Cricket 1901

S e p t . 5, 1901. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 387 BUSSEY’S GO M J o S h 0 CO ►4 iJ W 1 OQ B w = i £2 S ^ s* j§ l u a ^ I CO « 8 C O CO 0 9 CO CO ►»p* o 'M O tS § a 0 9 BUSSEY’S AT TH E SIGN OF THE W ICK E T . B y F. S. A bh ley -C oopbr . Ruralising recently in mid-Sussex, I was fortunate enough to escape the news­ paper comments on the race between Fry and Abel—both Surrey-born men— for the “ Three Thousand.” The space devoted to the matter in the London evening papers, I was afterwards informed, exceeded that allotted to the bulletins regarding the health of Mr. Gladstone during his last illness, whilst Mr. Fry actually devoted a whole column in one of the leading dailies to a descrip­ tion of the manner in which he won the race ! Twenty years ago it was con­ sidered a marvellous performance for a man to obtain one thousand runs during a season, which fact proves how easy a m a tte r r u n - g e ttiD g has been of late years. If one could resurrect Mr. William Ward—or some such worthy of the past—what would be his opinion of modern cricket ? It would be interesting to know. (Probably, however, as a thoughtful man once observed, he would be too old to think.) The fact that a batsman can nowadays score more cen­ turies iu a single season than Fuller Pilch did d u riD g his whole career speaks volumes for the disadvantage under which present-day bowlers labour. This season two players, as already mentioned, have scored over three thousand runs each. It would be a difficult matter to decide which performance of the two is the better. The advantage which one player holds in point of average is fully d is c o u n te d by the disadvantages concern­ ing age and height under which the other labours. If the two players, Abel and Fry—the leading professional and the leading amateur—are bracketed together, one cannot be far wrong in estimating their abilities. It is generally recognised that by scoring five centuries in con­ secutive innings in first-class matches Mr. Fry has set up a new record. Nobody will deny that this is a wonder­ ful feat, but those writers who described it as the most wonderful in the whole history of the game were far from correct. It cannot compare for a moment with “ W.G.’s ” scores of 344, 177, and 318 not out in consecutive innings in 1876. Mr. Fry made 709 runs in five consecu­ tive and completed innings. “ W.G.” 839 for twiceout in three successive attempts. So the record still stands to the credit of the Master. Mr. Fry’s innings were as follows :— 106, Sussex v. Hampshire, at Portsmouth. 209, Sussex v. Yorkshire, at Brighton. 149, Sussex v. Middlesex, at Brighton. 105, Sussex v. Surrey, at the Oval. 140, Sussex v. Kent, at Brighton. .“ W.G.’s ” three great scores in 1876 were :— 344, M.C.C. v. Kent, at Canterbury. 177, Gloucestershire v. Notts, at Clifton. 318*, Gloucestershire v, Yorkshire, at Cheltenham * Signifies not out. “ W.G.” also made as under in consecutive inniDgs for Gentlemen v. Players :— 217, at Brighton, 1871. j at Lord’s, 1872. 117, at the Oval, 1872. 163, at Lord’s, 1873.. 168 , at the Oval, 1873. M. A. Noble scored in succession in Sheffield Shield matches in 1899 :— 101, New South Wales v. South ’Australia, at Sydney. 10% New South Wales v. Victoria, at Sydney. 200, New South Wales v. South Australia, at 122, New South Wales v. Victoria at Melbourne. Mr. C. B. Fry in consecutive innings for Sussex in 1900 made :— 135 v. Leicestershire, at Leicester. 220 |v. Surrey at Brighton. 110 v. Middlesex, at Brighton. 96 v. Worcestershire, at Worcester. 105 v. Gloucestershire, at Bristol. Mr. A. C. MacLaren made the following consecutive scores in great matches for Mr. A. E. Stoddart’s team in Australia in 1897-8 J v. New South Wales, at Sydney. 181 v. 13 of Queensland and New South Wales, at Brisbane. 109 v. Australia, at Sydney. The Bev. F. W. Terry once scored six consecutive centuries on consecutive days for a wandering club on Cowley Marsh, Oxford; an extraordinary performance on such a ground. In the Australian season of 1877-78 J. Swift, of the Yarra Burg Club, near Melbourne, played innings of 121, 109, 142, 114 and 144 not out in five consecutive matches. Such uniformly high scoring in first-class matches as that of Mr. Fry during the past few weeks has not been witnessed since “ W.G.” was “ lord of Lord’s, the only ruler of Prince’s.” Since the days when cricket was in quite its infancy we find many instances of ladies participating with success in the game. As far back as the time of the immortal John Small we read of inter­ county matches between teams of ladies, and did not Rowlandson, the caricaturist, deem the subject worthy of portrayal in later years ? Upwards of 120 years ago we come across details of a century- innings played by a lady, and since that time the history of the game furnishes particulars of about fifteen similar per­ formances. Probably the best lady- cricketer who has as yet “ Urged with wondrous force the flying ball” and driven “ The batter’d pellet o’er the ring ” was Miss Rosilie Deane, of Sydney, who scored three centuries during her all too- brief career, on one occasion making two such scores in one match—195 and 104 for Intercolonial Ladies Club v. Sydney Club (Ladies), at Sydney. In 1887 a Miss Grace made 217 runs in an innings at Burton Joyce, in Nottinghamshire, against the really good bowling of four men, and this score remained a record for ladies’ ciicket until last week. On Wed­ nesday, the 28th ult., Miss Mabel Gladys Bryant, of St. Leonards, playing for Visitors against Residents at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, made 224 not out in two hours and a-quarter towards a total of 367 for five wickets. A gentleman who was present kindly writes : “ I saw her make five consecutive fours to the boundary, three cuts between point and slip, an off-drive and a leg-hit. Cricket comes very easy to her, as she has a wonderfully quick eye and is very fleet.” As an International hockey-player her form and play was greatly praised ia