Cricket 1904

370 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 1, 1904. did record for the season of 142 wickets at 13-75 per wicket. To look at Blythe from a distance a spectator would hardly think that he would be likely to last, for he does not give one the idea of being a powerful man. As a matter of fact he can do a great deal of bow ling without becoming tired, and without losing his accuracy. Many batsmen would rather have to play against Rhodes than against Blythe on a typical bow ler’s wicket, and as Rhodes on such a wicket is generally regarded as b y far the best bow ler in the world, it is obvious that Blythe must be, as indeed he is, a magnificent bowler when the ground suits him. Blythe does not require the whole wicket to be bad before he becomes almost irresistible ; it is enough for him if a very little piece of it wears badly. In this he is like the famous bowlers of former days— Alfred Shaw, Attewell, Morley, Spofforth, Jim Lillywhite, and Turner—who were so accurate that they could make use of even the smallest flaw in a wicket. This season Blythe has again been in the very front rank of bowlers, and some of his performances have been astonishingly good. He has, moreover, shone as a batsman on two or three occasions when runs were very badly wanted indeed, and in the course of these hard-hitting dis­ plays of his he has shown clearly enough that he would probably be a great batsman if he were not a great bowler. W. A . B e t t e s w o r t h . MISTAKEN IDENTITY. In a series of short stories now running in the Captain, b y Fred Swainson, the follow ing extract appears. It refers to a day’s cricket played b y a man who was mistaken for his cousin : “ I saw Drysdale. H e seemed likely enough, but didn’t say a word on cricket, and according to promise I was silent, too. Bat one or two things struck me as strange on the morning of the match. I met the specially created man buying cricket boots in the village, and passing thence to another department investing iu new flannels — ready-made ! Now, cricketers always carry the necessary impedimenta with them. J. D .’s last hour preparations puzzled me. “ When his eyes met mine he looked guilty, and his face, to put it mildly, was wrapped in funerial gloom . He actually seemed worried at playing against the N om ads! Nay, more. When we went out he said to me hurriedly, ‘ Burton, put me in the country—I ’ll do less damage there.’ “ Now , my opinion is that public schoolmen prefer pretty, showy close- quarter work to hard scouting on the boundary, so I rather liked his asking for plain fag. But 1 did not like the word ‘ damage.’ “ I never wish to see a finer outfield than Drysdale. H is picking-up was not too polished, but he fairly raced at his work, and his returns were re il ‘ hot sand and ginger.’ “ In honour of his seventy-seven at L ord’s I was for putting him in fourth. He begged m e—literally begged me — to put him in last. ‘ For a Lord’s man you’re the most modest I ’ve ever met,’ thought I. H e went in last. He hit every ball of his first over out of the field — twenty-four— and was bow led upside down first ball of his next. But I read one part of his mystery there and then. Drysdale was a mere slogger with a good eye ; of batting he knew hardly anything, and of Elizabethan batting nothing at all. ‘ That wonderful seventy-seven must have been a funny performance,’ thought I. “ On the second day the Nomads went in to make two hundred and forty and win the match. Remember, they were the cream of North Country ’Varsity men in 1903. Burns and Oites put on one fifty before a wicket fell. I was in despair. I rang my changes, tried my own lobs, and for a second time asked J. D . to go on. He seemed so genuinely worried when I first asked him that I did not press it ; but when B. aud O. had tied us up into knots I began to find my last choice’s excessive modesty rather a bore. Well, he went on. H e took a twelve yards’ run and sent them down. The first ball knocked O ites’ stump out. I don’ t believe he ever even saw it. The wicket-keeper looked positively scared. She9r take-your- breath-away speed was Drysdale’s only kind, but it was the very merchandise for our occasion. I piled my men behind the wicket, gave Gale a long-stop, and one man scouted on the on. “ Drysdale threw his soul into the work of destruction. Not Tom Richard­ son nor Mold nor Jones ever bowled faster. Three men followed Oates in ten minutes, and the rest were out before they left the pavilion. A rot, of course. Drysdale to ^k seven for seventeen, and the Nomads never reached the second century. As in his batting, there was not the ghost of a suspicion of science in his bow ling, but as long as cricket is played on green turf I never expect to see 6uch another exhibition of tear-away, hurricane bawling. “ A little knot o f us surrounded Drysdale. ‘ This licks your sevdnty- seven and five for thirty-five iato a cocked hat,’ said I. “ ‘ Jack,’ said Audrey, her voice break­ ing with very admiration and tender reproich, ‘ fancy your not telling us you were in the eleven. But Arthur Thorn told us all about you. We’ll never forgive you.’ “ Drysdale glanced round at us, hope­ lessly bewildered for a moment. Then a light broke in upon him in a fl»sh, and he grinned at tbe lot of us as he said, / . J . Drysdale is my cpusin. Y ou’ve been playiug the wrong man, Burton.’ “ ‘ N ot at all,’ said Audrey, before I could get in a word. ‘ It is the most sensible thing Mr. Burion ever did.’ “ And I, thinking of our victory, said, ‘ Hear ! H ear! ’ “ But it was a fact. This Drysdale had never played at Lord’s. H e told me afterwards that during the very match Audrey and the boy supposed he had played in, he was having a glorious time in the fields and woods—bit of a naturalist, I suppose. “ All the same, I ’ll never forget that tw enty-four—or that seven for seventeen ! ” J. C. LOVELL’S XI. Matches played, 16; won, 2; lost, 7 ; drawn, 7. BATTING AVERAGES. No. Times Most of not Total in an Inns. out. runs. Inns. Aver. T. Homewood ... ... 2 .. 0 ... 76 .. . 62 ... 38-00 W. H. Golds ... ... 9 ... 1 .. 276 .... 77* .. 34-37 F. H. Tyacke ... ... 6 ... 1 ... 136 , 64* .. 34-00 P. P. Tyacke ... ... It ...2 .. 361 .... 89 ... 3008 D. V. Haasard ... ... 2 ... 0 ... 57 .. . 52 ... 28-5 S. Briggs .......... ... 3 ... 0 ... 84 ... 43 ... 28-00 J. P. Candler ... ... 6 ... 0 ... 1-28 . 44 ... 21-33 K. Robinson .. 12 ... 8 ... 180 .. . 49 ... 20 00 H. Tidy .......... ... 4 ... 3 .. 20 .... II*... 2000 L. Lovell .......... ... 16 ...4 .. 235 .... 82*... 19-68 H. Line .......... ... 2 .. 1 ... 19 ..,. 11*... 19 00 G. W. Ayres ... 1 ... 0 .. 17 ... 17 ... 17 00 C. H. Mountain .. ... 14 ... 0 ... 184 ... 52 13*14 S. H. Flindt .. 10 ... 1 ... Ill ..., 34*... 12-33 J. A. Lovell ... 2 ... 0 .. 21 ..., 14 ... 1 -*6 8 J. Lovell......... ... 1 ... 0 ... 10 ..., 10 ... 10 00 J. Sp. Lovell ... 13 .. 2 ... 108 .... 27 ... 9-81 W . M. Yetts ... ... 1 .. 0 ... 9 .. 9 ... 9-00 H. N. R ia g ........ ... 4 ... 0 .. 33 ..,. 17 ... 8-25 C. L. R ing.......... ... 12 ... 1 ... 78 ... 19 ... 7*09 F. P. R ider........ ... 2 ... 0 ... 14 ... 10 ... 7-00 E. A. Brymer ... 2 ... 0 ... 13 .... 10 ... 66 J. W. E. Murray ... 2 ... 0 ... 10 ..,. 10 ... 5-00 E. D. Lovell ... 11 ... 0 ... 45 ... 11 ... 4-09 F. Odell .......... ... 2 ... 0 ... 8 .... 8 .. 4-00 H. West .......... ... 6 ... 0 ... 18 .. 13 ... 36 A. Meller .......... ... 2 ... 0 ... 7 . 6 ... 3*5 — Senior .......... ... 2 ... 1 ... 3 .. 3 ... 300 G. A. Ring.......... ... 9 ... 3 ... 12 ... 7 ... 2-00 A. Dinnis .......... ... 1 ... 0 ... 2 .. . 2 . 2-00 C. Lovell .......... .. 1 ... 0 ... 1 ... 1 ... 1*00 Capt. Lambert .. ... 1 ... 0 ... 1 .. 1 ... 100 W . G. Love’l and E. G. Gann played, but did not score. BOWLING AVERAGES. 0 . M. R. W. Aver. J. A. Lovell.......... 10*4 ... 0 .... 85 ... 4 .. 8-76 J. P. Candler 88 3 ... 17 .. . 258 ... 24 ... 10-75 K. Robinson.......... 181-3 ... 32 ... 519 . 35 ... 14-82 E. D. L ovell......... 32*3 ... 0 ... 210 ... 11 ... 19 09 L. Lovell .......... 28 I .. 3 ... 118 ... 6 ... 19 66 W. H Golds.......... 12 ... 2 ... 51 ... 2 ... 25-6 S. H. Flindt.......... 76 ... 6 ..., 293 ... 10 ... 29*3 J. Sp. Lovell........ 117 ... 11 .. 442 ... 15 ... 2946 C. H. Mountain ... 67-4 ... 6 .... 288 ... 9 ... 32-00 G. A. Ring .......... 48-2 ... 2 . 2,9 ... 6 ... 36-5 C. L. Ring .......... 17 ... 0 .... 72 ... 1 . 72 00 H. West .......... 15 ... 0 ..., 76 ... 1 ... 76-0 Capt. Lambert ... 2 ... 0 .., 3 .. 0 .. — F. P. Rider .......... 3 ... 0 ... 17 ... 0 ... — F. H. Tyacke 3 ... 0 .... 18 ... 0 ... — E. A. Brymer 3 ... 0 .. . 26 . . 0 ... — D. V. Uassard 7 ... 1 . 29 ... 0 ... — F. Homewood 4 ... 0 .... 30 ... 0 — A. Meller .......... 8 ... 1 .. . 43 . .. o ... — G. W . Ayres.......... 5 ... 0 ..,. 45 . .. 0 ... NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK v. OLD CKANLINGHAMS.—Played at Lower Sydenham on August 27. OLD CftANLINGHAMS. R. C. Win8loe, b King 13 E. T. Gale, c Stocks, b Johnson ................. 2 P.H.Tantz,bJohnson 5 E. F. Dyer, b King ... 5 E.R Hayell, c Hughes, b Jnh ison .......... 0 E. Adams, b King ... 15 A.Bradshew.bHarrison 2 S. Holgate, b Harrison 0 S. F. Kemp, not out .. 23 A. Bradshaw, b King 22 Extras................11 Total , 98 N a tio n a l P ro vin cial B a n k . C. H. Hughes, b T^n^z 23 H. S. Johnson, b Gtle 22 H. E. Moore, b Dyer 67 E. J.Innocent,b Adams 14 A.King,cTantz.b Dyer 42 A. D. Phillips, not out 17 Extras.................13 Total ...188 A. Harrison, E. W. Armstrong. W. H Fear, E. H. Stock, and J. W . Richards did not bat.