Cricket 1903

J uly 16, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 277 ETON v. HARROW. Played at Lord’s on July 10 and 11. Eton won by an innings and 184 runs. There can be no question that this match still holds its own, and that it shows no signs of waning popularity. After all it is the most important school match of the year, and even to the most blase cricketer there is left some interest in seeing what sort of players the best schools are turning out, and whether the old traditions are being observed, or are gradually giving place to more modern methods. But although there is perhaps more latitude allowed to individuality than there used to be, there is still somewhat too much of a similarity between the styles of the players, and it is seldom that anything unusual in the way of a style is seen. Per­ haps this is only natural, for, after all, a cricketer, like an artist, generally copies somebody else until the time comes when he feels strong enough to go on in his own way. It is almost a matter of pure speculation as to which of the two schools is likely to win, for there is practically no chance of comparing their strength until the actual match between them. But it was rumoured that if the luck were even, Harrow ought to have an easy victory. There was nothing whatever on the first day to lead one to suppose that this rumour wonld be verified, for although they won the toss, the Harrowians quite failed to distinguish themselves with the bat, while their bowlers were thrown off their balance by the way in which they were treated by the first two Etonians. The Harrow batting was timid and too cautious by half to be success­ ful, and runs came so slowly as to encourage the bowlers greatly. Wickets fell with some approach to regularity, and when 78 runs had been made six men were out. Crake and Foster tried to put a better appearance on the game by knoeking up runs pretty quickly, but the total of the innings was only 115, and naturally enough excuses were made that it was abowler’swicket. The Etonians adopted different tactics when they went in j ust before lunch, and in the course of three overs Nicholl and Crankshaw put on 24 runs. This satisfactory beginning was followed up after­ wards by some extremely brisk and attractive batting, and the bowlers were never allowed a rest. There was no hesitation about the methods of either batsmen, and any ball which looked as if it might be made use of was not left alone. In the course of three-quarters of an hour the total was taken to 87, and then Nicholl, the Eton captain, was bowled for 44. If the Harro­ vians had been lucky enough to get rid of the next man quickly, they might have regained confidence, but Williams had come to stay. He and Crankshaw both took charge of the bowling, which they hit to all parts of the field, and in the course of an hour they increased the total by 123. Crank­ shaw, who had just completed his hundred, wasthen bowled by Clutterbuck,his brilliantly hit innings having lasted for an hour and three-quarters; it included sixteen fours. By this time there was nothing in the bowl­ ing to cause alarm to incoming batsmen; it was not even straight, and the consequence was that although the next three men did not do much there were several others who took advantage of the situation, notably Tod, who made his 69 in a little over an hour. The innings at last came to an end at five min­ utes to seven. It had only lasted for about four hours, but in that short time 425 runs had been scored, so that Harrow had to go in on the next morning against a balance of 310 runs. Any hopes that Harrow may have had of saving the match were dissipated in the course of a few minutes on Saturday. Hat­ field, the slow to medium left-hand bowler who had been so successful for the Etonians in the first innings, created consternation in the Harrow ranks, and in the course of an hour six wickets were down for only 27 runs. The situation was more than desperate when Baily and Bolton came together and made a defence which under the circumstances may be regarded as heroic. For a time the tide of disaster was stayed, and while they were together they put on 101 runs. But their effort was too late to be of any value to the side except as an exhibition of pluck, and as soon as they were parted the bowlers once more gained the upper hand. H a r r o w . First innings. C. B. W. Magnay, b Hat- feild .............................. 24 C. S. Rnttigan, c Nicholl, b Scholfield ........................ 5 W. 8. Bolton, b Hatfeild ... 7 B.E. H. Baily,c Boles, b Tod 23 Second ionings. cAspinall.bSchol- field................. i R. W. P. Henery, b Hatfeild 4 K. Qorell Barnes, b Boles ... 5 E.H.Crake, c and b Lambeit 18 F. Forster, b Hatfeild ... 17 T. R.Clutterbuck,c Aspinall, b Lambert........................ 2 G. A. Phelips, b Ha'feild... 0 * ... 0 ... 10 b Hatfeild.......... 6 c Bol-8,bHatfeild 37 c Lambert,b Hat­ feild .................61 b Hatfeild......... 0 st \>pinall,b Hat­ feild .................. 7 c Boles, b Schol- fleld.................. 1 run out .......... 0 R. Foster, not out B 6, lb 4 Total b Hatfeild..........14 not ou t................10 c and b Hatfeild 0 B 8,1b 2,w 1,nb 1 12 ........115 E ton . Total.. .156 K. I. Nicholl, b Foster 41 E. N. 8. Crankshaw, b Clutterbuck ........... 100 P. F. C. Williams, lbw, b Barnes.................... 89 D. C. Boles, b Barnes 24 G.C.Campbell,bBarnes 10 G. Aepinall, b Phelips 3 W . N. Tod, c Clutter­ buck, b Bam?s ... 59 C. E. Lucas-, at Baily, b Magnay.................23 A.F. Lamtert, c Baily, b Clutterbuck..........11 R. B. Scholfield, st Baily, b Phelips ... 26 C. E. Ha'feild, not out 8 B 12, lb 9, w 3,nb 4... 28 Total . 125 Scholfield Hatfeild Tod ... Boles ... Lambert H a b r o w . First inninga. O. M. R. W. 2 8 .1 4 6 4 2 1 1 Second innings. O . M . R . W ... 17 6 35 2 ... 25 3 7 58 7 ... 3 1 11 0 ... 4 2 6 0 ... 10 0 34 0 Scholfield bowled one wide and one no-ball. Phelips Barnes Foster Crake E to n . O. M. R .W . 21*5 2 85 2 18 3 81 4 15 4 70 1 8 0 42 0 O. M. R .W . Magnay ... 10 0 48 1 Ratligan ... 3 0 15 0 Clutterbuck 11 1 66 2 Phelips delivered three no-balls, Crake one no-ball and Foster three wides. G E N T L E M E N v. PLAYERS. THE OVAL MATCH. Played on July 9, 10 and 11. Gentlemen won by 54 runs. Although the Surrey committee had found the usual difficulty in getting really represen­ tative teams together, on account of so many of the counties being engaged, the sides for this match were decidedly strong, and very few of the men who played had no claims to take part in such an important game. It was pleasant to see W. G. once more turning out for the Gentlemen; as usual he acted as captain, while Hayward, as at Lord’s, led the Players. The good fortune to win the toss fell to the lot of the Gentlemen, and although some of them played very uninteresting_it might almost be said feeble—cricket, the total of the innings was by no means unsatis­ factory. This was chiefly due to Beldam, Jessop and Burnup. The value of Beldam’s 89 to the side was enormous. When he began his innings, things were going very badly for the Gentlemen, for W. G., C. J. B. Wood and L. O. S. Poidevin were all out for 39 runs. But he was impervious to the attack, and although it was not his policy to hurry himself, there was so much firmness and absence of hesitation about his batting that his play could not but be admired. M’ Gahey did not stay long enough to make his presence greatly felt, although he was at the wickets for an hour and ten minutes, but Jessop for a delightful twenty-five minutes enlivened theproceedingsimmensely. Bumup came in, and at last, after commencing in rather a timid manner, he played up to his reputation, his innings being quite worthy of him at his best. He lost Beldam when the latter was getting very near his hundred, after batting for two hours and three quarters, during which he made no mistakes. Six wickets were now down for 177, so that the Gentlemen were doing none too well, and it was quite on the cards that the total would not exceed two hundred. But Burnup and Simpson-Hayward added 57 in three-quarters of an hour, and at the end Odell and Bradley made a valuable stand, the latter surprising the bowlers by knocking up 26 in twelve minutes. Burnup’s fine innings of 77 lasted for two hours and a quarter. The only bowler on the side of the Players who had a good analysis was Arnold. At the end of the innings a quarter of an hour remained for play, during which the Players scored 16 without loss, Hayward being not out 4, and Tunnicliffe not out 12. The very first ball on the next morning disposed of Tunnicliffe, and for a long time afterwards the Players dared take no liberties. Hayward was dis­ missed after taking an hour over his 16, and then Denton and W. G. Quaifo put on 64 in an hour and a half for the third wicket. No one was quite comfortable with Bradley, who, being very fast, kept the ball a little short. At lunch time four wickets were down for 66 runs, Bradley getting rid of the last three men in five balls for a single run; he had bowled splendidly all the time that he was on. Quaife alone did himself justice ; his innings of 79 was a masterpiece in its way. The Gentlemen began their second innings with a lead of 123 runs, and before stumps were drawn they had increased this by 128 for the loss of half their wickets. Beldam and Bumup again played fine cricket, but no one else could make any headway against the bowling. Grace and jessop were together when stumps were drawn, the former with 4 to his credit, and the latter with 5. On Saturday morning Jessopmade runs much more slowly than usual, not being in the best of health; he was out in trying to make a short run to Quaife at cover-point, and after his dismissal the innings came to a sudden conclusion. Dr. Grace was batting fir an hour and a quarter for his 19. The Players had now to make 296 to win in about four hours and a half. .There was some very slow cricket at the commencement of the innings, and as nobody ever became really settled ex­ cept Quaife, there was never much improve­ ment in the rate of scoring. The first three men all fell to good catches by Poidevin in the slips. Nearly every man who came in made a useful score,’ and when half the wickets were down it was anybody’s game. But although Quaife played a very fine innings for the second time in the match he could get nobody to give him sufficient assist­ ance. He was out eighth for an exceedingly good innings of 72, and then the end soon came, Simpson-Hayward bowling his lobs . with marked effect.