Cricket 1900

A ug . 16, 1900. CRICKED : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 347 decided that they were no good, and many of the papers did not take the trouble to report the matches. Iu the face of these discouragements the West Iudians played up manfully, and towards the end of the tour were a very good side indeed. They themselves had never been under a wrong impression about the objects of the tour. They came to learn, and did not expect to win, although they hoped that by good luck they might be success­ ful once or twice. When after their first match the Star produced a cartoon repre­ senting a lot of coloured players hovering round Dr. Grace and saying, “ We come to learn, sah,” the members of the team —more especially the coloured ones — bought up all the copies on which they could lay their hands, for the cartoon expressed their feelings to a nicety. S > they plodded on, attracting but little attention from the Press or the public, losing the toss with persistency, and making many mistakes, but always keeping their eye on the object of their visit, viz., to learn something. One of their difficulties, which had probably never been foreseen by anybody, was the difference in the pace at which the ball travelled to the boundary. In the West Indies the grounds are 80 fast and hard that a fieldsman seldom troubles himself to run after a ball when it is driven past him, as it would be simply a waste of energy. For the same reason he seldom moves to meet a ball which is hit in his direction, because it travels so fast that it is upon him before he can make any progress. It was not easy to get out of this habit, and in the earlier matches men hesitated to follow a ball to the boundary, while there was a want of dash in the field, which looked bad. But in course of time these things were altered, and at the end of the tour the team fielded better than a good many county teams. The West Indians also learned much 'about batting. They found that it was advisable not to try to make too many runs when they first went to the wickets, but to play with a little care until such time as they were pretty well set. But from first to last they were a quick-scoring team as a whole, and several of the batsmen proved that they only wanted to play constantly ia first-class cricket to become very fine players. It was admitted by those who saw the big stand for the fiist wicket at the Oval, against Surrey, by Mr. Olli­ vierre and Mr Cox, that better batting could hardly have been shown. The bowling, which was thought by many to be the strong point of the team, was not very deadly on the good wickets, but here again the men improved very much, while the two professionals were occasion­ ally irresistible. Some of the amateurs also created a very favourable impression, and as on the whole the bowling was well managed, two or three of them had Opportunities of distinguishing them­ selves. On a queer wicket, Woods, the fast bowler of the team, was a player who was likely enough to dispose of any man, or a whole team if he met with a little encouragement, for although his run is very short, he gets a great amount of pace on the ball, and, at times, gets up in a very awkward manner. It was, perhaps, a pity that it was deemed advisable not to consider the West Indian matches as first-class, but it is difficult to see how this could be avoided; for on the form shown during the early part of the tour, the team would have been hopelessly out of the ruin ing, while, when the turn of the tide came, it was far too late to make auy changes. There is, however, no room for doubt that the team in its last match was very much more formidable than in its first, for it is hardly too much to say that every one of its members was a far better player than he was when he reached Englaud. It is to be feared that from a financial point of view the visit has not been a great success, but what with the war and the variable weather, combined with the depression which has been felt by nearly all the counties this year, it was only natural that the gates should not be very large. But from every other point of view the tour has been most successful. The members of the team, white and coloured alike, have proved themselves to be good sportsmen and keen opponents, while the very fact that they did not come over for the pur­ pose of making money, but as sportsmen pure and simple, makes all cricketers re ret that the guarantors may have to be called upon. We have said that the team has vastly improved all round, and it would be very interesting to see a match played on their return home between them and a picked team of the rest of the West Indies, if such a match could pos­ sibly be arranged. It is certain that the next English touring team which visits the West Indies will have to look to its laurels. WORCESTERSHIRE v. LONDON COUNTY. Played at the Crystal Palace on August 13, 14, and 15. London County won by 166 runs. Except in the matter of fielding, Dr. Qrace is still a man to be feared by opponents, and even in fielding he is far better than many a younger man, for if a catch comes his way he freezes on to it. But for a 1<ng time he has not managed to add to his alarmingly long list of hundreds in first-class matches; he nearly always makes enough runs to make bowlers of the otber side wonder whether he is ever going to get out, and ihen when the hundred is within sight he is dis­ posed of. On Monday he seemed to have made up nis mind that he would make his first hundred of the ear, for he was playing such fine cricket when he ad made 70 that there seemed no earthly reason why he should get out. But once more he had to be con­ tent with something under the hundred. More fortunate was Mr. E. W . Dillon, the Rugby School captain, who, when stumps were drawn, had made 83, for on the morrow he brought his total to 108, in this his first appearance in first-class cricket, fie played very good cricket indeed. Worcestershire, for whom Mr. fi. K. Foster was not playing, h id to go in against a large total, but made just tnough runs to save the follow-on, the best innings being played by Mr. W . W. Lowe London County began well in their second inniogs with Dr. Grace and Mr. C. J. B. Wood, and when stumps were drawn, the Doctor was half-way towards the hundred for which he has so long been striving. The total was 87 for no wicket. Yesterday morning vV. G. gradually began to approach his hundreJ, and at length, after batting for three hours an 1a quarter, he had the satisfaction of adding one more to hi-< list. Ten minutes after­ wards he declared, leaving Worcestershire to make 344. The innings began at a quarter to two, and before lunch Mr. K. E. Foster and Bowley were both dismissed. This was the beginning of the end, for although Arnold and Wheldon made a splendid attemp - to pave the game, the innings was over at a quarter to fi^e. L ondon C ounty . First innings. 8econd innings. W . G. Grace, sen., c and b B annister...........................72 not o u t ................110 C. J. B. Wood, b Burrows 10 c Foster,b Ban­ nister ...........36 G. W . Beldam, b Lowe ... 67 Braund, c Gaukrodger, b Bannister ................... 0 lbw, b Pearson ... 1 Coe, b Pearson ...................22 b Bannister..........10 E.W . Dillon, c Gaukroiger, b Pearson ...........................108 not out..................29 W . L. Murdoch, c Arnold, b Foster ......................... 0 W . G. Grace, jun., b Lowe 18 N. 8. A. Harrison, c Gauk- rofger, b L o w e .......... . 0 c Gaukrodger, b P ea rson ...........17 J. Gilman, c Bannister, b Pearson ................. ... 24 R. B. Brooks, not o u t .........18 B 1, lb 1, w 4 .................. 6 Extras........... 3 Total........................ 343 Total (4 wkts) *206 * Innings declared closed. "W orcestershire . First innings. Second innings. J. Howard, b Braund . ... 8 cBr >oks,bBraund 25 Bowley, c Brooks, b Braund 3 b Dillon .......... 5 Arnold, c sub., b Grace, sen. 27 b Coe ..................65 R. E. Foster, c Gilman, b Braund 20 b Braund ........... 0 Pearson, lbw, b Grace, sen. 15 c Murdoch, b Dillon ......... 1 W . W . Lowe, not out... 75 cBrooks.bBraund 9 Wheldon, b Braund ... 11 st Brooks, b Coe 67 Taylor, b Briund........... 1 c Harrison, b Coe 0 Bannister,C8ub.,bGrace,sen. 96 b Coe ................... 0 Gaukrodger, b Braund is not out...................14 Burrows, absent, hurt 0 absent, hurt ... 0 Lb 3, w 1. •» E xtras........... 1 Total................... 208 Total .. 177 L o n d o n C o u n t y . First innings. Se:ond innings. O. M. E . W . O. M. R. W. Burrows... ... 23 7 68 1 . Bannister 32 9 72 2 . 21 6 51 2 Taylor ... ., . 8 4 15 0 . ... 12 2 26 0 Lowe ... ... 17 2 76 3 .......... 7 1 28 0 R. E. Foster .. 11 0 50 1 .......... 12 2 48 0 Pearson ... ... 20*1 5 60 3 ........... 14 4 40 2 Arnold ... .. . 5 2 8 0 .......... 11 5 10 0 Burrows and Lowe each delivered two wides and Foster one. W o r c e s t e r s h ir e . First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W . O. M.R. W . Grace, sen. ... 27 1 126 3 ........... 3 0 29 0 Braund ........... 26 1 8 78 6 ........... 18 2 46 3 Dillon.. 13 2 54 2 W ood ... 8 0 26 0 Coe ... 6*6 1 21 4 Braund bowled one wide. YORKSHIRE v. MIDDLESEX. Played at Leeds on August 13, 14 and 15. Yorkshire won by 63 runs. So well has Middlesex been playing of late, and so fortunate has everything turned out for the county that the Yorkshiremen were not by any means con­ fident of placing a victory to their credit in this match. But at the end of the first day there seemed only one team in the running, and it was not Middle­ sex. For, against a total of 235 by Yorkshire—a very good total it was for the wicket—Middlesex had only been able to put together 65 for the loss of five wickets. The Yorkshiremen had chiefly to thank Haigh, Hirst, and Mr. Taylor for their comfortable position, the former taking four out of the five Middlesex wickets which fell, aud the two latter batting in excellent style. On Tuesday there was an entirely different tale to tell. The Middlesex tail showed up nobly, Trott playing one of the fine innings which one was accustomed to s-e from his bat la st year, **nd Mr. MacGregor oncj more proving what a very valuable batsman he is at a pinch. Thanks to the tail, M id d lese x were only 43 ru is behind, which was very much fe*er th*n had seemed likely over­ night. For once the Yoikshiremen did not rise to the occasion in their second innings. It was not Trott who c .used their downfall but Mr. Wells, who, wheu he gets a wicket to suit him, is a difficult bowler to contend with. In the end, Middlesex had to m a k e 140 runs, and as the wicket was not in favour of b a ts ­ men, theie Wis more than a chance that they would be btaten. They began terribly badly, and as when stumps were <rawn their score was only 28 for fo u r wickets, their chances of pulling off the match were