Cricket 1905

90 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. A p r il 27, 1905. idea that such epitaphs have been recorded, and that some of them have appeared in Cricket. T h e state of mind to which cricketers have been worked up by the cold winds during the holiday time is pretty accurately represented by the following paragraph, which appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Easter Monday : — Easter falling so late, the match at the Oval to-day would, under normal conditions, have been more than usually interesting, but one cannot expect much from it. The bitter winds of last week must have kept all prudent men away from the practice nets, and unless the weather should undergo a startling change the game will be a severe trial alike to players and spectators. W r itin g nearly 400 years ago the Earl of Surrey in his^delightful verses on “ Spring,’’ says:— The Turtle to her mate hath told her tale. If the modern turtle still tells her tale of the spring to her mate, her remarks during the last week would doubtless have been of extreme interest. L ik e all the rest of the world, cricketers are accustomed to revile the old poets for telling such wicked untruths about the spring, but what can be said of their more modern successors ? Listen to William Morris, who writes thus of A p ril:— 0 fair mid-spring, besung eo oft and oft, How can 1 praise thy loveliness enow f Thy sun that burns not and thy breezes soft, That o’er the blossoms of the orchard blow, The thousand things that ’neath the youDg leaves grow: The hopes and chances of the growing year, Winter forgotten long, and summer near. B e low will be found a list of the number of matches to ba played this season by each^of the first-class counties : S u rrey................. ... 28 Derbyshire............... .. 20 Yorkshire .......... ... 28 Essex ...................... . 20 Sussex................. ... 28 Hampshire............... . 20 Lancashire.......... ... 26 M iddlesex............... . 18 Warwickshire ... ... 22 Worcestershire... . . 18 Kent ................. ... 22 Somerset .............. . 18 ILeicestershire ... ... 22 Gloucestershire... . . 18 Notts ................. ... 20 Northamptonshire . . 12 T h e death is announced of Mr. R. Ai H. Mitchell, the famous old Oxford Uni­ versity cricketer, who was one of the finest players of the day in the sixties. He was not able to play much in first- class cricket after he left the University in 1865, but for nearly twenty years afterwards he was recognised as a great cricketer. He was also well-known for his successful coaching of Eton boys. He was born on January 22nd, 1843, and was thus in his sixty-third year. Some notes about his career will be found on another page. R e f e r r in g to the fine innings of 41 not out played by C. L. Townsend at the Oval on Easter Monday for Gentlemen of England v. Surrey the Standard points out that C .L.’s father, F. Townsend, once made a hundred on the same ground on an Easter Monday for Gloucestershire against Surrey. This was in 1886, when Easter fell two days later than in the present year. Mr. Townsend made 106, and his innings was thus described in Cricket of April 29 ih :— “ Mr. Townsend, who went in with two wickets down for 9 runs, was at last bowled, retiring for the seventh wicket at 194. Of the 185 got during his stay he had made 106, and, certainly, as far as we could judge, without an actual chance. His play was quite up to his best form, and his finebatting was the more remarkable as he was suffering from a bad finger which at times evidently caused him great pain. Among his figures was sixteen 4’s, one a fine off-hit over the covered stand.” Hobbs, the young professional who made a most successful first appearance for Surrey on Easter Monday, is qualified by residence. For Cambridgeshire last season he had an average of 58, his highest score being 195, while he took fifteen wickets at an average of 20'33. He is a batsman who may go a long way, for, with a variety of strokes, he plays with confidence and in an excellent and business-like style. T h e first run made in the first-class season came from the bat of Hayward ; it was the result of a hit towards cover- point off the third ball of the first over of the match, bowled by G. W. Beldam. In the first innings of New Zealand against the Australians at Christchurch, Cotter was no-balled five times by Charles Bannerman for dragg'ng his foot across the crease. He was then shifted to the other end and was not no-balled by the New Zealand umpire. In a ladies’ cricket match at Coburg, Victoria, Miss C. Cheesman scored 103 not out for Brighton Boomerangs sgainst Mayfield on March 4th, A week later, Miss Simmons scored 102 in another ladies’ match for Coldstre im agiinst St. John’s at Elsternwick, Victoria. This lady hit a six and seven fours in her innings. S. J . R e d g r a v e and R N. Hickson put on 101 runs in 20 minutes at Sydney on March 11th, in the 2nd innings of North Sydney against Central Cumberland. R9dgrave made a five and ten fours in his total of 54. Hickson scored 81 in 42 minutes and obtained one five and 13 fours. The pair got 32 in two overs of Cranney, the same number in two overs by Langley, and 23 from a couple of overs of Rinaldi’s. A W e l l in g t o n (N.Z.) player named Weybourne ought to consider himself a happy man, for although he made a duck’s egg against the Australians, his innings was fully described in the New Zealand Times, thus :—“ Weybourne came in, and in characteristic style banged hard from the beginning. He missed the first ball, and the second he lifted to Gehrs in the outfield. It was safe there, and Weybourne returned— 9-0-130.” A n amusing problem has been set to its readers by a Sydney newspaper. It is as follows : “ If E. F. Waddy makes 1,311 runs in 17 innings in important cricket, gets runs at the pinch, and heads the New South Wales batting averages, yet, in the opinion of the selectors, fails to get a place in the Australian Eleven, what nesd he have achieved to have made the selectors include him among the band ? ” W h ile the Auckland (N .Z.) players were waiting for Trumper to come to the wicket, one of the bowlers, says a New Zealand paper, said to McLeod, who was batting at his end, that he would not like to bowl the champion before he had seen some of his batting. McLeod sug­ gested that if he wanted to bowl Trumper at all he had better bowl him as soon as he came in. As it happened Trumper played a brilliant innings of 92, so that the bowler had a good opportunity of studying his methods. T he premiership of Sydney First Grade clubs has been won by North Sydney, who did not lose a match during the season. The Sydney Referee thus speaks of the club :— They are superior to Paddington’s strongest representation, including M. A. Noble, Victor Trumper, and J. J. Kelly. They are superior in batting and fielding to any other team, and at least not inferior in bowling to the hest of their fellow-competitors. The Shoremen make the game of cricket a delight to themselves, and to the spectators. The superb character of their batting is evidenced by the fact that in the local premiership competition R. A. Duff and A. J. Hopkins have been quite eclipsed by six other men. Three of these men—F. A. Iredale, R. N. Hickson, and B. W . Farquhar—are greater batsmen than Hopkins, and S. J. Redgrave appears to have made such an advance that he must now be regarded as the equal of the Australian Eleven representative. O u r contemporary also gives two inter­ esting tables referring to the Sydney First Grade competition; and from them it will be seen that the best known cricketers have not always made the most runs or taken most wickets. MOST WICKETS IN FIRST GRADE CLUB CRICKET EACH SEASON. O. M. R. W. Avg. 1893-1—A. L. Newell (Glebe) 233 Cl 320 60 5 43 1891-5—T. Connell (L dt) ...310 83 651 65 10 96 1895-6—S. W. Austin (Wav.) 302 72 723 46 1571 1896-7—T. Connell (L’dt) ...267 95 502 50 10.04 1897-8—S. W. Austin (Wav.) 204 37 543 34 15.97 1898-9—M. A. Noble (Pad.)... 149 32 417 49 8’51 1899-0—A. J. Hopkins (N.S.) 155 32 498 40 12-45 1900-1—W. P. Howell (C.C) — — 533 46 11-58 1901-2—J. Marsh (Syd.) ... 181 52 542 58 9’35 1902-3—J. Marsh (Syd.) ... 177 32 604 48 12'58 1903-1—J. Marsh (Syd.) ... 163 24 584 50 11-65 1904-5—G. L. Garnsey (Bur.) 192 35 769 49 15-69 HIGHEST NUMBER OF RUNS IN FIRST GRADE CLUB CRICKET EACH SEASON. No. Times Most of not Total in an inns. out. runs. inns. A v;r 1893-4—W. Camphin (E.S.) 10 1 379 170 18.11-5 T.W. Garrett (Uni.) 11 1 524 92 1895-6—A. Mackenzie(Pad.) 11 0 1896-7—A. Criningliam (G.) 11 1 1897-8—V. Trumper (Pad.) 8 3 1898-9—A. Hopkins (N.S.) 10 2 1899-0-R. A. Duff (N.S.) ... 9 0 1900-1—V. Trumper (Pad.) 10 1 1901-2—C. Gregory (Wav.) 9 1 1902-3—A. Mackenzie (W.) 10 0 1903-4—B. Farquhar (C.C.) 10 2 1901-5—J. Mackay (Bur.).., 12 1 565 655 42-11 52-40 51-36 65-50 214 176 1021 *191 204-20 619 137 77-37 158 213 562 557 828 626 694 800 62-44 61-88 '207 103-50 150 62-60 86-75 72-72 113 251