Cricket 1900

S ept . 6, 1900. GRIOKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 391 their best on them ? W hen the batting has broken down it has been more often ow ing to downright bad luck thau to bad play ; there are, as every cricketer knows, times when everything goes against a side— when catches which would not be held once out of ten times are brought off with a certainty which surprises the field as much as the spectators ; when a fieldsman throws at a single stump an 1 cannot miss it; when everything comes off for one side and nothing for the other. This is what Surrey has suffered from more than anything else this season. There bow ling has not been bad ; in fact, if their fielding had been good, the bow ling would have seemed excellent in every w ay. The worst fault of the team has been the want of “ go ” in the field­ in g. Dozens of hits which m ight have been made into catches have been allowed to pass into a fieldsman’s hands on the first bound, and the fieldsman has even earned applause for stopping them. But when all is said, it cannot be disputed that the fielding has been no i worse than that of other teams which have gained a higher place on the championship table. On the whole, Surrey m ay be said to have a false position iu the championship table, for a county which has lost no fewer than four matches by such narrow margins as five runs, eleven runs, tw enty- one runs, and one wicket, and has only lost three other matchps has decide Uy had more than its fair share of bad luck. I t is a remarkable thing that Surrey hardly ever seems to get hold of University players who come up to the brilliant promise which they have shown. A Blue will distinguish himself if he plays for any other county, but, w ith the exception of M r. K ey and M r. Jephson, we do not remember any Blue who has done great things for Surrey of late years. Perhaps the most interesting point about N otts cricket this year is that only seven matches were drawn. The county has not at all a bad record, w ith seven wins and only four losses, aud it is pleasant to think that while the old members of the team have done their fair share towards the success of the county, the younger ones have often distinguished themselves in a marked manner. The men of K ent have reason to congratulate themselves on the season’s results. They have a very strong team , and have dis­ covered a first-class bowler in B lythe, and in M r. D illon they have found a recruit who is likely to be of the greatest use to them . Their batting has generally been sound and pretty good all through. A fter trying all sorts of experiments, with very little success, at the beginning of the season, M iddlesex put an ex­ tremely strong team in the field in A ugust. Hearne is not the bowler that he was, and Albert Trott has had to do the greater part of the w ork; he is always a tryer, and but for him the county would have been in sore straits. Iu August, M r. W ells was of very great service to his side. E ssex had a most dis­ appointing season. W h at the team seems to w ant more than anything (except life and brilliancy in the field) is a few men who have not got out of the way of hitting. A t present there is no one except M r. Kortright and one or two of the tail who can venture to take the bull by the horns. In the present state of affairs a man like E . H . D . Sewell would be invaluable. The county has a number of fine batsmen, but they nearly all seem incapable of letting themselves go on emergency. Unfortunately, M r. K ort­ right was not able to bow l much, and M r. Bull seems to have lost his skill. O f the other county teams it is not necessary to say much. They are all weak in bow ling, they all have some two or three good batsmen, and all have some promising recruits. ©orresponOence. The Editordoes not holdhimself responsible tor the opinionsof hiscorrespondents. A SU G G E S T IO N . To the Editor of C r ic k e t. S i r , — I should like to suggest that some arrangement should be made by the M .C .C . (if their jurisdiction extends to Scotland; or, if not, by the Scottish authorities) for form ing a first-class county championship in Scotland, on the lines of that which exists in England. A t present only a few tw o-d ay matches are played in the counties in the L ow ­ lands ; but I feel sure that with a good professional or two to coach them , they could, in a few years or so, bring up teams which would be equal in strength to many first-class shires in England. Such cricket as ia played, is played with a great deal of zeal and enthusiasm, and some really capital cricketers exist who would be worthy of a place in any English county team if they could get good practice. Prom Fettes and Loretto, aud other schools, some fine batsmen and bowlers have been turned o u t; but few of these have a chance of playing much in after years. In the H ighlands and more northern parts it is a slightly different thing, for the rain, which falls in abundance, would considerably inter­ fere w ith play, aud at times the weather is not always as warm as one m ight wish. Bu t, despite drawbacks, cricket is played and is thoroughly enjoyed. H oping that something of this sort will one day come into force, I remain, Y ours, etc., “ A o r o s s - t h e - T w e e d . ” - Inverness-shire, N .H . T H E M A K IN G OF C A T C H E S . To the Editor of C r ic k e t . D e a r S i r , — It seems to be the opinion of a great many people that the scoring in English “ county cricket ” is too large, and drawn games too frequent. I wonder if those who think so, are aware of all the catches that are dropped in a “ county m atch.” I f all the first-class counties could field like the Yorkshire Eleven, I think the drawn games would be “ few and far between,” and big scores would not be anything like so frequent. I t was certainly the fielding of the Yorkshire Eleven which placed their county at the head of the county cham ­ pionship this year. O f course, the county is very strong in both batting and bow l­ ing, but good batting and bow ling is useless without good fielding. There have been a few suggestions made to keep down the scoring, such as “ make the wickets larger ” orthe “ bat smaller.” Perhaps somebody could make a sug­ gestion that would prevent so many catches being dropped. If-anybody could do so, cricket would become a much more interesting game. Y ours, etc., L . A . W . M R . A . P . W IC K H A M A N D A Q U E R Y . To the Editor of C r ic k e t. D e a r S i r , — In a number of Cricket a little while ago, you remarked on the peculiar averages of the R ev. A . P . W ickham , who always had an average bigger than his highest score. I noticed the other day, in “ W isden’s,” that last year, w ith a highest score of 4 not out, he averaged 6, as follows : Innings, 7 ; runs, 12 ; top score, 4 not o u t; times not out, 5 ; average, 6. I have not 8sen this noted in Cricket, though I m ay have passed it over. I also wish to ask you a question about an innings played by A . L . Foster for Westm inster v. Charterhouse at Godalm - ing this year. G oing in when four wickets had fallen for 93, Foster hit up 66 in tw enty-tw o m inutes. Is not this very nearly a record*, for school cricket at any rate ? H is chief hits were two 6 ’s, out of the ground, and eight 4’s. Y ours truly, D . G . B . [*It is quite impossible to say what is the time record in school matches.— E d .] QTJERNMOKE SCHOOL. Matches played, 16 ; won, 1 1 ; lost, *2 ; drawn, 3. 1 st X I .-B A T 1 ING AVERAGES. No. Times Most of no“ Total in nn inns. out. runs. inns. Aver. W . Durbridge 17 ... 4 ... 524 ...136 ... 40 3 N. O. Carpenter ... ... 16 ... 1 ... 471 ... 77* .. PL-4 B. H. Tucker......... ... 12 ... 4 . 233 ... 66*. .. 29 1 D. M. L e w is........... ... 14 ... 3 ... 229 ... 77* 20 8 H. G. Patrickson ... ... 17 2 .. 302 ... 51*. .. 20-1 C. W . S h a rp ........... ... 17 . .. 1 ... 318 ... 60 ... 198 L. H. Tucker........... ... 10 ... 2 ..,. 86 . 52*. .. 10-7 R. A . Covil ........... ... 6 ... 1 ... 34 ... 11 ... 6 8 H. Medcalf ........... ... 5 ... 0 ... . 30 ... 14 .. . 6 0 E. Patrickson........... ... 12 ... 3 .... 44 .. 18 ... 4-8 J. Zimmermtnn ... ... 7 ... 0 .. 23 ... 11 ... 35 H. T. Covil ........... ... 10 ... 1 . 14 .. 5 15 The following have also batted : J. V. Silva (7-2-42- 29-8'4) and A. Noel (3-0-15-14-5). ••C E N IU R Y ” FOB W . Durbridge, v. B*rnet Grammar School .. ... 136 “ CEN TU RY” AGAINST J. K . Frost, for Baiteraea Grammar Sahool.. ... 118 BOW LING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. H. G. Patric’json . 412 ... 12 .. 89 ... 16 ... 5 5 C. W. Sharp ... .. 144 2 . 55 ... 260 ... 41 .. 63 H. T. C ovil................ ..110-4... 30 .. 297 45 ... 66 D. M. Lewis .. 39 7 . 9 ... 147 .. 15 .. . 98 The following also bowled : W . Dur ridge ... .,.. 18 ... 5 ... 35 ... 10 .. . 35 L. A. Tucker ... 21-5... 2 ... 74 ... 13 ... 5 6 J. V. S ilv a ................,.. 5-1.. 1 ... 20 ... 3 .. . 66 B. H Tucker ... ... 3 ... 1 ... 8 ... 1 .. . 80 E. Patrickson ... ... 52 ... 12 ... 142 ... 14 .. . 101 SUMMARY OF OTHER MATCHES. Piayed. Won. Drawn. Lost. 2nd X I .................... ........... 8 .. . 8 . .. 0 ... 0 A gk L im it ............. ........... 5 .. . 2 . .. 1 .. . 2 3 rd X I .................... ........... 6 ..,. 5 , ... 0 .. 1 4 th X I .................... ........... 2 .. . 1 ... 0 ..,. 1