Cricket 1901

S e p t . 5 , 1 9 0 1 . CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE GAME. 395 THE COUNTY SEASON OF 1901. Although the victorious Yorkshire team settled the question as to the leader­ ship among the counties some little time before the season ended, there was still a limited excitement up to the very last in the fight for second place. On the whole the season was fall of interest, despite the fact that for a very long time it was almost a foregone conclusion that York­ shire must come out at the head of the table, since it was almost the only county except Derbyshire which could make pretty certain of finishing its matches, and Derbyshire would doubtless have been very glad not to be able to feel so confident that its matches would be played out. Derbyshire did not quite equal the record in 1901 of Hampshire, who lost sixteen matches without gaining a single ■victory ; but with thirteen losses this year and no victory Derbyshire was not far behind. It has been an unfortunate county for many years. Nothing seems to go right for it, and if it has a fair chance of coming out of a match in triumph it is pretty certain that a thun­ derstorm will make its appearance at the wrong moment. Naturally one hears whispered suggestions that Derbyshire would feel much more comfortable among the second-class counties, but apart from the objection that it is stupid to keep chopping and changing, there is no reason why a change should be made. In the natural order of things a time will come sooner or later when Derbyshire men will be able to point with pride to tbeir eleven, and to sympathise with other counties who complain of their hard luck in the matter of losing tosses, and running up against wet weather at the wrong time, and so forth. There are plenty of enthusiasts among Derbyshire cricketers, past and present, the committee keeps itself wide awake, and nothing seems to be wanting except good luck and good men. The luck must turn one of these fine days, and the men will be found. Other counties have been at quite as low an ebb, and yet are to-day not only alive but flourishing like a green bay tree. Derbyshire might take as its motto “ Everything comes to him who waits, even in first-class county cricket.” Meanwhile Hampshire men, who last year had to live upon sympathy, which, however sincere it may be, is not very fattening, can purr with satisfaction at the results of the past season. For despite the continued absence of Major Poore and other men who are still engaged in the war in South Africa, and the too infrequent appearances of Captain Wynyard, they placed themselves in the middle of the table with such honourable supporters on either side as Kent and Notts. For this happy position they owe a great deal to Llewellyn, the South African cricketer, whose all-round cricket has been one of the features of the year, and Captain Greig, who, practically making his debut in tirst-class cricket, comes out very high up in the list of averages, making lots of runs with a consistency which is shown only by a very few experienced players. As usual, of late years, the Sussex men have gained more than tbeir fair share of attention. It is frequently thrown in their teeth that they play half their matches on some of the easiest wickets in the world, but this is quite as most to their disadvantage as to their advantage, for although thtir bowling has been far better than usual there is not time to bring many of the matches to a conclu­ sion. Even the weakest counties manage to play out time against them. But the team has done wonderful things, and has seldom got into a hole without finding a way out. It has not been quite so much of a two man team as usual of late, and on occasions the tail has taken an example from the Yorkshiremen. Yine has been a tower of strength to the team both as a batsman and as a fast leg-break bowler, and Tate has again aud again distinguished himself with the ball. There are many good judges who are convinced that he is the best bowler in England, and that he would be every­ where acknowledged as the best if he played for a side like Yorkshire. They argue that a great batsman may do him­ self complete justice even if the rest of his team are crocks, whereas a great bowler can never by any chance do him­ self complete justice unless there is another great bowler on the same side; it has always been, and will always be, a case of Richardson and Lohmann, Hirst and Rhodes, Shaw and Morley. The arrival of Mr. Brann upon the scene in the later matches was one of the most pleasing features of the year’s cricket, and it was not a little remarkable that both he and Mr. Newham should have done so well when their day seemed to have departed for ever. As to the deeds of the famous pair, Fry and Banjitsinhji, what need is there to speak ? Essex has been a disappointing county this season, partly because there has been no bowler whose name could be coupled with that of Mead, and partly because the team seemed to have an attack of the slows at the very times when it was most dangerous. Only eight matches were finished out of eighteen, but some of the drawn games might have been turned into victories if the great batsmen of the team had been able to screw themselves up to concert pitch at the right moment. It was not that one or two men only were compelled to play a slow game when rapid scoring was a necessity, for no matter how much of a hitter a man may be by nature, he is bound to have his periods when for the life of him he cannot get the ball away; but it is sad when almost the whole team is attacked in the same manner. The fielding is still one of the weak points in the team. But disappointing as was the season it was by no means disheartening, and the finest batsmen give promise of being even finer next year, and the youngsters show great promise. Only in bowling does the future seem a little hazy, and this is the point on which Essex men will have to tix their attention. You cannot make bricks without straw. Many difficulties have this season been found lying in the path of Gloucester­ shire, who did so well last year, and Mr. Jessop has had a very trying time. Many of his be9t men have not been able to play regularly ; the bowling at his dis­ posal has been exceedingly weak ; and in the later part of the season he himself fell off so much that he hardly ever played one of those innings which gave life to his side and often pulled a match out of the fire. There are good batsmen in the team, but most of them are very uncertain. One or two good bowlers are sadly needed, for now that Mr. Jessop himself hardly ever bowls, while Roberts has at last nearly had his day, and Mr. Townsend seldom plays, new blood is essential. For some reason or other Surrey, with vast reserves of batting at their disposal, have not done themselves justice. They have been able to declare more frequently than any other team, but over and over again they have seen a match gradually pulled out of the fire by their opponents. No doubt their fielding has had something to do with this, and some of the men have an unfortunate habit of dropping a catch when it is particularly important that they should hold it, while they are able to freeze on to any mortal thing when a mishap would not be likely to make much difference. Their bowling was again their weakest point, but Richardson, although he is not the demon that he was years ago, would probably have been classed as still one of the very greatest bowlers of the age if there had been a Lohmann at the other end. Mr. Jeph- son’s lobs would have been of immense value to the side if he could have had absolute confidence in his field. If it had been his fortune to bowl this season with the Yorkshire team at his back, com­ parisons would have been made between him and the famous lob bowlers of old, but, as things have been, he is naturally only spoken of as a very useful change bowler. So much depends on circum­ stances. It is one of the disadvantages of Surrey cricket at the present time that with so many men good enough to play in the county team men can hardly ever be sure of their place, with the result that they cannot have the confidence which belongs to men who never have to give a thought to the possibility that they may be left out. The worst of it has been that as soon as a man has apparently gone off so badly that it is expedient to give him a rest, he promply makes big scores for some other team until the time that he is reinstated, when he finds that he has got out of the swing of the thing and cannot do himself justice. One of the most satisfactory features of the Surrey season has been the fact that in Mr. Dowson the county has at last found a cricketer who can play up to the form which he showed at the University; for a long time men of the utmost promise have turned out to be very disappointing. Once more Abel and Hayward nave been of immense service, and have been exceedingly consistent all through the year. If Mr. MacLaren had 'been in form all