Cricket 1904

M a t 26, 1904 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 147 BUSSEY’S “DEMON DRIVERS. <-e-c B« GEO, G. BUSSEY & CO Desire to inform Cricketers all over the world who may experience a difficulty in ob­ taining “ D em on D r ive rs ” that this difficulty arises in consequence of the ever-increas­ ing demand exceeding the supply. Headers of G e o . G . B u s s e y & Co.’s pamphlet, entitled “ Evolution of the Demon Driver,’’ are aware that a fea­ ture of the success of the “ D em on D r iv e r ” is due to a special process, occupying a long period, that the bats under­ go before leaving the works, and although there are always a large number o f Bats under this treatment which could be placed on the market, G e o . G . B u s s e y & Co., in the interest of cricketers and their own repu­ tation, will not deviate from the system that has made the ? * e ° * The Finest Bat the World produces. GEO.6.BUSSEYA CO, 36 & 38 QUEENVICTORIASTREET, E.G. Manufactory— PECKHAM, S.E. Timber H ill.—ELMSWELL SUFFOLK. AGENT8 ALL OVER THE WORLD. A T TH E SIGN OF TH E W IC K E T . By F. S. A shley -C ooper . The rain which fell during the early hours of Saturday morning last played havoc with cricket in all parts of the country. At the Oval sufficient play was possible to enable Surrey to defeat Worcestershire by a hundred runs, but everywhere else cricket was so interfered with that it was found impossible, save in one instance, to arrive at a definite result. Those enthusiasts who had been looking forward to a full day’s play, and possibly an exciting finish, at Lord’s in the Sussex v. Middlesex match, must have been keenly disappointed to find that no further progress in the match would be possible. Had the game been played to a finish the result might have had an important bearing on the destination of the championship, for both Middlesex and Sussex are certain—as certain, that is, as anything can be at cricket —to occupy a high position among the counties at the end of the season. At the present time Yorkshire (despite their apparent weakness in bowling) and Middlesex are generally regarded as favourites for the championship, with Lancashire a good third. Several members of the Metropolitan team have already given evidence of being in form, and when, later in the season, James Douglas and C. ivl. Wells come into the side, they should be able to place in the field an eleven which would prove terribly hard to beat. In J. H. Hunt they possess a player who, with more opportunities, would develop into a very fine all-round cricketer. He was in the Winchester eleven in 1893 with J. R. Mason, when he had a batting average of 19 and obtained sixteen wickets at a cost of 22 runs apiece. He was then described as “ a wonderful catcher in any part of the field; a free hitter, successful at times, but no doubt wanting in style; and a useful change bowler.” In the match against Eton he scored 16 and 0 , and obtained two wickets for 11 runs. He is still an excellent fields­ man, covering any amount of ground, and bringing off every possible catch as well as many which appear impossible. Against Sussex at Lord’s last week he scored 66 and 24, and, in the only innings his opponents had, took two wickets and caught Ranjitsinhji. His first appearance for Middlesex wasagainst Somerset at Lord’s in 1902—George Hay’s benefit match—when he scored 8 and 60, and disposed of J. Daniell with the first ball he ever delivered in county cricket. The outlook for Middlesex is certainly bright. The glorious uncertainty, which is supposed to constitute the chief charm of cricket, is never apparent when C. B. Fry appears in the Sussex eleven against Middlesex. The scores made by that great run-getter in matches between the two counties have been very large, especially during the past six seasons, recalling W . G .’s many triumphs against Kent, both for his county and the M.C.C., and, in more recent years, C. Hill’s performances for South Australia against English teams. Fry has played for Sussex against Middlesex on sixteen occasions, scoring 1,686 runs in twenty-one completed innings. At Brighton, in 1898, he made 108 in his first innings and 123 not out in his second, whilst at Lord’s in the following year he and George Brann put up over 100 runs for the first wicket of Sussex in each innings, Fry’s scores being 72 and 94, and his partner’s 58 and 58. In addition to the above, he made 104 not out—carrying his bat through the innings—at Lord’s in 1898 ; 116 at Lord’s and 149 at Brighton in 1901; and 122 at Lord’s and 159 not out at Eastbourne in 1902. His performances in the series of matches may be summarised as follows:— Not Highest Year. Mtchs. Inns. out. Score. Total. Aver. 1895 ... 1 ... 2 .. . 0 .... 43 ... 47 ... 2350 1896 ... 1 ... 2 ... 0 .... 44 . 49 .. 24*50 1897 ... 1 ... 2 .. . 0 ... 63 ... 64 ... 32-00 1898 ... 2 . 4 ..., 2 ... 123* ... 335 ... 167 50 1899 ... 2 ... 4 .... 0 .... 94 ... 265 ... 66-25 1900 ... 2 ... 2 .., 0 .... 110 ... 113 ... 56-50 1901 ... 2 ... 3 .. . 0 .... 149 ... 291 ... 97-00 1902 ... 2 ... 3 .. . 1 .... 159* .... 291 .. 14550 19.3 ... 2 ... 2 .... 1 .,.. 89 .... 144 ... 144"(0 1904 ... 1 .. 1 ... 0 , ... 87 .... 87 ... 87-00 Totals 16 25 4 169* * Signifies not out. 1,686 80*58 Since the commencement of 1898 he has scored in 19 innings, four of which were unfinished, 1,526 runs, with an average of 101*73. It is doubtful whether the annals of first-class cricket can furnish a parallel performance, for in the same number of completed innings, C. Hill, playing for South Australia against English elevens, obtained but 1,147 runs, or an average of 69*80. J. E. Raphael, who played an innings of 201 for Oxford University against Yorkshire on Thursday last, was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, and possesses a birth qualification for Surrey. Last year he appeared but once for the county, making 34 and 18 not out at the Oval against his University, but, later in the season, he sprang to the front by means of a score of 130 in the ’Varsity match. In 1901 he had a very successful season for Merchant Taylors’ , scoring 1,397 runs, and so establish­ ing a Public Schools’ record. Although such a prolific run-getter, it would be absurd to suggest that he gave promise of such great things as did Yardley, A. J. Webbe, C. F. Buller, R. A. H. Mitchell, C. G. Lyttelton, or R. H. Spooner, each of whom, whilst still at school, was worthy of a place in the Gentlemen’s eleven at Lord’s. Still, in many quarters he was regarded as the finest Public School batsman of 1901, and a great future was prophesied for him by those who were well acquainted with his play. Three years ago another young Surrey player made a large score for his University against York­ shire, H. K. Longman playing an innings of 150 for Cambridge, but the hope raised by that performance, that he would prove of great value to his county, has not been realised. For the sake of Surrey it is to be hoped that Raphael will develop into a really great batsman. It is interesting to analyse at times the performances of great bowlers as batsmen and vice versd. Late on Monday evening a telegram came to hand from Manchester, asking me to state in this column who is the more consistent batsman—Rhodes or Haigh. No doubt the query was prompted by the fine stand made by the two players against Lancashire, at Manchester. Confining our attention to their doings in Yorkshire matches, we find that to the end of 1903 Haigh had commenced 297 innings with an average of 17'69, and Rhodes 232 with an average of 19*53. Their scores may be tabulated as follows :— Player 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 © o U9 v_ Haigh 1 0 1 3 5 3 4 5 24 29 69 115 38 Rhodes 0 1 2 1 4 3 4 9 16 23 42 95 3? * Signifies not out. I leave my interrogator to draw his own conclusion from the above figures,forit would be avery fine point to decide inwhose favour the verdict should be given. v