benendea, in Kent, June 23rd and 24th, 1836. (Against the bowling of Hillyer and Alfred Mynn.) 125, Not'ingham (with Cobbett and F. Pilch) v. X X II. of the New Forest and Bingham Clubs, on the Forest Ground, Nottingham, September 4th. 5th, 6th and 7th, 1836. (Out of 191 from the bat.) 160, Town Mailing v. Reigate (with Lil'ywhite and Jas. Taylor), at Reigate, August 10th, 11th and 12th, 1837. (Lillywhite bowled for Rei­ gate ) 114, Chalvington (with F. Pilch) v. Brighton, at Brighton, May 27th, 28th and 29th, 1839. (Made against the bowling of Lillywhite, H oL on and H. G. G. Duff.) 117, Western Counties (with F. Pi ch. Box and Alfred Mynn) v. Marylebone, at Lansdown, near Bath August 18 and 20, 1845. (Lillywhite, Barker, Hillyer and Dean bowled for Marylebone.') * Signifies not out. To modern cricketers the above list of century-scores may seem but a small one for a man who for several years was the acknowledged champion batsman of England. But in Pilch’s day, and even more recently, run-getting was a vastly different matter to what it is to-day, and there can be no doubt that had Fuller Pilch had the opportunity of playing on billiard-table wickets he would have made scores which would have been considered large even in these days of huge scoring. Whilst dealing with Fuller Pilch may I ask whether anybody can tell me the date and place of the death of WillUm Pilch (of Brinton), a nephew of the “ crack” ? He was an excellent long-stop and above the average as a batsman. The date of his death is not to be found in Scores and Biographies, nor, as far as I am aware, was his demise noted in any of the sporting papers. To refer to the match at the Oval between Surrey and London County would, by this time, be almost equivalent to writing ancient history. One point in connection with the game, however, which seems to have escaped general notice and which is worth making a note of, is that Hayward’s innings (owing to rain) lasted part of each of the three days —an event of the rarest occurrence in first-class matches in England. List season, it will be remembered, a similar performance was credited to Mr. A. Collins in the Sussex v. Hampshire match at Portsmouth. The feat of remaining three whole days at the wicket has only been accomplished by John Small, sen. (Hambledon v. England) aijd Mr. William Ward (Marylebone v. Nor­ folk. La,te in the season Surrey will have a most acceptable addition to their ranks in the person of Mr. E. M. Dowson, the old Harrovian and a son of Mr. E. Dowson, of the famous Surrey team of the sixties. Last season he was offered a place in the county team for six match* s, but his father, wisely perhaps, advised