Cricket 1904

CRICKET, FEB. 25, 1904 J) I l i e = 3 —Je 8 — ujeft 3 = I I 1 1 K I M 25 '/pSCO/fD^^- t i t ? (Til €> ft /I - __ “ Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.”— Byron. w o. 6 s x . v o l . x x i i i . T H U R S D A Y , F E B . 2 5 , 1 9 0 4 . p r i c e 2 d. A. E. SELF. {From a Photo by E. Hawkins de Co., Brighton.) A CHAT ABOUT A. B. RELF. Five years ago A. E. Relf had not got beyond the level of Minor County Cricket. A four years’ engagement with the Earl of Wilton, at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, which extended over four years, had given him a residential qualification for that County. This was the first opportunity he had had of developing the all-round cricket that was in him. He had previously been out as professional, first at New ­ market, with Mr. Henry M iln er; then with the K il­ dare Club, at Naas; and later on with Mr. Millar Hallett, at Gaddington Hall, Kent. H is early cricket had been learned on the Wellington College ground where his father, a good old cricketer, held the position of principal cricket coach for some twenty years. Un­ der his watchful eye the boy was well grounded in every­ thing connected with the game, and Relf himself attributes his success as a cricketer to the training he had at Wellington. But the practice he had in the Nor­ folk eleven gave him the chance he wanted of showing his real form in the field. H is all-round cricket at the time was distinctly above the average, so much so that he attracted notice far beyond the limits of Norfolk. His stay in that Shire, indeed was of brief duration. The Sussex executive, learn­ ing that he was born at Brightling, near Burwash, offered him a place in the County eleven, which, needless to say, he readily accepted. A t the same time his accept- tance of an engagement on the ground staff at Lords, assured him of a favour­ able opportunity for making a name in first-class cricket if he proved himself worthy of it. Fortunately for him he did this at once. Since 1900 which was his first season, indeed he has been quite one of the most useful all-round Last summer, with Tate in nothing like his form of 1902, Relf was the most reliable bowler Sussex had. In Cham­ pionship games he took 91 wickets, and in all matches 108 wickets ;at a cost of under 20 runs apiece. Up to the present time, as the above tables w ill show, he has made 3,309 runs and taken 264 wickets for Sussex. As another proof of his value, and this is not to be found in the tables, it may be added that he has also made 65 catches in the four years. So far he has not made a hundred in a Championship match, though he just got that number against Cam­ bridge University last sum­ mer. H is 96 against W or­ cestershire at Brighton in his first year is his highest innings in the County Cham­ pionship. That was a good performance, in which he received valuable Bupport from A. Collins, the young Sussex amateur, who helped him to p u t on 167 for the first wicket. Worcester­ shire, too, furnished the occasion for one of his best bow ling performances. This was in 1902, and also at Brighton, where he did the hat trick, dismissing Bowley, H . K . Foster and Wheldon with three successive balls. As a batsman, in point of real merit his best per­ formance for Sussex was against Somersetshire, at Brighton in the early part of 1902. It was a bowlers’ wicket throughout, and the highest of the four totals was 156. In the first innings Sussex had lost eight wickets for 58, when Tate came in to join Relf, with only Bland to follow . The only game was a forcing one, and so well did the two professionals utilise the chance that 67 were added in thirty-five minutes before Relf was caught. The match, indeed, was a veri­ table triumph for R elf and Tate. In the second innings R elf’s value was even more pronounced. The top scorer in cricketers in the Sussex eleven. The extent of his assistance can be gathered from the fact that in these last four seasons he has only had to be] absent from two matches. The best’s test of his value is to be found in the story of his all-round play from year to year. Here are his figures: — B atting . No. of Times Total Highest Mtehs. Ions, not out. runs. score. Aver. 1900.. 27 .. 44 ... 2 ... 983 ... 90 ... 23'17 1901... 26 ... 37 ... 2 ... 681 ... 53 ... 1916 1902.. 26 ... 44 ... 7 ...1,041 ... 94 ... 28'5 1903... 24 ... 34 ... 1 ... 604 ... 100 ... 18’10 B owling . Matches. Balls. Huns. Wickets. Aver. 1000.......... 23 ... 1,460 ... 627 ... 24 ... 38 16 1901 ......... 27 ... 4,082 ...1,827 ... 66 ... 27'45 190 2.... 26 ... 4,697 ... 1,876 ... 66 ... 28'28 190 3..... 26 ... 5,609 ... 2,062 ... 108 ... 19-10