Cricket 1905

12 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 26, 1905. more than likely that this difference is largely owing to the fact that at Leyton heavy office work before the day’s play began tired him, and sometimes pre­ vented him from getting the last half- hour at the nets which is so valued by b itsmen. In foreign matches there could have been no such duties. In the interview which appeared in Criclcet last month Mr. J. A. Murdoch was made to siy that the new pavilion buildings at Lord’s were erected in 1900. This was, of course, a slip of the pen, the actual date being 1890. A c ir c u l a r has bsen sent to the members of the Hampshire County C.C. asking for their co-operati m in a scheme which is on foot for presenting Dr. Russell Bencraft with a testimonial in acknowledgment of his great services to Hampshire cricket. Subscriptions will be received by Mr. Bernard Harfield, the honorary treasurer of the county club, 27, Portland Street, Southampton. It will be remembered that Dr. Bencraft was honorary secretary of the county club for a quarter of a century, and that he, to all intents and purposes, made Hampshire cricket. Every Hampshire cricketer will entirely agree with the fol­ lowing remarks in the circular about Dr. Bencraft:— “ Dr. Bencraft created the club. Taking charge of it almost in its infancy, by his energy, ability, and enthusiasm, and a per­ suasive manner which was irresistible, he organised, improved and developed it into the great undertaking it is to-day. To his efforts mainly is due the fact that Hampshire possesses the distinction of being a first-class county.” TH E COM ING A U S T R A L IA N T E AM . It invariably happens that when an English team goes to Australia several of the best men who have been chosen are unable to make the tour. The selectors of Australian teams which visit England have no such difficulty to contend with, and accordingly the team of 1905 is the best which can be turned out by Aus­ tralia—in the opinion of those respon­ sible for its choice. On public form the coming team does not seem likely to prove itself the best ever sent over to England, or even to be as strong as the team of 1902. The bowlers are the same as those of 1902, plus Cotter and McLeod, minus Trumble, Saunders and Jones. Several of the most famous English cricketers were of opinion that Trumble in 1902 was not the Trumble of old, and yet he was undoubtedly the bowler of the side. Next to him in point of importance came Saunders, while Jones was occasionally useful. Cotter, the New South Wales fast bowler, and McLeod, who met with but little success when he came to England in 1899, have now to take the place of these three men, for the other bowlers, Noble, Howell, Armstrong and Hopkins, are not likely to be any better than they were in 1902. It was generally admitted, even by the Australians themselves, that if the summer of 1902 had been dry instead of abnormally wet, the Australian bowling would have proved inefficient, and, on the face of it, there seems strong prob­ ability that if the coming summer brings hard wickets the visitors will have a very hard task indeed to hold their own. Same of the members of the M.C.C. Australian team thought much of Hop­ kins as a bowler, and said that he had improved very greatly, while Mr. Bosan- quet, in Wisden, says that the mantle of Trumble may fall on his shoulders. But in the Inter-state matches of 1904-5 he has done nothing at all remarkable. Apparently a very great deal will depend on whether Cotter can prove himself to be another Spofforth. Mr. Bosanquet says of him, “ He should do very well over here. His action is a bit low, but he has plenty of pace, a sure foothold on any wicket, and can generally make the ball get up in disconcerting fashion. . . . . When the wicket was thor­ oughly wet he got a footing where Rhodes was unable to, and made the ball fly tremendously. It was generally chest high, and frequently over one’s head.” This sounds exceedingly promising. Of the other bowlers, Noble has done well in the recent Inter-state matches, but Howell and Armstrong have not greatly distinguished themselves. But it is never safe to count on public form in estimating the chances of success of an Australian team, for Australian bowlers have a way of coming to the front in England even when they have done nothing of note at home. In batting the team is certain to b9 strong. Trumper has not played much in the great matches this season, but he has made some large sc:res in Electorate cricket. Duff, Hill and Noble have all held their own, and Howell has made some fine scores. Gehrs, the new man, seems to be one of the most promising bats in Aus­ tralia, and he has not lost any time in coming ri^ht to the front, for he first appeared in Inter-state cricket ia 1902. He then made 8 and 3 for South Australia against New South Wales; 45 and 0 against Victoria; 63 and 0 in the return against New Sjuth Wales; and 0 and 9 in the return against Victoria. In 1903-4 he had an average of 34-91 for twelve completed innings for South Australia with a highest score of 159. He also did well against the M.C.C. team in the two matches ia which South Australia took part, scoring 31 and 7, and 63 and 30. He was chosen to represent Australia in the final test match, but only scored 3 and o. He is undoubtedly one of the most promising batsmen Australia has ever turned out, not even excluding Trumper and Hill. On the whole, the batting strength of the team seems likely to be greater than any other team has possessed. Apparently M. A. Noble is to captain the coming team, and this to Englishmen hardly seems a judicious move, for Darling has over and over again shown himself to be a great cap­ tain with extraordinary skill in managing his bowling. But the Australians know their own business best, and Noble must have satisfied the authorities that he has all the qualifications which go to make a famous captain. When one considers how strong in batting the team is likely to be and how weak in bowling (unless Cotter proves himself more than worthy of all the high praise which has been bestowed on him), it seems pretty safe to prophesy that if the season of 1905 is fine there will be a considerable number of drawn matches during the Australian tour of 1905. W. A. B. LORD B R A C K L E Y ’S TEAM IN THE WEST IND IES . THE FIRST MATCHAGAINST JAMAICA Played at Kingston on January 13 and 14. Drawn. On the first daythe West Indians scored 143, and the Visitors 121. Simpson Hayward made 34, C. P. Foley 30, and Lord Braekley not out 19. In their second innings Jamaica scored 248 for seven wickets (declared), and when the match was drawn the Englishmen hadmado 106 for six wickets (Capt. Wynyard 38, C. H. M. Ebden 16, Hayes 11). THE SECOND MATCH AGAINST JAMAICA. No details of this match have reached us, except that the Englishmenmade 33 5in their first innings (Capt. Wynyard 103, lhompson 79, and Foley 44). THE MATCH AGAINST EIGHTEEN OF JAMAICA. Played at Kingston on January 16 and 17. This match was drawn, but nothing definite in the way of details has reached us, except that Hayes made 51 not out in the second innings of the visitors. THE THIRD MATCH AGAINST JAMAICA. Played at Kingston on January 20 and 21. The English Team won by an innings and 169 runs. The Englishmen, who won the toss, made 356 on the first day for the loss of seven wiekets. Captain Wynyard scored 157, Hayes 76, Lord Brackley 34, A. F. Somerset 34 not out, and Thompson 11. On the next day Mr. Somerset increased his score to 68, and carried his bat, while T. G. O. Cole also scored 68. The total of the innings was 484 for eight wiekets (declared). Jamaica could do very little against the bowling of Simpson Hayward, who took five wickets for 29 runs. Jamaica scored 203 and 112. BUBSTOW SCHOOL (1st XI.) Matches played, 10; won, 8 ; lost, 2. BATTING- AVEKAlilSj. No. Times No. Most of not of in an Inns. out. Run?. Inns. Aver. D. G. Leadley ... ... 12 .. . 1 ... 360 ... 119 .. 3181 8. R It jwbotham ... 10 .. . 0 ... 200 ... 68 ... 2010 A. F. Wood ... ... 11 .. . 0 . .. 203 ... 39 ... 18*46 A. Tilleard ... , ,.. 10 .. , 1 .,.. 116 . .. 6j*.. . 1277 A. B. Hines ... . ... 9 .. . 4 .. 49 ... 29*.. . 9*80 J. A. Gravett ... ... 12 . 1 . . lOi ... 26 .. . 9-27 S. JDumireaq .. ... 10 .. . 0 ... 68 ... 18 .. . 6*60 J. Wesson............. ... 2 .. . 1 .. 6 . .. 6*.. . 6-00 8. G. Chance ... ... 10 .. . 1 ... 45 . .. 21 .. . 5-00 E. Beaumont ... ... 10 .. . 3 ... 32 ... 11 .. . 4-57 E. Dumiresq .. ... 10 .. . 0 ... 41 ... 20 .. . 4-10 F. Dudmin ... , ... 8 .. . 2 . .. 20 . .. 10*.. . 333 * Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERA0E3. Overs. Mdns. Kuns.Wkts. Aver. J. A. Gravett ... ... 9 ... 2 .. 21 . . 4 . . 626 8. Dumaresq ... A. Tilleard ... 30 . . 10 .. 66 . . 10 . . 6-60 ...164*1 . . 45 .317 . . 48 . 660 A Wood .......... ...128*1 . . 30 ..363 . . 48 .. . 7-36 E. Dumaresq ... ... 64 . . 11 ..119 . . 11 .. . 10'8L F. L)adman ... 3 . . 1 .. 11 . . 1 .. . l i '00