Cricket 1904

J u n e 2, 1904. CRICKET;: a w e e k l y record op the g am e . 169 CuTTBliL, the Lancashire bowler, met with remarkable success with the ball for Lancashire v. Kent last Saturday. In the first innings he took five wickets for 31 runs, and in the second four for 3 runs — a total of nine for 34. The details of his.analysis in the second innings are as follows :— T h e rain on the last three days of last week upset first-class cricket very badly. On the Thursday three matches out of seven divided five hours’ play between them. On Friday there was no play at all in five of the matches, and in one of the two others only an hour and a quarter was available for cricket. On Saturday it was not possible to proceed with the Surrey v. Leicestershire match. A g a in s t a strong batting team o f the London County C.C., F. J . H opley did a fine performance with the ball on Thurs­ day last for Cambridge University. He dismissed Dr. Grace in his first over, L. O. S. Poidevin and W . A. Shalders in his second, and L . Walker in his third. Altogether he took six wickets for 37 runs in ten overs. R. E . F oster , who has played but very little since his return from Aus­ tralia, made 129 out of 175 from the bat, on Saturday, for Butterflies v. Eton Col­ lege. H . C. Pilkington (14) was the only other man on the side who scored double figures. Foster also took six wickets for 54 runs. A t the beginning of May it was stated in the Johannesburg newspapers that the “ Saxon,” in which the South African team voyaged to England, had foundered near Ascension Island. Naturally the report caused much uneasiness among the friends of the players. T o u jo u r s Spofforth ! This season the old Australian “ dem on” has been in wonderful bow ling form. H is latest exploit was to take seven wickets for 37 runs and four for 12 for Hampstead against Surbiton on Saturday last. This brings his total of wickets for the season to 50 for 261 runs. ThH death is announced of E. G. M'Corquodale, an Old Harrovian, who played for the School against Eton in 1899 and 1900. H e was a bowler, and in 1900 he headed the school averages with 62 wickets for about 12 runs apiece. He went to Cambridge, but did not succeed in getting his blue.] O n Friday last J. Horsfall, the Cam­ bridge Rugby Blue, scored 182 out of a total of 315 for Caius v. Trinity Hall. I t is interesting to note that in the list of bow ling averages given in Monday’s papers the names of Arnold, Rhodes, and Braund, three of the chief bowlers in the M .0 .0 . Australian team, appear lastof all, thirty-ninth, fortieth, and forty-first. Hirst is thirty-fifth on the list, Relf twenty-eighth and Fielder, the despised bowler of the team, eighth. B ijt if the two famous Torkshirebowlers have not distinguished themselves this season with the ball, they have done so with the bat, and in the batting average tables on Monday Hirst was first of those who have played six innings or more (the actual first being R . H . Spooner), and Rhodes fifth. The other great Yorkshire bowler is low down in the bow ling list but is twenty-first in batting. B y scoring 146 for Lancashire against Kent at the end of last week, Tyldesley has brought his total of hundreds for his county to 24, thus making his record equal to that of A. C. Maclaren for the same team. O n Monday, at the Oval, G. L . Jessop batted practically with one hand for Gloucestershire v. Surrey, because the little finger of his left hand had been splintered by a ball from B. J. T. Bosan­ quet at Lord’s on the previous week. He was able to rest the left hand on the bat until the moment of striking, when he took it away. One of his hits was a drive to the boundary off Smith, and it is hardly necessary to say that the stroke was loudly applauded, for to the ordinary spectator it naturally seems a very re­ markable feat to make a good drive with one hand. B u t most cricketers have at some time or other had to bat with one hand, and they know well enough that there is nothing extraordinary in making quite a big drive when thus handicapped. Several men have played a fine game in first-class cricket, with only one hand available, and either Lord Harris or Mr. A. N. Hornby could speak from experience of what can be done in this way by a determined man. There used to be a well-known player in Surrey—a master at Cranleigh School, named Casswell— who having lost his left arm, was not disposed to give up cricket. He was known far and wide in the county, and often played an innings of over a hundred. He could hit as hard as most men, and any medium-paced bowler who thought he could dispense with an outfield when Casswell was at the wicket, had very soon to alter his opinion. In his last five innings against Notts Percy Perrin has scored four hundreds, his record being 170 and 102 not out, 4 and 110 , and 100 not out. A t Bramall Lane on Monday nine of the professionals who assisted in securing the county championship for Yorkshire in 1902, were presented with handsome mementoes. Hirst and Rhodes received silver salvers, cream ju g and sugar bow l; Brown, a case of cutlery ; and Denton, Tunnicliffe, Washington, Haigh, White- lhead, and Hunter, silver tea services. Ip the speeches made at the dinner given to Mr. Warner b y the Authors’ Club on Monday were correctly reported, Mr. J. M. Barrie, the well-known author who is also a cricketer, made a remark which seems a little too deep for ordinary cricketers. He is said to have stated that “ he was not going to call Mr. War­ ner a ‘ negotiator,’ but he would call him by a grand old-fashioned word, now almost obsolete, viz., ‘ cricketer.’ I n the course of his speech at the above dinner, Mr. Barrie said :— “ Cricket was undoubtedly the most divine game ever invented by man. (Laughter.) He thought the man who invented cricket did a bigger thing than the man who wrote 1 Hamlet.’ Indeed, he was not quite sure that the same man had not done both. He probably invented it during that year or two when even Mr. Lee did not seem to know what he was about. If Shakespeare did not invent cricket, and if it had not been?invented up to now, Mr. Warner would have invented it. (Cheers.) He had only seen Mr. Warner play cricket twice; the first time he made one, the second time he was not so successful. (Laughter.)” I n reply to Mr. Barrie’s compliments, Mr. Warner said: — “ Lord Hawke had lately been murmuring about something he (Mr. Warner) had said to the effect that test matches should be played to a finish. Well, he hoped when the Australians came here next year that the test matches would be played to a finish. Some thought this would mean slow cricket. He thought differently. It was impossible for any batsman to play what was not his natural game.” But a good many cricketers will be eager to know how it is that, if it is impossible for any batsman to play what is not his natural game, Mr. Warner himself could play such a brilliant innings as his 54 against Sussex last week at L ord’s, and yet in Australia could play with equal success a game worthy of a Bannerman. T h e readers of the Daily Mail last Friday must have been hard put to it to reconcile the statements of the two new cricket journalists who described Thurs­ day’s play in the Lancashire v. Kent match. Mr. Marsham stated that the wicket was very easy and gave the bowlers no assistance, while Tyldesley said that he had seen sides dismissed on a similar wicket for 120 runs, and that Maclaren only decided to bat after great hesitation and a consultation with one of his bowlers. E. U p h a m , the New Zealand fast bowler, who played against Lord Hawke’s team, has taken 576 wickets during his career for 5,363 runs, an average of 9-31 runs per wicket. He began to bow l in 1889 and since then has never exceeded an average of 11 J runs a wicket per season, while in 1896-97 he took 48 wickets for 6'72 runs each. O n May 14th the Haverford College team which is to tour in England this summer played a match against the Livingstone Field Club at Staten Island