Cricket 1901

1 9 4 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u n e 1 3 , 1 9 0 1 . his innings until it is too late. In his style he still stands alone, but there cannot be the slightest doubt that some of the brilliant innings which have, happily, become so frequent of late are due to his examples. No bowler has as yet succeeded in evolving any scheme which is calculated to cause him much more trouble than any other, but it is natural that the subject of what would be the best way of getting him out is popular among bowlers of all kinds. “ Do you know what I should do if I had to bowl against young Jessop ? ” said the champion bowler of a small club to a friend. “ What you would do, would be to arsk to be took off after the first over, because you’d strained your arm or some­ thing ” was the unfeeling reply. And probably there are many bowlers who would not be sorry for an excuse which would enable them decently to retire when he came in. I am still anxious to see some slow bowler try my suggested experiment of giving him (or any other batsman) a series of consecutive full pitches, with a well placed field; there must surely be a slow bowler somewhere in the world who could bowl ball after ball so that it would pitch close to the top of the stumps. Every batsman knows that it is very difficult to do any­ thing with a really first-class full pitch, although to deal with one of the common or garden variety is child’s play to him. Such a bowler would have to dismiss all thoughts of the batsman from his mind, and concentrate his attention on hitting the top of the stumps. Of late Mr. Jessop has not bowled much, owing, it is said, to the danger of seriously injuring himself, but that he still possesses the ability to bow1 was clearly shown in the match at Brighton against Sussex, in which he completely demoralized the Sussex team in the second innings. When he bowled regu­ larly he was an exceedingly likely man to get a few wickets. With the impetu­ osity which causes him to attack when batting, he bowled in what may be called a “ neck or nothing ” style, seem­ ing to put his whole strength into every ball. As he had a tendency to bowl a little short, it required a good deal of nerve to face him when the wicket was at all fiery, and it was not at all surprising that he sometimes met with great success. But there was not quite sufficient method about his bowling to have made him a great name if he had not been a great batsman; it was chiefly determination and pace which caused him to be so difficult to play. He works tremendously hard in the field, and as captain, sets a brilliant example. As a captain he is gradually learning valuable lessons, and in the art of changing his bowling he has not yet arrived at perfection. He must have created a record the other day when in the Middlesex match, at Lord’s, he kept Roberts and Huggins bowling, unchanged, for nearly an hour until 100 runs had been put on in the second innings without loss. But every captain has to learn lessons, and it is well when he has the opportunity of learning them soon, W , A. B b t t e s w o b t h . C R I C K E T S T O R IE S * It is with a sense of mingled pleasure and trepidation that one takes up “ Cricket Stories, Wise and Otherwise.” l or although the contents are hound to he satisfactory, is there not more than a chance that never again will one he able to relate cricket stories in the smoking room without being met with a chorus of “ Oh, we know where you got that from ? ” But Mr. Alcock is a wise man in his generation. He has tempered the old with the new in a manner which will satisfy even the most blaze of cricketers, and yet has not seriously interferred with the prerogatives of the habitual story teller. Indeed, there are so many thousands of good cricket stories that it would have been impossible to reproduce a tenth part of them in anything short of a series like the encyclopedias which are just now all the rage. Even with regard to the stories and anec­ dotes which the book contains—they are many and good—they can still he told in the cricket pavilion and the smoking l'oom, for it is a characteristic of all cricket stories, old or new, that every man is quite convinced in his own heart that he alone knows the true version of them. From another point of view Mr. Alcock has done good service by gathering together these stories, for he has naturally been able to get reliable opinions as to what is the accepted version of most of them. But despite this, the man who believes that Mr. S. M. J. Woods was not the originator of the story about the epidemic not being catching, will go on his way rejoicing that he alone knows who first made the joke. Again the cricketer who is convinced that the original waa not the son of a Q.C. in the anecdote told by the late Sir Frank Lockwood about the decision which was come to in a certain match, will still hold to his own opinion that he alone knows the original. The story goes that a special decision was arrived at, viz. : “ If the ball struck the batsman’s stomach, it was to be considered leg-before rule, if it struck the other part it was to be a wide.” And so with most of the other stories, which, as we have said, are all good. W e shall only quote one of the anecdotes ; it is a very good one, and gives a fair idea of the contents of the book. “ It was a single-wicket match in a Lancashire viliage. The first man batted and scored 14 runs. His opponent refused to take his turn until he had had his tea. Remonstrances were of no avail. The man wanted his tea, and was going home to get it. ‘ Tha con howl at th’ wickets, an,’ if tha’ hits ’em, aw’m out,’ he said to his opponent at last. This was agreed to, and the hungry one went to his tea. Returning leisurely forty minutes afterwards, he found the match over. ‘ Tha’s won ! ’ said the umpire. ‘ Now’t o’ th’ sort ! ’ was his reply. ‘ But tha’ has. He’s bowled fifteen wides ? ’ ” that goes one better. The occurrence, too, is of recent date, namely May 11th last. During a match played in connection with the East Grinstead Junior Cricket League between West Hoathley and Forest Row Clubs, an altercation with one of the umpires took place, owing, it is alleged, through a batsman being given out “ leg before ” to a ball that hit his arm. This w’as after the delivery of the sixth ball. Eventually the official conquered, but when play was resumed he forgot how many balls had been sent down, so allowed the bowler another over, making twelve balls in all. The match is to be replayed on the protest of the West Hoathley Club. Yours, etc., A l f r e d D. T a y l o r . Clifton Villa, Hove Place, West Brighton. June 7, 1901. © o rm pond nu e . The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions of his correspondents. TWELVE BALLS AN OVER. To the Editor of C r ic k e t . S i r ,— I rea d th e e x tra ct fr o m th e Sydney Referee , in la st w e e k ’ s Cricket , w h e n a b o w le r in a r e c e n t m a tc h d e liv e re d e le v e n b a lls in su cce ss io n ; I ca n s u p p ly y o u w ith a n in sta n ce •Cricket Stories, W ise and Otherwise. Gathered by C. W . A lcock. B risto l: J. W . Arrow sm ith ; and L opdon, Sirnpkin, Marshall and Cp. 1/-. LO N D O N A N D W E 8T M IN S T E R B A N K v. O LD CIT IZE N S.—Played at N orbury on June 8. O ld C it ize n s . P. O. C o I p , b W illson 0 P .W . H ale, b P odm ore 50 J. H . Burnett, b Law ­ less ..................... ... 0 H .B. Blewett.cLawless, b Baker .....................68 H .G . Johnson, c B ow ­ m an, b Lawless . 22 D . E. Dent, b Bowm an 19 W. H . L avington, c Bowm an, b Baker... J . Page, not o u t .......... J. F . Co e, b Baker ... R .H . Ross, c Bowm an, b Baker .................... W . A . Ny«\ b Baker .. B 6, lb 6, nb 1 ... T otal ...181 L . & C. A . Snell, b Page ... 8. Bowm an, c L aving- ton, b Page ............ C.S J. D ouglas, c Hale, b Page ..................... C. G. Lawless, c Dent, b H ale ..................... W . B ank . 2 J . H . H erschell, H . 8. Baker and A. not bat. C.C.Sim pson,bBlew ett 61 H E .Thom son,run out 21 L .P itt-B rook , b J oh n ­ ston .. .................... 0 E. A . W illson, not out 4 Leg-fcye ............ 1 T otal ...107 Podm ore did Q U E R N M O R E SCH OO L v. C IT Y O F LO N D O N SCH OO L (2).— Played at Quernm ore on June 8 . C it y of L ondon S chool (2). J. B . Bui field, b E . Patrickson ............ 9 M . T . Bergl, c Youles, b E Patrickson ... 18 K . M . A lexander, c H . Patrickson, b D ur­ bridge ............................ 7 A.R obb ins,bDurbridge 12 E. A . K night, b H . G. Patrickson ............10 It.N ew ton,b Carpenter 2 S. B obbins, b E. Patrickson ............16 C. G . Blom fleld, c and b Carpenter ............ 0 A . P. H all, lbw, b Carpenter ............ 0 J. S. Bichardson, b H . T . Covil ............ 0 G . Batty, not out ... 0 E x tra s................... 6 T otal 79 Q ukbnmore S chool . H . G . Patrickson, b A lexander ............ R . A . Covil, c and b A lexander..................... W . Durbridge, c A . Robbins,bAlexander E . Patrickson, b A . R obbins ..................... H . T . Covil, not o u t ... S. D . Caipenter, b A lexander ............ F . P. K iinkhardt, c • A lexander, b Bergl J. 8. Y oule, c B eigl, b A lexander ............ G. N eal, n ot out E x tra s................... T otal (7 wkts) 88 E. S. H ector and F . P. Jepson did n ot bat. Q U E R N M O R E SCH O O L v. B A T T E R S E A G R A M - M A R 8CHO O L .— Played at Battertea. B attersea G rammar S chool . T . Platt, lbw . b fcharp 6 F. H oare, b H . T.C ovil 0 G .M acfarlane, b Sharp 6 E . Carey, b H . T . C ovil 4 C. M ason, c and b N eal 10 H . G. Y ates,not out... 13 J. R . M arsden,bN eal 6 E. O. Austin, b N eal... 3 N .Bennett, lbw ,b Neal 0 C.Poulton.cD urbridge, b Neal ..................... \ G .H art,cG reen, b Neal 1 Jhxtras ............12 T otal 62 QlJKRNMORE SCHOOL. R . A . Covil, b M ason .. 1 W . D urbridge, b Carey 31 C. W . Sharp, b M ason 69 S. D . Carpenter, c MaKoa.b M acfarlane 0 G .L.N eal.bM acfarlane 4 H . T . Covil, b Yates .. 7 F. P. K iinkhardt, b Y atep... ... ............ 0 H . J. Oreen, b Yates... 0 J . 8. Y ou le, c M acfar- lane, b Y ates ... •• J- E. 8. H ector, n ot out 0 F. P. Jepson, not out 0 E xtras ............^ Total (9wkts) 110