Cricket 1902

422 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 18, 1902. rep resen t E n g la n d the re w o u ld doub tle ss have been no d iffic u lty at a ll. F or S h rew sbu ry throug hou t th e season was in m a g n ifi ce n t form on a ll so rts o f w ic ke ts and aga in s t a ll so rts of bo w ling , th a t of th e A u s tra lia n s in c lu d ed , and as he is n o to riou sly a m an w ho is n o t in flu enced b y pan ic th e re is no reason to suppose th a t he w o u ld have fail ed fo r E ng lan d . But in th e w is dom of tb e se le ctors he was passed ove r. H e was as cons is te n t as T ru m p e r, and lik e him had no enorm ous score to sw e ll h is to ta l. Pe rhaps, unde r th e c ir cum stances, it w o u ld be be tt er to b ra cke t him w ith F . S. Jackson , th e m an of a ll o the rs w ho exce lle d h im se lf m os t on th e b ig ge s t occasions. The fo u rth p la ce w o u ld seem to be c la im ed b y A b e l, w ho was as usua l to be re lie d on w ha te ve r th e s ta te of th e gam e or th e g ro u n d mi gh t be ; i t was un fo rtun a te th a t he was no t chosen to pl ay fo r E n g la n d u n til a tim e w hen he happened to have h it on a s tr eak of bad lu ck . C . J . B um u p has had a w on de rf ull y good season espec ia lly to w a rd s th e end o f it , and he is th e m o s t im p ro ved ba tsm an of th e yea r aft er T ru m p e r. T y ld e s le y has done w e ll, b u t has no t been th e T y ld e s le y of las t yea r. I t was s ome tim e be fo re W . G . Q ua ife got rea lly g o in g , but w hen oace he had se ttle d dow n he p la yed as wel l as ever. The p la ce ta ken in th e averages by K . S. B a n jits in h ji is m is ­ le a d in g , fo r a lth o u g h he has an average of 46 n e a rl y h a lf h is run s w ere m ade in a coup le of in n in g s . F ry has done by no means b a d ly , bu t he m u s t be ju d g e d b y h is ow n s ta nda rd , w h ich is so v e ry high th a t by com pa ris on w ith it h is w o rk th is yea r seems poo r. Am ong th e m en w ho have in creased th e ir re p u ta tio n s are E . M . A sh cro ft , T . L . T aylor, m os t cons is te n t o f steady p la ye rs , K n ig h t, F. L.F an e, E . M . D ow son , C ap t. B ush , and S. H. D a y , w h ile D r. G race, W . G unn , G eorge B ra n n , A . P . Lucas , W . N ew bam , M . A . N ob le , H irs t, C . J . B . W ood , D u ff, L . C . H . P ala iret, and B ra u n d have a ll d is ­ tin g u ish e d them se lv es and have uphe ld th e ir re p u ta tio n s . Jessop has had b ut a m e te o ric passage thi s season, b u t h is in n in g s o f 104 aga in s t th e A u s tra lia n s in the fifth te s t m a tc h was one o f th e fin e s t pe rfo rm ances ever seen on th e c ri c ke t fi eld. In such a season as th e pa s t it was b u t nat ural th a t dozens o f m en shou ld have d is appo in te d th e ir adm ire rs , b u t it is not necessary to go in to p ar tic ul ar s; m os t o f them w ill doub tle ss do t hem se lves jus tic e in tim e to com e. Tw o Y o rk sh ire m en , H a igh a nd B hodes, stand at th e head of th e b ow lin g averages, and it has been one o f th e m ys te rie s o f th e yea r w h y H a igh , w ho is firs t of al l, was neve r chosen to rep resen t E n g la n d . Li k e a ll o th e r bow le rs , he has occasio n­ a lly n ot been at h is bes t, and i t mi ght n o t have been adv is ab le to pl ay h im in each of th e fi ve te s t m a tches, bu t on th e w ho le he was v e ry cons is te n t, and a lm o s t inva riabl y successfu l. H e is , m o reove r, one o f those bow le rs w ho eve ry now and th e n g iv e w h a t is u n iv e rs ­ a lly know n as an “ u n p la ya b le ” ba ll, and such a m an is w ort h a ve ry g re a t dea l in a bi g m a tch . Bhodes, in such a season, might have been expected to do be tter th a n he d id , bu t he was a g re a t b ow le r f r a ll th a t. The th ird p lace on th e lis t is dese rved ly taken b y T ru m b le , w ho , desp ite an acc id en t, w h ich kep t im ou t of th e fi eld fo r a m on th , was a ter ror on th e m any d iffic u lt w ic ke ts upon w h ic h he had to w o rk ; and tb e g re a t he igh t from w h ic h th e ba ll cam (a lt h o u g h it is no t as g re a t as it was in 1899) s till puzzles even th e best o f ba tsm en . H e has been a lm o s t as u se fu l to th e A u s tra lia n s as T ru m p e r. Ta te has been in some w ays th e m ost u n fo rtu n a te b ow le r o f th e yea r, for a lth o u g h he to o k n e a rl y 200 w ic ke ts at a sm a ll cost, he was u n fo rtu n a te enough no t to d i ti n g u ish h im se lf in th e o n ly te s m a tc in w h ic h he p la yed (p a rtly b cause h is o p p o rtu n iti e s w ere limi ted in t i m a tc h ) and w as a lm os t u n iv e rs a lly dam n d as ou t-c la ssed . But a m an w ho akes a hun red and e igh ty odd w ic ke ts in a season is bound to be p re tty good , and the re are no t m any m en w ho can point to such an ana ly s is aga in s t th e A u s tra lia n s as h is s ix w ic ke ts fo r 48 in th e second in D in gs at B ou rn em ou th la st week. H and ic apped in m any ways, Lo ckw ood has p roved tb a t on h is day he is at p resen t th e g rea te s t b ow le r in th e w o rl d ; h is average w ou ld have been far be tter if he had had ano th e r bow le r o f th e same class to back h im u p in th e S u rr e y m a tches. W ass has had a w o nd erful ly s uccessfu l season, and Mason and H a rg reave have done w e ll. A t tim es Saunders, H ow ell , and A rm s tro n g have a ll bow le d ve ry fi nely, but the y can none of th em be sa id to be g re a t bow le rs . On th e w ho le the re have been ve ry few bow le rs w ho cou ld m ake th e bes t use o f so ft p itc hes , and s till few e r w ho had any e ffec t when th e w ic ke ts w ere real ly good . I t has been a m ost depressin g season fo r p la ye rs , com m ittees and specta tors a lik e . N eve r has the re been such a crop of victim s to l.b .w ., and in several m tches it has been a lm o s t absu rd to see th e w a y in w h ic h m an aft er m an has g o t bang in fro n t o f h is w ic ke t in try in g to f rc e a b a ll to le g w hen he mi ght m ore eas ily have scored fro m it by adop tin g th e r ta c tic s . The fi eldi ng has been p re tty good as a rule , bu t it w o u ld have been rem a rkab le if thi s had n o t been th e case, as g rounds have seldom been fa s t enough fo r th e b a ll to trav e l a t a vast speed ove r them . The re seems a bso lu te ly no im p ro vem en t am ong ba tsm en a t la rge in th e tre a tm e n t of so -ca lle d le g -b reak bow le rs , m any of w hom , w h ile n ot p u t­ tin g an in ch of b reak on tb e bal l, can frig h te n ba tsm en in to a s ta te of irre so lu ­ tion m e re ly b y pla cin g four or liv e men on th e le g bounda ry . The re are n o t ha lf- a -d o zen m en in th e w o rl d w ho can pl ay a le g -b re a k bow le r w ith any con fi­ dence. •THE ELEVENTH AUSTRALIAN TOUR, 1902 1 Price One Pe» ny. Containing portraits and biographies of the players. Full details of all the Test Matches from 1877, and a list of players who have taken part in previous tours. Copies can be obtained at all the leading county cricket grounds, bookstalls, or post free, ljd , Cricket Office, 168, Upp r Thames Street, E.C. T H E SCO TTI SH S E A S O N . (B y O u r S p e c ia l C o r r e s p o n d e n t .) The Coronation year of 1902 will, all things considered, be looked back upon with peculiar pleasure by Scottish cricketers. The reason f this is not far to seek. Has not the past season witnessed the inauguration of the Scottish County Championship? Have we not received a visit from the Australians after an absence of twenty years ? Has not Glou­ cestershire visited us twice, to say nothing of the tours of the M.C.C., Oxford Authentics, Bradford, Heywood, etc. ? It ie>, I think, safe to assume that in no previous season have so many English matches been played. In speaking of representative matches pride of place must, of course, be given to the Australians. Their visit was a welcome sur­ prise, as they had intimated earlier in the season that they would be unable to include Scotland in th ir tour. The postponement of the Coronation, however, allowed of their visiting Edinburgh and playing an eleven of Scotland. The two-days’ match, which was hurriedly arranged, was a great success in every way. The Scotsmen, though their eleven was far from being a representative one, did not do so badly, running up, as they did, 109 and 91 on a soft wicket, and then dis issing the Australians for 305. The feature on the Scottish side was the splendid batting of Joe Anderson (Perthshire) in each innings. The fielding of the Scotsmen was, it is gratifying to recall, very good. The Australians visit gave the game a much needed fillip, and it is satisfactory to know that there is every prospect of Scotland being regularly included in future tours. The dual visit of Gloucestershire also stirred up a deal of enthusiasm. The first match, which was played at Perth against an eleven of the -Northern Counties ended in a draw. The home players gave a splendid exhibition of batting. J. H. Orr (Stirlingshire) and Higgin (Forfarshire) in the first innings, and Joe Anderson (Perthshire) in the second, greatly distinguished themselves. There was one great blemish in the Scotsmen’splay, and that was their fielding, which was very poor indeed. The secondmatchat Uddingston was, like the game at Perth, a success financially as well as cricketally. Uddingston’s plucky effort in challenging Gloucestershire was thoroughly justified by results. The first wicket partnership of J. H. Paterson and Hirst of over 90, coupled with Uddingston’s total of 213, and the dismissal of Gloucester­ shire for 158 is one of the best performances ever accomplished by a Scottish club. Though the county of the Graces eventually won by eight wickets, thanks to a brilliant century by G. L. Jessop, Uddingston gave a splendid displ y in which fine fielding was con picuous. The MC.C. succeeded in beating Lord Huntly’s XI., but Aberdeenshire stood a very ood ch nce of winning had “ time 99 permitted. Bradford, who have never, I believe, been beaten when on tour, overcame t ifeshire and Perthshire, but might have had to bow to Forfarshire had “ time ” not inter­ vened. lhe Oxford Authentics’ matches were mostly drawn, but they managed to beat Fettes and Forfarshire Heywood (Man­ chester) also did well, and if Stirling County fell rather softly before them, they did not succeed in lowering Forfarshire’s colours. In dealing with purely Scottish cricket, it is, I think, only fitting that the County Championship should be accorded the place of honour. This newly-instituted competition has done more than anything else to bring about the revival which has undoubtedly taken place. Though ushered in and carried