Cricket 1904

S ept . 8, 1904. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 387 BUSSEY’ “ DEMON DRIVERS. < c c o « GEO, G. BUSSEY & GO Desire to inform Cricketers all over the world who may experience a difficulty in ob­ taining “ D em o n D r iv e r s ” that this difficulty arises in. consequence of the ever-increas­ ing demand exceeding the supply. Eeaders of G eo . G . B ussey & Co.’s pamphlet, entitled “ Evolution of the Demon Driver,” are aware that a fea­ ture of the success of the “ D em o n D r iv e r ” is due to a special process, occupying a long period, that the bats under­ go before leaving the works, and although there are always a large number of Bats under this treatment which could be placed on the market, G eo . G . B ussey & Co., in the interest of cricketers and their own repu­ tation, will not deviate from the system that has made the ? o ^ TheFinest Bat the World produces. GEO.G.BUSSEY&CO, 36 & 38, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET , E .G. Manufactory—PECKHAM, S.E. Timber Mllli—ELMSWELL SUFFOLK AGENT8 ALL OVER THE WORLD AT THE SIGN OF THE W ICKET . By F. S. A s h l b y -C o o p e b . The meeting of Lancashire and England at the Oval on Monday next will bring the season of 1904 to a conclusion so far as great matches are concerned, and to those enthu­ siasts whose duty or pleasure it is to follow first-class cricket closely the fact that the campaign is already all but over must come somewhat as a relief. Busy, however, as the past year has proved, the season of 1905 promises to he even more so, for not only will a team from Australia again visit us, but the promotion of Northamptonshire to first-class rank will cause the number of inter-county matches to he even larger than usual. The tour of the Australians, under the leadership of Noble, should prove o£ the greatest interest, considering the amount of success achieved by the M.C.C. team in the Commonwealth during the recent non-cricket season. Doubtless the team will differ in a few instances from that which came over two years ago, places being found for some of the young players who have come to the front during the past two years, such as Hickson, Mackay, Cotter, Claxton and Qehrs. A letter recently received from Australia ; speaks in terms of the highest praise of the ' players mentioned, and expresses the belief that the team which will be chosen to make the journey will prove as difficult to defeat as the last three teams which have visited us. The bowling, so far as can at present be judged, is the only department of the game in which the side may possibly prove deficient, but it is hoped that during 1904-5 a player will be unearthed who will, in a great measure, compensate for the absence of Trumble. If such a man can be found, the side should stand a good chance of recovering the “ Ashes,” for Cotter has already proved himself a cricketer of great ability, and there are several young players who will be found quite worthy of filling the places of the more experienced men when the time comes for successors to be found. Another county championship campaign has terminated, and again the honours have passed from one end of the country to the other. To those who have followed the for­ tunes of the various counties with more than passing interest, it will be apparent that Lancashire fully deserve their position at the head of the list. Had Kent been able to enjoy the services of Mr. Mason throughout the season, the county would undoubtedly have had a better record than they can point to, and might, indeed, have run Lancashire close for the championship. Yorkshire, whilst still being a side of more than average strength, were not so feared as during the previous few years, their bowling lacking to a certain extent the deadliness which had proved so great a factor in their former suc­ cesses. The occasional absence of Kanjit­ sinhji weakened Sussex considerably, but the side, when he appeared, was probably as strong as at any time during recent years, despite the obvious decline of Tate. Notting­ hamshire, Gloucestershire, and Leicestershire at times performed with credit, but were too unreliable to ever be regarded as possible winners of the championship. Derbyshire is a side which should do well next season, their performances during the past year wising hopes amongst the club’s supporters which all enthusiasts of the game would like to see realised. Their victory over Essex, at Chesterfield, was a marvellous accomplishment, and quite the event of the season. Essex were a side which might, without creating surprise, perform extremely well one day and go to pieces the next; their good days were, perhaps, on the whole, more frequent than their off-days, but the latter were, nevertheless, too numerous to allow the eleven to obtain a brilliant record. Warwick­ shire, despite their very creditable victory over Lord Hawke’s men, were never to be really feared, and must be regarded as the most uninteresting of the counties. Worces­ tershire enjoyed several triumphs, and with a little more good fortune would have done far better, whilst Somerset, despite their victory over Surrey, at Taunton, proved somewhat disappointing, the side seldom showing to advantage against the stronger counties. Surrey had a poor season, but as many of their most promising players are still young men, the eleven will probably do far better in future than it has during the pastfew months. Despite numerous attempts by the executive to unearth young players full of promise, Hampshire have again had a poor season, but, as all sides at one time or another during their career have a period of depression and re­ cover, one is glad to believe that Hampshire’s dark days will not continue much longer. Several displays of fine hittting have, at various times, been given on the Hastings ground, but it may be stated, without fear of contradiction, that tbe greatest was that for which Jessop was responsible on Monday last. He went in at a time when his side was doing badly, and when the bowling and fielding of the opposing team were of a very high standard, yet he not only managed to with­ stand the attack successfully, but even changed the whole aspect of the game, his efforts placing the South in a very good position after a serious collapse had appeared probable. He took some little time to settle down, taking an hour to reach his fifty, but so thoroughly had he by that time obtained the measure of the bowling that he doubled his score in a quarter of an hour. Those who witnessed his fierce hitting were fortunate indeed. The terrible Kotze willnever forget the ignominious manner in which his lightning deliveries were treated. He commenced howling without a man in the long-field, but very quickly found that the Gloucestershire captain was no ordinary mortal. The latter, despite the fact that he was suffering from lumbago, and had to have Seymour to run for him, more than once ran almost half-way down the pitch to play Kotze ! And all the time he was scoring so prolifically he did not give a single chance. He made his 159 out of 219 (including extras) obtained whilst in in 123 minutes, and to so great an extent did he monopolise the run- getting that none of his comradesmade as many as twenty. Cox, who made but 17, proved a most useful partner, his stand with Jessop resulting in 125 runs being added for the eighth wicket in 57 minutes. Of the first 56 runs of the partnership, Jessop made 53 and Cox 1, the remaining two being leg-byes. Sinclair, later in the day, made some huge hits, twice sending the ball out of the ground, and once almost killing his recently-wed wife with a terrific on-drive. His hits were longer than any made by Jessop, but the latter was the faster scorer and by far the safer player of the two. It is worthy of remark that Seymour, who ran for Jessop, was allowed to do so without being handicapped by wearing pads. The question arose, as it did a few years ago at Hastings, whether the substitute could have been compelled to wear leg- guards, if appeal had been made to the um­ pires. One would have thought that a sub­ stitute would have put on pads before going on to the field, as otherwise the batting side might benefit by one of the players requiring the services of a runner.