Cricket 1904

M a t 19, 1904. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 137 W it h th e enterprise fo r w h ich it has a lw a y s b ee n n oted , th e Daily Mail has struck o u t an e n tirely n ew an d cu rious lin e in crick et jo u rn a lism . W e ll-k n o w n p lay ers ha ve con sen ted to su p p ly the p a p er w ith th eir im p ression s a t th e close of ea ch d a y ’s p la y , w ith the result that th e o rd in a ry rep orts o f m atch es h ave b een a b a n d on ed . T h e fo rm id a b le list o f n ew crick et jou rn a lists is as fo llo w s :— Kent .. .. Mr. C. H. B. Marsham (capt.) Warwickshire....................Mr. T. S. Fishwick Somersetshire Mr. S. M. J. Woods (capt.) Essex.................................. Mr. C. McGahey Gloucestershire . .Mr. G. L. Jessop (capt.) Worcestershire . .Mr. H. K. 1'ostcr (capt.) Leicestershire .. .. Mr. V. F. S. Crawford Middlesex............................Mr. G. W . Beldam Notts ....................Mr. A. 0 . Jones (capt.) Oxford Univ. .. Mr. W. H. B. Evans (capt.) Cambridge Univ. . .Mr. F. B. Wilson (capt.) Derbyshire .. Mr. A. E. Lawton (capt.) Hants .......................... Mr. F. H. Bacon Lancashire .................. J. T. Tyldesley Yorkshire.................................. J. Tunnicliffe Surrey ........................................... R. Abel Sussex .......................................... Fred Tate It will be noticed that the M.C.C. are not yet represented, and that the list includes the names of eight county captains. O n the assumption that every well- known cricketer is a born impressionist, the above idea is excellent. But at present nothing has appeared which would lead one to suppose that this is the case. The experiment will be watched with interest, but in the words of the old Gaiety song, “ We wonder how long it will last.” Even when the scheme had only been in operation for a few days, one of the new journalists failed to send in his copy in time— at any rate, his im­ pressions did not appear. Ix has often been said by artists that “ the artist himself is the best judge of his own picture,” and some of the new Daily Mail journalists seem to hold the same opinion about their own innings. One of them, with delightful naivete, says, “ Played a good innings myself after a rather lucky start overnight.” Another says, “ I suppose I must say I played a fairly good innings, in which there were a variety of strokes.” A third says, “ I was out to a fine catch at cover.” The first impressionist who informs a grateful public that “ The ball did not pitch anything like straight, although the umpire gave me out,” will indeed receive his own reward. O n the second day of the match between Kent and Notts, at Gravesend, when Notts had to go in to make 123 runs to win, Blythe bowled for nearly three-quarters of an hour before a run was scored off him, whereas he took two wickets. A l t h o u g h 8 . M . J. Woods (himself an old Cambridge blue) has committed himself to a statement in the press that “ Oxford have a very good side, and will win the the Varsity match,” it is perhaps a little early to compare the merits of the two University teams. The eleven which represented Somerset against Oxford con­ tained only two players who can be considered great, viz., Braund and 8 . M. J. Woods, while Yorkshire had very nearly their strongest side against Cam­ bridge. The only other match previously played b y either University this year was by Oxford against the Gentlemen of England, who have no bow ling to speak of. But Mr. Woods is a fine judge of the game, and no doubt has only given his opinion after due consideration. I t has over and over again been stated that criticisms from the Press b ox are invariably wrong, that they dis­ play the greitest ignorance, and that they do ni t even agree with each other. It has also been pointed out with insis­ tency that the only people who know anything about the game are those who actually take part in it. Consequently one looks in the new signed articles in the Daily Mail for the real thing, and finds it thu s:— K ent v. N otts . At Gravesend. First day. Kent won the toss on a wicket that was soft but not difficult, although the ball jumped occasionally. A. 0 . J onbs (Capt.) The wicket was never easy all day. C. H. B. M arsham (Capt.) C ambridge U niversity v . Y orkshire . First day. The wicket was slow at starting but improved. F. B. W ilson (Capt.) The ’Varsity team were fortunate in having choice of a beautiful easy paced wicket, but they did not turn that opportunity to any advantage. J ohn T unnicliffe . L ancashire v . W arw ickshire . First day. Quaife had a bit of lnck, but played a fine innings. T. S. F ishw ick . Quaife, although missed at 34 and 59, played in his usual quiet way, but it was not one of his best efforts. J. T . T yideslby . S ussex v . N otts . First day. Vine’s 44 was a most sound display. F red T ate . Vine’s 44 was not nearly such a good innings. A. 0 . J ones (Capt.) T h e tables of first-class averages crept into a few newspapers on Monday for the first time, with W . C. Smith, the Surrey bowler, at the head of the bow ling averages, and Lees not far below him. But Surrey men have learned by experience to attach little importance to the success of their county’s representatives so early in the season. Men who have done brilliant things for a week or two have only too often suddenly dropped out of notice. But of course there are hopes that things will be different this season, and that Surrey w ill again have men who can take advantage of a bowler’s wicket. G. L. J essop made his first appearance on Saturday in the Daily Mail cricket team. He scored 5 and 22, and took seven wickets for 29 runs. The match was against Mr. G. Robey’s eleven, which included Mead, Carlin and Gee 3 on. A curious incident happened in a match at Roseau (Dominica) between the home club and a touring team from P ly­ mouth (Montserrat). It is thus described in the Montserrat Herald :— Our captai», C. W. Biper, was next in, and played fire of Versailles’ overs, but waa given out l.b.w. on an appeal by the stumper for a catch while standing back to leg. After some consideration it was agreed that he should resume his innings, as he was not out according to the rules of cricket, which was however rendered unnecessary by the rapid strides made in the score. Apparently the last remark refers to the fact that when the Plymouth captain was given out l.b.w . his side had already passed the Dominica total of 52. A t the conclusion of the above match, which was won b y the visitors b y an innings and one run, the crowd seems to have been enthusiastic and most im­ partial, for, according to our West Indian contemporary, “ W ild and deafening applause greeted the visiting team, and Piper junior, whose bow ling was splendid throughout, was lifted off the field. This should be encouraging to him, as his per­ formance in his debut in important cricket was very praiseworthy.” M b . A. G. S t e e l , K .C., the famous old Lancashire and Cambridge University cricketer, who is now the Unionist candi­ date for the Leigh division of Lanca­ shire, has had a plain talk in the consti­ tuency about the calls on a parliamentary purse. He stated that a candidate ought on principle to refuse to flood a constitu­ ency with money, since this is really nothing short o f bribery. T h e Oxford University captain, W . H. B. Evans, who has already this season made scores of 80 and 78, was unable to make any runs to speak of last year until just before the University match, when he made 96 at Brighton against Sussex. Against Cambridge his scores were 21 and 60. In 1901 he made 142 for Oxford against Sussex, and was third in the ’Varsity averages. M r. A. M . L a t h a m , who is getting up the team of Barristers who are to oppose the Clerks at the Oval on May 27th, has not been able to persuade Mr. A . G. Steel to form one of his eleven. Mr. Steel prefers nowadays to take the Whitsuntide vacation as an opportunity for angling. The Colonial Secretary hardly ever plays now except perhaps in a country house match or two during the long vacation, but it would have been very interesting to see him and Mr. Steel playing on the same side again. It will be remembered that they were in the Cambridge Univer­ sity team together, while they also played together for Gentlemen v. Players, and for England v. Australia. T h e follow ing remarks about Lees are