Cricket 1904

M at 26, 1904. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 155 © o r r c i s p o n i i e n c e . The Editor does not hold himself responsible tor the opinions of his correspondents. To the Editor o f C ricket . S ir , — I have only just received your num­ ber of 14th April, containing an obituary notice of my dear old friend Mr. W. J. Ford. If not too late I should like to be allowed to add a few words, and to express in your columns my sense of the loss, which all those who knew him have sustained. A friendship of many years standing, which, though “ seas between us braid ha’e roared,” always re­ mained warm and unbroken, may perhaps justify me in doing this. I last saw him in 1902, and I had been looking forward to the pleasure of another meeting this summer. But it was not to be ! I shall indeed miss at Lord’s the cordial greeting and genial smile so well remembered and eagerly anticipated. I had the pleasure of managing several tours of the Incogniti, when dear old “ Bill ” formed one of our team. A better man for a touring eleven it is impossible to imagine. Always cheery, under the mo 3 t adverse cir­ cumstances, he kept every one in similar good spirits; a keen sportsman and hard worker, he set the best possible example of the way in which the game should be played ; he always gave his captain loyal support and assistance; and in the evenings, after the day’s cricket was over, he was the life and soul of merri­ ment and good cheer. His performances as a cricketer have been well described by Mr. Bettesworth and Mr. Payne. His hitting, when in the vein, was indeed a treat to watch. The incident men­ tioned of the spectators calling out to “ bring him a tree ” was a perfectly true one, and happened at Birkenhead Park in August, 1885. I well remember being in with him once on Clifton Downs, when he made one of the longest drives I have ever seen. The ground is open and unlimited in extent, and the bowler, knowing Ford’s propensities, had a man out over his head as far as was reason­ ably possible. Nevertheless the ball flew beyond him, and we ran six runs before it could be returned. On another occasion he finished a match at Torquay with a “ sixer” out of the ground, across a road and half-way up a cornfield on the other side ! His bowling, though apparently plain, was deceptive and often successful—although he always expressed the wish that he could go into it himself. He was also a very useful wicket-keeper, and in fact it was difficult to put him out of his place, so long as it was not too far from the wicket. His great size and weight naturally hampered his activity, and I think it was mainly due to this that he did not score as many “ centuries” as might have been expected. He always seemed to tire a bit after getting 70 or 80. These were indeed plentiful enough. Ford was one of the kindest hearted and most generous of men. The following little incident is thoroughly characteristic, and may not be devoid of interest. I stayed with him once at Marlborough, when he was an Assistant blaster there, and as we were sitting in his study one evening, smoking a pipe, a timid knock was heard at the door. “ Come in,” said Ford. Enter a small boy evidently rather “ in a funk.” “ Well, what do you want ?” “ Please, sir, you told me to come to you this evening.” “ Ah ! I remem­ ber you did so-and-so (some schoolboy misde­ meanour). A pause—then, “ What did you do in the House match to-day?” “ Oh please, sir, I got so many runs, or took so many wickets—(I forget the details)—and we won the match.” “ Oh, you did, did you? All right. Cut away.” Exit boy perfectly happy, and we resumed our smoke, laughing. Many reminiscences crowd in upon me as I write, but I must not make this letter longer. “ May the turf lie lightly o’er thee,” dear old friend ! Yours faithfully, A. W. L. H emming . King’s House, Jamaica. 10 th May , 1904. C R ICK ET IN A U S T R A L IA . NEW SOUTH WALES v.QUEENSLAND. Played on the Brisbane Cricket Ground on April 2 and 4. New South Wales won by nine wickets. Rain fell heavily on the inter­ vening Sunday and the wicket on the second day was bad. Q u eensland . First innings. Second innings. G. 8. Crouch, b Grounds ... 26 c Carter, b Noble 9 W. J. Lewis, c Cotter, b Grounds ........................ 3 b Hopkins .........14 N. K. Foster, b Noble ... 2 cBardsley,bNoble 0 J.Carew,cBardsley,b Noble 3 cCarter,bGrounds 12 W. T. Evans, b Grounds ... 16 b Cotter ..........17 A. A. Atkins, c Bardsley, b Hopkins ........................ 11 c Carter, b Cotter 0 A. Marshal, b,Noble ........ 22 c Noble, b cotter 0 J. Fitzgerald, run out ... 8 not out .......... 2 R.D.Pyfce,c Jans n,bNoble 18 c Bardsley, b Grounds......... 0 D. Miller, b Cotter ......... 0 b Grounds.......... U T. J. Byrne.-, not out.......... 1 b Colter 1 B 9, lb 7 .................16 B 1, lb 2, nb 1 4 Total .................132 N ew S o u th W a l e s . Total ... 69 R. A. Duff, ht wkt, b Fitzgerald ..........66 E. Jansen, c Marshal, b Miller .................40 J. R. Mackay, rua out 1 A. J. Hopkins, c Pyke, b Byrnes................. 8 M. A..Noble,cMa^hal, bMiller .................12 W. Bardsley, c Miller, b Lewis .................19 R. Hartigan, c Pyke, b Miller ................. A. Cotter, c Foster, b Lewis................. H. Carter, c Lewis, b Miller ......... ... A. Grounds, not out . F. Johoson, c Forster, b Miller ................. B 4, lb 4, nb 1 ... Total ..........153 Second innings.—A. J. Hopkins, b Byrnes, 25; R. Hartigan, not out, 9; J. R. Mackay, not out, 5. Total (1 wkt), 39. N e w S outh W a le s . First innings. Second innings. O. M.R. W . O. M. R. W. Byrnes .......... 13 1 62 1 ........... 2 0 16 1 Lewis .......... 4 0 24 2 ........... 1 0 13 0 Fitzgerald ... 6 1 24 1 ......... 1 0 1 0 Miller .......... 13 3 46 5 ........... 2 0 9 0 Q ueensland . First innings. Second innings. O M. R. W . O. M. R. W . Cotter .......... 8 2 24 1 ........... 4 3 6 4 Grounds.......... 14 8 7 3 ........... 5 4 1 3 Noble .......... 13-4 7 19 4 .......... 10 2 38 2 Hopkins......... 7 2 17 1 .......... 9 6 11 1 Johuston ... 13 2 49 0 [After the match had beep won play was continued until New South Wales had made 111 for three wicketa—tfartisan, run out, 21; Mackay, c Foster, b Miller, 4); Carter, not oug, 19; and extras, 3.] THE WANDERERS v. HA VIPfON WICK.— Played at Hamptou Wick on May 19. T he W a n d erers . S. Colman, b Armitage 71 H. D. Wyatt, c White, b Eady .................17 C. Kenward, b Armi­ tage ........................ 0 M. .baker, b White ... 0 A. M. Latham, b White .................17 H. Stafford-Webber, c Knox, b Eady.......... 5 H am pton W ick J. Armitage, b Bell ... 12 W. Cooke, c Colman, b Bell........................ 6 W. G. Williams, c Webber, b Kenward 13 T. L. Head, b Bell .. 22 H. Hughes, run out... 1 R. J. Sivers, c Ken­ ward, b Bell ......... 0 W. Farquherson, c Wyatt, b Bell......... 8 R. M. Bell, c Head, b Eady................. ... 12 A. E. Waller, b Cooke 64 O. G. Gillespie, b White .................33 G. R. Blades, not out 21 A. L. S. Rose, b White 2 Extras ..........20 Total ...252 b Bell.......... 0 D. W. White, c Wyatt, b Bell....................... 2 P. F. Nox, c Waller, b Bell ........................ 8 T. Eady, not out ... 0 Extras .............6 Total ..........77 MIDDLESEX v. SOMERSET. J. e . w e s t ’ s b e n e f it m a t c h . Played at Lord’s on May 23, 24 and 25. Saved from an awkward situation on Saturday by the rain in the Sussex match, Middlesex again found it useful on bank Holiday, for it enabled them, after winning the toss, to give Somerset the benefit of a difficult wicket, whicu was almost certain to improve as tbe day wore on. Things turned out as had been anticipated, and the unfortunate Somerset team had very much tne worst of the game when stumps were drawn. They fared very badly against the bowling Of J. T. Hearne, who had a wicket which suited him so well that he too* eight wickets for 49 runs (the last six for 9 ruos), the only two men who did anything against him being L. C. H. Palairet and P. R. Johnson. When Middlesex went in Warner and L. J. Moon were soon dismissed, while Robertson and Bosanquet met with so little success that four wickets were down for 89. This was not much of an improvement oi the Somersetshire total at the same period of the innings, but the two Beldams then came together, and remained at the wickets for the rest of the day. Fiading the Somersetshire bowling not very strong, they both soon played themselves in, and were able to give a far more attractive display of bat'ing than is usual with either of them. Instead of defending they were able to adopt measures of such an aggressive kind that in two hours and a half they increased the score by 201 runs, and were still together when stumps were drawn, with the total at 290 for four wickets. Middlesex were thus 164 runs on. Owing to heavy rain during the early morniog of Tuesday no play was possible on that day. Yesterday a resumption was made at a quarter past one, and from the second ball sent down G. W. Beldam was easily secured at cover-point by Mac- gregor, wbo was fielding as a substitute for Palairet. His chanceless innings lasted three hours and ten miautes, and contained a 7 (4 for an otherthrow), eight 4’s, eight 3’s, and a dozen 2’s. Shortly after­ wards E. A. Beldam was caught at long-off, having batted two hours and a quarter without making a mistake, and having hit seventeen 4’s, two 3*s, and seven 2’s. Trotc made 41 in thirty-five minutes, and a little later the inniogs was declared closed, Somer­ set being set 214 to save the innings defeat. Hearne again proved almost irresistible, and at no time did the visitors appear likely to save the match. John­ son, who is in very fine form this year, again played well, but he received poor support, and Middlesex won easily by an innings and 119 runs. The bowling of Hearne, which accounted for fifteen wickets for 93 runs, was quite the feature of the match. M id d le se x . P.F.Warner, bBraund 13 L. J. Moon, b Robson 16 G. W. Beldam, c sub, b Cranfield .........140 W . P. Robertson, c Montgomery, b Cranfield....................13 B. J. T. Bosanquet, c Montgomery, b Cranfield.................. 0 E. A. Beldam, cJohn­ son, b Cranfield ..105 J. H. Hunt, c sub, b Cranfield................. 1 A E.Trott, c&bMartyn 41 C. P. Foley, not out ... 24 G. MacGregor, not out 5 B 9, lb 2, nb 1 ... 12 Total *Innings declared closed. *370 S om erset . First innings. Second innings. L. C. H. Palairet, c E. Beldam, b Hearne ... ... 35 b Hearne ............. 9 Braund, run o u t.......... ... 4 c Hunt, h Trott 11 P. R. Johnson, c E. Beldam, b Heirne ................. .. 43 c and b Trott ... 36 F. A. Phillips, run out ... 0 b Hearne ..........13 Robson, c MacGregor, b Hearne....................... ... 1 b Hearne .......... 0 H. Martyn, b Hearne ... ... 10 c and b Hearne .. 0 S. M. J. Woods, not out ... 15 c Bosanquet, b Trott .......... 2 F. M. Lee, b Hearne ... ... 1 c Hunt, bHearne 22 H. F. Montgomery, c Warner, b Hearne ... ... 12 b Hearne .......... 3 A. E. Newton, b Hearne ... 0 c MacGregor, b Hearne ..........21 Cranfield, b Hearne ... ... 0 not out .......... 0 B 4, lb 1 .......... ... 5 B 6, lb 2 ... Total... ...126 Total ...126 M id d le se x . O. M.R. W.[ G. M. R. W. Cranfield .. 2> 6 li-O 6 Montgomeryl2 4 44 • Braund ... *6 3 99 1 i Palairet ... 13 4 38 Robson ... 20 2 68 1 I Martyn ... 2 0 19 Montgomery delivered a no-ball. S o m e r se t . Second innings. \j. ju. xv. n . O. M. R. W. Hearne ... 19 4 649 8 ............ 24 4 6 44 7 Trott .......... 13 165 0 ............ 24 4 73 3 G.W.Beldam 6 117 0 First innings. O M R W