Cricket 1903

J u n e 4, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 179 BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S AT TH E SIGN OF TH E W IC K E T . B y F. 8 . A s h le y -O o o p h r . Cricket enthusiasts who were present at H ove on M onday last are to be envied, inas much as they saw Jessop play the highest innings of his life. In the corresponding match three years ago the player named gave a wonderful display of hard hitting, scoring 50 runs in forty-five minutes, 100 in sixty- five, and, altogether, 179 out o f 257 in a hundred minutes, whilst this week he ob ­ tained 286 runs (out of 355 made whilst in) in 175 minutes, reaching 50 in half-an-hour, 100 in seventy-m inutes, and 200 in tw o hours. “ P ro d ig io u s!” The list of batsmen who, like Jessop, have exceeded M r. W illiam W a rd ’s historical innings of 278 at L ord’ s, in 1820, is not yet too lon g to prevent publica­ tion in this column :— 424, A. C. MacLaren, Lancashire v. Somerset, at Taunton ..............................................1895 365*, C. Hill, South Australia v. New South Wales, at Adelaide ........................ ...1900 357*, Abel, R., Surrey v.Somerset, at the Oval 1899 344, W. G. Grace, M.C.C. v. Kent, at Canter- tu ry............................................................ 1876 338, W. W . Read, Surrey v. Oxford University, at the Oval ..............................................1888 321, W. L. Murdoch, New South Wales v. Victoria, at Sydney ................................1882 318 ", W. G. Grace, Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire, at Cheltenham .......................................1876 315*, Hayward, T., Surrey v. Lancashire, at the Oval........................ ................................1698 311, Brown. J. T., Yorkshire v. Sussex, at Shfffleld.....................................................1897 804, R. M. Poore, Hampshire v. Somerset, at Taunton.....................................................1899 SCI, W . G. Grace, Gloucester v. Sussex, at Bristol .............................................. ... 1896 300*, V. Trumper, Australians v. Sussex, at Brighton... ..............................................1899 800, Brown, J. T., Yorkshire v. Derbyshire, at Chesterfield .................................................1898 297*, H. Moses, New fcouth Wales v. Victoria, at Sydney .................................................18S8 294, Gunn, J., Notts v. Leicestershire, at Nottingham..................................................1903 292*, V. Trumper, New South Wales v. Tas­ mania, at Sydney......................................... 1898 292, L. C. H. Palairet, Somerset v. Hampshire, at Southampton........................ ..........1896 288, W . G. Grace, Gloucester r. Somerset, at Bristol .........................................................1895 286*, W . L. Murdoch, Australians v. Sussex, at Brighton.........................................................1882 283, G. L. Jessop, Gloucestershire v. Sussex, at Brighton........ ...........................................1903 285*, K. S. Hanjitsinbji, Sussex v. Somerset, at Taunton......................................................... 1931 284, M. A. Noble, Australians v. Sussex, at Brighton.............................................. ... 1932 281, K. J. Key, Oxford University v. Middle­ sex, at:Chiswick Park...................................1687 279*, W. L. Murdoch, Australian X I. v. Com­ bined Australia, at Melbourne ... ...1884 * Signifies not out. O f the tw o dozen scores enumerated above, as many as six were com piled against Sussex bow ling and five against Somerset. An individual score o f over 250 in a first-class match is always a remarkable performance, but especially so when made b y a hitter like Jessop. It is evident that the Gloucestershire captain is in capital ru n-gettin g vein this year. Tw elve days ago he perform ed the unprecedented feat o f making tw o separate hundreds in a match w ith eighteen m en in the field, since when he has made the highest individual score for his county in three suc­ cessive matches, obtaining 49 against M iddle­ sex at L ord’s, 69 against Surrey at the Oval and 286 against Sussex at B righton. His innings at the Oval m ay he analysed as fo llo w s:— Brockwell, 00 2, 410 4, 4 4 0 4 0 0. Hayes, 1 ,4 4 0 0 4 0 ,0 4 0 2. Clode, 4 0 0 1 3, 4 2, 0 4 4 1, 0 2 out. Richardson, 101. T he commas denote the various overs. H e made his 69 out of 81 in forty-tw o minutes, reaching SO out of 55 in tw enty-five minutes, and o f the forty-on e balls he received he scored from twenty-four. At the present time the success of Gloucestershire depends almost wholly upon the performances of their captain. Should he fail to distinguish him­ self the side is liable to succumb to the weakest of the counties, whereas if he should settle down and show his finest form, a victory over a much superior side is quite possible. At the present moment there is no more interesting person to watchthan Jessop, who is able to change the whole aspect of a match in an increditably short space of time. It is with the greatest pleasure that one is able to state that the match set apart for Attewell’s benefit proved a success in every way, and that the famous howler who did such excellent work for England, both in this country and Australia, is certain to receive a weighty cheque from the powers that be at Lord’s. Although the play was always enjoyable, probably the most interesting cricket seen during the match was that on the first day. Warner again showed that the New Zealand trip enabled him to keep in condition, his innings of 135—his second hundred in succession—being a capital dis­ play in every way. With the late William i'ardley he shares the distinction of being the best batsman ever turned out hy Rugby, being probably a finer player than B. B. Cooper who will always be remembered on account of his partnership of 283 with W. G. for the first wicket at the Oval over thirty years ago, which stood as a record for great matches for almost a quarter of a century. So fast was the run-getting at Lord’s on Monday last that, although play did not commence until twelve o’clock, as many as 537 were scored for the loss of eleven wickets when stumps were drawn, Somerset replying with 96 for one wicket to Middlesex’s total of 441. The Middlesex batting was wonderfully even, every player on the side reaching double figures and only one scoring as many as sixty. One of the most pleasing features of the match was the success as a batsman of W. P. Robertson, of Harrow and Cam­ bridge, who gave promise of great things two ears ago by scoring 123 and 96 in the eniors’ Match and so enabling his side to win a close game by two wickets. As he is but twenty-two years of age he should have many seasons as a first-class cricketer before him. One of the most welcome events of the past week was the capital form shown hy Hamp­ shire against Yorkshire at Southampton. Last season, of the sixteen matches played in the championship competition the side won but two, beating Somerset at Portsmouth by five wickets, and Surrey at Southampton by ten. As a consequence of their poor form, Hamp­ shire were placed last among the counties, a result which probably caused John Small, David Harris, Sueter, and the other old-time heroes to turn in their graves. Had Hamp­ shire done badly in the match which ended yesterday they would have been able to state with truth that their chief run-getters were abroad on military duty. Already sadly crippled in this respect, the county will shortly lose E. I. M. Barrett, who is to pro­ ceed to the Straits Settlement. It is very evident, judging from the tale told by the score-sheet, that Sprot, Hill, Llewellyn and Barrett are already in ^ood batting form, and that Chignell, by obtaining five wickets for 68 runs in an innings of 272, may prove of great use to the side as a bowler. It is also worth noting that Stone, the wicket-keeper, stumped two men, and allowed but a couple of byes in the aforesaid innings of 272. The outlook for Hampshire is certainly brighter than was anticipated, despite the approaching departure of Barrett.