Cricket 1903

446 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O ct . 29, 1903 Greenock again head the list, while the West of Scotland C.C. also did well. Among Southern clubs, Selkirk, Hawick and Gala cach in turn showed good form, as also did many of the Northern clubs. I am pleased to observe that cricket is progressing favourably in the extreme north. To the Forres eleven falls the honour of being the North of Scotland League Champions. The Scottish Schools Championship as usual found Fettes, Loretto, Blairlodge and Mer­ chiston well up. One schoolboy, A. Tennant of Merchibton, claimed the distinction of capturing all ten wickcts against Edinburgh Academy. Before drawing to a close a few remarks anent our play generally will not be out of place. The batting on the whole was very good, although I would like to see our players endeavour to adopt their methods to suit their surroundings. Soft wickets such as we have experienced during the last two seasons demand a strong defence, and to succeed on such wickets a batsman must have recourse to back play. I hope Scottish players will endi avour to develop the art of playing back. Bowling was undoubtedly our weak point, and far too much of it devolved upon the professionals. There is too little decep­ tion in our bowling, our players being apt to forget that hand and head must work in unison. As the famous Sammy ” Woods sajs, “ A cove isn’t bowling merely because he sends down six balls an over.” Our fielding is, gent rally speaking, not at all bad, but I would like to see our players practise fielding more than they do. In conclusion, it may be said that the out­ look for Scottish cricket is bright. We have had, and, I fear, always will have, many difficulties to contend against, but the very fact of their b<ing difficulties should serve as a stimulus to our players. Altogether, cricket in Scotland is not so far behind as some Englishmen would have us believe. TWO BIG INNINGS. It will be remembered that in the last issue of Cricket reference was made in “ Gossip” to two letters referring to scores of over three hundred which had escaped the notice of statisticians. Further particulars are now to hand, and we are able to give the actual sores of the match taken from the scoring bcok which, belonging to Mr. L. L. Townsend, a well-known cricketer at Castleton, has been sent to us for reference. In order to throw as much light as possible on the subject, extracts from letters are appended. It may be stated that Mr. Peicival Cooke, to whom the score of 415 belongs, is a well-known player in the North of England, as the following extract from a r€cent issue of the Ashton Under Lyne Reporter will shew. Mr. Percival Cooke, who is a Fairfield gentleman, although he does not play for Fairfield C.C., has been wonderfully success­ ful during the past season with the bat. His average with the Gentlemen of Leyland is 92-66. He has scored no fewer than seven three-figure innings, the last three being scored in consecutive innings, viz.:—144 not out for Non-Smokers v. Smokers, at Leyland ; 205 for Genllemcn of Le) land v. Gentlemen of Lancaster, at Lancaster; 105 notout for Mr. S. J. Mottershead’s XI. v. Mr. E. R. S. Denbigh’s XI., at Lancaster ; 104 for Mr. S. J. Mottershead’s XI. v. Mr. H. S. Gleave’s XI., at Marple; 115 for “ Big Fib ” Club v. Bachelors’ Club, at Castleton; 36 not out for “ Big F ib” Club v. The Smokers, at Castleton; and 201 for Non-Smokers v. Smokers, at Castleton. Below will be found extracts from letters sent by Mr. Frank R. Goodman and Mr. Percival Cooke:— “ I am just writing to confirm the two scores of 385 and 415 made at Castleton in 1899. I was umpire for Mr. Townsend’s side in both matches. In the second match Mr. Townsend’s yOunger brother made 160 odd not out.—\ours truly, “ F r a n k R. G o o d m a n . “ Oak Dive, Rusholme. “ Sept. 28th, 1903.” To the Editor of C r ic k e t . “ In the first place, the order in which the batsmen are given in the innings of 651, which contained the 415, is not the correct order in which they went in. They were in the score book in that order, but the order in which they went in is as follows : L. L. Townsend, Swinburn, Trent, Mans­ field, Cooke, MacGlaen, MacDonald, White­ head, Butterworth, Yoike, and Dale. There are one or two slight inconsistencies in \ j r. Glendenning’s letter. Both scores were made in the same week, not, as he says, in ‘ two or three weeks.’ Again, he tays I carried my bat out, but I did not. However, he was fairly accurate, considering the time that has pased since the match. I recently made the acquaintance of Mr. Glendenning, in a match between Smokers and Non-Smokers, a copy of which I send you. On Monday last I was with him at Garstang, where we were pia) ing in amatch ; I also send you a copy of this match. I am sorry I cannot send you a copy of each of the two matehcs in 1899, for to the best of my knowledge, the scores were not published. But I am sending you the scoring book. At Garstang on Monday last, Mr Glenden­ ning told me that he had written you about the scores, and, on learning that 1 had also written you, requested mo to forward tho scores, so as to save him from the trouble of doing so, as he leaves England for a long stay in Ireland at the end of this week- If there are any points on which you would like further information, I will do my best to help you, if you drop me a line. 1 can quite understand that there will be many who will not believe the matches were played, or that the scores are genuine, but I can assure you that the scores I sent you last night are thoroughly genuine, and I hope that some ot the other players in the matches will testify to their genuineness.—Yours very sincerely, “ F e r c iv a l C o o k e . “ 889, Ashton Old Road, “ Manchester, Sept. 23id, 1903.” To the Editor of C r ic k e t . “ D e a r S i r , —I herewith have pleasure in forwarding to you the score book of the two matches at Castleton. My friend, Mr. Townsend, has not allowed it to be used since these two matches, but he keeps it to copy scorei of over 200 for his side in it, but as yet no one else has scored 200. He has lent me the book, and also given me short written descriptions of each match, which you are at liberty to use as you like.—Yours very sincerely, “ P e r c iv a l C o o k e . “ 889, Ashton Old Road, “ Manchester, Sept. 29th, 1903.” D eta ils o f th e m atch es are as fo llo w s : — M r . L . L . T O W N S E N D ’S X I . v. Mr. W . L . R . O L IV E R ’S X I . Played at Castleton, August 1 and 2, 1899. A t the end of the first day M r. Townsend’s side had scored 422 for six wickets, Cooke being not out 282, and W hitehead not out 22. On the W ednesday m orning Cooke added 133 runs to his score in ninety-five minutes. G oing in third w icket down, he was last man out, being finely caught at cover point b y Gunn from a skier off Lancaster. H e hit three 6's, three 5’s, fifty-five boun­ daries, twelve 3’s, forty-six 2’s, and thirty- four singles. H e was at the wickets six hours and forty minutes. Score :— L. L. T ownsend ’8 XI. L. L. Townsend, b Lane ister ... 64 C. Swinburn, b Lancaster ...............13 B. J. Trent, b Oliver ......................28 W. Ma sfield, run o u t ..................... 2 P. Cooke, c Gunn. b Lancaster .. 415 H. O. MacGlaen, b Hayes ............... 1 J. H. MacDonald, st Thornton, b Hayes........................................... 1 L. C. Whitehead, b Oliver ...............£0 C. E. C. Butterworth, c Hayes, b Oliver........................................... 28 F. Yorke. b Lancaster..................... 3 H. G. J. Dale, not o u t .......................41 Extras ............................. 25 Total ..................... 651 M b . W . L. R. O liver ’ s X I. L. W. R. Oliver, b Trent ...............13 C. Denham, b Butterworth.............. 5 E. W. White, c Dale, b Butter­ worth ........................................... 1 H. J. Thornton, c Cooke, b Swin­ burn ...........................................Ill F. F. Hayes, b Trent ......................20 W . Lancaster, b Trent......................33 P. Puller, c Cooke, b Trent.............. 4 J E Foster, c at d b Trent.............. 3 H. Jones, n .t out ............................ 6 T. Hazelford, run out ..................... 0 A. M Gunn, b fcutierworth ... 0 Extras ... ............................. 11 Total ..............£06 Mr. Lincoln Towr send’s fci£e won by 445 runs Mr. L . L . T O W N S E N D ’ S X I . v. Mr. W . M . W A R R E N ’S X I . Played at Castleton, August 3 and 4, 1899. A t the end of the first day M r. Townsend’ s side had scored 455 for three wickets, L . L . Townsend not out 289, A . L. Townsend not out 94. These tw o batsmen added 391 runs in partnership for the fourlh w icket. L . L . Townsend hit tw o 6 ’s. thiee 5’s, thirty-eight 4’s, sixteen 3’s, fifty-nine 2’ s, and forty singles; whilst the younger play er hit twenty- one 4’ s, one 3, twenty-seven 2’s, and nineteen singles. L . L . Townsend secured his runs in seven hours. M r. W arren’ s side batted strongly, scoring 297 for one wicket. L, L. T ownsend ’ s S ide . L. L Townsetid,cQower,b Barton 385 C. Swinburn, b Barton .......... It S. J. Trent, run out ................ 0 P. Cooke, c Gower, b Barton ... 49 A. L. Townfend, not out ..........160 H. C. MacGlaen, b Smith ... ... 1 C.E.C. Butterwortb,c&bSmith 19 W. Mantfirld, lbw, b Smith ... 0 F. Gunner, not out ................. 10 Extras .............................. 24 Total (f r7 wickets) ...*669 •Innings declared closed. M b . W. M. W arren ’ s XI. A. J. Gower, b Cooke .................44 A. C. E. Brown, not out ..........132 E. B. M. Brown, not cut ..........110 Extras ............................... U Total (for 1 wicket) . .297