Cricket 1904

68 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME, A p r il 21, 1904. MacLaren (168*) at one time added 200 runs in 100 minutes, 71 at one period being obtained in 25 minutes. three hours and a half, Middlesex obtained 316 for eight wickets, and beat Somerset by two wickets ten minutes before time. when questioned by representatives of the Press, but Mr. Warner spoke freely and at length. He defended his own policy as c«ptain, and was emphatic in his statement that the victories of his side were in no degree attributable to good luck. To a representative of the D aily Chronicle he said:— “ What do I think of my team ? The best that has ever been to Australia. Our bowling was excellent. People grumbled about the frequent changes, but our success justifies that. “ Look at Bosanquet, for instance. Six wickets for 45. No batsman could stand against him. He got them out every time. The Australians, on the other hand, were not so good in their bowling as they were in ’97, when they had some of the old men with them. “ But however that may have been, please do contradict all those stories about luck. There was no such thing in the whole of the tour. “ At Adelaide we were beaten fair and square, though perhaps at Melbourne the toss won them the game, just as it did us the second match. “ We were the better team, that’s what it amounts to. 'Jhe Australians badly want another bowler. “ Just whilst I think of it, let me con­ tradict another canard. I never had anything in the nature of a hitch with Noble, the Australian captain. He is an excellent sportsman, and it is a mystery to me how those extraordinary stories got abroad. ‘ ‘ The catching f There is another instance for you. People spoke of twenty and thirty misses in a match. Ridiculous. As a matter of fact, as a rule there were no more than three.” Again, to the Sportsman representa­ tive, Mr. Warner said that He was naturally greatly pleased with the success achieved, and did not attempt to dis­ guise his gratification. He admitted that they had had some hard tussles, but they had managed to pull through, and he regarded not a little of the success as due to the'excel­ lence and variety of his attack. “ I was accused,” he added, “ in certain quarters of being a quick-change bowling artiste, but I knew my men well and it paid. That was the great thing. Fregoli was a quick-change artiste, and a success, and I followed his example, Take, for instance, the fourth and deciding Test match at Sydney. Here Arnold had captured two wickets for 19 runs, but I substituted Bosanquet, and what did he do? He secured five victims for a dozen runs, and though the last two wickets raiher spoilt his figures, they read six for 51, and his bowling had a large share in our gaining the rubber, which it was just as well was not dependent on the last match.” “ Though he did not disguise the disagree­ able character of *he ‘ barracking’—he did not apparently lay great stress on it. He defended his having addressed the occupants of the pavilion at Sydney—though he may not have been heard by the majority—and stated that had he been able earlier to have said but a few words by way of appeal, he thought he could have nipped the demonstra­ tion against Crockett, who was an excellent umpire, in the bud. As to the ‘ incident ’ over the appointment of the umpires for the other Test Match at Sydney, the N.S.W. authorities were acting altogether ultra vires ; it was nothing at all to do with them. As for Noble, he paid him unreserved tribute as Sussex v. Hampshire, at Brighton, July 9th, 10th, and 11th.—In the first innings of Sussex, Llewellyn (G. C. B.) at one time bowled unchanged for two hours and forty minutes. For Hampshire, E. M. Sprot (103) at one period of his innings was chiefly re­ sponsible for 30 runs being obtained from two consecutive overs delivered by Tate (P. W .). The first over was punished for 14 runs (0, 4, 4, 1, 1, 4), and the second for 16 (0, 3, 1, 4, 4, 4). Warwickshire v.Philadelph’ns, at Coventry, July 9th and 10th.—In the second innings of the Philadelphians, F. H. Bohlen (93) scored his last 70 runs out of 78 obtained whilst in. Lancashire v. Somerset, at Manchester, July 9th, 10th, and 11th.—In the first innings of Lancashire A. H. Hornby (81) scored his last 72 runs out of 86 obtained whilst in. Derbyshire v. Notts, at Derby, July 9th, 10th, and 11th.—Derbyshire won by 114 runs .—the first victory they have ever obtained over Notts. Themateh dates back to 1875. Kent v. Lancashire, at Tunbridge Wells, July 13th, 14th, and loth. Play was sus­ pended for a short time on the first day during the funer 1 of J. N. Tonge, at Chevening, near Sevencaks. Worcestershire v. Philadelphians, at Worcester, July 13th, 14th, and 15th.—In the first innings of Worcestershire Cuffe (J.) hit a nine (four being for an overthrow) in his innings of 91. Surrey v. Lancashire,at the Oval, July 16th > 17th, and 18th.—Owing to rain, play on the last day was restricted to a maiden over bowled by Cuttell (W. R.) to N. Miller. Yorkshire v. Worcestershire, at Hudders­ field, July 16th, 17th, and 18th.—Yorkshire declared their only innings closed with the score 76 for one wicket. The totals obtained in the match were : Worcestershire (24 and 27 for 6 wkts.) and Yorkshire (76 for one w icket; innings declared closed). London County v. M.C.C. and Ground, at the Crystal Palace, July 20th, 21st, and '22nd. •—K. S. Banjitsinhji (132) and P. B. May (25*) added 136 runs for the tenth wicket of London County, after nine wickets had fallen for 68. When May went in Banjitsinhji had scored 22*. Yorkshire v. Gloucestershire, at Sheffield, July 27th, 28th, and 29th.—In the second innings of Gloucestershire (36) the first five wickets went down for 3 runs, all of them overthrows. Seven wickets were down for six runs. Sussex v. Philadelphians, at Brighton, July 27th, 28th and 29th.—This match was abandoned without a ball being bowled, owing to rain. Essex v. Hampshire, at Leyton, July 27th, 28th and 29th.—This match was abandoned without a ball being bowled, owing to rain. Gloucestershire v. Sussex, at Bristol, August 3rd, 4th and 5th.—For Gloucester­ shire, G. L. Jessop (92) and Langdon, T. (58) added 106 runs for the fifth wicket in 70 minu’es, of which number Langdon made but ten, and W . S. A. Brown (155) and lioberts, F. G. (11*) added 104 for the tenth wicket, of which number the latter made but 11 *. Somerset v. Middlesex, at Taunton, August 3rd, 4th and 5th.—Set 313 runs to win in Surrey v. Philadelphians, at the Oval, August 6th, 7th and 8th.—In the first innings of the Philadelphians, F. C. Sharpless at one time batted for 35 mii.utes without obtaining a run. Leicestershire v. Yorkshire, at Leicester, August 6th, 7th and 8th. In the first innings of Leicestershire, Y. F. S. Crawford made 77 out of 95 obtained whilst in and Gill (G.) 61 out of 79 in 50 minutes. Surrey v. Derbyshire, at the Oval, August 10th, 11th, and 12th.—Owing to rain, E. M. Dowson’s innings of 100* lasted part of each of the three days. Sussex v. Lancashire, at Brighton, August 10th, 11th and 12th.—K. S. Banjitsinhji batted for 35 minutes before opening his score, and then only did so by means of a mis-hit. Yorkshire v. Essex, at Sheffield, August 17th, 18th and 19th.—On the last day of the match Lord Hawke declared the Yorkshire innings closed with the score 76 for three wickets, leaving Essex 55 minutes in which to obtain 86 runs to win. When time arrived Essex had scored 36 runs for eight wickets. Middlesex v. Kent, at Lords’ , August 24th, 25th and 26th.—This match was abandoned without a ball being bowled, owing to rain. Surrey v. Middlesex, at the Oval, August 27th and 28th.—In the first innings of Surrey, Trott (A. E.) at one period obtained six wickets for two runs, the last four being taken without a run. Yorkshire v. M.C.C. and Ground, at Scar­ borough, August 27th, 28th and 29th.—In the first innings of the M.C.C. and Ground, Rhodes (W.) obtained his first five wickets for but two runs. Gentlemen v. Players, at Hastings, September 10th, 11th, and 12th.—On the first day Hirst. G. H. (124*) made 34 runs off two consecutive overs delivered by H. C. McDonnell—fifteen (0, 4, 0, 4, 6,1) offthefirst and nineteen (4, 6, 2, 0, 6, 1) off the second. He and Bhodes (W .) at one time obtained 55 runs in 18 minutes, the two, in all, adding 92* for the seventh wicket, of which number Rhodes claimed but 16*. th e ENn. THE RETURN OF THE M.C.C. TEAM. On Sunday evening, almost unan­ nounced in the newspapers, all the members of the M.O.C. team, except Mr. R. E. Poster, arrived at Victoria, afteranoverlandpassage fromMarseilles. Mr. Poster remainedin Paris. Notwith­ standing the absence of information as to the expected time of the arrival of the team, a large number of people made their way to Victoria, and gave the travellers anexceedinglyheartywelcome. Among the well-known cricketers who were on the platform were Captain Wynyard, Messrs. F. E. Lacey, S. S. Pawling, F. H. Browning, E. C. Mor- daunt, G. F. Hearne, andN. E. T. Bosan­ quet. The voyage from Australia had been exceedingly pleasint, and all the members of the team looked well. For the most part they declined to be drawn