Cricket 1903

394 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 3, 1903. By defeating Surrey at the Oval last Friday afternoon, Middlesex gained the county championship for 1903-4. If the match had been drawn, the result would have been the same, but in the event of a defeat, Sussex would have had a possible chance of beating them. The Middlesex record for the season is 18 matches, of which two were abandoned without any play at a ll; 8 victories, one defeat, and 7 drawn games. Of the drawn games they 1ad the best of the Lancashire match at Lord’s, as far as it went, and the wcrst cf the matches against Sussex (Brighton), Kent (Tun­ bridge Wells), and Notts (Nottingham). I t has been said often enough that it is an anomaly that Middlesex should be champions, because they do not play as many matches as several other counties. But as long as the present system is in force, it hardly seems worth while to argue on this point, for the champion ship is won by percentage, not on the whole series of matches, but on as many as are played by a county, provided that they exceed a certain limit. At the same time it may be pointed out that while the more matches you play the more danger there is of meeting with a defeat, York­ shire won four matches out of eight, and were not beaten at all, against the coun­ ties which were not played by Middlesex. I t may be interesting to compare the record of Yorkshire and Middlesex for the same matches played this season by the two counties. This will be to leave out Derbyshire, Worcestershire, Leices­ tershire, and Warwickshire from the Yorkshire list. The results, as per championship system, are as follows :— Middlesex ... 18 .. 8 ... 1 ... 7 ... 2 ... 7 ... 77 77 Yorkshire ... 18 ... 9 .. 6 ... 4 ... 0 ... 4 ... 28-67 M i d d l e s ! x , the winners of the cham­ pionship of 1903-4, have never previously occupied the same position since the championship was instituted on its present lines. But they were second in 1898, 1899, and 1901. In prehistoric days, when no one thought of champion­ ships, they stood first twice, viz., in 1866 and 1878. ------- T h e Middlesex team is described by the Manchester Guardian as “ a perfect Trismegistus.” Our contemporary for­ tunately explains that this means that the team is “ supreme in all three depart­ ments of the game.” So that all is well. H a y w a b d on Saturday still wanted 55 runs to complete his two thousand for the season, but against Leicestershire this week he scored 16 and 55, and thus accomplished the feat. It is just possible that A. C. Maclaren may reach the two thousand before the season ends, but he will have to be quick about it. On Monday morning his aggregate was 1,805. I t must be a lon g time since a native Hampshire cricketer stood at the head of the bowling averages as late in the season as this, but on Monday the name of Langford appeared first with thirty-five wickets at an average of 12 68 apiece. Blythe came next with 140 wickets for 12'99 each. Ik a leading article on the winners of the County Championship, the Daily Telegraph says “ No one can say that the Metropolitan eleven, who by the way are a most cosmopolitan set of players, including three Frenchmen in the team, do not deserve 1h<ir prosperity.” Can these three gentlemen be M.M. Trotte, Macgrcgore, and Dcuglasse ? O n Saturday night Bhodes stood exactly where he was in the middle of the week as regards his aggregate for the season, and still required 76 runs before being able to claim the honour of making a thousand runs and taking a hundred wickets this year. On Tuesday his claim came, and so well did he avail himself of it that he made 82 for the Players against the Gentlemen at Scarborough. Thus he takes bis place by the side of Hirst, Braund, Arnold and J. Gunn. A team from Antigua visited St. Lucia at the beginning of August to p'ay a couple of matches against the home team. Unfortunately Chief Justice J. S. Udal, who is well-known to readers of Cricket, was unable to captain the visiting team on account of duties which kept him at Antigua. In the first matchthere was a fine stand for the eighth wicket of St. Lucia, Marshall making 71 in an hour and hitting four 6’s, andO. Newton 51 in about fifty minutes. The un­ finished partnership produced 112 runs and the innings was then declared closed. R efjrrin g to an incident which occurred in the return match between these two colonies the Voice o f St. Lucia says:— As in the first match, Alexander andHolder were the first pair sent in. At 2 Holder was run out by the howler (R. Joseph) in a manner well within the laws hut not the ethics of the game. He was censured hy his captain for his boyish trick and the great crowd groaned in displeasure. But Joseph’s skin is not like gossamer, and he proceeded quite comfortably to despatch seven St. Lucians at the small cost of 11 runs !—the greatest howling triumph of the tournament. It is odd that when a man is run out in this way so many people (even in Eng­ land) still consider that the bowler has done something of which he ought to be ashamed. In the return match between the above teams St. Lucia, beaten on the first innings, had to make 89 runs to w in; and it was a question whether they had time for this. But orders were given to the batsmen to hit, and the winning hit was made just before time. The Voice of St. Lucia gives a lively description of some of the incidents in the innings. Thus:— As our spirits rose, the Antigonians poured the water down. They must have consumed gallons between the overs. Orders had now to be given to the two steady hats to wake up and run any risk for the sake of runs. Now did Alexander, a St. Lucian horn and bred, and second to none as a bat, start to show his skill in aggressiveness, ani played the innings of the day—a faultless 32, including a hook for 6 and three 4’ s. The score standing at 48, and it being 5.29, tbe remaining batsmen were all ordered to hit ceaselessly. Marshall, the Jessop of the side, hurried in, and at once lifted Holme far into the skies, but young Camacho, running hard and judging the ball’s flight accurately, made a most magnificent catch, at the south­ eastern boundary, which was an event in itself, eliciting a storm of cheers, keen as was the disappointment felt at the giant’s downfall. Marshall retired crestfallen, pro­ nouncing a series of anathemas against the unfortunate willow which he considered had deceived him. Newton, the next best hard hitter, followed in, but after making two rims, he vainly attempted to despatch a yorker to the boundary, only to hear the dreadful announcement behind him. .. . The Castries Water Supply was all the time undergoing a severe test at the Lands of Mr. Jones’ men, among whom an unaccountable drought seemed to have set in. T he teams to represent the Gentlemen and Players of the South in the Bourne­ mouth Festival on September 3rd, 4th and 5th are as follows :— G entlemen of the S outh : W. G. Grace (London County) (capt.), G. L. Jessop (Gloucestershire), C. McGahey (Essex), C. Robson (Hampshire), C. J. Burnup fKent), W. W. Odell (Leicestershire), G. W. Beldam (Middlesex), H. K. Foster (Worcestershire), Capt. Wynyard (Hants), A. J. L. Hill (Hants), and E. M. Sprot (Hants). P la y e k s o f t h e S o e t h . —Braund (Somer­ set) (capt.), Robson (Somerset), Arnold (Wor­ cestershire), Bowley (Worcestershire), Wilson (Worcestershire), Wrathall (Gloucestershire), Sewell (Essex), Knight (Leicestershire), Har­ greave (Warwickshire), Llewellyn (Hants), and Stone (Hants). M r . A lfred D. T aylo r writes :—“ In reply to Mr. Thos. Jenner, here are four other instances of a batsman going in first and c a r r jiD g out his b it for 0 : F. W. Foster, Sefton Park v. Eaton Park, May, 1896. H. H. Francis, Cookoo Penners v. Welling­ ton, at Yatten, May, 1888 J. Hughes, J. Lube’ s XI. v. Drumlargan, September, 1899. J. Vaughan, Garth Garmon v. Christowe, at Cheltenham, July, 1878. In an illustrated article on Coalport Porcelain in the Windsor Magazine for September, there appears a reproduc'ion of " the W. G. Grace plate.” This plate has the head and shoulders of the Doctor in the centre, while around it, and radiat­ ing from the centre, are bats and stumps, on which are inscribed some of Dr. Grace’s biggest scores, with the date and oppos­ ing team. Apparently this pretty plate was designed a good many years ago, for Dr. Grace has altered in appearance since the photograph was taken. O ne of the illustrations in the same magazine is well calculated to make a timid cricketer’s hair Btand on end—not by reason of the actual drawing, which