Cricket 1905

314 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 3, 1905. Three men were run out—two of them just before time—and the Australians won by 22 runs five minutes before time. A c h a p t e r on “ The strange vicissi­ tudes of a cricketer ” might well be written by Percy Perrin. Until the Essex match against Sussex a fortnight ago he was persistently followed by bad luck of the worst kind. He could not make runs against the feeblest of bowl­ ing, every catch which he gave was snapped up, and he was nearly a passen­ ger in his team. He made 74 not out against the Sussex bowlers on the last day of a week during which they were worked almost to a standstill, and turned up at Lord’ s with two magnificent innings of 140 and 103 not out for Essex against Middlesex. He has found him- i e'f again. T h e feat of scoring two separate hundreds in a first-class match has now been performed six times this season. It will be noticed that three of these performances took place last week. Here is the record :— May 8, 9 and 10—0. B. Fry, Sussex v. M.C.O, 156 and 106. May 25, 26 and 27.—B. J. T. Bosanquet, Middlesex v. Sussex, 103 aud 100 not out. June 1, 2 and 3.—Captain J. G. Greig, Hampshire v. Worcestershire, 115 and 130. July 24, 29 and 26.—A. J. L. Hill, Hampshire v. Somerset, 124 and 118 not out. July 24, 25 and 26.—L. G. Wright, Derbyshire v. Hampshire, 176 and 122. July 27, 28 and 29.—P. Perrin, Essex v. Middlesex, 140 and 103 not out. P e r r i n must have had an anxious moment on Saturday just before ten minutes past six, for when only four runs were required by Essex to win, his score stood at 99, and as he had scored 140 in the first innings he was within a run of making two separate hundreds in the match. But after such a run of bad luck as he had experienced the fates were kind to him, and he had the bowling. Perrin has now made two separate hun­ dreds twice in a first-class match, his previous effort being 170 and 102 not out for Essex v. Notts at Trent Bridge in 1903. T h e second match played by the M.C.C. team in America took place on Thursday last against Eighteen Colts of Philadelphia. The Colts went in first and made 224, and against this the M.C.C. could only make 116. The M.C.C. followed on and made 110 for six wickets, the match being drawn. The third match, against the Gentle­ men of Philadelphia, was begun on Friday last. The Philadelphia eleven made 217, and the M.C.C. 77 for three wickets. On Saturday the M.C.C. inn­ ings was completed for 244, and when stumps were drawn their opponents had made 234 for eight wickets. The innings concluded on Monday for 239, and the M.C.C., with 213 to win, were dismissed for 151. M a n y cricketers who remember seeiog G. L. Jessop bowl a few years ago, when full pitches and very short bumping balls were part of his repertoire, must have been amused on Saturday at his severe denunciation in the Daily Mail of W. Brearley for bowling full pitches at him at Manchester. But it hardly seems quite the best thing for one player to accuse another in the daily Press of losing his temper because he bowls full pitches. For every fast bowler, or slow bowler for the matter of that, will naturally try full pitches when a man continually runs in at him. O n another page will be found a letter from Mr. J. Rushton, the hon. secretary of the West Australian Cricket Council. Mr. Rushton makes what seems a most reasonable suggestion, viz., that in place of some of the matches played on matt­ ing in up-country districts, the next England team which visits Australia shall play matches in West Australia, where the turf wickets are excellent. It is admitted by nearly every cricketer who has gone with a team to Australia, that it unsettles both batsman and bowler to play on matting wickets just before an important match. A. C. MaOLAREN must always view with apprehension the match at Brighton between the Australians and Sussex, for in each of the last three tours his first- class cricket record of 424 has been in peril. In 1899 Trumper scored 300 against Sussex; in 1902 Noble’s score in the match was 284; and this year Noble has made 276. As he was not out 242 on Monday night, when only four Australian wickets were down, there was a possible chance that he would be able to beat Maclaren’s record, for on occa­ sion he can score at a very great pace, and if he seemed at all likely to beat the record, it is pretty certain that the innings would not have been closed until he had accomplished his object or been dismissed. The Australians have shown that, in an ordinary match, they would give a man every possible chance to make a record, more especially if they had not much hope of actually beating the other side. B ut it may be doubted whether there are many captains who, in an ordinary county match on which the champion­ ship did not depend, would declare their innings closed at lunch on the second day if one of their side were within measurable distance of beating Maclaren’s great record. When one thinks of the enamelled wickets of a few years ago, one is almost surprised that the first-class record has seldom been in serious danger. The chances are that if the record is ever broken it will be in Australia, where the wickets still last for a week. T h e match between Surrey and Derby­ shire, which was to be played at Chester­ field, is to be transferred to Derby. The Derbyshire county committee decided, without any pressure on the part of Surrey, that in the interests of the game it would be advisable not to play the match at Chesterfield this year on account of the wicket. As showing how completely two well- known cricketers may differ about the merits of a particular innings which they have both watched, the two following criticisms from last Friday’s Daily Mail are of great interest. They refer to the innings of 179 played by B. J. T. Bosan­ quet for Middlesex against Essex on the previous day:— From the moment he had played himself in he went for the howling, and the way he did it will he long remembered by all who had the good fortune to see the performance. Hi» hitting was simply remarkable. He drove and cut, and cut and drove, pulled with the utmost audacity. Fast or slow, it did not matter two straws; everything was plumb in the middle of the bat. On* lovely square-leg hit went high up into the mound. It was the most brilliant display of hitting I have seen for many a long day, and those who missed it lost a very great treat. W . L. M u r d o c h • Bosanquet played steadily to start with, but after he passed his hundred he took more risks, making some very fine shots. Although his highest score in first-class cricket, it was not perhaps his best. G. W. B eld a m . In the match between Glamorganshire and Wiltshire at Cardiff, Creber, the Swansea professional, took five wickets in the course of two overs in the first innings of Wiltshire. In the first of these overs he dismissed Newman and Miller with successive balls; in the second over his victims were E. S. Grant, Smart and Capt. H. Olivier. His analysis for the innings was 10 overs and 4 balls, 1 maiden, 32 runs, and seven wickets. O n Friday Hayward and Hobbs made 127 for the first wicket of Surrey agiinst the Australians at the Oval. This is the third partnership of over a hundred for the first wicket against the Australians this season. The record is as follows:— Braund and H. Martyn, for Somerset, at Taunton ............................................. 148 A. O. Maclaren and Hayward for England at Nottingham ..................... . ... 145 Hayward and Hobbs for Surrey at the O v a l.....................................................127 T h e Rev. W. V. Jephson accomplished a remarkable performance on Friday in the second innings of Hampshire against Sussex at Portsmouth. He went in first and had made all the runs when the total was 46. At 55 his saore was 52, and when stumps were drawn he had made 59 out of 71, and was still unconquered. T h e team ta k en b y Mr. D. L. A. Jephson to p la y East M o lese y (tw e lv e a side) in clu d ed Robert Abel and Brock- w ell, th e old Surrey p lay ers, and G. L. J essop. Abel m ad e 68, Brockwell 30 and Jessop 32. To a representative of the Yorkshire Herald the Hon. F. S. Jackson said that he regarded the side which did duty at Manchester as probably the best that has ever represented England. The wicket at Manchester was not plumb ; it was a good sporting pitch. Lots of balls got up and a good many turned. The rain made it pretty bad, but the Australians themselves knew that they batted badly,