Cricket 1902

2 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 30, 1902. , in which he broke down. Even when he recovered, and played last year, he howled with uncommon skill, his efforts against Worcestershire, when he took all ten wickets, being quite remarkable. One of the most exciting incidents in his life must have been the wonderful finish to the match between Yorkshire and Lancashire, at Old Trafford, in August, 1893, when Lancashire won by five runs. The story of the dramatic finish is well told in the Manchester Guardian : “ There was every indication that Lancashire was to be beaten. Some great Yorkshire players were yet to bat, and the runs wanted were few. There was a tremendous crowd, composed almost of as many Yorkshiremen as of the men of Lancashire. The Lancashire part of the gathering was in a state almost of despair. Defeat seemed to be the destiny of the county. Mr. Hornby at this stage did a desperate thing for his side. He put on Briggs at this finishing stage to bowl—a slow bowler against punishing batsmen. But Briggs rose to the height of the intense situation. One batsman after another had to leave. The last partnership of all came, and York­ shire were still six runs behind. The excitement of those last moments remains with one even to-day. Two good strokes and Yorkshire might win the game; a single bad or faulty hit and it might be lost to them. There was a breathless silence. Six runs wanted—the condition was tense indeed. There came the over of Briggs, the last over, as it happened, of the day. Briggs placed his field as he willed. He waved Albert Ward to a far boundary behind him right on the rails. He sent down a ball or two to George IJlyett, who had stood steadily in for a long time, and on whom the hopes of Yorkshire rested. There was no score. Then he sent down the most tempting ball, surely, that man ever had. It appealed dearly to the natural man in George Ulyett—a very strong natural man. Every instinct within him told him to go in for a huge ‘ swipe.’ Ulyett went out to the ball, sent it spinning high into the air, miles away as it seemed; but it came down from the skies within the measure of the boundary. Albert Ward (resting on the rails) waited for it, the spectators gasped, Ulyett and David Hunter stood still in the middle of the wicket to see how affairs would develop, the catch was made, and Yorkshire were beaten. During the long interval the people of Lancashire were sighing. Then they madly ‘ went for ’ Briggs and Albert Ward. It was one of themoBtwonderful and most delightful episodes in the history of the game of cricket. The description of this finish, as told to me by Briggs himself, was simple in the extreme. “ George Ulyett came in last,” he said. “ Now, I thought to myself, George is an old stager. He’ll try to put the drag on a slow and get it round for four. A great many people thought I bowled him a very slow ball indeed, but as a matter of fact it was three or four yards faster than any I had bowled in the match. George had a go at it, and hit it hard and straight into Albert Ward’s hands.” As a batsman he developed in an unexpected manner, and became for some years one of the most useful men in the Lancashire team. He could generally be relied on to make rung when the side was in difficulties, for he had a cool head and a quick eye, while he was not afraid to act on the aggressive. As a field at cover-point he has been compared to Mr. Yernon Boyle—one of the very greatest cover-points ever known—but the methods of the two men were widely dissimilar. Suffice it to say that Briggs was wonderfully good in that position. It was very interesting to watch him when an inexperienced batsman was anxious to make a run. He would then assume an appearance of listlessness and indifference, and ostentatiously draw back alittle, until it seemed to the batsmen that there was a golden opportunity to run. The result was generally an awakening as to the possibilities of what can be done by a sharp field at cover-point. Briggs played in most of the great matches of his day. Six times he went with touring teams to Australia, and was most successful in each visit except the last. He was a Notts man, born at Sut- ton-in-Ashfield, andwould without much doubt have played for the county if it had not been for the economy shown by the committee of the period. Briggs was asked to play in the colts’ match, but the committee declined to pay his expenses from Widnes, where he was residing with his father, and accordingly the father refused to let him go. Richard Daft afterwards asked him to play for Notte, but Briggs had then become settled in Lancashire as a professional, and referred Daft to Mr. A. N. Hornby with the inevitable result, for if ever a county captain knew when he had got a good man it was Mr. Hornby. W. A. B e t t e s w o r t h . CRICKET a t t h e MODDER R IYER . We are indebted to Lieutenant A. U. Udal, the old Wykehamist who is now at the Modder River with the Army Service Corps, for the following interesting account of how the game is played out there:— “ I am sending you some cricket matches to be inserted in Cricket if you can find space for them. The sports out here at Modder, you will see, are not very brilliant, as there are no boundaries worth speaking of, nothing nearer than MagerBfontein, seven miles to the north, Modder River, one mile to the south, the Cape Government Railway, half a mile to the west, with the Modder, our eastern limit, a mere mile or so away. We take a great deal of trouble with our pitch, though it kicks a bit at times, but outside the pitch the ground isvery, very broken, and full of thorns, in shape, like crow’s feet, and to stop a hard drive at cover or mid-off with a few thorns in the ball takes some doing. We went to Kimberley recently to play a return match, and have our revenge, but the fates and the elements were against us altogether, as the pitch blew away several times, and had to be chased and brought back. I might add that the scorer was------well, “ royally gay,” as Mr. William Abingdon hath it in “ Kitty Grey,” and he made us both tie, win, and lose. Wonderful man! And it hasn’t been decided yet. Properly speaking, I think Modder River won by one run, as one of their men was credited with a three which he did not get. The finale of the match was most amusing. On the pavilion side the boundary was very indistinctly marked indeed. According to one mood of the scorers Kimberley (we were playing after time fixed for drawing stumps) wanted four or five runs to win. The b a tB m a n , Gibson, hit a ball, as he thought, to the boundary, and ran two, and only two was given by the umpire, but the scorer niturally put down four. (He had never scored before I might mention.) Well, the next ball, with only two runs to get to win, Gibson hit over the “ boundary ” (?) and immedi­ ately ran off with the other batsman to change his clothes, not tojcatch atrain, but to get a drink. The ball was (eventually) fielded and thrown up, and the wicket­ keeper put down the wicket, and called, “ How’s that?” “ Run out” said the umpire. Therefore, I say, Kimberley did not win. Is it necessary to say that the scorer (a Modder River man, too) put down four for the hit the man was run out off ? I don’t think so. Since that exciting game we have been very slack, but I have arranged a match with Orange River on December 3rd here; if it comes off, it should provide good sport, because they consider them­ selves invincible, and we regard ourselves as irresistible. I am supply officer in this health resort of a spot, and time hangs most dreadfully heavy on one’s hands, except for a welcome respite occasionally of twenty-four hours leave to Kimberley (two hours by train) where one can enjoy the club and theatre and vehicular traffic. MODDER RIVER Y. GARRISON.—Played at Modder River on September 21, resulting in an easy victory for the Garrison by two wickets and 43 runs. M odder B ivbb . C. Glover, c Swindle- A . DuToit, bConquest 31 G. Scott, c Potter, b Birbeck .................. 3 G. Glover, lbw, b Con­ quest ..........................12 W . Glover, c and b Conquest..................40 J.E.Woodley,c Potter, b Conquest ...........16 N. Eeynolds,b Birbeck 0 Lieut. Conquest took 4 wiokets for Sgt. Birbeck o for 28. G abrison . hurst, b Birbeck ... C. Rostoll, b Birbeck W . Long, b Birbeck.. J.N. Steyn,. b Birbeck Barnard, not out ... Extras ................... Total l runs and Lt. G. Conquest, D.E. O.E.R., run out ... 59 Lt. Potter, L.N.R., b S cott........................12 Dr. Kennedy, bScott 0 C.-S.-M. B irb e ck , C.T.H., c Rostoll, b Du Toit .................... 4 Capt. Swindlehurst, L.N .L., b Scott ... 0 Pt. Winter, C.T.H., b G. Glover................... 2 Capt. J. Hughes, C.T.H., did not bat. G. Scott took 3 wickets for 47 runs, and G. Glover 3 for 43. Lt.A.U .U dal, A.S.C., not out ...................50 Lt. Phethean. L.N.L., c and b G. Glover ... 2 Sgt. McKay, C.T.H. 8 Pt. Brown, C.T.H., not out ................ 7 Extras ...................n Total (8 wkts) 155