Cricket 1906

A ug . 30, 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 381 KENT AND THE CHAMPION­ SHIP. A SIDE TH AT HAS PLATED THE GAME. B y B . J . T. B osanquet. A nd so the cham pionship is likely to com e South once more. That dramatic finish at B ristol on Saturday has placed it within the reach o f K en t, w ho have every likelihood o f retaining their hold upon it. One cannot see any reason w hy they should lose either o f their remain­ in g fixtures, even th ou gh M iddlesex have a knack o f d oin g best against the strongest sides. There are few people w h o w ould like to see K ent beaten now that they have practically attained the g oal o f their ambitionB. Certainly w ou ld their old friends o f the M iddlesex team be the last to wish them to fail now that the prize is w ithin their grasp. P ew w ill be sorry to see some other coun ty at the top o f affairs in place o f Y orkshire, and this not from any spirit antagonistic to Y orkshire or Y orkshirem en, bu t from a natural wish for a change. I t is never g o o d for any gam e that one man or one team should alw ays be at the head o f things, as bein g discou raging to other competitors and to individual effort. A foregone conclusion robs any spcrt o f its interest, and E nglishm en love an open race, in w hich the chances are fairly equal. Further than this, all must give a generous meed o f adm iration fo r the p lu cky figh t K en t have m ade during the last tw o m onths. Starting against almost overw helm ing odds, the team have fou gh t w ith the utm ost gameness, and have achieved the alm ost impossible. METHODS TH AT H AV E PAID. One must also express the greatest adm iration for the m ethods by which they have brou gh t about this great change in their position. There has been no h esitancy about these; they have gone slapdash at it, have made the w inning of matches the one ob ject before them , and have given us a tine exam ple o f the w ay in which cricket should be played. Runs w ere required (as they always are), and runs were made. Buns were required quickly (as they always should be), and runs w ere made quickly, and w ith a cheer­ ful spirit o f self-sacrifice and disregard of personal achievement w h ich are w orth y the respect o f all cricketers. There was no p otterin g about for unnecessary runs ; no sooner were sufficient made than the rest o f the side went on the principle o f “ hit or get ou t,” and, incidentally, th orou gh ly enjoyed them selves in the m akit g o f their runs. The success o f the m ethods adopted b y the men o f K ent affords a very useful object lesson to those w h o play cricket on the principle o f never running any risk, and w ho value their ow n wickets above the interests o f their side. K ent have shown that the bold er p olicy is frequently the m ore successful, and have preferred to run risks rather than p lay a safe and unsporting gam e. In a w ord, they have played “ cricket.” T hey have not feared their fate too m uch nor been afraid to p u t it to the touch, and that they “ w in it a ll” w ill be the sincere wish o f those who tru ly love the gam e. Their success can but have a g ood effact on the future o f the gam e, and should do much to brighten it in future years by affording a striking exam ple o f what can be done b y those w ho “ play the gam e.” M uch o f their success has been due to the efforts and exam ple o f their captain, w ho has stuck n ob ly to his task, has kept the side together, and has ever been the fore­ most to step into the breach or to throw aw ay his wicket when desirable in the interests o f his side. That his efforts have not been in vain is proved b y the token o f esteem present­ ed to him b y the professionals w ho have served under him , a token w hich should always be am ong bis m ost valued possess­ ions, all the m ore as it has been so splendidly deserved. P ersonal success has never w eighed w ith him , and it is, therefore, pleasant to note that success has com e his w ay. The same m ay be said o f every m ember o f the side, but they have taken their cue from their leader, and to him be the g lo ry .— P all Mall Gazette. “ O ld B oy ” (L ondon), writes to “ The D a ily C h ron icle” on the subject of “ D a b b in g ,” described by M r. E . V . Lucas in that paper and referred to in last w eek’s “ Gossip ” :— “ The reference by M r. Lucas to the form o f parlour cricket w hich he calls ‘ d abb in g,” leads me to remark that this is not, as he supposes, a new gam e. It used to be played with great enthusiasm when at school b y m yself and m y n eigh ­ bour during the dailv half-h our ostensibly allotted to Greek. O ar m ethod, how ever, was m ore scientific. W e first w orked out from the schcol score-book h ow m a ty balls out o f a very large num ber w ere hit for 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1, h ow m any yielded byes, or leg-byes, how m any were wides or no-balls, how m any were ju st blanks, aud how m any resulted iu wickets fallin g. Then the wickets were analysed into the various w ays o f g ettin g out, including ‘ retired hu rt,’ ‘ obstructin g the field,’ ‘ hit ba ll tw ice,’ &o., while, in case o f catches, a number was attached in order to identify the fieldsman. ‘ W e then took an exercise book, the pages o f which w ere ruled in small squares, and filled in to these squares the result o f the above calculations. This w ork o f preparing the field o f p lay took our spare tim e for days. The gam e was then played by ‘ d abb in g,’ a proper scor­ in g -b o o k bein g used and the bow lin g analysis carefully kept, and the hits being scored to the batBman according to the ends at which they fou n d them ­ selves. The m ethod even enabled a descriptive record to be drawn u p : — * Grace drove B riggs brilliantly ou t o f the grou n d for 6, b u t the same over fell a victim to the vigilance o f L ohm ann in the slips,’ &c. ‘ The gam e was played for some weeks with the utm ost vigou r, till one day the eye o f the master fell upon us, w ith the result that he rendered the pitch un play­ able : in fact, tore it up, and we had not the heart to construct another. ‘ M y playfellow on that occasion lost his life during the B oer war, whither he went as a doctor, while his youn ger brother is one o f the m ost brilliant new lights in our y o u n g P arliam en t." HEATHFIELD v. LONDON & COUNTY BANK. —Played at Norbury on August 18. L. & O. B. G. A. Mills, b Mills ... 11 A. A. Feaver, b Mills 5 E. A. Tealby, b Gun­ ner .......................... 0 P. F. Allen, c sub, b Gunner .................. 14 W . D. Bradley, c Mills, b Gunner... ........... 0 0. R. Trowell, c Frank- lyn, b Mills ........... 0 T.A.Bienvenu,not out 57 P. W . Hubbard. _ Franklyn, b Mills... 0 W. Sutton, b Gunner 13 E. J. Stiff, b Mills ... 8 F.J.Finlinson, b Mills 25 B 10, lb 2, w 1 ... 13 Total ...146 H e a t h f ib l d . F. J. Leather, run out 4 R. Mills, st Allen, b Bienvenu................... 1 0. Mills, c Sutton, b M ills ..........................42 J. G. L. Pearn, e Stiff, b Mills ................... 0 H. Spriggo, b Mills ... 1 R. J. J. Gunner, b M ills.......................... E. P. Hyem, not out J. A. M. Spice, not out B 7, lb 1 ... Total (6 wkts) 80 G. P. Franklyn, and J. Wasp did not bat. SUTTON v. LONDON AND COUNTY BANK, Played at Norbury on August 25. L. & O. B a n k . H. L. Hearsum, b J. P. Naynes .................. 8 E. A. Tealby, b A. S. Jackson ...................18 W. D. Bradley, lbw, b J. P Naynes ........... 0 A. A. Feaver. run out 23 J. A. Bienvenu, c Jackson, b G. G. Collins ...................25 P. F. Allen, E. J. Stiff and G. A. Mills did not bat. * Innings declared closed. C. R. Trowell, c and b Illin gton ................... 1 W. Sutton, not out ... 59 P. W. Hubbard, not out ..........................30 B 8, lb 3 ...........11 Total (6 wkts)*175 S u tto n . E. C. Kenyon, c Allen, b Mills .................. 33 L. Jackson, st Allen, b Bienvenu ... ... 40 J. J. Illington, b Mills 2 E. Allen, not out ... 2 A. S. Jackson, not out 3 Ryes................... 7 Total (3 wkts) 87 F. Blades, A. Adolf, P. S. Roberts, D. G. Collins, J. R. Naynes and L. V. Straken did not bat. S U R R E Y C L U B A N D G R O U N D v. K G H A M A N D T H O R P E . P la y e d at K e n n in g to n O val on A u gu st 23. The result was an easy win for Surrey Club and <1round. Smith’s seven wickets in Egham’s first innings cost 27 runs. E g h am & T h o rpe . . First innings. Second innings. J. Rowiey, b Smith ...........14 c nayter, b Bow­ ring ................... 8 0. Paice, b Tolkien ........... 0 c Vigar, b Slater 0 F. Dixon, c Tolkien, b Smith 10 st Vigar, b Slater 15 P. Head, b Smith ........... 0 b Slater ...........11 C. Head, b Smith ........... 5 run out ........... 5 W. Avis, c Tolkien, b Smith 0 lbw, b Meads ...19 R. Hall, not out ...................18 run out ............. 0 W . K. Menzies, c Francis, b T o lk ie n ........................... 1 b Bow ring........... 0 G. Gardiner, b Tolkien ... 8 b Beresford ... 5 W . Taylor, stVigar,b Smith 2 notout... ... ... 4 C. May, b Sm ith................... 3 L b................... ... 1 Extras........... 0 Total ... 62 Total (9 wkts)... 67 S u r r e y C . & G. T. Bowring, b H a ll... 30 S. R. Beresford, b Menzies ...................... 21 P.H.Slater,lbw,bHall 31 B. H. Holloway, c Taylor, b Menzies... 38 J. H. A. Tolkien, lbw, b May .................... 109 F. P. Francis and Vigar did not bat. * Innings declared closed. Meads,cDixon,b Paice 59 F. Odell, c Paice, b Menzies ...................28 H. Hayter, not out ... 16 Smith, notout ... ... 36 B 3, lb 7, w 1, nb 1 13 Total (7 wkts) *381