Cricket 1904

C R IC K E T , A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. AU G . 18, 1004. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron, vo. 671. vol. xxin. THURSDAY, AUG. 18, 1904. pbice 2 a. A CHAT ABOUT JOHN GUNN. Although John Gunn has only been counted among first-class cricketers for a few years, he is at the present day an all-round man who has only two or three superiors. A nephew of the famous Notts professional, William Gunn, he perhaps had a better trial than would have been given to most men, for his uncle, as well as several other well - known Notts players believed in him from the first. Y et there was very little in his first appearances before the public to warrant any great success in the future, except that his style was that of a first - class cricketer, and his methods thoroughly sound. H e played for the Notts Colts in 1896, and although he only made nine runs in each innings, he took three wickets at a small cost. Again for the Notts Colts against the Yorkshire Colts he did next to nothing, scoring 0 and 9 and bow ling five overs for 15 runs and a wicket. Nevertheless, he was given a trial iu the eleven, and scored 12 not out and 0, while it was not considered worth while to give him a chance with the ball. H is time came in the follow ing year, when after making 20 in the Colts’ match out of 80, by far the highest score on the side, and bow ling eight overs for ten runs and no wicket, he was given a thorough trial. The result was that he began to be recognised as an exceedingly useful all­ round man, for in addition to being a sound and steady batsman, and a bowler who on his day was extremely difficult, he was a truly brilliant field. His merits that year were set forth as follows in “ Wisden ” of 1898 :— “ As a batsman he saved the match against the Philadelphians by making a hundred, and as a bow ler he had one day of astonishing success against Y ork­ shire at Dewsbury. Like Dench and Mason he is engaged at Trent Bridge, aud we should not be surprised to find him a much better player in another year. He is left-handed both as a batsman and bowler. Though at present weak in hit­ ting he plays with a straight bat, and as a bowler he has a good easy action.” The Yorkshire match at Dewsbury,^to which “ Wisden 1 refers in the above extract, was indeed a triumph for Gunn. In the first innings of Yorkshire, after Notts had made 260, he went on as first change and bowled 18 overs and two balls, eight maidens for 22 runs and six wickets. Owing to Gunn’ s remarkable bow ling Yorkshire could not save the follow -on, although it was remarked at the time that it would have been good policy on the part of Notts to make them do so, b y presenting them with a few byes, as they had done at Canterbury in the match against Kent in 1892. For although Gunn again bow led well, taking four wickets for 114, and bow ling 47 overs, Yorkshire in the follow -on played such a fine up-hill game that in the end Notts had to fight very hard indeed to save themselves from defeat. From that time Gunn’s reputation has been firmly established, and it came as a surprise to most people when last year he was not asked to join the M .C.C. team which went to Aus­ tralia. For he had enjoyed a brilliant season, taking 118 wickets for 19 runs each, and scoring 1,665 runs with an average of 42. H is finest innings was 294 for Notts against Lancashire, and so hard did he hit that he was less than four hours and a half in making the runs. Possibly his want of success in Australia with Mr. Maclaren’s team may have influenced the M .C.C. Com­ mittee in their decision not to send him with their team, but on the other hand a great many men who have failed in Australia on their first visit have done remark­ ably well when they have gone there a second time. This year Gunn was the first cricketer who could claim a record for the season of a hundred wickets as well as a thousand runs, but he was not left alone on his pedestal for long, as Rhodes has joined JOHN GUNN. (From a photo by E. Hawkins A Oo.t Brighten.