Cricket 1906

M a y 17, 1906, CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 131 BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S AT THE SIGN OF THE W ICKET. By F. S. A shley -C oopeb . For a side to win a match, after being compelled to follow their innings, has always been an event of the rarest occurrence. Last year, it will beremembered, Somerset defeated Gloucestershire, at Bath, by 68 runs after being obliged to follow-on 194 behind, and this performance was repeated at Worcester last week by Northamptonshire. It is easy to be wise after the event, so E. S. Brinton has in many quarters been severely criticised for compelling his opponents to follow their innings instead of allowing his own side to go in again. His decision, however, was made when his bowlers were quite fresh—early on Friday morning, after the two outstanding Northamptonshire wickets had been taken for 15 runs—and not one man in a thousand would, for a moment, have consideredit at all likely that the side which was disposed of on the previousday for 101 would prove equal to running up a score of over 400. But C. J. T. Pool, by scoring 166 in three hours, played his record innings for the county, beating his 157 against Northumberland ten years ago, whilst Cox’s innings of 72 is second only to his 78 against Yorkshire 2nd XI. in 1902. Pool’s success is very pleasing, for it shows that the county’s finest batsman is in capital form. Although only thirty years of age in January last, it is twelve years since he made his debut for Northamptonshire. He played fairly regularly until the end of 1900, after which he was abroad for two seasons in Aus­ tralia for the benefit of his health. Last year he headed the county’s averages with the splendid figures of 36 88 per innings, his highest score being 110 against Hampshire on the Northampton ground. He is very skilful on the 15g side, and possesses a sound defence. His record innings, however, would have been of no avail had not Thompson shown some splendid all-round form. The last-named, who would probably have de­ veloped into one of the finest players in the world had he been identified from his earliest days with one of the leading counties, took fourteen wickets in the match for 164 runs, and in the second innings of his side played so valuable a game that, although he scored only 24, he assisted Pool in adding as many as 140runs for the fourth partnership, his own two dozen taking a hundred minutes to make. It was no mean feat on the part of Hampshire—lacking, as they did, the services of Wynyard, Greig, Stone and Llewellyn—to escape in their match against last year’s champions with a defeat by seven wickets only. Had the side been defeated by so much as an innings and 300 runs, it would have occasioned no surprise, for the Southerners have always done poorly against their powerful opponents. Matches between Hampshire and Yorkshire date back no further than 1895, but since then (except in 1902 and 1903, when there were no matches) the two sides have met regularly twice every season. Of the nineteen games played, Yorkshire have won fifteen and Hampshire one, the remaining three having been left drawn. The most recent match of the series will always be memorable owing to the success of Charles Philip Mead who, in his second inter-county match, scored 60 and 109. He was born at Battersea as recently as March 9, 1887, and bids fair to make a name for himself both asbatsman and bowler. There have been some batsmen who, after making a sensational jlSut, have quite failed to fulfil their early promise. Thus, J. Ricketts, who scored 195 not out on his first appearance for Lancashire—against Surrey, at the Oval, in 1867—made only one other score of over fifty for the county during his career: in 1886, too, B. Hudson, in his first two matches for the same side, scored 98 v. Sussex, and 85 v. Oxford University, in each case at Old Trafford, but never did anything else: whilst J. J. Broughton’s success—also for Lancashire —was restricted to his initial appearance in first-class cricket—v. Essex at Leyton, in 1901—when he played an innings of 99. Mead, however, will probably prove himself a cricketer of another stamp altogether, for he is still quite young, and is very keen on the game, and, above all, is anxious to do well. Surrey’s loss is Hampshire’s gain, and supporters of the former county, whilst regretting the loss of so promising a young­ ster, will rejoice that his services have been secured by their old cricketing friends and neighbours, to whomhe will probably prove a most welcome recruit. After being in abeyance for many years, the match between Perambulators and Etceteras was revived at Cambridge last week. No reliable data concerning the for­ mation of the clubs appear to exist, but it is believed that the former was established in 1861, and the latter in the following year. The Perambulators Club was instituted by Messrs. S. Hoare (now Sir Samuel Hoare), H. M. Plowden and. W. C. Clayton, and was originally intended to be confined to Harrow men for the purpose of holiday cricket, but it was subsequently extended to Eton and Westminster, and then to Winchester—not Charterhouse, as mentioned by the late Mr. W . J. Ford in his History of the Cambridge University C.C .—and Rugby. The Etceteras was a rival club, open to members of the other public schools, and for many years the two played an annual match at Fenner’s. The first meeting of the two sides took place, it is believed, in 1862, when the Perambula­ tors won by an innings and 102 runs, Bcoring 242 against 29 and 111. For the winners Mr. R. Lang—now Vicar of Dinton, Ayles­ bury—-took seven wickets for 7 runs in the first innings. It has been suggested that ateamcomposed of foreign-born players who participate in English first-class cricket would form a strong side, and would in all probability prove capable of making a good fight against any eleven home-born men. A team chosen from S. M. J. Woods, L. O. S. Poidevin, Trott, Kermode, Tarrant, Cuffe, Marshal and Dwyer of Australia, Ranjitsinhji, Capt. Greig and E. H. D. Sewell of India, C. A. Ollivierre and P. F. Warner of the West Indies, C. O. H. Sewell and Llewellyn of South Africa, J. E. Raphael of Belgium, and the Rev. F. H. Gillingham of Japan would certainly be a strong side, although lacking the services of a good wicket-keeper. It is a fact to be regretted that inter-county contests are now so numerous that it is practically impossible to arrange extraneous fixtures. J. R. M. Mackay, whose performances in important cricket in Australia during 1905-6 were referred to a few weeks ago in this column, has been scoring heavily in recent inter-club matches. The last mail from Australia brings particulars of some very fast scoring in which he andAustin Diamond recently indulged when playing for Burwood against Middle Harbor. Together they made 309 for the first wicket without being separated in 87 minutes, Mackay scoring 156 and Diamond 144. The first hour’s play realised 197 (Mackay 106, and his vis-a-vis 80). Diamond at one time during his innings made eight fours from consecutive balls