Cricket 1902

3 1 4 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u ly 3 1 , 1902. the first innings for 42 out of 118. On the same day, C. J. Posthuma, for Rood- en-Wit (Haarlem) took seven of ten wickets of ’s G.C. en F.C. for 75 runs. Fcr the A.C.C. (Amsterdam) J. Rincker got eight wickets of Victoria (Rotterdam) for 36. I n the first-class competition of the Nederlandschen Cricket Bond this season, Rood-en-Wit of Haarlem has got the best figures :— P lyd. W on . D rw n. L st. Pts. R ood en W it, Haarlem 6 ... fi ...0...1...10 ’s G ra v.C .C .,den B aa g 6 ... 4 ...0..2...8 V olharding.A m st’rdam 7 ... 4 ...0... 3 ...8 V ictoria, Rotterdam .. 6 ... 3 ...0... 3 ... 6 A ja x . Leiden ............7 ... 2 ...0..5...4 A . C.C., A m sterdam ... 6 ... 1 ...0...5..2 C. J. Postbuma, the captain of the Gentlemen of Holland in England last year, is the mainstay of Rood en "Wit. Two of the four matches arranged for the M.C.C. in Hollaed are to he played at, or rather near, Haarlem. These are the matches against North Holland and All Holland, which will be decided at Heem- stede, near Haarlem. F rom the result of the competition in the second division of the county cham­ pionship up to date Northamptonshire, which has practically occupied the first place for the last three or four years, is well in the running for the premier­ ship again. Another win to Wiltshire would bring the latter level, but Surrey will have to go for victories out­ right if it is to get up to the forefront. As it is, Surrey is the only one of the leaders who has not lost a match in the competition so far this summer. Mon­ mouthshire has not been beaten but has only played three matches, with a solitary win. A ccording to the following tables, kindly forwarded by the hon. secretary of the Second Division, Mr. R. H. Mallett, 36 matches have been played up to Saturday last. Twenty-five of these have been finished, and in four an innings was not completed by both sides. In the other seven a point has been recorded to the county which had the lead on the first innings, the game itself having been uncompleted. Under the new system of scoring instituted this year, awin counts three points, while one goes to the side which led on the first innings in the matches unfinished. The relative positions are as follows:— No. of Matches Played. W on . Won on First Innings. i i p CD 1 O) 3 *100o Pi Points obtained. <u 1 CJ£ f*H N ortL’pt’nshire 8 .. 6 .. 0 .. 1 . . 24 . . 18 .. 75*0 W iltshire............7 .. 5 .. 0 .. 0 . . 21 . . 15 .. 71*4 Surrey (2nd) ... 7 .. 4 . 2 .. 1 . 21 . . 14 .. 66*6 D u r h a m ........... 4 .. . ‘2 .. 0 .. 0 . . 12 . . 6 .. 60-0 H ertfordshire .. 5 .. 2 .. 1 .. 1 . . 15 . . 7 .. 46-6 M onm outhshire 3 . . 1 .. 1 .. 1 . . 9 . . 4 .. 444 Staffordshire . 4 .. 1 .. 1J 0 . . 12 . . 41. 87-5 Glam organshire 7 . . 3 .. 0 . . 1 . 21 . . 9 .. . 33 3 Yorkshire (2nd) 5 .. . 1 .. 1 .. 1 . . 15 . . 4 .. 26*6 N orthum b’Jand 6 .. 0 .. §.. 0 . . 18 ... 2-7 Bedfordshire .. 4 . . 0 . 0 . . 2 . . 12 . . 0 .. — Berkshire............2 . . o .. 0 . 0 . 6 . . 0 . — Buckingh’shire. 3 .. Devonshire ... 2 . . o .. 0 .. . 0 . . 9 . . 0 .. . — . 0 ... 0 . . 0 . . 6 . . 0 .. . — Dorsetshire ... 4 . . 0 .. 0 ... 0 . . 12 . . 0 .. , — Oxfordshire ... 1 .. . 0 .. 0 ... 0 . . 3 . . 0 .. — T h e Surrey eleven will be beginning to think that Southampton is almost as unlucky for them as Taunton has been of late years. Since 1896 Surrey has only been able to beat Hampshire in Hamp­ shire twice. The first occasion was in 1898 at Portsmouth, the second at Bournemouth in 1900. Hampshire has also won twice, once at Portsmouth in 1899 and this week at Southampton, so that honours are easy in respect of the last six years as far as the fixtures in Hampshire are concerned. Surrey has not won at Southampton since 1896. F o l l o w in g closely on the two separate hundreds made by Arthur Shrewsbury come two more by Victor Trumper who, against Essex, scored 109 and 119. He has now made eight hundreds during the tour, which is in itself a record for an Australian. He is the only man except W. G. Grace who has, in first class cricket, made two separate hundreds and also played an innings of three hundred. B e c a u s e he missed a catch at a critical moment at Manchester, and did not make the few runs required when he went in last in the fourth innings of the match, poor Tate has come in for more adverse criticism than has perhaps fallen to the lot of any other man in the history of the game. JBe alone was the offender. But for him England would have won easily. He was outclassed. He was a rank failure. He was nervous when he went on to bowl, and also when he went in to bat. But if the thing is considered care­ fully, it will be seen that he was only the victim of circumstances. (1) He missed a catch at a critical moment—the best fieldsmen in the world have done the same thing lots of times. (2) He was outclassed. That is to say, he was put on to bowl when two great batsmenwere well set and hitting hard on an easy wicket, and he did not come off— although two wickets for 7 in the second innings is an analysis which is not so bad for a Test match. (3) He was nervous. Who, in the name of goodness, would not be nervous in his first Test match, especially when he has to go in to make runs for the last wicket at the most momentous crisis in the history of the game ? I t hasbeenthe subject of much comment that in the great crisis the Australians were perfectly cool and collected. This is put down to their “ real grit,” and their behaviour is contrasted very favour­ ably with that of some of our batsmen. They were undoubtedly cool and collected, while some of our men were undoubtedly nervous, but it is notorious that it is easy to be cool at a critical time when fielding or bowling, and extremely difficult when batting, unless one is settled comfortably before the trial comes. A man who has never been through such a crisismay find it impossible to understand why this should be, but any cricketer who is a bowler as well as a batsman, and hasbeen through the ordeal, will thoroughly appreciate the difference. “ Real grit” is a magnificent thing to possess, and the Australians possess it, but does anyone remember seeing the last few men of the 1896 team go in to bat at Lord’s in the first M.C.C. match in the first innings ? Or the last few men in the second innings in the Essex match of 1899 p And these were not “ Test ” matches either. PRESENTATION TO ROBERT THOMS. The Annual D inner o f the Incogniti Cricket Club was held at. the Cs te Royal on Friday last. Thom s was the guest of the evening, and though somewhat nervous at the thought of m aking a speech, was in excellent spirits, and appeared in better health than o f late. In the unavoidable absence o f Sir Augustus Hemm ing, K.C.M.GK, M r. A lfred Inglis was in the chair, and was supported by a fair gathering of m em bers, though there w ould have teen a much larger attendance had it been possible to arrange an earlier date for the fixture. Dinner over and the usual L oyal Toast, in which sym pathetic reference was m ade to fils M ajesty's health, duly honoured, the Chairman rose to propose the Toast of the evtning, “ Our Old Friend Robert T hom s.” A sketch of his career at our National Game follow ed : — A s cricketer, a fair expon en t; as um pire, bracketed with H. H. Stephenson as unequalled, and unequalled for the reason that his knowledge o f the laws was absolute, his perception of the game accurate, and his decisions prom pt and fearless. In satisfying him you satisfied in 99 cases out o f a 100 those tw o m ost exactirg o f m ortals, the bow ler and the tatsm an. Last, but by no means least, cam e his services to the club, the club which he had nursed in in fatcy and tended duiing its lon g and prosperous existence. F or just upon 40 years had Thom s travelled north, south, east and west w ith the Incops. D uring that peiiod the club had had the benefit o f his wide experience and kindly hints—the writer w ell rem em ­ bers that he never bow led a no-tall again in his life after his second m atch with Thom s, though very m uch addicted to the bad habit prior to that time— and further, during that same period he had not m erely gained the gratitude of the club, but the respect aDd affection o f every individual mem'r er. A s a m ark o f their esteem, and a m om ento o f his career, the Chairman han oedto him the Testim onial w hich had been provided, viz., a Silver Snuff B ox containing a cheque fo r a hundred pounds. The Toast was cordially drank, and T hom s’ health acclaim ed with m usical honours. There was no doubt that the old m an was considerably affect d, but he m anaged to pull him self together and partially, at any rate, express his feelings. It was w ith the greatest pride that he, a professional cricketer, cam e to dine with the club. H e felt that he had m ade m any friends in the club, and if only his sight and his hearing were on a par with his desires, then it would be 40 m ore years before the Incogs, need seek another um pire. Other toasts : “ The tJlub,” gracefully pro­ posed by M r. Ernest Felton and responded to by bir W illiam R ussell; and “ The Chairm an,” proposed by M r. Raven, follow ed, and brought a very successful m eeting to a conclusion. L O N D O N & W E S T M IN S T E R B A N K (3) v. M E N IV A L .—Played at N orbury on July 23 and 24 M kn tv al . H .A . Brown, b Rhodes 0 J. R . Brown, b W ell­ borne ............................. 0 E . Pawley, lbw ,bW ill­ son .............................20 A . Truby, c Rhodes, b Laroche ..................... 5 G. Alm ond, b W illson 2 N .Pawley.cand bW ell- b o ro e ............................. 3 S. W ood , b Rhodes ... R . P . Brow n, run out H .D ow ding, b H arton C. Pearson, b H arton F . Schlim per, not out E x tra s................... T otal L . & W . B a n k . W .H .B row ne,bD ow d- ing ............................. 6 C. F . G. W ellborne, b D o w d in g ..................... 2 A.M .Cockell, c Brown, b D ow ding ............ 1 G. Logan, b D ow ding 18 L . C. B. H ockin, b D o w d io g .....................17 H . C. W illson, L . V . Laroche, T. C. Sam pson and J. L . Challis did n ot bat. G .P. Bhodes, b D ow d­ ing .........................13 A . S. H arton, not out .......................... 14 E xtras.................... 9 T otal (6 wkts) 80 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A n g lo C anadian.—W ill see w hat w e can do. M b . E dw ards.— Y ou are right.