Cricket 1904

298 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J uly 28, 1904. in some recent years. Lockwood, invaluable in 1902 in the Test matches at Manchester and the Oval, has, fcr the moment at any rate, dropped out of first-class cricket; Rhodes, except for one brilliant fortnight, has this summer been nothing like himself with the ball and Hirst is so apprehensive about the weakness of his leg that he cannot bowl with half his old fire. These three, judged on their best form, are the finest bowlers we have had since Richardson lost his pace and spin, and it would be idle to pretend that we have any men really adequate to replace them in an England team. On the follow ing day a letter, from which an extract is given below, appeared in the Daily Mail from F . A. Iredale, the old Australian cricketer: — The trouble in Australia is in the want of boilers. Probably England has found her­ self in a similar plight, but though she might not be always able to find the genius, she is never quite in the same condition as Australia has found herself. We have so few first-class matches that we are not able to maintain an army of professionals among whom, with constant practice for the purpose of develop­ ment, may be found a bowler who, without being a great genius, is nevertheless a bowler of more than average merit. Our bowlers have to develop under extraordinary condi­ tions. They must be physically and mentally well endowed, otherwise the little cricket they get will not supply themissing deficiency. So far the outlook at present seems gloomy enough, relieved only by the consolation that we have in Cotter and Claxton two bowlers who have done all that has been asked of them in their first season. Even their success, viewed in the most favourable light, will hardly compensate for the loss of Trumble, Jones, Howell and Saunders. O n Monday Lord Curzon visited the cmn t y cricket ground at Derby where the match between Sussex and D erby­ shire was in progress, and had a long conversation with K . S. Ranjitsinhji, who recently wrote a review o f Lord Curzon’s work in India. A fter a long period of dry weather which contrasted in the most marked way with the weather during the cricket season of last year, thunderstorms have considerably interfered with the matches this week. Some of the county cricket grounds were getting exceedingly brown and parched, and the groundmen, as well as cricketers, must have welcomed the heavy rain. A lth ou g h it is not permitted to a county captain to whip the members of his eleven as if they were schoolboys, he can make them smart through the medium of the daily Press. Thus the bowlers of a county team who had allowed one of the finest batsmen living to make over a hundred on a w icket which was not of the easiest, were chastised in the follow ing w a y :— “ For this he (the batsman) had to thank our bowlers. I have never seen worse in first-class cricket since I played.” B y scoring 181 for Sussex v. Surrey at Brighton on Thursday last week C. B. Fry brought his list of hundreds for the season (all for Sussex) to eight, as foliows : — 120 v. Somerset. I *105 v.Lancashire •191 v. Leicestershire | 150 v.Cambridge U. 2'6 v. Derbyshire I 191 v.Leicestershire 177 v. Yorkshire | 181 v.Surrey * Signifies not out. On the follow ing day Hayward made 106, and thus also brought his record of hundreds for the season to eight. This total he increased to nine on Saturday. His scores are given below :— 116 v. Notts I *161 v.Warwickshire 128 v. Cambridge Univ. | 203v. Gentlemen 127 ». Oxford Univ. I 1C6) Hus»ex 122 y. Lancashire 112 Sv' Hussex 148 v. Middlesex * Signifies not out. O ne can easily imagine the feelings of the members of the Essex team on open­ ing their morning papers on Saturday when they read the criticisms on their play by two of the opposing side. Some of them must have remembered occasious when they have been in church and would have liked to be able to answer the parson’s comments on their einfulness. They would have read the follow ing rem arks:— We had an hour’s rain last night, and the wicket, although it looked just the same as ever, played a little more “ poppy” in the early part of the day than it did yesterday. After i ’errin had been hit on the hand and retired to get some sticking plaster the Essex men funked it somewhat, and Brearley and Kermode had no difficulty in wading through them. A little rain hardly affected the Manchester wicket, which was fast, and on which Brearley and Kermode made the ball bounce considerably. After the early batsmen had received a blow or two on the fingers, it was a case of “ long handle.” . . . .McGahey was caught at the wicket off a rising ball, and after he had been sent back, almost all the remaining batsmen went in for hitting at everything, with the inevitable result that wickets were always falling very quickly, some of the shots being very poor. T he recent death of Charles Morgan removes another of the select few who remain to represent the Surrey cricket of the sixties. A bowler of great vaiiety he was the mainstay of the Civil Service Club for many years, besides doing good service for the Wimbledon and Richmond Clubs. Though, after representing the Gentlemen of Kent, he played for Surrey on a few occasions in the early seventies, circumstances did not allow him to go in much for first-class cricket in which, with anything like practice, he would have taken a prominent part. As it was he had to be content with club cricket, and, indeed, in spite of the fact that he had passed his sixty years, he retained a good deal of bis accuracy aud versatility as a bowler till quite lately. He had been connected with the Streatham Club since 1859, and that his interest in Streatham cricket was in evidence to the very last was shown by his presence at one of the earlier matches of the recent Streatham Week. A LEFT-HAND bowler of unwearying accuracy he naturally was credited with some exceptional performances during his long career. I have a recollection of a match in which he bowled through an innings without a run being scored off him, and can recall at least one occasion on which he took all ten wickets in an innings. His son, C. L . Morgan, played in a few matches for Surrey in 1889 and 1890. A thoroughly cheery cricketer under all conditions Charlie Morgan was deservedly popular everywhere, and those of his contemporaries who remain will recall with pleasure many happy hours spent with him on the cricket field. He was sixty-five at the time of his death, which took place last Sunday week. W . A. H e n r y , one of the best all­ round cricketers the Dominion has had of late years, accomplished a best for Halifax cricket iu the early p i r t o f the month. Playing for Halifax Wanderers against the Garrison, at Halifax, on the 8th and 9th, he scored off his own bat no less than 225 of the total of 340 for six wickets made b y his side, being not out when the innings was declared. As the Garrison were dismissed for 90 and 60, he made himself in his one inniugs 75 more than the full side of the Garrison in their double venture. The highest individual innings in Canadian cricket up to date is G. A . Lyon’s 238 not out for Rosedale v. Peterborough, on August 24, 1894. The highest total in Cannda for an innings is Rosedale’s 425 v. R .M .C . in 1903. Henry was the most successful batsman of the Gentlemen of Canada who visitedEngland in 1887. ------- H . B. H a ym a n , who did such good service for Middlesex a few years ago, came out in a new role last week as the hero of a golf record. In the Northwood Golf Club’s Challenge Cup Tournament in the fourth heat he did the round of eighteen holes in seventy-two strokes, which is an amateur reoord for the course, although not played from the medal tees. O n July 11th, J. Boak, playing for All Angels Church Juniors v. Brooklyn C.C. Juniors, at New Y ork City, secured all ten wickets in an innings for 11 runs and also performed the hat-trick. O ld cricketers who played half-a- dozen first-class matches a season—most of them practically tw o-day matches— can hardly realise what it means to have to field day after day on grounds as hard as iron. The wear and tear must be enormous, and the wonder is not that there are only a few good fast bowlers nowadays, but that any of them can survive the hard work which they have to go through. However youthful and energetic a player may be he certainly cannot field on hard grounds for weeks on end without losing some of his brisk­ ness and activity. H . S. W in ch , who is in the Ipswich School eleven, has played thirteen innings (twice not out) this season and scored 809 runs. Thus his average is 73-55. His highest innings is 173 not out.