Cricket 1903

M a y 28, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 169 D u rin g the past season, in Australia, says the Melbourne Age, H. F. Boyle, the veteran Australian Eleven man, took 48 wickets for 300 runs, an average of 6 25 runs per wicket, for the Walhalla C.C. On one occasion he took eight wickets for 6 runs, seven without a run being Bcored off him. His club takes the gold medals, and a trophy offered to the winners in the premiership matches of the district. A correspondent writes from Perth (West Australia):—“ Mr. T. L. Taylor, who was a member of Lord Hawke’s, or rather, Mr. Warner’s team, left his companions at Perth, Western Australia. He intended to stay there for but a few days, but the tour of the M.C.C. (Viet.) proved so interesting that he extended his visit by a week. He accompanied the M.C.C. on their visit to the great Kalgoorlie gold fields. He will return with the team to Melbourne, and will then go on to Sydney. He is enjoying his visit exceedingly. Mr. Taylor in­ tends to visit China, Japan, and America before returning home, and he will miss this season’s cricket, much to Yorkshire’s loss. He is playing a deal of golf *down under.’ ” M r. G. L. W il s o n , the brilliant Sussex batsman of 1893-4-5, visited Perth, W .A ., at Easter with the M.C.C. (Viet.) team. He was particularly struck with the excellent wickets there, and, when the visit was over he was just getting into his old form with the bat. He is as dashing as ever, so my Perth correspondent writes, but does not bowl as fast as in England. He is now living in a country town in Victoria, and does not often get a chance to play on turf. He was considerably chaffed in Perth about the ragged state of his cricket boots; but he refuses to give them up as they were the ones he wore when he got his “ blue,” and played for Oxford v. Cambridge, and which he has used ever since. E rnest J ones , the Australian eleven fast bowler, is now a resident of Perth, Western Australia. He played at Easter for Perth against the visiting M.C.C, (Victoria), and put up an unique per­ formance. Runs were badly wanted quickly by Perth on a wretched wicket when he went in. He batted for twelve minutes, received 15 balls from Armstrong and Fry, and scored 44 runs as follows :— 5, 4, 4, 1, 2, 1, 5, 2, 2, 5, 5, 4, 4. One ball from Armstrong landed right on top of the pavilion—the biggest hit ever seen on the ground. O n e often hears of a batsman being out in two ways, but seldom in three. In the match between the M.C.C. (Vic­ toria) and’Western Australia, played in Perth, at Easter, Mr. Randell, one of the local team, expressed no dissatisfaction at the umpire’s decision when he was given out. Fry sent down a ball to him, which he turned on to his wicket, dislodging the bails. A. E. Johns caught the ball before it touched the ground, and then the batsman fell over his wicket. He was thus out, bowled Fry, caught Johns bowled Fry, and hit wicket bowled Fry. In an interview with a representative of the Sydney Referee, Charles Bannerman, who acted aB coach to Christ’s College, Christchurch, N. Z., last year, said with reference to the school:— The boys of Christ’ s College were apt pupils, very quick to pick up points, and to apply them. They made my task as coach a very pleasant one. The improvement they made surprised me. They soon learned how to place the field and bowl for the field, and in their individual cricket, hatting, howling, and fielding alike, they made great strides. Although their senior cricketers do not com­ pare with ours in Sydney, their school cricketers do. Christ’s College present team would hold their own against most of the Sydney school teams. Or cricket in Canterbury (N. Z.), Bannerman said:— In my opinion cricket is hampered there by the clubs playing their matches too close to one another on the same ground—six and seven clubs oftenplaying in the one enclosure. The fieldsmen of one .match get mixed with those of another, and it is perplexing for everybody. It is impossible in these circum­ stances to place the field properly. The only remedy for this is to provide more playing grounds. Another drawback—and a serious one - to Canterbury cricket is the tendency to keep young players in the second andthird elevens instead of promoting them to the first elevens. Many of these young fellows are smart athletes, very active, and good cricket­ ers, and likely to develop into first-class ones. The places they should be filling in the senior teams are often occupied by older men, who are not nearly as able cricketers, and who have to some extent lost the dash and elas­ ticity 'of youth. What seems to me to be another weakness is that young cricketers rush the United Club, instead of spreading themselves among all the clubs ; in doing so they are foolish, inasmuch as they spoil their opportunities of getting into representative cricket. This remark applies particularly to the boys of Christ’s College. B elow will be found the chief batting averages in Queensland premiership matches. Dr. K. Macdonald is the Leicestershire cricketer:— No. Times Most of not in an Total inns. out. ions. runs. Aver. P. J. Carew (T.).......... 10 ... 3 ... 233 ... 813 ... 62*63 J. Carew (T.) ....... 16 ... 4 ... 218*... 687 ... 57 25 W. Martin (W.) ... 5 ... 4 ... 22*... 49 ... 49*00 G. 8. Crouch (W.) ...11 ... 1... 122 .. 4C6 ... 40 60 Dr. E. Mactionaid(V.) 11 ... 3 ... 92 ... 308 .. 38-60 N. K. Foster (W.) ...13 ... 2 ... 89*... 403 ... 36 63 W. Lewis (W .)............. 13 ... 1... 120*... 433 ... 36 08 C. Patrick (N.B.) ... 14 ... 1 ... 73 ... 411 ... 3161 E. R. Crouch (W.) ... 10 ... 0 ... 77 ... 273 ... 27*30 W. Blackstock (V .)... 12 ... 1 ... 97 ... 279 ... 25*36 I n the Surrey team which opposed Ox­ ford at the end of last week, there were three jmen who had acted as captain for the county, viz., K. J. Key, H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, and L. Walker, while K. E. M. Barker has captained the second team. F. H. H ollins ,who so greatly increased his reputation by his performances in India with the Oxford University Authentics last winter, made his first hundred in county cricket last Friday for Lancashire v. Worcestershire. A lthough the weather suddenly changed last week from m iserably wet and cold to intensely hot, the rain had g o t such a hold on the turf that on ly on a few grounds could the batsm en gain the upper hand, and there were several fine bow lin g perform ances. Am on gst them were the fo llo w in g : — o. M. R. w. Gunn, J.. Notts v. Kent ................. 36 13 65 8 Lockwood, Surrey v. Oxford ............ 19 5 5 41 6 Richardson „ ............... j *}’2 ‘g « ® Bradley, Kent v. N otts...................... 23*1 9 49 5 E. J. D iver , the old Surrey and War­ wickshire professional, who is now en­ gaged by the Newport C.C., scored 138 last week for Newport v. Thornbury. On the side of the latter, the ever-youthful Dr. E. M. Graci appeared, and carried his bat through the innings f jr 27 out of a total of 66. T h e value to a side of a man who can hit with immense power was well seen in Yorkshire v. Somerset, for it would be hardly too much to say that Mr. H. Martyn won the match for his side by his innings of 62. The whole aspect of the game was altered when he began to hit, and while at the commencement of his innings Yorkshire were in a first-class position, they were, at the end of it, in a bad way, from which they never re­ covered. It was just the same at the Oval at the beginning of last week when Essex beat Surrey. Here it was the way in which Sewell opened the Essex second innings which really won the match, by demoralising the Surrey bowlers. As we have often pointed out, a hitter is worth playing even if he only comes off two or three times during a season. It must be remembered that however brilliantly a bowler may perform, his destructive efforts are thrown away unless his side has made enough runs. T h e Somersetshire men are again to be congratulated over a victory against Yorkshire. In the palmy days of Surrey the Somersetshire match at Taunton was nearly always one to be dreaded, for the Somersetshire team is never overpowered by the reputation of its opponents. Of the last four matches played between Somerset and Yorkshire the former has now won three. Although the Yorkshire- men in the match last week, which they lost by 6 ’ wickets, were sorely tried by fortune, having three men hors de combat, they are far too good sportsmen to attempt to take away the credit due to their victors, who had gained a commanding lead before the first accident happened, although if Tunnicliffe had been able to bat in the second innings, the visitors might possibly have pulled the match out of the fire, since Tunnicliffe is a notoriously good player in an uphill game. S pottiswoode & Co., L td ., the Eton publishers, have in the press the scores of