Cricket 1906

S ept . 6, 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY BECORD OlVTHE GAME. 395 T H E M I N O R C O U N T I E S COMPETITION. Some months ago the arrangement on which the Minor Counties Competition was conducted were revised. A scheme proposed by the Yorkshire County C.C.» by which the Countieswere to be grouped for the future in four or more divisions according to their geographical positions, was substituted for the existing order of things. Sincethen somemore candidates have arisen for Minor Counties honours, two in the "West and possibly one from the Midlands. To meet the new demand some alterations will be necessary, and to this end a meeting of the acting Sub- Committee is to be held, we understand, within the next fewweeks. The scheme, as recently revised, is not, perhaps, as widely known even to those concerned as it might be. Hence, it will be of use to many if we give it in extenso : — (1). In 1907 and in future years the Counties shall be grouped into four or more divisions according to their geographical positions. (2). In 1907 there ihall be four divisions, namely:— N o r t h : Durham, Lancashire II., North­ umberland, Staffordshire, Yorkshire II. W e s t : Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Glamorgan­ shire, Monmouthshire. M idlands : Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey II., Wiltshire. E ast : Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hert­ fordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk. (3). Every county shall play out and home two-days’ matches with every other oounty in its division. (4). The counties which shall have obtained in their respective divisions the greatest proportionate number of points shall play semi-final two-days’ matches. Provided that if two or more counties at the top of any one division have obtained the same proportion of points, preference shall be given to that county which shall have won the greatest number of completed matches. The winners of the semi-final matches shall play a final three days’ match at the end of August; -and the winners of the final match shall be reckoned champion county of the Second Division. (5). Points in the competition shall be reckoned as follows :— Five points shall be scored for a win in a completed match. Should the match not be completed, the side leading on the first innings shall score two points. In the event of a tie the points shall be divided. Matches in which no result on the first innings shall have been attained shall not be included in the table of results. (6). Each semi-final match shall be played on the ground of one of the counties engaged, and the draw for such matches and for the choice of ground shall be decided by the emergency committee. The final match shall be played on a neutral ground, which shall be selected by the emergency committee. (7). The expenses and profits of each semi­ final match shall be divided equally between the counties engaged. The regulations governing the final match shall be determined by the association or by a committee appointed for the purpose. (8). The scheme shall come into force for the season of 1907. NORTH v. SOUTH. Played at Scarborough on September 3 ,4 & 5. North won by an innings and 71 runs. Neither side was at fall strength for this match, the North being drawn entirely from Yorkshire and Lancashire, and the South lacking the services of such bowlers as Knox, Dennett, Fielder and Lees. W inning the toss the North batted the whole of the first day, scoring 512 for six wickets in 285 minutes, the Southern attack presenting few difficulties. From the very start runs came at a good pace, Spooner making 65 of the 106 scored for the first wicket in 65 minutes. Of the first 58 runs obtained from the bat by his side he claimed 50. He was at last dismissed by a very brilliant one-handed catch on the boundary by Hutchings, after hitting eleven 4’s. Denton, when he had made a single, was missed in the slips, and the mistake proved a most expensive one. W ith Tyldesley he put on 52 for the third wicket, whilst with Hirst he added 164 for the fourth in 80 minutes. Altogether, he made 138 out of 180 in 155 minutes, hitting well all round the wicket, making nineteen 4’s, and completing his two thousand runs for the season. Hirst, who pulled and drove in fine fashion, scored 84 out of 164 in 80 minutes: he made eleven 4’s, and gave only one chance—when 79. During the last 55 minutes of the day 113 runs were put on, Tunnicliffe, who carried out his bat for 60, and Smith adding 80 for the sixth wicket in 35 minutes. On Tuesday Myers, driving well and hitting eight 4’s, claimed 58 of the 88 added for the seventh wicket in fifty minutes. Tunnicliffe was last man o u t; he scored 85-in two hours and a-quarter and hit eleven 4’s. The last few men did not play seriously, and the innings, after lasting 335 minutes, closed for 590. The South lost Wynyard and Foster for 26, and only Hayes and Fane met the bowling with any confi­ dence. Together they put on 136 for the third wicket in 85 minutes. Fane made his 63 by faultless cricket, but Hayes, who hit eleven 4’ s, was missed when he had made 17. After the two had been separated the York- shire bowlers carried all before them, and the innings, after lasting two and a-half hours, closed for 204. Haigh obtained his five wickets in his last six overs for 11 runs. Following-on, 386 behind, Wynyard and Foster made 78 in an hour without being parted before stumps were drawn. Yester­ day only 16 runs were added before Foster was bowled, the first wicket thus falling at 94. Wynyard played a good game and hit two 6’s and five 4’s, giving a very attractive display during the two hours he was in. The rest of the innings was marked by a fine effort on the part of Hutchings, who, as usual, drove with great power. The bowling of Haigh and Rhodes, however, was very true, and the North found no difficulty in winning by an innings and 71 runs. Score and analysis :— N orth . R.H.Spooner, c Hutch­ ings, b Thompson .. 65 Rhodes, b Napier ... 45 Tyldesley, lbw, b Relf 30 Denton, c Thompson, b N a p ier....................138 Hirst, b Relf ..............84 E. Smith, c Payne, b Relf ............................. 41 Tunnicliffe, st Payne, b T h om p son ..............85 Myers, c Relf, Thompson ... , A. C. MacLaren, Thompson ... . Haigh, st Payne, Thompson ... . Hunter, not o u t.. 58 S outh . First innings. Capt. E. G. Wynyard, b M yers.................................... 7 H. K. Foster, b Myers ... 15 Hayes, c Denton, b Haigh .. 84 F. L. Fane, lbw, b Haigh .. 63 K. L. Hutchings, c Mac- Laren, b Rhodes ............ 2 J. W. H. T. Douglas, c Hunter, b Haigli .......... 0 M. W. Payne, b Haigh ... 14 Relf, lbw, b Rhodes ............ 8 Thompson, st Hunter, b Rhodes ........................... 0 H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, not out ........................... 4 G. G. Napier, b Haigh ... 2 B 1, lb 3, nb 1 ........... 5 Second innings. b Haigh ...........79 b Haigh ...........38 lbw, b Haigh ... 15 b Haigh ...........28 b Haigh ...........79 c Spooner, b Rhodes ...........13 c Hunter, b Rhodes ...........26 st Hunter, b Rhodes ........... 0 c Hunter, b Rhodes ........... 9 notout.................. 15 b Rhodes ........... 4 E x tras......... 9 Total .......... 204 N orth . Total ...315 O. M. R. W . O. M. R. W Douglas ... 26 2 115 0 |Napier ... 21 0 107 2 R e lf............ 37 5 130 3 I Th’m ps’n19.4 0 116 5 Hayes ... 10 1 68 0 |Hutchi’gs 3 0 22 0 Napier bowled three no-balls and one wide and Thompson two no-balls. S outh . First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W . ~ ~ . ... 13 0 59 0 ... 12 0 44 2 ... 13 2 61 3 ... 11.2 2 35 5 Sm ith... 6 Myers delivered four no-balls. Hirst... Myers Rhodes Haigh O. ... 13 ... 9 ... 29.4 4 124 . 27 M. R. W. 1 37 0 2 22 0 5 2 110 5 0 13 0 B 25, lb 1, w 1, nb 5 32 Total ...590 THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP OF 1920. ('W ith acknowledgments to the ^d. P ress.J Punch makes fan in his own delightful way of the County Championship. Now that the fighting is over we can better enjoy the lighter side of it. Anyhow, it is at least a pleasant relief to find the CountyChampionship a vehicle for banter and a little agreeable foolery instead of a solemn, strenuous business giving rise to no end of vanity and vexation of spirit:— May 1, 1920.—The cricket season opens to­ day, and the supporters of Anglesea are confident of retaining the Championship. But it must he home in mind that the five other counties engaged to-day, Kent, Surrey, Essex, Yorkshire and Notts, have not yet suffered a reverse. May 4 .—Anglesea have retained their per­ centage of 100, and if they do not drop any more points they should he well in the running for the Championship. Curiously enough, Kent and Yorkshire have also lOOj;. June 1.—A month has elapsed, and we are only that much nearer the result of the June 29.— ^"oakshire have now 7-7.77%. If they heat Surrey, and Surrey heat Hants, Gloucestershire will still have a percentage of 25. July 4.—W hat a pity H a y w a r d , the Grand Oid Man of Cricket, dropped that catch at 3 p . m . on June 12 ! Surrey might now have been 66.66$. On the other hand they might not. July 30.— The contest is now one of Bat v. BaU. Aug. 3.— I f Anglesea are beaten to-day Surrey hope to be Champions. They have hoped so ever since May. Aug. 17.—Itis still a contest of Batp. Ball. Stpt. 2.— Anglesea and Yorkshire each have a percentage of 71.9. I f Anglesea beat Y ork­ shire it will have a percentage ef 73.2. Con. versely Yorkshire will have this percentage if Anglesea loses.