Cricket 1907

A u g . 1, 1907 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 315 that he would develop into an all-round player of the front rank, but until this week he had never fulfilled his promise as a bowler. Dining the six seasons he has played for Worcestershire he has per­ formed as fellows in County Champion­ ship matches:— Runs Wkts. Year. scored. Aver. taken. Aver. 1901 ... 749 ... 20-24 ... ... 44 ... 30-18 1902 ... 468 ... 15-09 9 ... 48*22 1903 ... 125 ... 15-62 ... 0 •. 13-00 1904 ... 811 ..• 26-16 ... ... 18 ... 43-83 1905 ... 925 ... 33 03 ... ... 12 ... 50*25 1906 ... 850 ... 25*75 ... 16 ... 51-87 He fccred 108 v. T.eict sttrshire, tt Wor­ cester, in 1901 ; 106 v. Hampshire, at Worcester, in 1904 ; 104 v. Kent, at Wor­ cester, in 1905; and 105 not cut v. Son:erset, at Taunton, in 1906. T he following let*er, relating to the abandonment of the Middlesex v. Lanca­ shire match at Lord’s, bfcs been address* d by Mr. L ccey, the M.C.C. Secretary, to the Middlesex County C.C. :— Lord’s Cricket Ground, N.W., To the Secretary, July 30. MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET CLUB. Dear Sir,—I am instructed by the Com­ mittee of M.C.C. to write to you on the subject of the abandonment of the match, Middlesex v. Lancashire, and of the circum- btances which produced that result. The Committee of M.C.C. are of opinion that the actual responsibility for the ad­ mission of the public, and for the control of the spectators and for the protection of tbe pitch in Middlesex County matches rests with your Committee; but they readily admit that in all such matters your Committee have accepted ihe advice of M.C.C., and therefore they feel that some responsibility does attach to themselves. The anangt ments that are made by M.C.C. are based on many years’ experience, and have hitherto been adequate; but, after the exhibition of Tuesday afternoon, showing that some risk ( f a pitch being irreparably damaged by an impatient crowd does exist, my Committee feel that some additional precautions will have to be taken in Middle­ sex County matches, and in the more im­ portant matches arranged by M.C.C. ; and they apprehend—though with much regret— that these precautions will have to be in the direction of limiting the freedom of the spectators to walk on the playing ground during the intervals. This freedom has always been much enjoyed by the public, and has hitherto been accompanied by a proper respect for the pitch ; but the regrettable incident of Tuesday shows that the intemperate action of even one person might spoil the enjoyment of thousands; and, that being so, they feel that the spectators may have to be in future excluded from the neighbourhood of the pitch by a much wider interval than has hitherto been necessary. As the incident has naturally aroused public attention, my Committee feel that this communication should also be made public, and trust you will not regard it as discourteous that they communicate it to the Press without awaiting your assent.— Faithfully yours, F. E. LACEY, Secretary, M.C.C. From the Evening Standard: — Anxious as we all are that if our own men be the better they should beat the South Africans, and keen as the whole cricket- loving world is on the matches, it must be confessed that one would like to see here for a change from serious cricket some other Africans who gave themselves over to the mastery of the game. They were West African?, and had for their instructress none other than Miss Mary Kingsley. She pro­ vided the stumps, and taught the natives how to play. The difficulty was as to the ball. They have a certain hard green orange which never ripens. This they used for the ball. Another difficulty arose over the umpire, until a distinguished chief, who had sought sanctuary in the bush to escape the unwel­ come attentions of people who accused him of murder, came out to undertake the judicial office on the field. In a certain up-country match in Australia one of the players had to hutry over his innings in order to accompany an officer who held a warrant for his arrest for embezzlement; but this chief who umpired was permitted to discharge his func­ tions undisturbed. This West African cricket field was not of the character with which habitues of Lord’ s and the Oval are familiar. Whatever may have been the condition of the pitch itself, the outfield was a very close imitation of a jungle. Consequently, “ lost ba ll” was signalled pretty well every time a batsman made a real hit. To the great indignation of Miss Kingsley, the wretches in the field, instead of seeking the lost ball, would insist on shinning up the trees and bringing new ammunition thence. Not only was this not quite cricket; it was awkward in a many- barrelled way for the batsman. The nimble- ness of the rascals who climbed trees for a new ball prevented his score recording the excellence of the hitting. Moreover, when the team descended from the trees, all armed with a new hard green orange, each let fly with all his might at the wicket or batsman, to the serious dilapidation of the latter. As will be observed at Leeds to-day, the cricket­ ing manners of West Africa differ greatly from those of the South and that land of new things. F o r the follow in g table I am indebted to M r. C. F . Adam son, an Old Carthu­ sian and a valued reader o f Cricket> w ho w rite s :—“ I have recently been em ploy­ in g m y spare time in draw ing up a list o f all inter-C ounty matches played by Sussex, the scores o f w hich are in exis­ tence. Y o u w ill see from the enclosed statistics that the C ounty has lost ju st fifty per cent, more matches than they have w on ” :— First Against. Played. Won. Lost. Drn. Total. Derbyshire............... 1880 ... 9 ... 5 ... 3 ... 17 Durham ............... 1888 ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 Essex ...................... 1897 ... 2 ... 7.. 12 ... 21 Gloucestershire......... 1872 ... 1G ... 25 ... 20 ... G1 Hampshire............... 1825 ... 41 ... 11 ... 10 ... 62 HampshireandSurrey 1826 ... 2 ... 0 ... 0 ... 2 Hertfordshire ......... 1879 ... 0 ... 2 ... 0 ... 2 Kent ...................... 1825 ... 57 ... 69 ... 22 ... 148 Lancashire............... 1869 ... 8 ... 29 ... 15 ... 52 Leicestershire ......... 1879 ... 5 ... 3 ... 8 ... 16 Middlesex ............... 1864 ... 9 ... 17 ... 11 ... 37 Northamptonshiie ... 1905 ... 2 ... 0 ... 0 ... 2 Nottinghamshire ... 1835 ... 13 ... 42 ... 16 ... 71 Somerset ............... 1880 .. 13 ... 7 ... 14 ... 34 Surrey..................... 1830 ... 17 ... 59 ... 31 ... 107 Warwickshire ......... 1905 ... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 6 Worcestershire......... 1899 ... 5 ... 2 ... 4 ... 11 Yorkshire ............... 1835 ... 9 ... 34 ... 18 ... 61 Total . ... 1825 ...210 ...314 ...187 ... 711 S eptim us K in h e ir , whose claims to be regarded as the best left-handed bats­ man in tbe country at the present time are certainly strong, achieved a feat of the rarest occurrence this week when he twica carried his bat through the inningi in a match. Previously, the perform­ ance had been accomplished only by Harry Jupp, when he ecjred 43 and 109 for Surrey against Yorkshire, at the Oval in 1874. Eight years earlier, how­ ever, the latter bad come within an see of the same feat in the mitoh with Hampshire, also at Kennington. Oa the last-mentioned occasion he went iu first in each innings, saw nine wickets fall iu the first (then' being run out thrcugh no fault of his own) and carried his bat through in the second. Alto­ gether, he saw nine wickets fall, ran 407 runs, scored 125 himself, and batted eight hours and a-half. D uring the past week an interesting action has been heard at Birmingham Assizes, Lilley seeking to restrain the brothers Qunife from representing him as a partner ia their firm. Defendants counter-claimed for an injunction to restrain Lilley from selling certain athletic go ids. As the result of a some­ what protracted hearing, both the in­ junctions were granted, the judge re­ marking that it was a pity that such well-known persons iu the cricket world could not have had their differences settled by some mutual friend. I t has been arranged that the proceeds of the match between Lancashire at d Yorkshire, which commences at Leeds on Monday, shall be set apart as a benefit for Denton. It is thirteen y.-ara since this most popular of cricketers and most brilliant of outfields playfd his first match for his county, and if his reward were to be commensurate with the value of his services, his benefit would certainly prove a great success. The following are gome of the latest hundreds: — JULY. 4. Capt. Frederick, Secunderabad Gymkhana v. Manchester Regiment........................ 137 * 10. Capt. Rutter, Poona Gymkhana v. Bombay Islam Gymkhana ............................... 105 10. W. Whitaker, Mimico Asylum v. Toronto Junction ............................................. 114 16. J. W. F. Crawford, Harlequins v. 1st Army Corps............................................. 120 16. Capt. T. W. Sheppard, 1st Army Corps v. Harlequins............................................. 109 17. R. Turner, Old Merchant Taylors v. Finchley ............................................. 100 17. D. Kyd, Knowle and Dorridge v. Berkswell 121* 17. M. R. Foster, Stubbington House v. Royal Naval Barracks...................................... 105 * 17. Capt. W. L. O. Twiss, Staff College v. W. H. Palmer’s XI............................................. 105 * 19. W. G. Dyas, Northern Nomads v. Shrews­ bury School............................................. log* 19. Cotton, Surrey Club and Ground v. Kenley 194 19. E. R. Wilson, Free Foresters v. Green Jackets.................................................... 13 ^ 20. G. H. Cotterill, Oatlands Park v. Old Wykehamists ...................................... 107 20. H. W\ Wheeler, Magdalen Wanderers v. Merton..................................................... 120 20. P. Herbert, Steinway v. Mallard................. 123 * 20. E. A. Gainsford, T. A. Gainsford’s XT. v. Overstrand............................................. ioo* 20 . J. Edwards, North Middlesex v. Brunswick 100 20. C. T. Mannes, Drutnpellier v. Grange ... 131 20. G. H. A. Arlington, Stratford-on-Avon v. Knowle and Dorridge ........................ 143 20. A. G. Gough, London and Westminster Bank v. Streatham............................... 107 * 20. N. Miller, Strcatham v. London mid West­ minster Bank ...................................... ]03*