Cricket 1906

406 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 13, 1906. of Mitcham cricket, for he is the earliest of the great players produced by the Tillage whose scores have been preserved. When he was in his prime Mitcham cricket was very strong: how strong can be gathered from the fact that five of the Surrey eleven which defeated England by eight wickets at Lord’s, in 1810, hailed from the village. Other important cricketers belonging to Mitcham at that period were John and James Sherman, respectively uncle and father of Tom Sherman, who, in later years, rendered good service to the county as a fast bowler. These two cricketers, it is true, were not born in the village, but they went there when quite young, and it was on the famous Green that they learnt the game. In their time, when they had to play at Lord’s, they would strap their few cricketing things together, throw them over their shoulders, and walk all the way to Marylebone. A t the end of the day they would make the return journey in the same manner, and on the morrow be ready to repeat the programme. Men who willingly, and cheerily, accepted such condition deserved to do well. Old Bowyer was fond of relating that, when he was once participatihg in a match on the Green, Lady Hamilton drove up in a carriage and stayed for some time watching the game,- evidently taking a great interest in it. Following Bowyer, Mitcham produced such well-known players as John Bayley, Daniel Hayward (grandfather of the present-day Surrey “ crack” ), Tom Sherman, Mr. Chas. H . Hoare, the two Tom Sewells, Tom, Richard, and W illiam Humphrey, Fred Harwood, G. G. Jones, and Strudwick, as well as many others whose names can be seen in the ample pages of Scores and Biographies. Many years ago the village possessed two early-rising clubs, the members of which, being unable to spare the time during the day, used to rise at four o ’clock in the morning and play until seven. 'Jhe following old cricket bill is quite a curiosity in its way : — N ovel M atch . —A Cricket Match between the Upper Mitcham Early-Rising Association versus Lower Mitcham Peep-o’ -Day Club will be played on Lower Mitcham Green, on Wednesday mornings, July 6th, and 13th, 1870. W ickets to be Pitched at 3.30 a . m . Play to commence at 4 precisely. Stumps to be drawn at 7 o ’clock each morning. Mr. Fred Gale (“ The Old Buffer” ) lived at Mitcham for several years, and, as was only natural, identified himself prominently with the cricket there. One story he was fond of telling concerned a too-communicative stranger he one day chanced to meet in a railway carriage near Mitcham. The stranger, looking through the window, drew “ F .G .’s” attention to a house in the distance, remark­ ing that “ Fred Gale, the mad cricketer, lives there ! ” B y means o f judicious prompting, 4 ‘ The Old Buffer ” was enabled to learn more about himself than he had ever known before. As a result of this week’s match at the Oval, Hayward has gained the distinction of being the first batSmjm to aggregate over 3,500 runs during a season in first-class cricket. T o him, probably more than to any other player, must the close of the campaign come as a most welcome relief, as for a period of more than four months he has filled a most responsible and arduous position with the greatest possible credit, and again proved himself to be the worthy bearer of an illustrious name. Had not the success of his side always depended so largely upon his efforts, it is probable that he would have aggregated over four thousand runs during tbe season. Responsibility such as his is always bound to have a prejudicial effect upon a man’s play, and the splendid manner in which he came through the ordeal is alone sufficient to stamp him as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. There have now been seven instances of a player obtaining over three thousand runs during a season, as follow s:— Not Highest Inns. out. score. Total. Aver. Hayward (1906) ... 61 ... 8 ... 219...3518...66.37 Abel (1901) a ........... 68 ... 8 ... 247...3309...55.15 Hayward (1904) ... 63 ... 5 ... 203...3170...54.65 Ranjitsinhji (1899)... 58 ... 8 ... 197...3159...63.18 O. B. Fry (1901) ... 43 ... 3 ... 244...3147...78.67 Ranjitsinhji (1900)... 40 ... 5 ... 275...3065...87.57 Tyldesley (1901) ... 60 ... 5 ... 221...3041...55.29 a Signifies at the age of 41. “ W .G .’s ” highest aggregates were :— Not Highest Year. Inns. out. score. Total. Aver. 1871 ... ... 39 ... 4 ... 268 ... 2739 .. . 78.90 1876 ... ... 46 ... 4 ... 344 .... 2622 ..,. 62.42 1895 a... ... 48 ... 2 ... 288 ..., 2346 ... 51.00 1873 ... ... 38 ... 8 ... 192 .... 2139 .... 71.30 1896 b... ... 54 ... 4 ... 301 .... 2135 .... 42.70 1887 ... ... 46 ... 8 ... 183* .. 2062 .. 54.26 * Signifies not o u t; a, aged 47 ; and b, aged 48. Bearing in mind how different the conditions were when “ W G .” was in his prime from what they have been of late years, the above- mentioned performances by the old gentleman must be regarded as altogether remarkable. Dr. E. M. Grace, one is pleased to hear, has again had a very successful season, having, indeed, done better in bowling than at any time during the past three decades. As he was born in 1841, his feat in obtaining as many as 350 wickets this year must be con­ sidered little less than marvellous. Of him and his lobs it may truly be remarked that age cannot wither, nor custom stale, their infinite variety, for, as Mr. Andrew Lang has said, “ E .M .” reckons not by years, he being, pre­ sumably, a believer in the old adage that a man is only as old as he feels. His first season was 1851, when he took 22 wickets and made 256 runs, and, except in 1885 (when he had an injured knee), he has played regularly every year since. So the present is his fifty-fifth season, and, as will be admitted, he has celebrated it in wonderful fashion. The cheeriest of companions, most interesting of cricketers, and best of raconteurs , his continued success will be welcome news to all followers of the game. But even more welcome would be the publication of his reminiscences. A man who has kept in close touch with the leading players for almost fifty years should have an interesting tale to tell. His recollections, too, of Aus­ tralian cricket as it was four decades ago should be within the reach of everyone, instead of in the possession of comparatively few, as at present. I wish I could think the “ Coroner ” would be as keen to take this advice as he used to be to take catches, when, by general consent, he was regarded as the finest point the world had ever seen. The fact that the Committee of the M.C.C., at their meeting on Friday last, found them­ selves unable to see their way clear to allow a team to tour through Australia under their aegis during our next non-cricket season, can have come as a surprise to none. To men who make a living out of the game—in other words to professional cricketers— it might still have been no difficult matter to have arranged, at almost a moment’s notice, to make the long journey, but, so far as the amateur members of the 6ide would be concerned, it would have been a vastly different affair. In Australia, where all the leading players are of one status, the last- mentioned fact may not be generally realised, and, if this surmise is correct, it w ill readily account for the somewhat unkindly feeling which, if one can believe some of the reports which have been cabled over, the Committee’ s final decision has engendered against the Club. It may, however, well be doubted whether, even in Australia, anybody really expected the M.C.C. last week to undertake, at that late hour, to send out a team. In any case, by cricketers in this country the decision will be regarded as the only one possible in the circumstances. M A R Y L E B O N E C L U B A N D G R O U N D . F IR S T -C L A S S M A T C H E S I N 1906. T h e fo llo w in g are the b attin g an d b ow lin g averages o f th e M .C .C . in th eir first-class fixtures this season. A ltogeth er the C lub played eleven m atches, o f w h ich seven w ere w on and fo u r lost. T h e victories w ere o v e r Y orksh ire, D erbyshire and K en t, O x ford U n iversity (tw ice), C am bridge U n iversity, and the W est Indians : the defeats b y N o tts, L eicester­ shire and W orcestershire, at L o r d ’ s, and b y Y orksh ire, at S carborou gh . BATTING AVERAGES. No. Times Most of not Total in an InnS. out. runs. Inns. Aver. P. F. Warner ........... 4 ... 1 ... 207 ... 87 ... 69 00 F. L. Fane ................... 4 ... 0 ... 224 ... 97 ... 56 00 Newstead ................. 4 ... 0 ... 156 ... 80 ... 3900 Capt. E .G . Wynyard 10 ... 2 ... 184 ... 74 ... 3550 G. L. Jessop... ........... 6 ... 0 ... 198 ... 63 ... 33 00 G. J .V . W eigall.......... 7 ... 2 ... 159 ... 49*... 31 80 Capt. C. I.. V eal........... 3 ... 0 ... 91 ... 41 ... 30 33 Capt. E. L. Challoner 4 ... 0 ... 109 ... 31 ... 27 25 Board ......................... 4 ... 0 ... 107 ... 53 ... 26*75 Thompson ... ... ... 6 ... 0 ... 144 ... 36 ... 24-00 A. Hearne .................. 4 ... 1 ... 68 ... 38*... 22-66 Tarrant........................ 12 ... 0 ... 251 ... 74 ... 2091 Trott ........................ 7 ... 1 ... 121 ... 36 ... 2016 Vogler ........................ 19 ... 3 ... 275 ... 85 ... 17 18 F. H. Liebenrood ... 8 ... 1 ... 108 ... 26 ... 15-42 A. F. Somerset ......... 4 ... 0 ... 36 ... 14 ... 9 00 Mead (Essex) ......... 8 ... 1 ... 62 ... 33 ... 885 G. H. Drummond ... 6 ... 1 ... 40 ... 20 ... 8 00 O. H eadlam ................ 4 ... 0 ... 32 ... 19 ... 800 The following also batted: O. V. Baker, 14 and 3 ; G. W . Beldam, 4 and 17 ; Braund, 73 and 3; E. H. Bray, 6 and 5; Buckenham, 10 and 15*; Butt, 0 and 5; H.M. Butterworth, 31 and 9 ; Carpenter, 4 andO; P. W .O obbold,8and2; G .C ox,0; Dennett, 0*, 18*, and 0; East, 9 and 10; O. G. E. Farmer, 14 and 55; C. P. Foley, 8 and 47 ; B. S. Foster, 27 and 26; H. K. Foster, 0 and 3 ; R. H. Fox, 0 and 0; R. W . Fox, 1* ; Capt. J. G. Greig, 16 and 40; Hardstaff, 55 and 48; W. P. Harrison, 1; J. T. Hearne, 8, 46, 2*, and 0* ; H. Hesketh-Prichard, 17 and 0 ; Huish, 8and 1; Humphries, 53 and 26; P. R. Johnson, 23; K. J. Key, 14 and 14 ; K ing, 5 and 20; E. C. Lee, 7 and 22; H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, 50* ; A. P. Lucas, 34 and 33; A. C. MacLaren, 0 and 9; C. B. W. Magnay, 7 and 4; H. H. Marriott, 29 and 6 ; O. H. B. Marsham, 29 and 27 ; F. B. May, 0* and 7 ; G. G. Napier, 18 and 5*; Hon. D. O ’Brien, 0 and 4 ; O. A. L. Payne, 0 and 12; M. W. Payne, 0 and 80; J. E. Raphael, 51 and 66; Reeves, 2and 1; A. E. Relf, 4 and 16; Capt. C. Disney- Roebuck, 0 and 8*; Lord Somers. 0 and 13; R. H. Spooner, 77 and 60; H. D. Stratton, 0* and 18; P. W. G. Stuart, 1 and 2; H. E. Symes-Thompson, 5 and 2* ; 0. E. De Trafford, 0 and 29; Young, 18*, 3, 4, and 17*. * Signifies not out. BOW LING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. Mead ........... ... 1952 ... 62 .. . 431 ,... 37 .. . 11*64 D ennett........... ... 64-2 ... 11 . .. 220 ... 15 ... 14*66 Thompson ... ... 67-3 ... 11 .. 224 .... 14 .. . 16-00 T a rran t........... ... 100 ... 18 ..,. 342 ... 18 .. . 1900 Young ........... ... 117*3 ... 27 ..,. 305 .... 16 .. . 19-06 Vogler ........... ... 3421 ... 56 .. .1143 ... 58 .. . 19-70 Trott ........... ... 72 ... 14 .... 218 . 9 ... 24-22 J. T. Hearne ... ... 45 ... 12 ... 138 ... 5 .. . 27-60 Newstead ... 35 ... 11 ... 100 ... 2 .. . 50-00 The following bowled in two innings: G. W. Beldam (12*1,60’ 1); Braund (160,108'3); Buckenham (38-1,11, 92-4); P. W. Cobbold (46'5, 9,153 5); G. Cox (16-3, 70 3); East (16 2, 42 2); B. S. Foster (6 0, 21’0 ); H. Hesketh-Pritchard (34’3, 136 6); K ing (7 0, 34*0); G. G. Napier (30’5, 117*2); Captain E. G. Wynyard (4-0,100). The following bowled once on ly: Hardstaff (1‘0, 4 0); A. Hearne (8‘1, 2, 14*2), F. H. Liebenrood (2'0, 8-0); A. E. Relf (11-2, 22*0). No three-figure score was hit for the M.O.C. and Ground in first-class matches.