Cricket 1905

402 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 14, 1905. YORKSHIRE . It is often said that it is no special credit to Yorkshire to produce a constant supply of great cricketers who are home bred, for the county is known as “ the broad-acred shire,” and has a vast area upon which to draw. But the size of a county or city has very little to do with the number of great cricketers which it turns out. Any village in Rutland might produce as many fine players as the far-famed Lascslles Hall in Yorkshire if the conditions were favourable. In a small area Philadelphia manages to find a team which can hold its own with most of the English counties, and Melbourne or Sydney could easily turn out an eleven which would make Yorkshire fight its very hardest for victory. The great secret of the long-continued success of Yorkshire seems to be that every York- shireman is by birth and inheritance a sportsman. In a Saturday afternoon’s walk in some of the suburbs of London you will see more small club matches than half Yorkshire could provide, but you will not see the same enthusiasm or determination among the players. Has not Tom Emmett, of pious memory, told us how he used to forget to eat his dinner as a boy in order to play cricket, and how he and his companions would scout for hours in hopes that men who were practising would eventually let them bowl a little at the nets P There is keenness in Yorkshire and intense rivalry between the villages and clubs. You will never see a club cricketer in York­ shire shaking in his shoes because he has heard that, owing to the early ending of a county match, George Hirst is going to play against his side. On the contrary, the heart of every man in the team which is to encounter Hirst swells visibly with pride, and vows are promptly registered by the bowlers that they will send his “ etoomps ” flying with the second ball, and by the batsman that they will “ cloomp him out of t’field.” When Hirst goes in to bat he knows that the bowlers will bowl to him as they never bowl in ordinary club matches, and that if he makes ruus he will have to fight for every one of them. He goes on to bowl and, although he probably upsets a few calculations, he knows that any weakness on his part will meet witti prompt punishment, and that he will not get a single wicket through the mere terror of his name. Would the same ttiiDg happen if Hirst were suddenly to appear on some Saturday afternoon in a village match in the South of England ? It is to be frared that in many cases objections would at once be raised against his qualifications, aud that if the objec­ tions were ovtr-ruled, very few of the players who were opposed to him would look upon his inclusion iu the other team as a godsend. A reason for this differ­ ence between the minor club cricketers of the North and the South may be that northerners are more harJy than southerners, and perhaps their feelings may be less sensitive. Certain it is that in small matches in Yorkshire you will come across far fewer weaklings than in small matches near London. The pluck is not wanting in the south, but the energy and the determination of the young northern cricketer seems to give place to some extent to indifference in the south. As long as Yorkshire cin produce a race of cricketers who are keen and hardy and anxious to come to the front, so long will she continue to remain n the very front rank of the counties. There are signs that in Surrey, Sussex and Kent the rising generation is forcing its way to the front by sheer determina­ tion, and this is the beat augury for the future success of southern counties. The honours of the Championship were deservedly won by Yorkshire after they had apparently been placed quite out of the running at the beginning of July. Their success has not been due as much to brilliant performances by one or two men as to the fine all-round work of several. It may be that the bowling has not been up to the standard of that of a few previous years, but, with Rhodes, Hirst, Haigh, Myers, Ringrose, and the Hon. F. S. Jackson in the team, Yorkshire can point to greater variety and greater strength than any other county possesses. Only three men have made over a thousand runs this season for Yorkshire, but, on the other hand, nearly every man in the team has been useful at times when bis side was in diffi­ culties. Up to the middle of June York­ shire had not lost a match, and neither of the two drawn games could be considered as against them. But from June 12th to the end of the month they had a bad time, losing three matches, and appar­ ently seeing their chances of winning the championship slip away. With the arrival of July their fortunes changed. Tney won saven matches off the reel, had much the best of the drawn game against Hampshire, won three more matches in succession, and ended the season with three drawn games, in only one of which (against Essex) had they any cause for anxiety. Their victories were not by any means all gained over the weakest counties, and among their victims were Lancashire, Surrey, Leicestershire, and Kent, while both ttieir matches against Sussex were drawn in their favour. Hirst has lost something of his form as a bowler, but has batted as well as ever, while Rhodes, who was never a great bowler on a perfect wicket, was as effec­ tive as ever when the ground helped him; he was, moreover, one of the most useful men iu the team with the b it, aud nearly always made runs if a great effort was required of him. Jacksou was not as successful for the county as for England, but his services were always valuable. Denton had a wonderfully good season, and Rothery well deserved tne honour of being made a regular member of the team. As usual, L jid Hawke captained the side well, and on several occasions his dogged resistance to the bowling was of the utmost value to his county. W. A. B k ttksw orth . THE CHAMPION COUNTY. By “ L ooker -O n ,” in the Sheffield. Daily Telegraph. “ So far as I am concerned Yorkshire cricket for the coming summer will be subservient to the claims and interests of England, and whether the championship be won or lost will make no difference to us so long as the Test matches are won.” So spoke Lord Hawke to me at Taunton when I greeted him on his return to England after his tour round the world, and the principle he then enunciated has been carried through to the letter. The claims of the Test matches have been paramount. Those Test matches have been won. England’s ascendency has, as I pointed out at the end of the fifth match at the Oval, been largely strengthened by the performances of Yorkshire’s representatives, and one of our county matches was lost directly and solely through the claims of the Mother Country. In spite of that fact the County Championship has been secured, and the triumph has come with all the greater satisfaction through the sporting way in which Yorkshire cricket has been conducted and her individual interests subordinated. Yorkshire’s county season ended re­ cently with the draw against Sussex, at Brighton, and thus the Champions have wound up the season satisfactorily enough. Their full record reads: — Played 28, won 18, lost 3, drawn 7, but mere recapitulation of these figures by no means causes adequate appreciation of how the present honours have been won. Out of the first 14 matches on the card, three were lost and three drawn, out of the second 14 ten were won and four drawn. Thus it is pretty plain that the Championship has been secured through the magnificent results secured in the second half of the campaign, and also through the deterioration of the Champions of 1904. But for the defeat which Lincashire sustained at Aigburth against Surrey, Yorkshire would scarcely have had the same prospect of success, though as events have turned out, had the Surrey or the Gloucestershire match ended in a draw, and not a defeat for Linctshire, a very extraordinary state of aft'iirs would have arisen through the large proportion of m itches which the Yorkshiremen have won outright, and both Yorkshire and Lancishire would have had a percentage of 71‘42, with Lancashire two defeats against York­ shire’s three. Thus the M.C.C. would presumably have been invited to settle a point of extreme delicacy, and to declare which was the champion team of the year. There is no need now to enter into the details of any of the various matches, though reference is merited to the brilliance of Yorkshire’s cricket shown against Lincashire at Bramall Lane, against Middlesex at Bradford, the supreme effort made at Leicester, and the dogged way in which the game was saved at Leyton. All these games brought out the fighting qualities of the