Cricket 1901

S e p t . 5 , 1 9 0 1 . CKICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 3 9 1 THE INCOGN IT I CLUB IN 1901. B y “ E. T.” T h is clu b, w hich, d atin g its form ation from 1861, has now been on the go for fo rty years, can ju stly la y claim to being “ one of the m ost fam ous of w andering clubs for w ith the exception of the prem ier M .C .C ., none h ave done more to diffuse the gam e— d uring the past th irty years, having during th at period m igrated n ot on ly into n early all the counties of E nglan d, bu t also into Scot­ land, Irelan d, and W ales. I t can also lay claim to h avin g been instrum ental in b rin g ­ in g to th e fron t m any of the m ost prom inent cricketers of the day, who, b y m atch - p la y in g w ith the In cogn iti, got seasoned and acclim atized w ith the righ t “ kind of b lo c k ” to suit th eir style of play, and afterw ards drifted in to county cricket. A n d w hen I relate the names of those th at I have w atched from tim e to tim e I th in k it w ill be allowed th at this assertion is no guess w ork, but founded on facts. In w ritin g this sketch from m em ory, the follow ­ in g “ In co g.” cricketers come forcibly to m ind, v i z .: W . L ind say, Len . Ilo w e ll,W illie R oller, an exceptionally good a ll-io u n d ; L en . and John Shuter, Charlie H om er, the hum an catapulta— than whom no trundler has more often brought off the h at-trick as w ell as ta k in g all the w ickets in the same innings in so m an y matches ; S tan ley Scott, a splen­ did batsm an ; Capt. W y n y a rd , one of the best of all-rounds ; G . N . W ya tt, the cricketer of m an y counties ; J . Robertson, J. E . R aven, Col. J. Fellow s, JSir Joseph Leese, H . F . F ox, a m ost correct tim ist and still topping the centuries ; the brothers W illiam and R ev. A . H . W in te r, both n atu rally gifted w ick et­ keepers, th e latter of w hom was a pioneer in the w a y of show ing how to shunt the byes w ithout an y safety valve in the form of a lo n g-sto p ; the brothers M artyn, W . B . and 0 . B ., W . F . F elton and E . C. F elton , the brothers C. J ., C. G . and A . M . In glis, D u d ley P o n tifex, H am ilton Ross, E . A . Parke, H . K . A vo ry, Lieut.-C ol. B eaver, H . G . B arlow , E . M atheson, C. A u b rey Sm ith, M . H . Paine, A . E . Gibson, R ev. P . H attersley-Sm ith, C. T illard , Rev. R . F . Thornton, R ev. H ine-H aycock, Capt T albot, M ajor C. E . Orman, D . C . Lee, W . B . Delacom be, W . J . Seton, R ev. H . C. L . T in d all, C . J . M . G odfrey, Capt. P . C. W . T revor, C. M . Tuke, A . C. S. G lover, T . A . H igson, H . A . F rancis, F . H . Brow ning, M . A . Troughton, and P h il H ilson, one of the earliest explorers of the “ Incogs ” into the N orthern, M idland, and E astern Counties. W ith m any, and m any others, too numerous to refer to ju st now. H avin g rum inated on the past, I w ill now g iv e the chief incidents connected w ith this season. Cricket has w eek ly rendered an account of their m atches as th e y progressed ; but in the w a y of a summ ary it m ay at once be stated that the ‘ ‘ In cogs ’ ’ have been as busy as ever, havin g since the first of M ay u n til A u gu st 31st gone through a program of 51 matches— most of them tw o-day fixtures— during w hich time th ey have journeyed into all the home counties ; also into H ants, Somerset, D orset, G loucester, Sussex, Stafford, and the far west of D evon. A lso to O xford and Cam bridge to contend against various College clubs— as w ell as to the Public Schools of Repton, U ppingham , and Sherborne. Besides paying th eir annual special visits to the charm ing coun try residences of S ir D aniel Gooch at W in d s o r; Baron de W orm s at E g h a m ; S yd n ey P la tt at W a rg ra v e ; and W . E . H arrison at Lichfield (at all w hich places th ey w ere hospitably entertained) ; as also to B u ry St. Edm unds where th eir old friend and m ember E . W . Lake, the popular “ F u n n ell,” looked after their every w ant. A s the tours were under the cheery m anagem ent of Capt. P h ilip T revor, J . E . Raven, W . P . Carpm ael, L . E . G . A b n ey, and G . E . W in ter th ey w ere made most enjoyable. Taken altogether the “ Incogs ” have had a m ost successful season; fo r although it has not been a trium phant one, y e t, as the balance is on the rig h t side, w ith three w ins, besides h avin g m ost of the drawn gam es m uch in their favour— th at is good enough and all that could be desired. T h is success of the old club w ill be most g ra tifyin g news to Sir A ugustus H emm ing, w hen his Cricket reaches him in Jam aica, for he is still m ost interested in the w elfare of the “ In co gn iti,” w h ich he, as th eir hon. secretary? fo r so m an y years, nurtured and developed. The batsm en who have been m ain ly instrum ental in adding to this result, and in doing so have brought off the coveted century, a r e : C. 0 . H . Sew ell (105), G . E . W in ter (101), H . F . F o x (126 and 127) in tw o consecutive m atches, S. H . T roughton (102), E . G . B a iley (107), H . E . Bouch (105 not out), S. H . Evershed (100 not out), D . C . Lee (113), H . S. B arksw orth (138 not out), H . J. H ill (115), A . B . Cipriani (112), G . K . A sp rey (114), *T. C onw ay-R ees (101), O. M arks (175) and E . C. Sm ith (167); these tw o batsm en set an “ In co g .” record b y scoring 351 runs during their partnership v . G ents, of S u s­ sex, th eir h ittin g bein g m ost brilliant. R . O. Schw arz too, has been in fine form w ith con tri­ butions of 186 and 105 not out, and this ex cel­ len t ‘ ‘ all-round ’ ’ should prove of m uch assist­ ance in strengthening M r. J. T . Bosanquet’ s team in Am erica. I t is also fair to m ention, th at, although th ey did not reach the m uch- prized century, Messrs. J. C. Snaith, R ev. F . H . B en n ett, C apt. T albot, and M ajor C . E . Orm an have been in fine form and reliable run-getters. A s regards the bow ling, the brunt of th is h eavy w ork was borne b y the follow in g, w ho stand forth as the most conspicuous of the trundlers, viz., M essrs. C. S. Cobbold, the “ ‘ In co g.’ D octor,” a rare good am ateur m edium -paced bowler, and w hen at his best few better; L . E . G . A bn ey, G . Tassell, Capt. H arris, O. M arks, R ev. F . H . Bennett, F . J. Portm an, and S ir W illiam Russell. B u t the batsmen have had the best of the bowlers during the past season, not on ly in club, but coun ty cricket too, the dry w eather and excellence of the w ickets h avin g been m uch in th eir favour. A n d th a t in spite, too, of the resuscitation of the so-term ed leg- break trundling, w h ich has been conspicuous in certain counties, and w hich seems to have been h igh ly appreciated and m uch relished by our leading batsm en— as the last now stands — but w hich I fan cy during the past “ I ’ll w arm yer ” season the fieldsmen and scorers would not have grieved m uch if some of it were buried again. Before I conclude I must h in t th at m any thanks are due to their ubiquitous and ever courteous hon. secre­ ta ry, Sir W illiam R ussell, for his studious arrangem ent of the m atch es; and still further to their indefatigable hon. treasurer, A lfred In glis, who bein g an adept in scooping up the pieces, has placed the finances of the club on a solid foundation to start the new century, and m y best wishes are that the “ Incogs ” m ay be found glid in g along in the same prosperity for untold years as th e y has done in the past. ©omsfponUcnce. The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions of his correspondents. A SUGGESTION. To the Editor of C r icket . D ear S ir ,—A good many more or less fantastic schemes have been suggested for ensuring finished matches, but there is one method I have never heard mooted, which would entail hardly any alteration of the present methods, and would prac­ tically ensure at least one interesting finish, and frequently two, in every match. The plan simply consists in treating the first innings as one game, and the second innings as a second independent game. One point would be scored for each game. A side would be entitled to close its innings at any time. As soon as the side batting second has got out, or closed its innings, or passed the first side’s score, that game or innings is finished. The second game will commence after the usual interval. In order to equalise weather conditions, advantage of winning toss, etc., the losers of the first game will have choice of innings in the second. Evidently, in all first-class matches, exceptunder extraordinary circumstances, at least one of the games will be finished. Playing for a draw will be quite useless in the first game, and will be quite exciting enough in the second. No established cricket custom will be altered, except that the second innings out of the four will end with its winning run. No one need worry about altering the leg-before rule, or the size of the wicket, or the size of the bat, for some years to come. The scheme is so simple that it must have occurred to others, but so far as I know it has never been proposed. Yours faithfully, H a r o l d C o l l e t . August 29th, 1901. MARLBOROUGH BLUES v. WEST HERTS CLUB AND GROUND.—Played at Watford on August 24. M a r l b o r o u g h B l u e s . C.H.M. T h riD g , c God­ son, b W h i t e ............... L C.K. Thring, c God­ son, b Brown.......... V.H. McCaw, b Brown P. Medill, c Cranston, b White ................. H. Etlinger, c God­ son, b White ... F. B. Preston, b Hud­ son ........................ 20 H. Paddon, c Halford, b While .................16 F. Bellamy, b White 0 T. C. Maaders, b Hud­ son ... ................. 1 J. P. C. Co&st, c Cran­ ston, b Hudson ... 0 G. Pridmore, not out 13 Extras ......... 21 Total ..186 F OR SALE.—**Scores and Biographies,’*Vols. 1 to 4, complete set of Criclcet Newspaper, 19 vols., Wisden’s Almanack, 1878-1901, inclusive, in excellent condition.— H a z e l w o o d , 16, Ennerdale Road, Rich- mond-on-Thames. Second in n iD g s : C . H. M. T b riD g , b Harford, 8 ; H. Paddon, not out. 19 ; F. Bellamy, not out, 41 ; G. Pridmore, b Harford, 1 ; extras, 6. Toial (2 wktt) 75 W est H e r t s C l u b a n d G b o u n d . A.Butcher,b L. Thring 0 H. Sedgwick, b L. White, b L. Thring ...5 Thriog ;.................... 1 H. M. Harford, c Me- C. J. Hudson, st Pres- di11, b Coast ... ...27 ton, b Coast ........... 2 F. C. Robins, b L. Brown c & bManders 26 Thring .............. 1 J. R. Godson, b Man- F. Cranston, b L. ders .................^ ... 0 Thring ..............0 1J.F.W.Taylor, not out 0 j. E. Myers, b Man- ) ders .. 20 Extras Total