Cricket 1908

CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 21, 1908. H. GRADIDGE And SONS, IWanufacturers o f all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, an d all British Sports. PATENTEES AND SOLE Used by all the TO Leading- Players. ^ Made in Men’s, Small Men's, or College, 6, 5, 4, & 3 sizes. P r ic e L is ts F r e e 0 1 1 A p p lica tion . Of all First=Class Outfitters and Dealers. Reblading a Speciality. Factory; A rtillery P lace , WOOLWICH, IMPORTANT NOTICE. Commencing with the Spring number of “ C r i c k e t ” the price of the journal was permanently altered to ONE PENNY. The paper will continue to be conducted on the lines which have proved so successful during the past 26 years. With the Spring issue was presented to all rfaders the usual SUPPLEMENTARY SHEET, containing the revised First-Class Fixtures, with Portraits of some of the leading players of the day. THE ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, post free, to all parts o f the w orld is 3/9 per annum . The Subscription for the 24 Summ er Numbers only 3/-, payable in advance. Subscribers w ho have prepaid at the old rate w ill have their subscriptions adjr.:ted accordin g to the new terms. C r i c k e t : A W E E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. 168 , UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THURSDAY, MAY 2 1 ST, 1908. Pavilion Gossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Ham let. I t would be difficult to imagine more de­ pressing weather than that experienced in London on Thursday and Friday last, for on neither day was any cricket possible at the Oval, whilst at Lord’s play lasted only twenty-five minutes. Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and I passed the two wet days very happily in perusing Printers’ Pie, which the old Kent cricketer, Mr. W. Hugh Spottiswoode, who was re­ sponsible for its production, had kindly forwarded me a day or two before. The stories in the quarto volume are by the best-known writers of the day, whilst the most popular artists are responsible for the illustrations, which are coloured. Everyone who purchases a copy of Printers ’ Pie — quite a work of art—will not only be assured of many an hour’s amusement, but will be conscious of having assisted the funds of some very deserving institutions connected with the printing and book trades. The price of the publication is a shilling. Offices: 168 Upper Thames St., London,E.C. W h e n the fine weather came on the Saturday, batsmen had to struggle for their runs in a manner which was reminiscent of the cricket of the ’thirties and ’forties. Bowlers held the upper hand everywhere, and some remarkable and interesting play was seen. The run-getting in the various matches worked out as follows:— Ground. Cambridge Northampton Lord’s Oxford ... Oval Edgbaston Leyton ... This shows an aggregate of 1,821 runs for the loss of 146 wickets ; average, 12.47. Runs.. Wkts. Aver. ” 3 for 18 6.27 255 ,, 26 9.80 180 » 15 12.00 273 ,, 21 13.00 378 „ 27 14.00 301 » 21 M -33 3 21 „ 18 17-83 T h e most interesting cricket of the day was seen at the Oval, where Surrey came almost within an ace of beating Gloucester­ shire in a day. There was never a dull moment, batsmen throughout finding run- getting no easy matter. J. N. Crawford, making a very welcome re-appearance, captained the side skilfully, and, in addi­ tion to scoring 54 for once out, took five wickets for 14 runs. Langdon, who scored 1,369 runs last season with an average of 30.42, was unfortunate enough to make spectacles A c u r io u s , but by no means unique, ex­ perience has befallen Tonge, one of the teams taking part in the Bolton and Dis­ trict League. In two consecutive matches their totals have tied with those of their opponents. On May 9th, when they met Egerton, each side scored 33 ; on Saturday last, when playing Halliwell, the totals were 81. G. W. S te p h e n s, who has played occa­ sionally for Warwickshire, was in fine form on the 16th inst. Appearing for Moseley v. West Bromwich Dartmouth, he scored 147 in 105 minutes, and so freely did he hit in the first portion of the inn­ ings that when his score stood at 111 he had made exactly a hundred by means of 4’s. Moseley, for whom J. F. Byrne scored 69, made 405 for seven wickets in 190 minutes and won by over 350 runs. O f the several remarkable things which have already occurred this season none has been more noteworthy than the per­ formance of P. F. Warner in carrying his bat through an innings at Lord’s twice in one week. On each occasion he scored 64, and it is testimony to his skill that only one of his twenty colleagues—Tarrant, in the Kent match—succeeded in reaching double figures. It is but necessary to add that the runs were made on a damaged wicket without one faulty stroke against Hirst, Haigh, and Rhodes in the first match, and Blythe, Fairservice, Humphries, and^ Woolley in the second, for one to readily realise of what unusual merit his displays must have been. He not only kept his wicket up, but did the major part of the scoring; against Yorkshire he claimed 64 of 94 runs obtained from the bat, and against Kent 64 of 118. W r it in g in the Westminster Gazette of Haigh’s bowling in the first of the matches mentioned, Warner stated :— “ Haigh was in great form against but a moderately strong batting side of the M.C.C., keeping a fine length, and making the ball break back quickly ; and as for the most part he bowled round the wicket, it made the batsmen’s task more difficult, for there is always a better chance for a right- handed bowler who breaks back getting a batsman out lbw, if he bowls round, rather than over the wicket.’ “ When Haigh is bowling on a sticky wicket he breaks the ball so much from the ‘ off ’ that if bowling over the wicket he is not very likely to have many appeals for ‘ lbw ’ given in his favour. But going round the wicket, he can give his big break full scope, and we have often wondered why R. O. Schwarz has never attempted to bowl round instead of over the w'icket. From a batsman’s point of view, his not doing so is, perhaps, a bless­ ing.” F. J. M ann scored 114 in three-quarters of an hour for Pembroke College v. Sidney