Cricket 1905

J uly 13, 1905. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 265 and it had nothing whatever to do with the winning of matches. T h e Hampshire match gave the Australians quite a nice little haul of hundreds, and their record for the season is now as follows:— M. A. Noble, v. Gentlemen (Crystal Palace)... 162 W. W . Armstrong, v. Notts ........................112 W. W. Armstrong, v. Gentlemen (Lord’s) ... 248* J. Darling, v. Gentlemen (Lord’s ) .................117* O. Hill,,v. Lancashire......................................113 M. A. Noble, v. Warwickshire........................125 Victor Trumper, v. Gloucestershire ..........108 0. Hill, v. Hampshire...................................... 115 M. A. Noble, v. Hampshire ........................101 S. E. Gregory, v. Hampshire ........................ 134 * Signifies not out. This brings their total to ten, while six have been scored against them. The teams for the match which begins next Monday at the Oval between Gentlemen and Players are as follows :— GENTLEMEN. G. L. Jessop (Gloucestershire), G. W. Beldham (Middlesex), J. F. Byrne (Warwickshire), C. J. B.* Wood (Leicestershire), W. W. Odell (Leicestershire), H. Martyn (Somerset), L. G. Wright (Derbyshire), C. H. McGahey (Essex), J. H. Hunt (Middlesex), and Two others. PLAYERS. Lilley (Warwickshire), uaife (W. G.) (Warwickshire), ayward (Surrey), Lees (Surrey), Hayes (Surrey), Gunn (J.) (Notts). Iremonger (Notts), Dennett (Gloucestershire), Knight (Leicestershire), King (J. H.) (Leicestershire), and Warren (Derbyshire). I n the second innings of Cambridge against Oxford five wickets fell for 44; in the second innings of Oxford five wickets fell for 47. But, because in the Cambridge second innings the next two men made a slight stand on Friday after­ noon, Udal, who was beating the batsmen time after time, although he had only taken one wicket, was taken off—a fatal mistake from which Oxford never re­ covered. On the next morning the Cambridge captain had to deal with an almost precisely similar situation, for when a short stand was made for the sixth and seventh wickets Napier was beating the batsmen just as Udal had done, and from the same end, while he had only taken one wicket. But Mann resisted the temptation to take him off, and accordingly won the match. E v e r y bowler in the University match who was tried at the Nursery end made the ball rise occasionally in a most awkward manner, Udal, the fastest bowler on either side, being especially difficult. Yet, although Wright and Raphael made nearly two hundred runs in partnership, May, the fastest bowler on the Cambridge side, was never tried at that end, and Morcom only for a couple of overs before the close of the first day, when he made the ball stand almost on end. Again, when, in the Cambridge second innings, after|Colbeck and M ‘Don- ell had mastered the bowling, Udal was given a second turn with the ball, he was tried at the pavilion end, and it was not until the partnership had produced about 140 that he was reinstated at the Nursery end. At once, as he had always done, he began to beat the batsmen, and the partnership was broken. It was all very puzzling to a thoughtful spectator. S e v e n ty -o n e matches have now been played between Oxford and Cambridge. Of these Cambridge have won thirty-four, Oxford thirty, while seven have been drawn. O n Friday afternoon at about three o’clock it was estimated that the odds against a victory for Cambridge against Oxford were at the very least fifty to one. For at that time Cambridge, in their second inniDgs, had lost five wickets for 44, and still required 57 to save the innings defeat, with the two Oxford bowlers, Evans and Udal, at the top of their form. Half an hour later an­ other wicket fell with the total at 77, and yet Cambridge won with some ease. T h e intelligent foreigner must some­ times think that the English are an amazing people. What must have been his mystification when he saw the following announcement on one of the contents bills of the evening papers !— WONDERFUL EFFORT BY COLBECK. A n hour and a half after the Varsity match was over on Saturday a carriage containing two ladies, apparently mother and daughter, drew up before one of the entrances to Lord’s. The younger lady, who seemed a little puzzled at the absence of any of the signs which denote that an important match is in progress, descended and had a short conversation with a sym­ pathetic policeman, who explained the situation to her. But just as she was returning to her seat in the carriage a kindly spectator, doubtless moved by her look of disappointment, said: “ But you’re in plenty of time for Gentlemen v. Players, missy ! ” T h e Schools were represented in the University match as follows :— Scores. Total, Winchester (4)......... 6, 60, 95,26,16*, 21,1, 4*... 229 Malvern (4) ..........12,4,21,8,4,20,2,3 ... 74 Harrow (3)................ 13, 9, 14, 0, 25, 1 ... 62 Repton (2 ).................51, 0,1*, 13* ... 65 Marlborough (2) ...1,107,18,0 ...126 Eton (1) .................4,9 ... 13 O lifton (l).................50,8 ... 58 Wellington(1)......... 36,26 ... 62 Charterhouse (1) ...28,0 ... 28 Merchant Taylors (1) 99, 6 ... 105 Forest School (1) ...1,11 ... 12 Private (1).................0,10 ... 10 I n bowling the record for the schools was:— O. M. R. W. W inchester.......... 66.4 8 230 9 Malvern................. 25 5 116 6 H arrow ................. 2 0 13 0 R ep ton ................. 42.5 6 100 9 Marlborough ... 46.4 9 160 7 Eton ..........' ... 21 7 51 3 Clifton ................. 6 0 17 0 Forest School ... 15.4 0 79 4 Private ................. 14 1 48 1 I n the Sportsman of Friday last “ Wanderer ” says :— As a society function the annual contest (Oxford v. Cambridge) is still a magnet of considerable attractive power, though to a lesser degree than the Public School fixture that follows in its wake, and to some the cricket is quite of secondary importance. As an illustration of this I would instance an incident for the accuracy of which I am personally able to vouch. At the close of the Cambridge innings, which was brought about by something akin to a collapse, the ground was given over to the usual prome­ nade, but on the ringing of the bell for the clearing of the enclosure the police prevented further ingress from the ring. A couple of ladies and their attendant cavalier approached the police officer on duty, and were cour­ teously informed that they could not pass; it was too late. Whereupon one of the fair ones was heard to exclaim, “ I suppose that bothering cricket is going to begin again ! ” M a n y cricketers who saw the Univer­ sity match were asking what would have happened to Cambridge if A. F. Morcom, who was undoubtedly the best bowler on the field, had not gained his blue. It will be remembered that he only received it a day or two before the match. If he has the opportunity of playing in first- class cricket, and will give careful study to the art of bowling, he will be the best man turned out by the Universities for years. He is medium-paced with a fast ball, is accurate, puts some life into the ball, and has a delightfully easy action, which ought to be the making of him. He has a beautiful yorker, but all through the ’Varsity match it just missed the off stump. N. R. U d a l, the Oxford University bowler, may or may not succeed in first- class cricket, but he is certainly the man for a ’Varsity match, in which most of the batsmen are more or less nervous when they first go to the wickets. He bowls pretty fast, with much variety in the way of pitch if not of pace, and if the wicket helps him a little he can make the ball bump. In one of his overs there was a choice for the batsman as follows Full pitch, good length ball which kept low, half volley, short-pitched ball which rose level with the batsman’s nose, yorker, good length ball which rose shoulder high. T h e remarkable victory by Cambridge reminded manyfold Blues of the match between the Universities in 1870. Last week Cambridge won after losing five of their wickets for 44, and being 27 runs behind at the fall of the sixth wicket. They then set Oxford the task of making 164 to win, thanks chiefly to a brilliant partnership of 143 between Colbeck and McDonell. In 1870 Cambridge were leading by only 12 runs when five wickets were down, but W. Yardley and J. W. Dale put up 116 for the sixth wicket, and Oxford had to make 179 to win. B tjt the parallel ends here, for whereas on Saturday Oxford were always behind when they went in to make the 164 runs, and eventually lost by 40, they made 160 of the 179 runs in 1870 for the loss of five men. When seven wickets were down only 4 runs were required, and then F. C. Cobden bowled his historical over, doing the hat trick, and winning the match by 2 runs.