Cricket 1905

A u g . 3, 1905. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 307 rand EST H iad L the Cl C O M PL E T E S P O R T S CA TA LO G U E ON A P P L IC A T IO N . B U S S E Y ’S . S fitO. G. BDSSEY & CO, 36 & 38, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, L O N D O N . Manufactory—PECKHAM, S.E. TIMBER MILLS— ELMSWELL , SUFFOLK, AGENT8 ALL OVER THE WORLD, AT TH E SIGN OF TH E W ICK ET . By F. S. A s h le y -C o o p e r . What infinite possibilities there are in the game of cricket was clearly shown both at Lord’s and the Oval on Saturday last, when, after appearing to have the best of the game from the beginning, Middlesex succumbed to Essex whilst Surrey suffered defeat at the hands of the Australians. Middlesex, it is true, declared their second innings closed— prematurely, as events proved—when but three wickets had fallen, and, although the policy was one which risked defeat being inflicted, it was also one which was doubtless appreciated by the Saturday afternoon crowd, inasmuch as it caused them to witness a race with the clock instead of a tame finish. Mr. Warner’s action was one which might fre­ quently be adopted by other captains, to the benefit of the game and for the pleasure of players and spectators alike. If a match can possibly be finished, every effort should be made to secure a definite result. More general use of the power conferred upon captains of declaring their innings closed would add greatly to the popularity of cricket and cause many fine finishes to be seen. Occasionally a side might be beaten, after a declaration had been made—as Middlesex were at Lord’s last week, and Hampshire at Bournemouth a fortnight ago—but 'Tis better to have declared and lost Than never to have played at all, and, except in very rare circumstances, a sporting finish would, in itself, prove almost sufficient recompense for a defeat sustained a few minutes before time. Law 54, which deals with the declaration of an innings, expressly states that, in a three-days’ match, the closure may be applied only “ at or after the luncheon interval on the second day.” Why a side might be forced to continue bat­ ting against its will—as would happen if it wished to declare its innings closed at the commencement of the second day—is one of those mysteries of the game which require elucidation. When Yorkshire played Derby­ shire at Chesterfield in 1898, they scored 503 without the loss of a wicket on the opening day, but on the morrow were obliged to con­ tinue their innings, with the result that some of the players threw their wickets away, although a total of 662 was eventually obtained. Perhaps in the near future the Advisory Committee of the Counties will deal with this matter as well as with others con­ cerning the laws of the game. Mr. Perrin experienced a most pleasing turn of Fortune’swheel last week when, after having made but a single score of 50 in an inter-county match during the season, he scored 140 and 103 not out against Middlesex (his native shire) at Lord’s. To obtain two separate hundreds in a first-class match is no longer an exceptional performance—it has been accomplished no less than six times during the present season, three instances occurring last week—but it is, nevertheless, still a feat of some note. It is an interesting fact that the six players—Messrs. Bosanquet, Fry, Greig, A. J. L. Hill, Perrin and Levi Wright—who have achieved the performance this year are all amateurs. From this it would, of course, be absurd to argue that our best batsmen are necessarily to be found in the ranks of the amateurs, for in Hayward, Hirst and Tyldesley are three men who are undoubtedly better players than five of the above, and probably more accomplished bats­ men, though not more prolific run-getters, than the other. But it cannot be denied that the Gentlemen are very strong in batting at the present time, the absence from great matches of Ranjitsinhji, R. E. Foster, Frank Mitchell and T. L. Taylor notwithstanding. The result of the match at the Oval between Surrey and the Australians—a victory for the visitors by 22 runs—was one which, even half an hour before the end was reached, was quite unexpected. Whilst sympathising with Surrey in losing all their advantage at quite the end of the game—their last four wickets fell without a ran one cannot but experience a certain amount of relief that the Australians were not beaten by a very weak team, for a defeat for them would, in the circumstances, have made the match historic, in addition to proving a very severe blow to the prestige of the side. (For any seeming disloyalty to my old club in this expression of opinion I humbly crave the forgiveness of Surrey’s ever-busy, ever-kindly Secretary). The honours of the game clearly belonged to Smith, who took twelve of the visitors’ wickets for 124 runs, and to Hill, who scored 89 and 104, though Armstrong’s bowling in the last stage of the match, without which a definite result could not have been reached, must not be overlooked. Not since the initial match of the tour had Hill shown such fine form as on Thursday and Saturday last. He came within eleven runs oEequalling Trumper’s record of two separate hundreds in an Anglo-Australian match, a feat which, for the fourth time during his career, he missed performing by a few runs only. Noble, M’Donnell and Darling have also been within measurable distance of achieving the feat:— 89 and 104, C.Hill, Australians v. Surrey, at the Oval ................................. 1905 86 and 100*, M. A. Noble, Australians v. Oxford Univ., at Oxford............. 1899 105 and 86, V. Trumper, Australians v. M.C.C. and Ground, at Lord’s ...1902 124and83, P. S. McDonnell, Australia v. England, at Adelaide .................... 1884-85 107 and 80, C. Hill, South Australia v. England, at Adelaide.................... 1901-02 98and 97, O. Hill, Australia v. England, at Adelaide....................................... 1901-2 88 and 96, J. Darling, South Australia v. England, at Adelaide..................... 1897:98 87 and 93, O. Hill, Australians v. Gentle­ men, at Crystal Palace.....................1905 * Signifies not out. Immediately prior to his scores of 98 and 97 Hill had played an innings of 99 in a Test match at Melbourne. The recent match between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire was the 86th between the two counties. Run-getting was by no means heavy for twentieth-century cricket, owing to the fact that, during the night before the match commenced, heavy rain fell at Not­ tingham, so that the wicket which was to have been used was discovered to be too soft for the purpose, a fresh pitch having to be found. Appended is a SYNOPSIS OF RESULTS OF MATCHES PLAYED BETWEEN YORKSHIRE AND NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. Date of Won Won First by by § Ground. Match. Yorks. Notts. Drawn, h Bradford ......... 1863 ... 1 ... 2 ... 4 ... 7 Nottingham .,.1863 ... 14 ... 15 ... 13 ... 42 Dewsbury......... 1868 ... 0 ... 1 ... 1 ... 2 Sheffield ......... 1869 ... 11 ... 6 ... 10 ... 27 Prince's ......... 1872 ... 0 ... 1 ... 0 ... 1 Huddersfield ...1873 ... 1 ... 1 ... 0 ... 2 Leeds ............... 1894 ... 2 ... 0 ... 1 ... 3 Scarborough ...1900 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 ... 1 Hull ............... 1902 ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 In Yorkshire... ... 16 ... 10 ... 17 ... 43 In Notts.................14 ... 15 ... 13 ... 42 Neutral Grounds... 0 ... 1 ... 0 ... 1 Grand Total................. 30 ...26 ...30 ...86 Both matches played this year ended in favour of Yorkshire,