Cricket 1905

250 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD 0E THE GAME. J uly 6, 1905. uufortuna'e Yorkshire, with five players selected for England, suffered their third defeat, chiefly because they won the toss and went in first. T he disadvantages under which a great bowler labours wh9n he belongs to a weak county were plainly evidenced in the case of Dennett in Gloucestershire v. Australians last week. Dennett is un­ questionably a great bowler, and because of this he was kept on to bowl until 217 runs had been bit off him, and after all he only took four wickets. It is notice­ able that G. L. Townsend, who went on as fifth change, took three wickets for 41 runs, a fact which must have made his captain thoughtful when he cime to look over the analyses of his bowlers. L a s t week, J. N. Crawford, the young Surrey cricketer, who is still at Repton, had very much to do with the victory of his school over Uppingham School. He made 163 runs out of a total of 280, and took four wickets in the first innings, and six in the second for five runs. Repton was victorious by an inniogs and 76 runs. F ob the fortnight previous to Monday the name of L. O. S. Poidevin, the Anglo- Australian, was most prominently before the public. During all that time he had the fortune to bat on easy wickets. Oa June 20 he made 122 for Lancashire against Somersetshire; on June 22, 23 and 24, he scored 76 and 168 not out for Lan­ cashire v. Worcestershire, besides takiDg eight wickets for 68 in the first innings ; on June 26 he only made three for Lan­ cashire against Notts, but on the following day took five wickets for 93; on June 29 he made 138 for Lancashire v. Sussex. M e a n w h ile in the same space of time, C. B. Pry, who had to play on several difficult wickets also greatly distinguished himself. On June 15 and 16 he mide 73 and 36 not out for England against Australia; on June 19, 20 and 21, his scores were 9 and 175 for Sussex v. Kent ; he did not play on June 22, 23 and 24, but on June 26, 27 and 28 he made 111 aud 35 against Yorkshire, and on June 30 and July 1,43 and 54 against Lancashire. This is a brilliant record, for in every match he had to meet fine bowling. A FEW years ago Yorkshire could do nothing wrong, and generally when there was any luck about it did not come in the way of opposing sides. Now things have greatly changed. Even a county such as Derbyshire, the sport of fortune for years, has managed this year to pay off one of its old scores against Yorkshire. Lancashire, for whom the weather has played with enthusiasm for a long time, took down their colours at Whitsuntide because of the rain; and now Kent, who have suffered much at the hands of Yorkshire, lose the toss against them and find that by so doing they have gained so great an advantage that they win with ease. Yorkshire may possibly be the champion county after all, but the odds are now very greatly against this. M e a n w h il e Lancashire go cheerfully onward, winning the toss at the right time, frequently getting much the best of the wicket, and making a draw when their opponents get the upper hand. But this is the way of champion counties. You nearly always find that if a cham­ pion county by any chance gets into a tight corner because of rain or any other misfortune, more rain comes at the right time and defeat is staved off. A cham­ pion county needs a great deal of luck, and generally has it. It will be remem­ bered that Lancashire had much the worst of the games against Warwickshire and Notts, but their unbeaten record still remains. T h e death is announced of Mr. M. Jones, the old Oxford Blue. In Mr. Betham’s recent book “ Oxford and Cambridge Scores and Biographies ” he is described as “ Harrow and University. Born at Penylan, December 20th, 1829. Oxford Eleven, 1849-50. Harrow Eleven, 1845-47. J.P. and D .L. for Cardigan and Carmarthen. High Sheriff, 1854.” Mr. Jones played as a bowler for Oxford. In the Cambridge match in 1849 he took four wickets in the first innings and one in the second, and in 1850 he took six wickets in the first innings —no analysis was kept. R e fe r r in g to C. B. Fry’s two innings of 111 and 35 against Yorkshire last week, Mr. A. J. Gaston in the Brighton Argus gives Fry’s record against York­ shire. It will be observed that he requires but four runs to complete his two thous­ and against Yorkshire. The record is as follows:— M r . 0. B. FEY v. YORKSHIRE. Year. Ground. For. 1stins. 2nd ins. 1896 ... Hove......... ... Sussex .... 14 ... 42 1897 ... Hove.......... ... Sussex ... 8 ... 55 1898 .. . Bradford ... Sussex ... 67 ... 20 1898 .. . Hove......... ... Sussex ... 179* ... 0 1899 .. . Harrogate ... Sussex ... 11 ... 162* 1899 .. . Hove.......... ... Sussex ... 0 ... 27 1900 .. . Sheffield... ... Sussex ... 3 ... 42 1900 .. . Hove......... ... Sussex ... 55 1901 .. . Bradford ... Sussex ... 15 !” 29 1901 .. . Hove.......... ... Sussex ... 209 1902 .. . Leeds ... Sussex ... 68 ..! 70 1902 ... Hove.......... ... Sussex .... 25 1903 ... Bradford ... Sussex ... 234 1903 ... Hove......... ... Sussex ... 4 ” . 0 1904 .. . Sheffield ... ... Sussex ... 177 1904 ... Hove.......... ... Sussex ... 229 1905 ... Leeds ... Sussex ... Ill 35 1901 ... Lord’s ... England.... 105 T o ta l.......... 1,514 482 Aggregate ol runs 1,996 for 27 completed innings: average 73.92. ’ •Signifies not out. I n the match at the Oval last week between Surrey and Cambridge Univer­ sity Lord Dalmeny, who is a thorough sportsman, closed the Surrey second innings when four wickets were down, giving Cambridge a fair chance of win­ ning. The University had to make 167 runs in an hour and three quarters, with Lees away from the Surrey team. Old Cambridge men who were watching the game must have been sadly disappointed when the University steadily laid them­ selves out to bring about a draw. One can easily imagine the joy with which the Cambridge elevens captained by Jessop, N. F. Druce, F. S. Jackson, S. M. J. Woods, F. G. J. Ford, Lord Hawke, A. G. Steel, Hon. A.. Lyttelton, or G. H. Longman would have accepted Lord Dalmeny’s sporting challenge. But times have changed. The sentimental notion that “ ’Tis better to have loved and lost thin never to have loved at all,” has given way to the stolid maxim, “ A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” On Saturday Gloucestershire were able to make an honourable draw against the Australians, although the weather fought desperately against them. For their easy escape from defeat they had largely to thank R. T. Godsell, who kept up his wicket in the second innings for two hours and a-quarter, and was still uncon­ quered when the match ended. If Godsell has a sense of humour he must have been delighted with F. A. Iredale’s comments in the Daily Mail on his dis­ play: “ Godsell, who is the soul of patience, gathered iu a few, but he is not a batsman gifted with much enterprise.” Two other men, Vine aud Killick, must have been pleased wh=m they read Monday’s newspapers, if they also have a sense of humour. Sussex, with no possi­ bility of beating Lancashire, had a pros­ pect of losing after Fry had been dis­ missed in the second innings, for two hours and twenty minutes remained for play, and the wicket enabled the bowlers to turn the ball. Yine and Killick therefore “ stonewalled,” and succeeded so well in their efforts that when stumps were pulled up twenty minutes before time their county was in an excellent position. This was naturally annoying to their opponents, and Tyldesley spoke out as follows in Monday’s Daily Mail :— Even playing for a drawcan he made inter­ esting, hut Vine and Killick played too much for the draw. When full toases and long hops are allowed to go unpunished cricket becomes childish, and they had them in plenty. This raises an interesting question. Why should a man like Vine, whose steady game has been of immense value to his side again and again, be expected to alter his style the moment that there is no longer much chance that his county will be defeated ? A team which has had all the worst of the luck in the way of weather naturally likes to end up as well as possible, and if Vine and Killick, in deference to public opinion and the wishes of their opponents, had gone in for brilliant hitting when the game seemed safe, Sussex might have had to struggle desperately to save themselves. As it was they ended the match with the greatest credit. The Manchester Guardian gives due credit to Vine and Killick in the following remarks:— From the popular point of view, to judge from the ironical cheers that greeted each scoring stroke and, for a time, every ball