Cricket 1903

388 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 3, 1903. might have rivalled W. G., had he devoted all his time and energy to the game, B. B. Cooper, a powerful hat and an old Bugbeian, now in Australia, C. J. Brune, B. W . Tritton, A. H. Winter, and John Walker, the eldest member of the famousbrotherhood. 1 he inviiation extended to B. H. Spooner by the M.C.C. to make the trip to Australia this autumn should, if accepted, strengthen the batting side considerably, as he is a player who should score largely on the fast wickets at Sydneyand Melbourne. Spooner’s career as a cricketer, although but short, has been most brilliant. He was for three years in the Marlborough eleven, averaging 26 runs an innings in 1897, 33 in 1898, and 71 in his last year. Both in 1898 and 1899 he head#d the batting averages, and in each season was seen to great advantage against Bugby at Lord’s, scoring 139 (including twenty-seven 4’s) and 9 in the former year, and 69 and 198 in the latter. Good judges declared four years ago that he would develop into a great player, and now that he has been honoured in the manner already mentioned, their pro­ phesy may be considered amply fulfilled. In his laBt year at Marlborough, in addition to his great scores against Rugby, Spooner hit 103 against Wiltshire Club and Ground, and 126 not out v. H. H. Marriott’s XI., and, later in the season, 127 not out for Bed­ dington v. Leatherhead, and 158 for the second eleven of Lancashire against Surrey second eleven at Manchester. The^ last- mentioned innings caused him to be given a place in the first eleven of Lancashire, and that it was not trying him too highly was plainly shown by his scores of 44 and 83 on his debut —against Middlesex at Lord’s. Both innings were beautiful dis­ plays, his ofi-driving being especially noticeable. In 1900, 1901 and 1902, owing to an unsympathetic Government, he was prevented from appearing in _ important matches, his military duties leaving him no time in which to assist his county, but this year he has reappeared and, notwithstanding the wet wickets, has met with as much success as ever. His best performance of the season has undoubtedly been his great innings of 247 against Nottinghamshire, at Trent Bridge, in the compilation of which he made not the slightest mistake. In the Gloucester­ shire match at Liverpool he was also seen to advantage, making 168 and, with Maclaren (204), putting up 368 runs for Lancashire’s first wicket. Both men, however, benefited from dropped catches, Spooner being let off when 36 and again when 90, and Maclaren escaping on four occasions before reaching sixty, to wit at 3, 21 (twice) and 53. Arthur H. Spooner, who kept wicket for Haileybury in 1897, 1898 and 1899, is elder brother of B. H., the Lancashire cricketer. In his first year he made 106 against Marlborough Blues and played a sound second innings of 88 at Lord’s, in the Cheltenham match, whilst in the following season he was again in form at headquarters, his scores of 94 and 58 having much to do with Haileybury’s triumph by seven wickets. In 1897 and. 1898 he was second in the school averages, with 26 and 45 runs an innings in the respective years, but in 1899, owing to a damaged hand and ill-luck generally, he fell to ninth place, his average being 15-92. Yet another brother, Archie, F.—the youngest of the trio—was in the Haileybury eleven in 1901 and 1902, and in the latter year scored 25 and 131 v. Uppingham, on the latter’s ground, but “ bagged a brace” against Cheltenham at Lord’s later in the season. The father of these three cricketing brothers is the Rev. George Hardwicke Spooner, who has been Rector of Woolton since 1885 and Hon. Canon of Liverpool since 1895, and who cele­ brated his silver wedding on the 1st ult. A lengthy partnership for the tenth wicket is always well worth seeing, as the hitting is generally of the “ ’ard, ’igh and Aoften” variety, which never fails to create excite­ ment. This year there have probably been more partnerships of over a hundred runs for the tenth wicket than in any previous season. In England alone there have been as many as ten, as follows :— 136, K. s. Raiijitsinhji (132) and P. R. May (25*) : London County v. M.C.C. and Ground, at the Crystal Palace. 124, L. R. Lewis (71*) and H. J. Ricketts (51): South­ gate v. St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, at Southgate. 118, W . N. Torrens (74) and A. Brown (45*): Becken­ ham y . Blackheath, at Blackheath. 116, G. Romans (79*) and W. Roberts (45): Glouces­ tershire v. Newport, at Newport. 1C8, Lord Hawke (79) and Whitehead (45*): York­ shire v. Lancashire, at Manchester. 107*, R. A. Hill (61*) and A. B. Cipriani (45)): Non­ descripts v. Exeter, at Exeter. (Made in 24 minutes .) 105, G. E. Winter (1C6*) and ? : E«tell v. Stoics, at Ewell. (According to the published score the eleventh man, A. Taylor, made only four, but presumably the names were sent to the press in the wroDg order.) 104, W. 8 A. Brown (155) and Roberts (11*): Glou­ cestershire v. Sussex, at Bristol. 104, E. C. Howard (91) and A. F. Bryan (’22*): Bir- ehington House v. Battle, at Bexhill. (Made in 32 minutes .) 101, Nice (68*) and Spring (21): Surrey 2nd XI. v. Essex Sind XI., at Leyton. *3igaifies not out. During our non-cricket season of 1902-3 there were two such lengthy stands in great matches in Aus ralia, 211 being added in the one case in Melbourne, and 101 in the other at Adelaide, G. H. Simpson-Hayward and H. F. Powys-Keck put on 130 together for the Oxford University Authentics against Peshawur in January last, whilst on New Year’s Day, in a small match in New South Wales, the last two men were responsible for 245 being added to the score. Any additions to the above list will be welcomed. Probably the most interesting feature of recent cricket has been the success which attended the efforts of Braund both with bat and ball in the match against Hampshire at Bournemouth, as it is everywhere recognised that the winning or losing of matches by the English team in Australia this winter will depend to a very great extent upon his per­ formances. This year Braund did not for some time appear to be quite as reliable a batsman as he was last season—when, it will be remembered, he made 104 against the Australians at the Crystal Palace, and 141 in the Gentlemen v. Players match at Lord’s— but scores during the last few weeks of 111 against Sussex at Taunton, and 132 against Hampshire on Tuesday last, have caused his average for Somerset to be somewhat higher this year than it was last, the figures being respectively 29*37 and 28-04. The fact that he can still obtain wickets at a reasonable cost on almost every occasion upon which he is deputed to bowl, coupled with the fact that he is in capital form both with the bat and in the field on the eve of his departure for Aus­ tralia, will doubtless prove a comforting reflection for the organisers of the tour. During our winter of 1901-2 Braund was successful with the bat as well as with the ball for Mr. Maclaren’s XI., but as a greater share of bowling then fell to his lot than will be the case next winter, it is only reasonable to suppose that, not being so hard worked, he will be seen to greater advantage under Mr. Warner’s captaincy than he was under that of Mr. Maclaren. SUGGESTED U N IV E R S IT Y MATCHES IN INDIA. One of the outcomes of the match played between a combined eleven of the B jm bay Colleges and the Parsee Gym­ khana, says the Bombay Gazette, is a proposal to institute Inter-University matches in India. Professor Muller, who must be given credit for the incep­ tion of an idea, which, if carried out, will give a great stimulus to Indian cricket generally, pciats out that although every one of the colleges connected with the Bombay University has gone in for cricket, no attempt has been made to form a University eleven. The Professor, who is a keen cricket enthusiast, sees no reason why the colleges should not com ­ bine and arrange annual matches with the Calcutta, Madras and the P u d jab Universities. The general feeling of college cricketers is one of unanimity in regard to the proposal to select an eleven every year to represent the University, and we hope that the earliest opportu­ nity will be taken to act upon Professor Muller’s interesting suggestion. Few lovers of the game can have any real idea of the cricketing resources of the colleges, and judging from the strength of the side which took the field against the Parsee Gymkhana, a side which we understand was not a repre­ sentative one, it is quite certain that the Bombay University could hold its own against the strongest teams in the Pre­ sidency. The Elphinstone College, which has always taken the lead in Bomb ly college cricket matters, recently sent a team touring round India, when some of the principal colleges in the Punjab, Calcutta, and Madras were played. What was possible in the case of the Elphinstone College team would be possible for a Bombay Univer­ sity team, and we cordially endorse Professor Muller’s advice to college cricketers to lose no time in forming a University eleven with a view to insti­ tuting Inter-University matches. ADDISCOMBE (2) v. BUTION (2).-Played a button on August 29. A ddiscombb . D. M. Roberts, b Hyslop ... 1 L. R. Sankey, b Haynes ... 21 A. E. Clayton, b Hyslop ... 6 R. Darvill, b Haynes.......... 1 H. A. Flint, b Haynes ... 0 J. D. Ward, c Whitbourn, b Haynes ....................... 6 G. P. Hodges, bHaynes ... 2 P. Newoomb, c Hyslop, b Haynes ........................ W . W. Hodges, c Hyslop, b Haynes ........................ u A. Straker, not out .......... 8 F. Roberts, c Poole, b Haynes ......................... 6 Extras ................. 4 1 b D. Collins c Hyslop, b D. Collins .......... e not out.................25 b Straker ..........17 run out ..........28 not out................. 5 c and b D. Collins 21 c Stayton, b A. Collins ......... 0 b A. Collins Extras... Total L.V.Straker,b Clayton F. W . Whitbourn, c Newcomb, b Clayton 18 S.G.Poole,c Newcomb, b Clayton................. 2 H. Hyslop, run out ... 0 W.G.Poole,bNewcomb 5 A.Collins,b G. Hodges 10 F. Collins, b Clayton 19 ........ 60 S u tton . 0 Total (7 wkts) 115 R.A. Greenall, b Clay­ ton ........................ F.Stayton,b G.Hodges J. R. Haynes, notout D. G. Collins, b G. Hodges ................. Extras................. Total ..........