Cricket 1908

A u g u s t 13, 1908. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 345 figures b y k n o ck in g u p 51 , and another inn in gs w as 5 . T h e figures o f the last batsm an, 9 , m u ltip lied b y the extras, 7 , m ak e L ille y ’s tota l, 63 . R arely d oes an eleven bat so m a th em a tica lly.” O v e r h e a r d at the C rystal P a la c e : “ W . G .” b ow lin g :— C h i l d : lt O h ! F a th er, d oesn ’t he b ow l slow ly ? ” F a t h e r (evid en tly th in k in g that the qu a lity o f b ow lin g dep en d s on its speed and that he sh ou ld m ak e som e a p ology for th e “ O ld M a n ” ) : “ O h, I expect th ey are a lo t faster than th ey lo o k .” p lay ed on L o rd S h a ftesb u ry’s n ew g rou n d at S t. G ile s’, D orset. J . E . K a p h a e l, th e O ld M erch a n t T a y lo r, O xford, an d S u rrey C ricketer, w as resp on sible fo r a rather rem a rk a b le p iece o f sco rin g at A d d iscom b e o n T h u rs­ d a y last. T h e secon d in n in g s o f his ow n side w as as follow s :— J. E. R a ph a e l ’ s XI. J. E. Raphael, not o u t .......................... ... 84 W. G. Henderson, b Hayes .......... ... 8 L F. Schooling, c Wake, b Hayes ... ... 0 R. J. Haworth, b Humphreys .......... ... 0 A. J. Schooling, b H um phreys........... ... 1 T. Macaldin, not out .......................... ... 0 Byes, etc................................ ... 0 schemc. He put one man at mid-off; his wicket­ keeper stood where he could watch the ball round the batsman’s body ; there were four short legs, a mid- 011 , and three deep fielders guarding thefc on boundary. Having so disposed his men the bowler delivered a succession of ballswhich swerved sharply in the air from the off and generally passed un­ touched outside the batsman's Jegs. He explained that the good ones were those which started straight and. swerving in at the batsmen’s legs, forced him to play at them with his feet in the wrong position. The result was a succession of dull afternoons, but the annoying thing was that the bowler in question got more than his share of wickets, and 011 paper justified his tactics. All that can be said for him is that his leg theory was bettor than that of Armstrong, the Australian, though it was not carried out so accurately. A bad length ball came down occasionally, and the army of short legs experi­ enced the thrill caused by the imminence of severe injury, if not of worse. The same thrill would bo experienced by batsmen if a really fast bowler acquired the necessary swerve and began bowling for slip catches on the leg side.” M r . C. H . B . M a r s h a m , w h o su cceed ed to the ca p ta in cy o f the K en t E lev en in 1904 , has a n n ou n ced h is in te n ­ tion o f resign in g the p osition at the co n clu sio n o f the present season, as in future h e w ill be un able to devote so m u ch tim e to crick et. T h is is h e a v y new s in d eed , th ou g h it is go o d to k n ow that h is con n e ctio n w ith the team w ill n ot be com p le te ly severed. S e v e r a l corresp on den ts ha ve w ritten to m e w ith referen ce to the tou r o f the A m erica n baseball players in E n g la n d in 1874 , to w h ich allusion w as m ad e in the last issue 0 / C rick et. F o r th eir en ligh ten ­ m en t I append b rief particulars o f the crick et m atch es th e y played , m erely rem a rk in g that the sides w h ich op p osed th em w ere, w ith th e sin gle excep tion o f th e M .C .C . team , very w e a k :— XVIII. Baseballers, 107 (A. G. Spalding, 23) v. XII. of M.C.C., 105 (V. E. Walker, 27; Alfred Lubbock, *24).’ At Lord’s, August 3, 4. Drawn. X V I11. Bascballcrs, 110 (H. Wriglit, 22) v. Prince’s Club, 21 (F. p. Leyland, not out 10) and 39 (J. C. Wilkinson and Hon. A. Erskine, eaeli 14). At Prince’s, August 0, 7. Won by an innings and 00 runs. X X II. Baseballers, 45 for six wickets (R. C. Barnes, not out 14) v. X III. of Richnioud, 108 (H. H. Lushington, 22). A t Richmond, August S. Drawn. XVIII. Baseballers, 100 (H. Wright, 23) and 111 (A. J. Leonard, 28) v. Surrey C.C.C., 27 (J. Wood, 16) and 2 for foyr wickets (T. G. Cole, 2). At the Oval, August 18, 14. Drawn. C. W. Alcock was one of the umpires. XV III. Baseballers, 130 (G. Wright, 23) v. XII of Sheffield, 43 (E. F. Fay, 8) and 45 (VV. Wigfall, 14)! At Sheffield, August 15, 17. Won by an innings and 42 runs. This was a ‘‘ week-end ” match, play taking place on Saturday and Monday. XVIII. Baseballers, 121 (R. C. Barnes, 22) and 100 (G. Wright, 50) v. Manchester, 42 (E. B. Rowley and W. G. Mills, each 11) and 53 (A. Watson, 25). At Manchester, August 20, 21. Won by 126 runs. X IX . Baseballers, 71 (J. O’Rourke, 10) and 94 (A. C. Anson, not out 27) v. XII. of “ Ireland,” 47 (D. Stokes and R. A. Miller, each 12) and 32 (D. Stokes, 10). At Dublin, August 24, 25. Won by 86 runs. M atch es p layed, 7 ; w on 4 , lost 0 , d raw n 3 . T o -d a y ’s m a tch at W orcester betw een W orcestersh ire an d Sussex is to be p layed for the benefit o f A lb ert B ird , w h o, appearin g orig in a lly fo r W arw ick w sh ire, afterw ards assisted W orcestersh ire, for w h om he has d on e g o o d all-rou n d service. H e w as a g o o d slow b ow ler in his d a y, a useful bat an d an excellen t field. I am sorry to hea r that S an tall’s ben efit has n o t p rov ed the su ccess it w as h op ed , and that it h as been con sid ered G e o f f r e y A . S t e v e n s , the captain o f N o rw ich G ram m ar S ch ool, w h o has played for N o rfo lk o n a few occa sion s, has a lrea dy m ad e eleven hu ndreds and scored o v e r 2,000 ru ns this season. H is th ree-figu re scores ha ve b e e n : — 111, Norwich O.K.Y.M.S. v. liltli Hussars. 152, Norwich School v. Woodbridge School. *150, Norwich School v. O. H. Chevalier’s XI. lie., Norwich C.E.Y.M.S. v. Y.M.O.A. 256, Norwich School v. Ipswich School. 101, Norwich School v Norwich Banks. *100, Norfolk v. Bedfordshire. 132, Norwich School v. C. H. Chevalier’s XI. 121, Norwich C.E.Y.M.S. v. Y.M.C.A. *118, Norfolk v. Hertfordshire. *170, Norfolk v. Cambridgeshire. * Signifies not out. H e w ou ld seem to h a ve a great future before h im , for he has n ot yet com p leted his eigh teen th yea r. A n o t h e r sch o o lb o y o f w h om a g ood a ccou n t rea ch es m e is A . K . C am pbell, o f S ou th am p ton G ram m a r S ch ool. F o r the S ch o o l d u rin g this season he has scored 1,334 runs in seventeen in n in gs, three o f w h ich w ere un fin ished, thus avera gin g over 95 . H is highest scores w ere :— *224 v. Bournemouth School. *201 v. Banister Court. 194 v. Old Edwardians. 155 v. Ordnance Survey Office. *134 v. Hartley University College. ♦Signifies not out. H e is, in ad d ition , a g o o d ch an ge bow ler an d an excellen t w ick et-k eep er. I am also g iv en to un derstand that f i . G ardn er, o f K in g ’s S ch ool, C an terbu ry, has m ad e w ell ov e r a thousand ru ns d u rin g the season, bu t I h ave not his exact figures. T h e N otts C ou n ty C .C . C om m ittee are m a k in g a p p lication for the adm ission o f their 2 n d X I . to th e M in or C ou n ties’ C h am p ion sh ip for n ex t season, an d are p ro cee d in g w ith arrangem en ts fo r re­ en g ag in g m em b ers o f th e grou n d -sta ff w ith that en d in v ie w . M a n y people ha ve lo n g folt that the m em bers o f the grou n d -sta ff h ave n ot been pitted against team s calcu lated to b rin g ou t their best p o w ers, an d it is h op ed that this step w ill h elp to p rod u ce p layers w h o w ill m ore efficien tly feed the C ou n ty E le v e n . H a r d s t a f f scored 174 n ot ou t an d 12 n o t ou t fo r M .C .C . an d G rou n d v . E g e r­ ton P ark, at M elton M ow b ra y on A ugu st Cth an d 7 th . H e also took seven w ick ets.! O n the sam e d a ys S ir T . C. O ’B rien, B art., m a d e 93 n o t ou t and 94 for the E a rl o f S h a ftesb u ry’s X I . against C ol. C h u rch ill’s X I . T h is w as th e first m atch Total (4 wkts) ................. 93 In h is first inn in gs he m ad e 75 in a total o f 145 , w h ich in clu d ed n in e extras. A d d iscom b e scored 142 . A t the O val on T h u rsd a y, P . F . W a rn er, b y his fine in n in g s o f 78 , again sh ow ed w h at a fine batsm an h e is. H e m ad e his runs against difficult b ow lin g, on a g rou n d w h ich w as against h ea vy scorin g, and at a tim e w h en his co n frere s appeared all but helpless. H a d it not b een for h im , M iddlesex w ou ld p rob a bly h a ve been ou t fo r con sid era b ly less than a h u n d red . S u rrey w ere at the top o f their fo rm last w eek , and, after p la y in g so w ell against N otts., overcam e M id d le ­ sex to th e exten t o f an in n in gs and 29 ru n s. C on sid erin g that they too k the field w ith ou t C ra w ford , th eir su ccess w as a n otew orth y one. M id d lesex, h ow ev er, sad ly m issed M ig n on , w h ose fast b ow lin g w o u ld ha ve been w ell suited b y th e co n ­ d ition s. S urrey h ad the best o f the w ick et, it is true, but that fa ct is n ot in itse lf suffi­ cien t to a ccou n t fo r the great d ifference betw een the tw o sides. M arshal hit m a g n ificen tly, an d H itc h an d L ees b o w le d extrem ely w ell, the latter far b etter than his analyses w ou ld lead one to im a g in e. A w ord o f praise is also due to D u ca t, w h o bids fair to d evelop in to a v e ry usefu l batsm an. L a st yea r, as m a n y w ill rem em ber, h e m ad e 210 fo r the s econ d eleven o f the C ou n ty against B erk sh ire, at B eiga te, scorin g m o re in his o w n in n in gs than h is op p on en ts did in th eir tw en ty-tw o. I t m u st be reg ard ed as a gen u in e cu riosity for the closu re to be applied o n three occa sion s d u rin g the cou rse o f a m a tch . T his is w h at h a p p en ed on the 3 rd and 4 th inst. in the tw elve a-side m a tch at E a lin g b etw een E a lin g and F .H . D a n g a r’s X I I .,b u t the m anoeuvring did n ot enable a definite result to be arrived at. T h e tota l scores w e r e :— F . H . D a n g a r’s X I I ., 305 for ten w ick ets (innings closed) and 220 for fou r w ick ets (innings c lo s e d ); E a lin g , 356 fo r ten w ick ets (innings clo sed ) and 70 for four w ick ets. __ » F r o m T h e M o rn in g P o s t :— “ The practical abolition of forward play has already made a vast difference to the game, and it is almost inevitable that further changes in methods of batting and bowling should follow. Some people fear, and not without reason, that such changes will aim at producing safe rather than brilliant tactics. The writer recently played for a week with a side which included a bowler who had evolved a new