Cricket 1904

388 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME, S ept . 8, 1904. THE SOUTH AFR ICAN TEAM . Undoubtedly the present South African team is stronger than either o f its pre­ decessors. The increased knowledge of the game gained by the visits of several Euglish teams, and b y the Australian team of 1902, as well as the engagement of professionals from England, has had its effect, and the result has been that the South Africans have more than held their own this summer. That they were not as a rule able to attract very large crowds is not their fault, but is partly beciuse they did not make an entirely first-class programme, and partly because they did not do anything sensational at the beginning of their tour. If it had been their good fortune to meet a really representative English eleven and to have been victorious, as they might well have been, cricketers in England would have suddenly realised that they were worth goin g to see, and then all that would have been necessary for them to do was to win most of their matches. But although they beat the so-called England eleven easily enough people said to themselves : “ Oh, it was only ‘ an eleven,’ and not representative,” and no one was greatly impressed. But, as a matter of fact, their cricket was always well worth watching, and again it was not their fault that in many of their matches the strongest available team was not put in the field against them, so that the aver­ age cricketer said, “ Oh yes, they beat such and such a county, but this and that man did not play.” I f a county should happen to be unwise enough to give several of its players a rest in a match against the Australians, and were soundly beaten, everybody would say that it served them right. I f in a future tour the South Africans can force their opponents to play their very strongest teams against them, for fear of defeat, they will find that, like the Australians, they can attract large crowds, and that there will be no question of a monetary loss on the tour. But decidedly the matches ought all to be against teams which are reckoned as first-class. When one comes to think seriously over the tour one is amazed at the pro­ gress which has been made b y the South Africans in a matter of ten years. The progress of the Australians was very slow in comparison with it. Let it be remem­ bered that hardly any of the players in the team ever see a turf wicket until they come to England, that the centres where cricket is played are few and hundreds of miles apart, and that a really fine player only has an opportunity of meeting his equals once or twice iu a season. The whole business must be very discouraging, and yet, despite all difficulties, the pre­ sent team has shown itself quite capable of holding its own against all the counties, when the conditions under which the matches were played were fairly equal. One o f the drawbacks of constantly playing on matting wickets, which are practically always hard be the weather wet or fine, is that the South Africans have not been able to find bowlers who can make the best possible use of slow and soft turf wickets. Happily this has not mattered very much during the tour, but whenever the team has come across this sort of wicket it has had to fight desperately hard. No doubt there are men in South Africa who would soon find out how to overcome this diffi­ culty, but the worst of it is that such men seldom come to the front there. The excellence of the bow )ing of the present team has been a surprise to English cricketers, who found that what was thought likely to be the weakest point o f the team has been one of the strongest. K o lzeis by general consent the fastest bowler of the day, and at timesis exceedinglydifficult. If the wicket happens to be a little fiery there are very few men indeed who can play him with any confidence. His great success has been well deserved. For some time he and Schwarz, who has developed a style o f his own, have been right in the front of the bow ling averages, and although during the last week or two they have taken a slightly lower place in the list, they have both had a brilliant record. Schwarz ij one of those bowlers who have a mysterious “ something ” about them which enables them to take wickets when other men are quite helpless. In Sinclair and Tancred the team has had very useful change bowlers, who on occations have been most effective. The batting has been decidedly strong. Tan­ cred is, without question, the best batsman in the team, with Hathorn not far behind him. Sinclair, like most hitters, has been variable, but when he gets going he is delightful to watch, and may turn the fortunes of a game very quickly. M itchell has not made many large scores, but on many occasions during the tour his steady and accurate play has been of the greatest assistance to the side. Shalders has also played exceedingly well throughout the tour. Like most Australian teams the South Africans have no tail to speak of, and Schwarz, Halliwell, White and Snooke are just as likely to make runs as anybody else, and the more desperate the situation the better they seem to play. In fielding the team has set a good example to many English counties; the men all work hard, and what is more they are enterprising. All that need be said of the wicket-keeping is that, by most cricketers who have played against the team, Halliwell is considered to be abso­ lutely the best wicket-keeper of the present day. I f the regular members of the South African team of 1904 were scattered about England and eligible to play for the various counties, there is not one of them who would not be wel­ comed by some county team or other. Mitchell, as everybody knows, has played for Yorkshire when he could do so. Halliwell, as m ight have been expected, was asked to play for Middlesex, and even the very strongest counties would be glad if they could avail themselves of the tervices of Tancred, Hathorn, Sinclair, Schwarz or Kotze. W . A. B e t t e s w o r t h . WANDERERS C.C. S ea son 1904. Matches played, S3; w on,17; lost, 9 ; drawn, 7. BATTING AVERAGES. No. Times Most of not Total in an inns. oat. runs. inns. Aver. L. de Montezuma ... 10 ,... 2 .... 455 .. 139 ... 53-87 S. Colman.......... ... 33 ... 6 ...,1076 ... 108* .. 38-46 L. S. W ells......... ... 8 ... 2 ... 232 .,.. 63*... 38*60 H. D. Wyatt ... ... 12 ... 1 ..., 416 .. . 108 ... 37*81 T. A. Darke ... 16 ,... 2 .. 493 .... 97 ... 35*43 K. E. M. Barker ... 10 .. 0 . 288 .... 186 ... 28-80 E. H. Fischer ... ... 7 ... 1 ... 155 .. . f>0*... 27*50 A. E. Damian ... ... 22 ,... 2 ... 465 .. 79 ... 23 25 A. E. Waller ... ... 15 ,... 0 ... 334 .,.. 106 .. . 22-26 A. M. Latham ... ... 16 .. 3 ... 248 .... 42 ... 1907 R. B. Brooks ... ... 17 ... 0 .... 598 .... 61 .. . 17 52 D. L. A. Jephson ... 19 ...2 .. 294 .... 90 ... 1729 G. R. Blades ... 8 . ... 1 ... 113 .. . 59 ... 16*14 H. M. Langdale .. 12 ... 0 ... 175 .. 58 ... 1**57 P. P. Lincoln . . ... 10 ,... 1 .... 108 .... 45 .. . 12*00 J. E. G. Hadath ... 7 . ... 1 ..., 68 ... 24 ... 1133 J. D. Gillespie .. ... 11 ... 1 ... 127 .. 42 ... in-68 A. L. S. Rose ... ... 19 ... 6 .... 127 .... 21 ... 9*77 O. Taylor .......... ... 7 ... 1 ... 43 ... 24 ... 7*16 Under 7 innings:— Dr. O. J. Damian ... 5 ... 0 . 184 ..,. 91 ... 35*83 M. Baker .......... ... 5 .... 0 .... 90 ... 45 ... 18-00 E. A. Beldam ... ... 6 ... 0 ... 107 ... 58 ... 1783 A. E. Earnshaw ... 6 . ... 1 .. . 62 .. 30* .. 1240 H. W aller.......... ... 5 . .. 2 ..,, 20 ..,. 16*. . 666 The following also batted :—H. C. Pretty, 25,5 and 79; C. G. Gilletpie, 33 and 9* ; R. M. Bell, 12 and 16; H. W. Dillon, 4* and 25* ; G. M. B. Roose, 17and 22 I J. Carr, 4 ; W . F. L. Frith, 8; W. T. Graburn, 7 and 30; A. B. Leave, 1, 14, 0 and 9; B. Burton, 5 ; H. T. Bull, 19; W. Phillips, 36 ; W. R. Bingham, 13* and 0; C. Kenward, 0, 6, 1 and 9 ; H. Stafford-Webber, 6 and 3 ; J. R. Conyers. 2; A. W . Boultbee, 4* and 0 ; Sir C. Moon, 1, o and 24; J. Stedman, 11 and 6 ; J. P. Clarkson, 6 ; T. 8. Tregellas, 10* ; H. Hawkins, 1 and 9*; F. S. Nightingale, 1. * Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. R. M. Bell ... .,.. 23 ... 2 ... 65 .... 11 ... 6*99 K. E. M. Barker .. 135.1 .. 34 ... 317 .. 85 ..., 9v5 D. L. A. Jephson ... 276.5 .. 34 ... 823 .,.. 62 . 1327 L. 8. Wells ........ . 72 .. 3 , 274 .... 16 ... 17*12 A. L. S. Rose........ .. 336 .,.. 73 1008 ... 58 ... 17*37 G. R. Blades .......... 84 ... 19 ... 251 . 14 , 17*91 L. de Montezuma .. 161 . .. 35 .. . 504 ..,. 27 ... 18-66 J. D. Gfleepie .. 74 ... 17 ... 228 .. 10 , 22-80 H. D. W yatt........ . 144 ... 26 . 45) ... 14 ..., 82 33 S. Colman .........,. 178 ... 23 . 647 .. 15 ... 36-46 The following also b o w le d O . Taylor, 9 for 190; A. B. Leane, 7 for 100; J. Stedman, 1 for 34; T. L. Nightiogale, 2 for 15; J. R. Conyers, 6 for 63; C. Ken« ard, 4for 18); H .T. Bull, 8 for 52; H. Stafford- Webber, 3 for 99; A. E. Waller, 2 for 9; Sir C. Moan. 1 for 7 ; A. E. Earnshaw, 5 for 171 ; and P. P. Lincoln, 1 for 46. BRIXTON WANDERERS (2) v. HAMPTON WICK (2).—Played at Htmpton Wick on August 27. H ampton A. E. Miles, c Hogg, b Russell................. 1 P. Daws, c Glanvill, b Russell .................18 R. F. Bull, c Glanvill, b Harbert.................18 F. P. Bull, b Harbert 17 W. D Colmer, c Lewis, b Harbert................ 9 H. E. Austin, run out 4 W ic k (2). H. J. B. King, c Glan­ vill, b Godrich De S. Gavey, not out J. F. Fitzgerald, run out ......................... G.G.Gilbey, b Godrich A. E. Holland, b Har­ bert B 7, lb 3, w 1 11 Total.. 92 B bixto n W an d erers (2). A. J. Whyte, c Gavey, J. W . E. Murray, c b Holland................ 64 Gilbey, b King 0 A. V. Russell, run out 0 L. Lewis, c Colmer, b C. Hogg, c Miles, b Austin ................. 4 K in g ........................ 21 E. T. Bond, b Austin 4 A. Harbert, c Bull, b J. F. Godrich, c Fitz­ K in g ........................ 1 gerald, b Austin ... 4 J. B. Brooks, c FitzB. A. Glanvill,notout 4 gerald, b King 27 B 12, lb 5, w 2 19 S. Thurston, c sub, b — Bull ........................ 13 Total ..........161 R ICHARD DAFT’S “ Nottinghamshire Marl.” — Particulars apply, Radcliffe on-Trent, Notts. [A d v t .