Cricket 1905

386 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 7, 1905. man, he would almost certainly have had to make room for another man. As a bowler of leg-breaks Mr. Jones was more effective a few years ago than he has been of late. His famous experi­ ment in the match between Notts and Lancashire at Trent Bridge last year has been recalled to mind many times during the present season in connection with Armstrong’s method of keeping: the runs down in the Test matches. Wishing to keep the iuns down in order that his side might save the game against Lancashire, Mr. Jones placed nine men on the leg- side, bowled wide of the leg stump, and finding that Mr. Maclaren and Tyldesley played into his hands by refusing to hit him, he continued to bowl in this way until all danger of defeat was over. This manoeuvre, perfectly legitimate, and per­ fectly justified under the circumstances, did not bring forth many imitators, but the Australians discovered that it was an excellent means of preventing a bats­ man from making runs at his usual rate, and they adopted it in all the Test matches except the last, when it could no longer serve their purpose. In the hands of an accurate bowler wide ball to leg is very effective in keeping down the runs, and until batsmen learn how to hit lee-balls it may be taken for granted that other bowlers will follow the example set them by Mr. Jones and Armstrong, when the opposing side has to make runs against time. W. A. B e ttesw o bth . THE CRICKET OF THE FUTURE. (Being an extract from the “ Weekly Sportsman of 1920.) [“ Playing tor averages bids fair to become the curse of cricket.” Daily Paper of 1905. “ What in the world do cricketers want with a tea interval? ”— Ibid.] An air of profound peace pervaded the Lord’s Cricket Ground on Monday morn­ ing when Wessex and Mudfordshire began their annual six-day match. Had it not been, indeed, for the usual sprinkling of insomnia patients on the Mound, and the well-filled seats of the Pavilion, which has recently been leased to Dr. Blenkinsop as a rest-cure sanatorium, the charming St. John’s Wood enclosure would have been well-nigh deserted. The apathy of the public towards this most interesting match was all the more remarkable since it practically formed the climax to this seasons’s race for the top place in the batting averages. Punctually at five minutes to twelve Macfadden, the Wessex skipper, and Slocum, who fills a similar onerous position in the Mudfordshire eleven, appeared before the Pavilion to spin the fateful coin, both walking on tiptoe for fear of disturbing the rest-cure patients. When it became known that Macfadden, with his usual perspicuity, had prophesied correctly, ;the low murmur of applause arose from the members of his eleven, who evidently did not relish the prospect of three days of leather-hunting in the present weather. A few minutes later S locum and his men took the field, and on B lagbove average 87-05) and W ilkinson (average 85'3) emerging from the Pavilion to open the defence for Wessex, the insomnia martyrs, who had been aroused by the excitement incident to the decision of the toss settled themselves down for a nap. It was obvious at once, from the caution with which they approached their tasks, that both batsmen, intent on increasing their averages, were pre­ pared to take no risks. Finely though J ones and J ambach bowled, they could make no impression on their sterling defence, and when one o’clock brought the milk-and-soda interval the score on the board still stood thus :— No. 1. Total. ^No. 2. • 0 0 0 Shortly after the resumption of play, S aundees , as third man, fumbled the ball, thus enabling B labrove to open the Wessex account with a single. This occurrence -seemed to galvanise W ilkin ­ son into life, and he instantly began hittingout more freely* scoring no fewer thanseven runs in thenext twenty minutes. After this, however, the play quieted down again, owing, principally, to the clever tactics of B lagkove , who, by scoring a single off the last ball of each over, kept the bowling entirely to himself, thus preventing his rival from further increasing his average. The Sherry-and-Bitters interval at 1.40 found the two batsmen still in partnership, nor did any change ensue during the play which occupied the last ten minutes before lunch, when the score stood at No. 1. Total. No. 2. 17 28 11 Soon after lunch W ilkinson created a considerable sensation by hitting the first boundary of the match, a neat glide to leg, which reached the Mount railings before A rbuthnot —who had been dozing on one of the campstools with which all the outfielders are thoughtfully provided when W ilkinson and B lagbove are at the wickets—was sufficiently awake to stop it. This stroke provoked such a round of applause from the solitary occupant of Block B. that Dr. B lenkinsop was obliged to send round a special emissary to check his enthusiasm, ap­ plause from the spectators (or spectator) being strictly forbidden by the terms of the lease. As the gin-and-ginger interval drew near runs came more freely, twelve being added in forty minutes, with the result that the 50 went up on the board after three hours’ play. With a view to keep­ ing them down, S locum wisely decided to put on T waddler at the nursery end. As neither batsmen could hope to play T waddler ’ s leg-throws without running some risk of being caught, they wisely left them alone, with the result that the famous left-hander came out with the following remarkable analysis :— O. M. B. W. 17 17 0 0 Tea was taken, as usual, at 4.80, and shortly after play was resumed B lagbove cleverly ran his partner out, thus getting rid of his most formidable rival for pre­ mier honours in the batting list. His action aroused some adverse comment from the occupant of Block B., an old- fashioned gentleman who seems to have been thinking of the time, ten years ago, when to run your partner out intentionally was still considered bad form. But considering that this modern develop­ ment is only a natural outcome of the keen competition for averages, we cannot see that his ill-natured remarks were warranted. .., , , [A hiatus in the account of this most interesting match gives reason to believe that the example of the rest-cure patients proved too much for our reporter. He does not take up the thread of his dis­ course again until Saturday evening, when he writes thus:] And so the great contest between Wessex and Mudfordshire ended in a very even draw. During the first three days Wessex scored 391 for the loss of seven wickets, and then declared the innings closed. During the last three days the Mudford batsmen, playing very bright cricket, knocked up a total of 370 for six wickets. What would have happened if it had been possible to con­ tinue the match for another fortnight it is impossible to say. We cannot, how­ ever, refrain from congratulating U pjohn , the famous stonewaller, on his superb 120 not out, which, occupying as it did a little over fourteen hours, eclipsed all his previous records for care and circum­ spection, and raised him from the fifth to the fourth place in the averages. Appended is our usual table showing the present positions of the leading counties in the Championship—an ab­ surdly old-fashioned institution to which the authorities still cling. P. W. L. D. Pts. Lancashire ... 17 0 0 17 0 Yorkshire ... 13 0 0 13 0 Surrey ... 15 0 0 15 0 Iient ........... 12 0 0 12 0 Gloucestershire 13 0 0 13 0 W essex ........... 10 0 0 16 0 Mudfordshire.. 14 0 0 14 0 —From Punch. U.O.f?. OLD BOYS v. FALLINGSWIOIC-- Acton, on August 26. U.C.S. O ld B o ys . riayed at F. Rowley, b Balls ... 32 A. H. K. Burt, c F. G. Harburg. b Lockner 15 E. S. Westhorp, b Houghton .........91 H. O. Preston, c Balls, b Lockner ......... 8 W. A. C. Goodchild, L. .T. Marcus. C. K. Roberts P. J. Richardson and M. P. Griffith-Jones did not bat. * Innings declared closed. P a l l in g sw ic k . J. N. Crawford, not out ........................ 81 II. G. Price-Williams, not out ................ 2 B 23, lb 1 ..........'24 Total (4 wkts.)*203 E. G. Harburg.lbw, b B u rt......................25 H. J. Piper, b West­ horp ...................30 O. A. Oppenlieim.run out ... ................ 7 J. Bowstead,' c M. P. Griffith - Jones, b Crawford............... 26 P. L. Lancaster, S. H. D. Stretton, F. G. Harburg and O. Balls did not bat- J. Houghton, b Burt 1 R. M. I.ockner, not out ...................... 4 D. W. Brewster, not out ...................... 8 B 12, lb 4 .........16 Total (5 wkts.)117