Cricket 1907

102 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 2, 1907. Now give a rousing cheer again, A louder yet, and yet a louder cheer ! He rests, and then he strikes amain As if in our applause a challenge he could hear; He drives, he cuts, he hits to off and on, Far o’ertheropesthesoaringhallhasgone; He cuts, he drives, he hits to on and off, The fieldsmen toil and groan, the glad spectators scoff; Fast though men bowl or slow, Where’er the fielders go, No respite they from their vain labours know. Then last the crowd hursts out in rattling peal like thunder, The hundred’s gained, the haven reached, delight outsparkles wonder. * * * * * “ Good sentiments and well pro­ nounced ” : worthy alike the occasion and the man, or, more correctly, the men, for the liaes show both the Champion and the Poet at their best. Mr. Edmund Brown Viney Christian, LL.B., L >ndon, was born at Deal, in Kenr, on October 9th, 1864, and was privately educated. By profession he is a solicitor. He has be^u a member of the Surrey County C.C. for rntny years, and haB contributed to the li erature of the game both in verse and prose. Mr. Andrew Lang, one of the most delightful of litterateurs, has, like Mr. Christian, taken cricket as bis theme all too seldom. Tne followiug verses, from a short piem contributed by him to the New Yo Ti Independent twenty years ago, cannot but matte one feel that cricket literature would be much the richer were he to subscribe to it more frequently:— Well, there’s one word that moved me when a boy That moves to-day; It’s when the umpire, to the general joy, Pronounces “ Play !” When now the fields are set, and seniors, all Intent on cricket, Watch the first Oxford bowler’s foremost hall Upset a wicket! May I, ere Time with all that he can bring Of sorrows serried; Takes that delight from the delight of spring, Be dead and buried, By some field-path where cricketers may pass along its mazes, And over me the green short English grass, The English daisies. Not less p le a s iD g is his “ Ballade of Cricket,” dedicated to the late Mr. T. W. Lang : - The burden of hard hitting, slog away ! Here shalt thou make a “ five” and there a “ four,” And then upon thy bat shall lean, and say, That thou art in for an uncommon score. Yea, the loud ring applauding thee shall roar, And thou to rival Thornton shalt aspire, When lo, the umpire gives thee “ leg-before,” “ Tnis is the end of every mm’s desire !” The burden of much bowling, when the stay Of all thy team is “ collared,” swift or slower, When“ bailers” breaknotintheir wonted way, And “ Yorkers ” come not off as heretofore. VVhen length balls shoot no m ore, ah, never more, When all deliveries lose their former fire, When bats seem broader than the broad barn door, “ This is the end of every man’s desire!” The burden of long fielding, when the clay Clings to thy shoon in sudden shower’s down­ pour, And running still thou stumblest, or the ray Of blazing suns doth bite and burn thee sore, And blind thee till, forgetful of thy lore, Thou dost most mournfully misjudge a “ skyer,” And lose a match the Fate3 cannot restore, “ This is the end of every man’s desire!” Envoy. Alas ! yet liefer on Youth’s hither shore, Would I be some poor Player on scant hire, Than King among theold, whoplaynomore,— “ This is the end of every man’s desire.” Doubtless something will be found in the above verses to awaken, pleasantly or otherwise, the memory of every cricketer. The recolleation of the time “ When bats seemed br O lder than tbe broad barn door ” at once establishes a bond of sympathy between the author and the reader, esp3cially if the latter has been a bowler. Mr. Lang’s skill as a cricketer was not great--------“ I have never taken part in really first-class cricket— not be>ond playing once for my college eleven ” ------but he seems to have experi­ enced some of the trials and troubles which at times befall even the best exponents of the game. He was born at Selkirk on March 31st, 1844. Mr. Norman Gale, who was born at Kew on March 4 th, 1862, has made all cricket lovers his debtors by his published b )ok8 of V dise. There is something very joyous iu the iin- s :— 0 to face fast bowling On a perfect wicket, ’Mid eleven foemen Bent upon your flight. He who’s poured his soul in Heio-kindling cricket, He has lived his moment, He has plumbed delight. Men may seek emotions, Taste them by the million; But—to leap to meet her, Meet the flying ball, Grandly then to lift her Over the pavilion, Gives a thrill that’s sweeter, Sweeter than them all! Mr. E. V. L uc -48, too, was very happy in his Songs o f the B a t: — Willow and cane is all I am, with a wisp of waxen thread, Cane and willow, willow and cane, fondly, perfectly wed; But never wood for a bounding yacht was picked with a nicer thought, And nothing planned by human hand ever was deftlier wrought. Willow and cane is all I am, yet here is a wondrous thing; Willow and cane is all I am, yet also am I a King ! The flowers of the earth my subjects are, and the throne of the Cricket Bat Is English muscle and English youth, and who has a throne like that ? * * * * * Willow and cane is all I am, yet look at the host I sway, A.nd never a boy but smiles with joy as he grips me in the fray ; A level meid is ail I need, that is my royal hall, A level mead and a gentle breeze, and the great sun over all. Of a different, but not less pleasing, order are tbe “ Cricket Triolets ” by Mr. Coulson Kernahan :— I. I ran for a catch, With the sun in my eyes, Sir ; Being sure of a “ snatch,” I ran for a catch ; . . . . Now I wear a black patch, And a nose such a size, Sir ! I ran for a catch, With the sun in my eyes, Sir ! II. I stepped in to drive And the umpire said, “ Out, Sir ! ” Being last to arrive, I stepped in to drive, For we wanted but five, And had made them no doubt, Sir ; Bat I stepped in to drive, And the umpire said, “ Out, Sir ! ” The author of these nutshell tragedies was born at Ilfracombe on August 1st, 1858. TWELVE YEARS OF THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP— 1895-1906. By J. N. P entelow . The tables which follow deal with the performances of each of the sixteen counties which have taken part in the Championship since the year in which it was widened by the addition of Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire to the list of competitors. They have been compiled wiih the greatest care, and it is believed that they will be found absolutely accurate, though in dealing with so tremendous a mass of figures as was necessary in the case of such a task as the “ Aggregite of rims scored, &c., for each year of the period,” it is just possible that some slight error may have crept in. RESULTS OF COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES, 1895-190(3. Match. Played. Won. Lost. Drwn. Derbyshire v. Essex . 24 . . 4 . . 12 ... 8 Gloucestershire .. 2 . . 0 . . 0 ... 2 Hampshire .. 24 . . 8 . . 10 ... 6 Lancashire......... .. 22 . . 1 . . 16 ... 5 Leicestershire ... .. 24 . . 7. . 9 ... 8 Northamptonsliire .. 4 . . 1 . 3 ... 0 Nottingliainshire .. 24 . . 1 . . 13 ... 10 Surrey................. .. 23 . 2 . 17 ... 4 Sussex .......... 6 . . 1 . . 3 ... 2 Warwickshire ... .. 24 . . 5 . . 4 ... 15 Worcestershire... .. 8 . . 1 . . 3 ... 4 Yorkshire.......... .. 24 . . 2 . . 15 7 Derbyshire Total... .. 209 . . 33 . . 105 ... 71 Match. Played. Won. Lost Drwn. Essex v. Derbyshire .. 24 . 12 . 4 ... 8 Gloucestershire .. 10 . . 2 . (5 2 Hampshire .. 13 . . 6 ... 3 ... 4 Kent ................. .. 18 . . 4 . 0 ... 8 Lancashire .. 20 . . 4 8 ... 8 Leicestershire ... .. 23 . . 10 .. 4 ... 9 Middlesex.......... .. 15 . . 3 5 7 Northamptonshire 2 . . 1 0 ... 1 Nottinghamshire .. 12. . . 1 .. 3 ... 8 Somerset .......... 2 . 2 .. 0 ... 0 Surrey............... 24 ; . 0 .. 12 ... 6 Sussex .......... .. 20 . . 6 2 ... 12 Warwickshire ... 22 . 3 0 ... 13 Yorkshire......... .. 24 .’ . 5 .. 14 ... 5 Essex Total................. 229 ..,. 65 ,. 73 ... 91 Match. Played. Won. Lost. Drwn. Houcestershire v. Derby. 2 . .. 0 . 0 2 E ssex........................ 10 .... 6 . 2 2 Kent ........................ 24 ... 8 . 9 7 Lancashire ......... 24 ... 2 ... 15 7 Middlesex................. 24 ... 9 . 8 ... 7 Nottinghamshire ... 24 ... 7 6 ... 11 Somerset ................. 24 . .. ii !.. 10 ... 3 Surrey................. ... 24 ... 5 ... 11 ... 8 Sussex ................. 24 ... 8 . 4 ... 12 Warwickshire ......... 18 . 7 5 ... 6 Worcestershire 14 ... 5 ... 5 ... 4 Yorkshire................. 24 ... 3 ... 17 ... 4 Gloucestershire Total .. 236 ... 71 .. 92 ... 73