Cricket 1904

F eb . 25, 1904. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 27 Australia. Four gentlemen entitled to the prefix “ His Excellency ” were at one 1 itne seated in the Viceregal box. They were His Excellency the late Governor General, Lord Tennyson, His Excellency the Governor General designate, Lord Northcote, His Excellency the Admiral of the Australian Squadron, Admiral Fanshaw, and His Excellency the State Governor, Sir George Le Hunte. S tjssix cricket is to be congratulated on the return of Lord Sheffield to the position he occupied as the president of the County club. A t the moment he ought, perhaps, more correctly to be styled the “ president designate,” for even if it is a mere formality, in his case the appointment has to reci ive the approval of the members of the club assembled in general meeting. F. J. C o o k the well-known cricketer of Port Elizabeth, who was over in England last summer and played a great deal for the Surrey C.C.C., the Wanderers, and other clubs, was not lon » in signalising his return home by a good display of batting. He was quite the hero of the match 6 etween Port Elizabeth and Algoa, played on the Port Elizabeth ground in the latter part of last month. After dismissing Algoa for 80 the home team put on 179 for four wickets. Their first batsmen, Cook and Hannan, passed the opposite score before they were separated, and the former was only six short of his hundred when he was bowled. I t has reached my ears, and from a good authority, that there is to be a change in the captaincy of the Essex County Eleven in the com ing season. Beport has it that C. J. Kortright will not be able to fill the office, and indeed it is said that in all probability he will only be seen occasionally in the County Eleven. F. L . Fane, according to the information I have, will be the new captain. Whether the rumour is founded on fact or not will soon be shown. News from the same source warrants the belief, which I hope will be justified, that Mead may after all be seen again in the County Eleven this year. the late William Hearn, whose career has been briefly sketched in another part of the paper. When ahoy I saw him make 103forM.C.C. y. Tunbridge Wells. This was in 1879, and Robert Lipscomb, the old Kent fast howler, who looked like a mountain, was still able to send the hall along at a lightning pace. Lipscomb caught George Hearne at slip with the left hand brilliantly. I was struck with Hearn’s forward play, and I remember that by watching him I afterwards learnt to play forward which I had never before been able to do. Hearn, it appears, was born at Essendon, Herts, November 30th, 1869, and played regularly for his native village from the age of 14. He was engaged first at Lord’s in 1878. As he did not play with a big county, access to bis records is not easy, but he appeared in South v. North and other bigger games occasionally. He made 58 not out for M.C.U. v. Oxford University (going right through the innings) in 1879, and 91 run out for M.C.C. v. Somerset in 1882, which ‘ ‘ Wisden” reckoned a first-class match. He was an extremely good cover point, and a dead shot at the wicket. S o u t h Australian cricketers latterly have indeed had good reason to speak feelingly of the run-getting powers of the representatives of the rival state of New South Wales. In each one of the three successive matches against South Australia New South Wales has compiled over 500 runs in an innin gs: 545, 681, and 624. W ith other totals of 807, 918, 438, and 472 in the immediate past, the South Australians have had more than their share of fielding of recent years. New Sjuth Wales has won seven successive matches against South Australia S ir K e n il m D iq b y , one of the latest additions to the noble army of K in g’s Counsel, was captain of the Harrow eleven in 1855. OlJR many readers will be glad to hear that Mr. W . A . Bettesworth, the old Sussex cricketer, who has been connected with Cricket during the past eight years, has recently undergone a successful operation in the London Hospital, and in the course of a few weeks is expected to be fully restored to health. the occasions on which a hundred has been made for the fiist wicket in tie series of contests between England and Australia, will ba of interest:— T. Hayward and F. 8. Jackson, Oval, August, 1899 .......................................................... 165 W. G. Grace and W . U. Scotton, Oval, August, 1886 ................................................................... 170 T. Hajward and A. C. Maclaren, Sydney, December, 1901 ................ ................. 154 W. G. Grace and A. E. Stoddart, Oval, August 1893 ................................................................... 151 T. Bayvard and A. C. Maclartn, Adelaide, January, 1902 ... ...................................... 149 T. Beyward and P. F. Warner, Adelaide, Jan­ uary, 19C4 .......... ...................................... 148 E. A. Duff and V. Trumper, Manchester, Ju’y> 1902 135 E. A. Duff and V. Trumpcr Adelaide, January, 1904 ................................................................... 129 E. G. Barlow and G. Ulyett, Sydney, February, 1882 .............................. ............................... 122 T. Hayward and P. F. Warner, Melbourne, Januarv, 1904 ....................... ................. 122 C. E. IMcLeod ard J. Worrall, Oval, August, 1899................................................................... 116 A. C. Maclaren and E. Wainwright, Sydney, February, 1898 .............................................. Ill A t e l e g r a p h ic rr.e'sage from Perth (W .A .) states that while Ernest Jones, the well-known fast bowler of later Australian teams, was cycling home to Claremont from the Swan Brewery, where he is employed, he collided with a water cart, with the result that his bow l­ ing arm was broken in two j laces. T h e follow ing is reproduced from the Adelaide Observer :— On January 9th, A E. Brown, playing for Clifton against Cathedral, accomplished a bowling feat which calls for special mention. He disposed of nine batsmen for the small total of 13 runs, and the remaining batsman was run out—undoubtedly a fine performance. The match was played on a first-class asphalt wicket. Brown was unfortunate in not finish­ ing up with a still better record, as he had the “ run out” man caught at the wicket— as the batsman himself admitted—but the umpire’ s decision was given against the bowler, otherwise Brown’s average would have been ten wickets for seven runs. The Cathedrals were all disposed of for 58 runs, and Clifton compiled 227 for the loss of four wickets, W . von Einem being responsible for 113 not out. T h e Sydney Referee has compiled a table showing the batsmen dismissed by wicket-keepers, English and Australian, during the present Australian season up to the middle of January :— M. C. 8. Total. A. A. Lilley (Eng.)......... 5 ... 10 ... 6 ... 16 0. J. Kelly (N.8.W.) ... 6 ... 7 ... 6 ... 13 P. M. Newland (8.A.) ... 4 ... 7 ... 4 ... 11 E. Morifrits (V ic.)......... 3 ... 6 ... 3 ... 9 H. Carter (N.8.W.) ... 1 ... 2 ... 4 ... 6 H. Strudwick (Erg.) ... 2 .. 2 ... 2 ... 4 W. T. Evans (Q.) .......... 2 ... 3 ... 0 ... 3 Among players who are not wicket­ keepers, L. C. Braund has been most suc­ cessful in taking catches, eleven standing to his credit. A. E. Belf has made ten, M. A. Noble nine, W . P . Howell eight, E. E. Foster seven, A. J. Hopkins, W . W. Armstrong and W . B. Bhodes six each, S. K. Gregory, F. Laver, H . Trumble, C. Hill and H . Strudwick (three as a sub­ stitute) five each. This list, it may be added, deals only with the matches up to January 13th. T he third day of the third Test match at Adelaide gave rise to an incident which is claimed as a record for Test matches in H ow effectually Bhodes has silenced the Australian cricketers who were so confident that he would never come up to bis English reputation on Colonial wickets, a glance at his position in the bow ling averages in first-class matches during the present Australian season will show. In the second test match at Melbourne he accomplished a record for test matches in tak iD g fifteen wickets. F. B . Spofforth got fourteen wickets at the Oval in 1882, and Bates and Bichard- son, I believe, each got thirteen in a match. But Bbodes, unless I am in error, is the first bowler to secure fifteen wickets in a test match. A c o r r e spo n d e n t to whom Cricket has been much indebted for valuable assist­ ance sends some interesting particulars of J J. B. C h a l l e n , the well-known Somersetshire cricketer, who is now head master of the North Devon School at Barnstable, is able to point to a good score in respect of the Cambridge Local Examinations, and other honours of a cognate kind. In four years the North Devon School has been able to claim 153 successes in Public Examinations, and in the Cambridge Locals only one school in Devon and Cornwall has passed more candidates. P oor George Giffen ! An Australian critic is unkind enough to point out that since January, 1900—when the veteran secured five wickets in the first innings of New South Wales at a cost of only fifty-nine runs—he has bowled in seven innings against that State with, in the