Cricket 1905

378 CRICKET: A WEEKLY KEC0RD OF THE GAME. A ug . 31, 1905. scored a thousand runs in the same season. He has accomplished the feat twice, in 1899 and 1900. B y making a drawn game with Essex on Saturday, Yorkshire secured first honours in the county championship competition of 1905, as no matter how tbeir match with Sussex might end, they could not be beaten bv Lancashire. With 18 victories out of 21 finished games and only six drawn matches, they fully deserve their position. T h e r e was a most interesting finish on Saturday to the match between the Buckingham C.C. and the M.C.C. and Ground. The latter bad to make 54 to win, but five minutes before time the last man was dismissed when only two runs were required to make a tie. On the previous two days the Buckingham C.C. played the Butterflies,who succeeded in beating them five or six minutes before time, so that the club had an exciting week. T h e following letter from a corres­ pondent appears in the Brighton. Argus. It shows in an original light the adapt­ ability for which village umpires have long been so famous :— An incident occurred in a match at Wool- beding on Saturday in which I was playing which may amuse you. A short run was being attempted, the fieldsman shied the wicket down (the bowler’s end), the umpire promptly turned his back, but upon being appealed to said, “ Out! ” “ But,” said the batsman, “ you had your back turned, aud could not possibly see.” “ No, sir,” replied the umpire, “ I couldn’t see, but I heard ! ” However, the umpire’s sense of hearing was correct, as the batsman was quite a yard or more from the crease. I n his first three overs for Essex against Yorkshire last Friday, J.W. H. T. Douglas took five wickets for three runs. The details of his analysis are as follows : 1 . . I . 1 . I . . . X . . I . w w 1 w w w This is, perhaps, the greatest bowling feat of the season, and almost rivals the famous five wickets for no runs by Pougher in three overs for the M.C.C. against the Australians at Lord’s in 1896. Pougher’s analysis is given below. It will be remembered that in 1896 there were only five balls to the over. w w I . . I • w M r . F. F. K elly writes from Newark, N.J. :—“ Kindly make a note in Cricket that Lord Harris and Mr. E. W. Mann, the captain of the M.C.C. American team, have been elected honorary life members of the Staten Island C.C., New York. B elow will be found the teams for the first match of the Hastings Festival, Gentlemen of the South v. Players of the South, on September 7th, 8th and 9th. Mr. William Carless, who has done so much for the Hastings Fes'.ival, is again the honorary secretary of the Week. G e n t l e m e n :— D r. W . G . Grace, G. L . Jessop, L o r d Dalmeny, O. McG-aliey, 0. O. H. Sewell, S. H. Day, J. E. Raphael, J. N. Orawford, N. A. Knox, IC. O. Goldie and 0. Robson. P laters :—Hayward, Braund, Lees, Vine, Hayes, Relf, Heame (J. T.), Killiek, Cox, Marshall and Butt. T he South of England team which will oppose the Australians at Hastings on Monday, September 11th, and follow­ ing days, will be as follows :— Dr. W. G. Grace, G. L. Jessop, O. McGahey, O. 0. H. Sewell, J. N. Orawford, N. A. Knox, Hay­ ward, Lees, Vine, Braund and Butt. It will be noticed that Dr. Grace once more takes his place in both matches, and it is quite certain that his reappear­ ance will be heartily welcomed. C. B. Fry, who seldom plays after the Sussex season is over, is not down for either of the matches. I n one of the monthly magazines some experts have given their opinions on the question whether first-class cricket is losing its popularity. Among others E. H. D. Sewell, who has had opportuni­ ties of studying the question from several points of view, gives some cogent reasons for his belief that the interest taken in county matches is declining. One of his reasons is particularly good, and also original. He says :— “ To-day, the man in the street whose sixpences used to become the backbone of the county cricket clubs’ coffers waits until the special editions of the evening papers are published, and gets his cricket for one-sixth the price he used to pay.” B u t there is a little flaw in this argu­ ment. For the man in the street cannot usually afford a penny paper, and most of the halfpenny papers, both morning and evening, have for some time given very meagre reports of matches, and the morning halfpennies generally omit the bowling analysis. A year or two ago the man who patronised a halfpenny paper used to get much more value for his money. But, if there are more empty benches than there used to be, which is at least doubtful, the cause is not far to seek. For, since the Boer war began, the man in the street has had precious little money to spend on cricket, or anything else. A m eeting is to be held at Birmingham to-day (Thursday) to consider the pro­ posal which has been made to present Lilley, the Warwickshire wicket-keeper, with a national testimonial, as a recogni­ tion of his services as wicket-keeper for England in twenty-seven out of the last twenty-eight Test matches. Many well- known cricketers, including Lord Hawke and the Hon. F. S. Jackson, have promised to be present. W il lia m O scroft , the old Notts cricketer, has undergone an operation at the Nottingham General Hospital, and it is hoped that he will soon be able to return to his home. D uring the present season D r. W. G. Grace has not been quite as much to the fore as usual, but last Friday he scored 104 not out for London County against Clare College Rovers, putting up 145 for the fifth, wicket in partnership with P. G. Gale. On the previous day in the same match he took six wickets for 81 runs. I n the two-dav match at Taunton last week, between Somerset Stragglers and Devon Dumplings, 1173 runs were made for the loss of twenty-nine wickets. At Eastbourne in a two-day match between Granville (Lee) and Eastbourne 1041 runs were made for twenty-three wickets. * S cene : Wanstead Park Station. Time 2-15. Saturday afternoon last. A. : “ Going to Leyton ? ” B .: “ No. What’s the use ? the game will be over by now.” A . : “ No it won’t. I ’ve just heard that Yorkshire have made over a hundred for two, so the game will probably last all the afternoon.” B . : “ Is that so ? Then I ’m on. I should have gone this morning only I thought it would be all over by lunch. I suppose you’re going too ? ” A. : “ Only for an hour. I hate drawn games like poison.” Same scene. Same day. Same people. Time 6-5. B .: “ Hallo. Where’ve you been ? I missed you in the crowd.” A .: “ Why of course I’ve just left the ground.” B .: “ But I thought you hated a draw, and were only going to stop for an hour ? ” A . : “ Fact is I didn’t notice the time.” B. : “ You old humbug.” T h e annual charity match whioh is played on the Athletic Ground at Rich­ mond in aid of the Richmond Royal Hospital, will take place this year on September 21st. Tom Hayward, the Surrey cricketer, has promised to get up the team to oppose the local players. As at present arranged, four of the Australians, viz., Darling, Howell, Kelly and Gregory, will leave England on September 15th by the ss. China. The others leave on the two following Fridays. As the champion county for 1905-6, Yorkshire will oppose the Rest of Eng­ land at the Oval on September 14th, 15th and 16th. This will be the last first-class match of the season, and, as in previous years, the proceeds will be given to the Cricketers’ Fund Friendly Society and the London Playing Field’s Society. A suggestion has been made in the Daily Telegraph that the title of the match should be altered to " Yorkshire v. England,” thus serving as a pleasant reminder of the days when Surrey v. England was the grent event of the season at the Oval. T he completion of the match with Thorpe at the Oval last Friday brought