Cricket 1903

100 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r il 30, 1903. G reat B argains . To be sold "by private contract, in a very short time, of which further notice will be given, all the undermentioned valuable articles, the property of eleven men, who, under the strong conviction of futility of the idea of their supporting any longer the name of cricketers, have come to the laudable resolution of selling their effects for the benefit of eleven old washerwomen, who have generously undertaken to endeavour toretrieve the lost fame and to establish the future reputation of New Alresford, a town which formerly made no contemptable figure in the brightest annalli of cricketing. The follow­ ing articles being to be disposed of for so laudable a purpose, it is to be hoped that the undivided attention of a liberal and generous public will be directed to the furtherance and completion of so desirable an object. Lot 1. A great number of batts, balls, stumps and all the apperatis of the turf. Lot 2. A large assortment of list and spiked shoes, flannel jackets, &c. Lot 3. The humble resignation of eleven men to all pretentions to a knowledge of a game of cricket. Lot 4. A large collection of penitential sighs and unavailing regrets. L ots. A small jar of animal spirits; the jar is kept constantly open for inspection, no fears being entertained of evaporation. Lot 6. A large collection of undigested iokes. Lot 7. A register of bad debts, alphabetically arranged and enriched with notes, illustrative of the painful emotions they have not failed to excite, and the lesson they have most feelingly inculcated. Lot 8. The painful anticipation of future humiliat­ ing rubs; the consciousness of inferiority, a long train of uneasy ideas, embarrasing remembrances, and bitter reflections, too tedious to mention. N.B.—A subscription will be immediately set on foot by Messrs. Fellow-feeling and Pity to enable the unhappy proprietors of the above-mentioned articles to purchase a much- desired oblivion of the past.” The remarks made last week concerning score cards have caused several correspondents to write to me suggesting that it would be interesting to reproduce from time to time in these columns various examples of the printer’ s art. This I shall be glad to do if space permits. The card reproduced above is of a match played by Kent sixty-three years ago, and should cause the veterans to have pleasurable reminiscences of the days when the county of hops and cherries could con­ tend successfully against the full strength of England. The scores of two curious matches played last year in Sussex were forwarded to me at the conclusion of the season. The first is of a match in which not only did a player obtain all the runs made by his side, but all ten wickets in the completed innings were credited to one bowler. At the time of writing 1 cannot recollect another instance of the two feats being performed in the same innings:— AT GRAFFflAM, NEAR PETWORTH, JUNE 14th, 1902. M idhurst J uxiobs . A. Glazier, c and b Saunders................. 0 J. Carver, b Saunders C R. Rose, c La Thangue, b Saunders W. Lewis, c Ilowick, b Saunders C. Andrews, c La Thangue,!b Saunders W. Money, b Saunders L. Pescod, not out ... W. Ellis, c Harding, b Saunders .......... W . 'Whittington, b Saunders................. F. Stock, b Saunders H. Jacobs, b Saunders Extras................. Total................. 7 H. Saunders bowled 22 balls for three runs and ten wickets, and E. Howick 18 balls for four runs. The last four wickets fell to successive deliveries. The first five men were disposed of without a run, the sixth wicket fell at six, and the last four at seven. The opposing club, Graffham, scored 55. The second match referred to was played at Uck- field on July 19th between Hove High School and Uckfield Grammar School. The scores made by the latter side were as follows:— First innings. Tidy, b De Vigne................. Blarney, c Jupp,'b Miell ... Francis, b De V i* n e.......... Reed, lbw, b De Vigne Wyborn, c and b De Vigne Mirams, c Collet, b De V ign e................................ Sawyer, c Collet, b De V ig n e ................................ Gosling, c Collet, b M iell... Troy, not ou t....................... Spurling, b Miell................. Power, c McManus, b Miell Byes, &c.............. Total .......... It will be observed that Tidy was the only player to score in the second innings. De Vigne obtained 11 wickets for 9 runB, and Miell 9 for 8. Hove High Sctool, who made 31 and 32, won by 45 runs. Second innings. 0 c Jupp, b Miell .. 2 0 c Miell, b De Vigne .......... 0 6 b Miell................. 0 3 c Bigwood, b Miell 0 0 c Miell, b De Vigne .......... 0 0 c Bigwood, b Miell 0 1 c and b De Vigne 0 0 st McManus, b Miell................. 0 4 not out................. 0 0 c Miell, b De Vigne .......... 0 1 c Baker, b De Vigne .......... 0 1 Byes, &c. ... 0 16 T otal.......... 2 SOME PRACTICAL REMARKS. In the Badm inton Magazine for May Mr. E. L . Marsden, the well-known Hampstead cricketer, has a most interest­ ing article on the present situation. It should be read b y all cricketers whether first class or not. W e append the first two paragraphs:— “ The proposed alteration in the rules of cricket with respect to the widening of the wicket has led to vehement, and, in some cases, w ildly excited, discussion among various classes of cricketers. The committees of the first-class counties and many players of position, amateurand pro­ fessional, have given public expression to their views on this m atter; and although there is an extraordinary diversity of opinions (some, I fear, not entirely devoid of selfish bias), it appears certain that the majority of players and spectators are agreed that some alteration in the rules is desirable in the interests of the game. During the last decade scores have be­ come larger and larger, and the propor­ tion o f drawn games has increased to ridiculous dimensions. The point of the whole affair is th is: Nowadays one goes to the majority of county matches with the idea of seeing one or two indi­ vidual performances rather than with the hope o f watching the attainment of a definite result; one goes, for example, to look at “ Eanji,” or Jessop, or Abel, and not to ascertain whether Surrey will beat Sussex, or Gloucestershire beat Middlesex. These large scores and un­ finished matches spoil cricket as a game from every point of v iew ; it loses iu interest, and becomes an exhibition of batting on the part of a few notable players instead of an exciting struggle between two teams of eleven men a side. The evil seems to become greater yearly and has spread to the better class of club cricket, where in one-day matches such scores as one side 280 for five (declared), the other side 200 for four, or something of that kind, are quite common ; in match after match in club cricket (I refer only to the best class of cricket clubs which can afford to have a good ground and a prepared pitch), only half the team on each side have the chance of an innings. One constantly hears men say, “ I t’s no good my playing cricket f o r -------club ; I hardly ever get a knock.” This is much harder on club cricketers who occasionally take a day off for a match than on first-class cricketers, the majority of whom are either pro­ fessionals or men with plenty o f leisure time to play. W ithout being dogmatic, one may fairly make the assertion that something should be done if cricket is so to remain, as it ought to be, the most popular of our national games. It is hardly necessary to state that the really vital cause of this development of big scoring is the excellence of present- day pitches as compared with those of the past. I have heard two other causes suggested, one being a general improve­ ment in batting without a corresponding improvement in bow ling, and the other the decadence of fielding. W ith regard to these two contentions there is no way of proving or disproving either of th em ; but the probability is that neither bow l­ ing nor fielding has deteriorated during the last few years; it is very possible that some improvement might be shown in both departments, but the chances are that there is really no marked difference. It is the excellent pitches which make the average bow ling o f to-day much easier than the bow ling o f the past. There is a great deal of brilliant fielding now probably more than there ever was that a certain number of catches should’ be missed is part of the game, and it has never been otherw ise; even cricketers are not exceptions to the rule that human beings are fallible. Assuming that some change in the laws o f cricket be neces­ sary, it is useless to argue that if bow ling and fielding were better, no such change would be required; it is not only a plati­ tude, but one that it can do no good to assert. CLARE COLLEGE v. JESUS COLLEGE (Cambridge). Played on the Jesus Close on April 28. C labe C ollege . J. T. Hirach, c Main- price, b Bashford ... 50 T. Dennis, c J. F. Marsh, b S ell..........19 E. B. Anderson, b Bashford................. 5 C. C. Page, c Bashford, b Campbell ..........10 K. R. B. Fry,b Camp­ bell .......................23 V. A. Walker, b Bard- well ........................ 40 ’ Innings declared closed. W. N. Long did not bat. J esus C ollege . G. L. Mellin, c and b Bnshford................. 8 G. K. Thorpe, not out 53 T. A. Grose, o Sell, b Mackenzie ..........11 H. 8. Berry, not out 6 Extras .......... 6 •Total (8 wkts) 231 J. W . Marsh, c and b L on g........................50 H. Mainprice, lbw, b L on g ........................ 6 T. G. M. Bardwell, c Page, b L on g.......... 2 J. F. Marsh, not out 102 A. M. Bashford, not out ........................ io Extras .......... 4 Total(8 wkts)180 T AWS OF CRICKET, with List of Fixtures and L Memo, pages. 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