Cricket 1903

34 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ar . 26, 1903. was also a very fine bowler—but one of those tearaway bowlers who never list for lo n g ; he was nothing but pace and straightness. It is impossible to form any accurate estimate of his pace at this length of time, but I should think that when Jones, the Australian, was at his fastest he was about as fast as Tarrant. Jackson was a fine, tall young fellow in those days, and he, too, was very fast. I have often heard it argued whether he or Tarrant was the faster—my own opinion is that in practice, at all events, Tarrant was a trifle the faster. Some of our matches at Cambridge were played on Parker’s Piece, and I expressly remember a match between Old Harro­ vians and Old Brightonians, which the Harrovians won by 13 iuns, thanks chiefly to the very fast bowling of Bob Lang at the finish. Penner3 was at that time far from bting a good ground, but now the wickets there are excellent.” “ Your first University match ended in excitement ? ” “ Yes. We won by three wickets. The Oxford mea claimed that George Cot- terill was run out, and there was a good deal of feeling about i t ; eventually he carried his bat. The ground was in a dreadful state, and it was simply impos­ sible to get the ball away. I was in for an hour for 11 runs in the second innings, although as a rule I used to make runs quickly—it was the only double figure in the innings. Bagge scored 15 for us in tbe first inniDgs and took a couple of hours over it. The wicket as well as the outfield was in puddles, and we did not have umpires going out to see whether it was fit to play or n o t ; we played and took our chances. But in this particular match the turf was really in too bad a state for cricket, although at that time Lord’s was always heartbreaking on a muddy day.” “ What did you think of cricket in India in the seventies P” “ I always think that the Calcutta ground is the best I ’ve seen anywhere. It was then only enclosed with bamboo railings, through which people could see so comfortably that it was impossible to get a ‘ gate.’ The natives were just beginning to play, and they had matches at the Agra College. There were no native cricketers at Calcutta, but we bad some of them on the ground to throw at us at practice—they couldn’t bowl us. They were called ‘ Phenknewal!ahs.’ There was not a great variety of matches at that time in India, but the cricket was by no means bad. For years we had regular practice every Saturday afternoon, each man retiring when he had obtained 20, and then taking his place in the field or ac'iug umpire.” “ What clubs did you play for at differ­ ent periods of your career ? ” “ I played for Gentlemen of Sussex when in my teens, and afterwards for the county. In those days every gentle­ man who played was a bona fide amateur.We paid for everything, rail fare, hotel expenses, luncheons, etc. — things have changed since then. Pro­ fessionals were only too glad to be asked to play and to carry their own cricketing bags from the railway station to the cricket ground —tempora mutantur in this also. In those days there was a genuine esprit de corps in our county cricket. At Cambridge I played for the Quidnuncs. In India I was a member of the Calcutta and Simla clubs, beine; on the committee of both of them. Other clubs for which I played were M.C.C., the Bluemantles, the Anomalies—-of which I was one of the original members—the House of Commons C.C., and I rather think the Etceteras.” As a batsman Mr. Onslow was a hitter, and Lillywhite's Guide for 1861 says of him : “ Take him all round, probably the most useful gentleman in his county. A dangerous bat (though not alwaj s to be relied upon), being a resolute hitter and rapid getter of runs. As an instance of his rapid execution, we may mention that when playing against the Players of Sussex last season, he was in about four minutes, in v. hich he got 22 runs off six balls.” Of his fielding and bowling the same authority says: “ He is an admirable field, being very active and zealous; a strong thrower and almost sure catch; he is also a fair change bowler, perhaps too fond of trying an artful ball without a sufficient certainty of ‘ spotting ’ it.” Perhaps his . best bowling feat was against Surrey just after he came home from India. He took six wickets for a few runs, and in speaking of the match, he said: “ I remember that I got Jupp with a slow head ball; he had a curious poke between short leg and mid on, and I went for it. I was a fast bowler, but not as fast as Bob Lang. Perhaps, as compared with a modern bowler, I was about as fast as Hirst, but of course it is impossible to say this with any certainty.” Speaking of the difference between cricket of to-day and during the seventies, Mr. Onslow said: “ The finan­ cial aspect of the game was very different from what it is now. I fully recognise that with so much more cricket now than formerly, we should not be able to get together the best teams, either for our county matches or some others, unless the legitimate expenses, out of pocket expenses, were paid to amateurs, but I would stop there, and I think every county should set its face against the introduction into counties of professional- amateurs or amateur-professionals, which­ ever way you like to put it. In my opinion this is a matter which should be thoroughly investigated by the M C.C. Committee. Moreover, let us have as few innovations as possible in the game— it is the grandest game of any as it is— let us not trifle with it, and introduce what some may call reforms. No one has spoken more plainly than I with the object of having cricket conducted in a thoroughly gentlemanly way, without a su-picion of rowdyism, such as is so often displayed ia football.” W. A. B ettjjsworth . R ICELAND DAFT’S “ Nottinghamshire Marl.” — Particulars, apply Radcliffe-on-Trent, Notts. [A dvt .] CR ICK ET in A U S T R A L IA , 1902-3. For the following interesting statistics we are indebted to Mr. II. H. Campbell, of East Melbourne, who appears to be as enthusiastic and as thorough in his work as the well- known English “ figure merchants.” LONG PARTNER8BIP8. 298 for 1st w kt, V. Trumper (178) and R. A. Duff (132), N.B.W. y. 8.A., at Svdney. 211 for 10th wkt., M. Ellis (118) and T. Hastings (106 not out), V. v. B.A.. at Melbourne. 181 for 2nd wkt., M. A. Noble (If8) and R. A. Duff (94), N.S.W. v. S.A., at Adelaide. 124 for 4th wkt., F. T. Hack (84) andN. Claxton (80), 8.A. v. N.S.W., at Adelaide. 117 for 2od wkt., R. A. Duff (66) and M. A. Noble (60), N.S.W., v V., at Melbourne. 102 for 1st wkt., R. A. Duff (102) and V. Trumper (*1), N 8.W. v. V., at Melbourne. 101 for 4th wkt., C. Hill (124) and N. Claxton (37), 8.A., v. V., at Melbourne. The partnership of 298 is an Australian record for the first wicket, and that of 211 an Australian record for the tenth wicket. The two most prolific stands in great matches in Australia for the last wicket are credited to Victoria, J. O. Ilalloran (128 not out), and A. E. Johns (57) having made 136 in 1897 ; and M. Ellis (118) and 1 . Hastings (106 not out), 211 last month. It is a coinci­ dent that in both instances it was a bowler and a wicket-keeper that shared in the partnership, as both O’Halloran and Ellis are considered better bowlers than batsmen, and in both cases the bowler-batsmen reached the century ; also it was each man’s (O’Halloran and Ellis) first appearance in inter-Colonial and inter-State cricket respectively. Further, it was the highest individual effort of all four men in first-class cricket. INDIVIDUAL SCORES OF 50 OR MORE. 178 V. Trumper, N.S.W. v. 8.A., at Sydney 132 R. A. Duff, N.S.W. v. S.A., at Sydney 124 C. Hill, S.A. v. V., at Melbourne 118+ M. Ellis, V. v. S A., at Melbourne 108 M. A. Noble, N.S.W. v. S.A., at Adelaide 106* T. Hastings, V. v. S.A., at Melbourne 102 R. A. Duff, N.S.W. v. S A., at Adelaide 94 R. A. Duff, N.S.W. v. S.A., at Adelaide 84 F. T. Hack, S.A. v. N.S.W., at Sydney 80 N. Claxton, S.A. v. N.8.W., at Sydney. 77 A. C. K. Mackenzie, N.S.W. v. 8.A., at Adelaide 69 A. J. Hopkins, N.S.W. v. S.A., at Sydney 68 P. M’Aliater, V. v. S.A., at Melbourne 66 R. A. Duff. N.S.W. v. V., at Melbourne 63 A. Gehrs, 8.A. v. N.8.W.. at Sydney 60 M. A. Noble. N.S.W. v. V ', at Melbourne 54 D. Noonan, V. v. 8.A., at Melbourne. 52* M. A. Noble. N.S.W. v. 8.A., at Adelaide 51 V. Trumper, N.8.W. v. V., at Melbourne to A. C. K. Mackenzie, N.S.W. v. S.A., at Sydney * Signifies not out. t First appearance in inter-state cricket. HAT TRICK. W W Armstrong i V- T-N.S.W., fAC.KMackenzie . . Ar strong j at Melbourn^j A. J. Hopkins D E R B Y S H IR E COUNTY C.C. T he report of the committee, as presented to the general meeting of this caib, held at Derby on Wednesday last, with Mr. Sowter, J.1 ., in the chair, showed a very considerable excess of expenditure over match receipts and subscriptions, which together amounted to but little over £1,700, the subscriptions producing less than £700. A bazaar and the donation by Mr. C. Arnold, M.P., of 500 guineas, had allowed a balance of £404 to be declared The chairman drew attention to the need of an increase in the number of subscribing members. The president, Sir Peter Walker, was re-elected, as well as the retiring members of the committee, while Messrs. VV. W . Jendwine and 0. E. S Cock- burn were added to the vice-presidents In an informal discussion the proposed widening of the wirkets was condemned, while the en­ forcement of strict punctuality in county matches was recommended.