Cricket 1903

J u n e 25, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. L. Murdoch each were within measurable distance of making two hundred runs, and Eccles and Hallows each made oyer a hundred. A t the end of last week, cricketers in the South of England had once more to bewail their hard lot in the matter of weather, for again all their matches were ruined by the rain. In the North it was cold enough and depressing, but it was at least possible to play cricket on all the three days. As it was, the only finished matches were Worcestershire v. Hamp­ shire, Gentlemen of Philadelphia v. Notts, and Derbyshire v. Yorkshire. I t was natural that, after theheavy rain, there should be some remarkable bowling performances at the end of last week. Alec Hearne’s fine analysis for Kent v. Gloucestershire is the best of them, but other men ran him close. Below will be found some of the good analyses:— O. M. E. W- Alec He&rne, Kent r. Glos................ 11 7 16 8 Lees, Surrey v. Cambs....................... 8*1 3 14 4 Hargreave, Warwick v. Essex......... 27 5 10 42 8 Littlewood, Lancs, v. London Co.... 14'4 6 36 5 Arnold, Worcester v. Hants .......... 11*1 4 13 4 Wilson, „ „ .......... 11 6 16 6 C. C. M o r r is has very soon shown what a sound batsman he is. In his first match for the Gentlemen of Philadelphia he made 30 and 6 against Oxford Univer­ sity. He made 18 against Gloucestershire, and against Notts he distinguished him­ self vastly in the second innings with a fine score of 164, made out of a total of 264 while he was at the wickets. He has done nothing like this before in a big match, but a short time ago in America he scored 104 for Haveiford, of which he is captain. He has also done well in America in matches against visiting teams. T he selectors of tbe Australian team of last year must be beginning to wonder whether it would not have been a good move to have taken L. O. S. Poidevin with them on their visit to England. No doubt he lost his place through an injury to his hand just before the time for the team to start, and this to some extent interfered with his play in England last season (for although he was not a member of the team he came to the old country to play cricket). He hardly did himself justice, although he made some very good scores, but this year he has been at bis best, and his innings of 172 not out for London County v. Lancashire at the end of last week was as good as anything one could wish to see. T he ups and downs of cricket have lately been well exemplified in the case of Abel. He began the season late, but did well at first. Then came a couple of ducks’ eggs in the Derbyshire match, and in the following match against Cam­ bridge he ought to have been out for a duck, for he was missed off an easy chance before he had scored. Alas I his escape availed him nothing, for he only made three. But Abel can afford to abide his time, and one may be sure that it will not be long before he is making runs again. A t Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday, the 30th May, L. D. Samuel, playing for the Kingston C.C. (the premier club), established a record for West Indian cricket by scoring 207 not out in a little over two hours. His innings included 35 boundaries. The following are the scores:— K in g ston C.C. L. D. Samuel, not out............................... 207 F. L. Pearce (capt.), lbw, b Brown......... 46 L. V. Samuel, not ou t............................... 49 E xtras................. ......................... 16 Total (1 w k t)..........318 The opposing side, the Melrose C.C., made 68 runs. W h e n his innings of 89 at Brighton against Middlesex came to an end, C. B. mb. A. o. snow dbn (Captiin of tbe Rugby School XI.) Photo by G. d. Bean, Rugby. Fry had made exactly a thousand runs, thus being the first player to accomplish this feat this season. J. Gunn was the nearest to him at the end of the week (Fry had no cricket either on Friday or Saturday), with 904, and then came Hay­ ward with 873, Hayes with 772, H. K. Foster with 743 and Denton with 719. In the ordinary course of things the aggregates are much higher when two- thirds of June has passed away. In an article which appears in the Sports Express (Hull) from the pen of J. E. Tinley, the Notts cricketer of a bygone generation, there is the following anecdote:— Top-hats would look sadly out of place now on the crieket-field, but they were a custom then, and it was something of the nature of a breach of etiquette to come out without one. I well remember a very amus­ ing incident which occurred in the particular game to which I have just referred. Among the spectators was William Thomas Bendigo, the great pugilist. Before play started the batsmen were practising, and one of them hit a ball hard in the direction of the well-known fighter. Bendigo removed his top-hat, and to save his hands, held it to the ground to stop the ball, which, however, went right through the hat, to the evident amusement of the crowd. I n the match at Cardiff between M.C.C. and Ground and.GlamorganBhire, Thomp­ son, for the former, had the following analysis:— First innings ... Second innings O. M. E. W. 11 6 21 4 16'2 9 17 7 I t is distinctly interesting to note that in the list of bowling averages which appeared on Monday the Northern bowlers are simply nowhere in compari­ son with those of the South. Indeed, in the first eleven, Hirst and Hargreave are the only men who are not from the South (except J. B. King, who is seventh on the list). This is quite a change from the ordinary state of affairs. O f the four unbeaten counties (Sussex, Middlesex, Notts and Hampshire) which for so long had stood at the head cf the championship table with a 100 per cent., Hampshire has had to take a lower position, but the three ethers are still triumphant. U p to Monday last, 106 first-class county matches had been played this season ; 58 of them being finished (half won and half lost), while 48 of them were drawn—chiefly, of course, on account of the weather. Four matches had been abandoned altogether. O n Saturday, June 13th, at Green Lane Road Ground, Leicester, St. Luke’s C.C. dismissed their opponents, tbe London and North Western Railway C.C. (2), for two runs only, the following being the bowling analysis: — J. 8. Curtis H. Laband O. M. E. W . 3-2 2 1 6 3 2 1 4 The score of this innings is as follows :— L. & N. W . R a ilw a y (2). Bentley, b Curtis Chambers, b Laband... Quelch, run ou t.......... Dewis, b Laband Dunkley, b Curtis ... Lowe, b Curtis .......... Butters, b Laband ... Jones, b Laband Dunn.cSpurr, b Curtis Butters, b Curtis Purdy, not o u t .......... Extras................ Total .......... St. Luke’s made 64. O n Monday last Dr. W. G. Grace made his first appearance on a Gloucestershire county ground since he ceased to play for the county in 1899. His visit was loudly welcomed by the crowd. The Doctor made one of his favourite little experiments in the way of putting the other side in first after winning the toss, a manceuvre which was, however, justified by the result.