Cricket 1907

394 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 5, 1907. T h e Leicestershire County O.C. have decided to grant a benefit next season to Coe as a recognition of his ten years’ service. H . C o x o n has been the official Bcorer to the Nottinghamshire County C . C . for the lon g period of thirty-eight years, and therefore commenced his duties before any member of the present team was born. It has been suggested that a testimonial should be got up in order to recognise his loDg period of service. D u r in g the luncheon interval at the Oval yesterday the Surrey professionals presented Lord Daluaeny with an illuminated testimonial as a mark of their respect, and appreciation o f all he had done for them both on and <ff the field. They also asked his acceptance of the ball, round which a diver band had been placed, with which he recently took two Worcestershire wickets for 16 runs. His lordship, in thanking them, said how much he was indebted to them for making his position as cap!ain a? easy and pleasant as possible. A telegram from Bombay states the Parsees, after defeating the Hindus, won thtir match against the Presidency by 14^ runs, the latter scoring only 44 and 63. O w in g to the South Africans’ import­ ant match at Scarborough next week, it is probable that neither R . O. Schwa; z nor S. J. Snooke will be available for the M .C .C .’s first match in America. K. O. Goldie and J. W . H . T. Douglas have been included in the side which will undertake the trip, but P . W . Sherwell, the South African captain, has found it impossible to make the journey. D uring the past season Hirst, Rhodes, and Haigh have got through a'moBt as much bow ling for Yorkshire as in 1906, when, apart from Myers (who dismissed 31 men), no player took more than ten wickets in County Championship matches. During the last two years the trio have taken 770 wickets, or an average of nearly 130 each a season :— 1906 1907 W. R. Avg. W. E. Avg. 182 ... 2701 ...14-84 ... Hirst...140 ...2130 ...15'fl 91 ... 2036 ...22-37 ... Rhodes ...141 ...2314 ...16-41 138 ... 1868 ...13'53 ... Haigh...78 ... 898 ...11-51 It will be seen that ineach year Haigh had the best average, and Rhodes the worst. In 1906 the trio took 411 wickets at a cost of 16 07 runs each, and this season 359 for 14-88 apiece. T h e proceeds of the match b e tw e n Nottinghamshire and England, which commecc'S at the Oval on Thursday next, will be divided equally between the Cricketfrs’ Fund and such charitable causes as the Notts Committee may select. The England tide will be com ­ posed of Lord Hawke (captain), K . L. Hutchings, G. L. Jessop, P . F . Warner, Buckenham, Dennett, Hayward, Hirst, Lees, Lilley, and Tyldesley. I n the Norfolk Room at the Great Eastern Hotel, on Tuesday evening, Mr. P . W . Sherwell was entertained at dinner by past members of Elstow School, which is better known, perhaps, under its former title of Bedford County School. Mr. Sherwell, who was presented with a silver cigar cise by his old fellow students, stated that the South Africans had experienced quite as successful a tour as they had anticipated, but they hoped that when next they came over they would be more favoured in the matter of weather. A n official statement has been issued showing that during 1907 the full attendance of paying visitors to Y ork ­ shire’s home matches was 155,041, apd the gross gate £6,266 7s. 61. After p ijm e n t of £2,935 15s. 4d. to the club! upon whose grounds tbe matches were played, (he net gate receipts amounted to £3,330 12s. 2d. Inter-county matches produced £2,794 9 j . 3d., compared with £6,561 17s. in 1906. T h o se who were present at the Cen­ tral Ground at Hastings on Tuesday were indeed fortunate, for Jessop was at his very best and hit in his most vigorous style for an hour and a-half, during which time he scored 191 out of 234. He reached 50 in twenty-four minutes, 100 in forty-two, and 150 in sixty-three, and hit five 6’s and thirty 4’s. In partnership with McGahey (17) he added 108 for the fourth wicket in thirty-five minutes, making 89 of the 103 ruus scored from the bat, and with Blaker (10) put on 77 for the fifth in similar time. O ff an over from Relf he made 26 by means of five 4’s and a 6, and, despite the terrific rate at which he scored, i ff<red only one chance, and that a difficult one—to Woolley at m id-on when 159. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing in connect­ ion with his display was the ease with which he obtained runs all round the wicket whilst all bis companions appeared in difficulties. The words which the Rev. John M itford wrote three-quarters of a century ago in reference to Beldham are very applicable to Jessop:— “ It mattered not to him who bowled, or how he bowled, fast or slow, high or low, straight or bias, away flew the ball from his bat like an eagle on the wing. . . . Men’s hearts throbbed within th em : their cheeks turned pale and red.” JESSOP’ S six highest innings in first- class cricket are now as follows :— 286 out of 355 in 175 mins., Gloucestershire v. Sussex, at Brighton, 1903. 240 ,, 337 „ 200 „ Gloucestershire v. Sussex, at Bristol, 1907. 234 „ 346 ,, 155 ,, Gloucestershire v. Somer­ set, at Bristol, 1905. 233 ,, 818 „ 150 ,, England v. Yorkshire, at Lord’s, 1901. 206 „ 317 „ 110 ,, Gloucestershire v. Notts., at Nottingham, 1904. 191 ,, 234 ,,9 0 „ Gentlemen of South v. Players of South, at Hastings, 1907. His previous displays most resembling the last-mentioned were his 101 out of 118 in forty minutes v. Yorkshire, at Harrogate in 1897, and his 157 out of 200 in an hour v. West Indians, at Bristol in 1900. It may prove of interest to recall that in a match at Barberton, in October, 1901, Captain A. C. Richards, who has played for Hampshire, scored 101 not out and 185, and that of the 311 runs made by his side from the bat in the two completed innings, he himself was responsible for as many as 286. “ B ette r late than never ” is an old and trite saying, and it is pleasing to find, even thus late iu the season, that Tancred has regained the form which for several years past has placed him in quite the front rank of South African batsmen. His two innings against M.C.C. and Ground at L ord’s this week were of in­ estimable worth to his side. It was known before he arrived in England this year that he was only just recovering from a severe illness, aud doubts were then expressed as to whether he would be able to play up to the family reputa­ tion. He first came over in 1901, when, with 165 v. East of Scotland as bis highest score, he made 1,125 runs in all matches with an average of 25'56. Three years later he scored 1,640 runs with an average of 48 23, making 250 v. Scotland, 140 v. Dublin University, 113 v. N otting­ hamshire, 109 v. Leicestershire, 106 v. Warwickshire, and 101 v. Yorkshire. A t Lord’s yesterday the South Africans experienced their fourth, and inoso severe, reverse of their tour, suffer­ ing defeat to the extent of an innings and 9 runs at the hands of M .C.C. and Ground, who, with Surrey, England, and Nottinghamshire, have alone suc­ ceeded in beating them. The chief causes of the result were the batting by A. E . Lawton and B. S. Foster, and the bow ling of Tarrant. The run-getting of the visitors proved both a surprise and a disappointment, for, in their first innings, they should certainly have scored more heavily. The wicket was certainly all against them on the last day, but that was all in the luck of the game. C. B. F r y , ow ing to Hayward’s two small scores in this week’s match with Leicestershire, resumes bis position at the head of the batting averages, the figures of the pair being :— No. Times of not Highest Total Inns. out. Score, runs. Aver. O. B. Fry ... 34 ... 3 ... 187 ... 1449 ... 46'74 Hayward ... 52 ... 5 ... 161 ... 2161 ... 4597 It is still possible for the positions to be again reversed before tbe season closes. A l t h o u g h possibly too much attention is bestowed upon record-making in these days, it is with unalloyed pleasure one learns that H obbs has succeeded in com­ pleting his two-thousand runs for the season. On recent form he is certainly one of the three best professional bats­ men in the country, and his recent successes should do much to give him confidence for the ordeal he will presently experience — the participation in Test Matches in Australia. 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