Cricket 1908

3 6 2 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ugust , 20 1908. sufficient to ensure the popularity of the song. Copies m ay be obtained, price twopence each, through Novello & Co., L td ., of London, or direct from J . and W . Chester, 1 and 4, Palace Place, Castle Square, Brighton. I f a player meets with an in ju ry and pluckily fields instead of enlisting the services of a substitute, w h y is it that any chance which is offered is almost certain to go to h im ? N ear the close o f the memorable K ent v. H am pshire m atch at Canterbury, B lyth e, had he not been lam e, would probably have succeeded in running-in from m id-off and catching N ewm an when H ants required only three runs to w in with one w icket to fall. On F rid a y last Robson, o f Som erset, who field­ ed against K ent at Taunton with a damaged hand, received practically all the chances offered and m issed each of them . H e dropped A . P . D ay (118 ) when he had made 69, and H um phreys (149) twice when his total was at 43. S i r F r e d e r i c k M i l n e r has been referring to the by-elections as a sort of political cricket-match. The results, he said, had been v ery disastrous to the R adical party, because the team of which M r. Asquith was captain had eight out for nothing, and there w as good reason to believe that w ithin the next few months the whole eleven would be out without having scored anything. F . A . H . H e n l e y , the M iddlesex am ateur, bowled a ball on F rid a y at A igburth that bounced so high over T yldesley’s head th at the umpire signalled a wide. A s the batsm an had no chance of reaching the ball, this was in accord w ith the rule. T h i r t y veteran cricketers o f Norw ich and G reat Yarm outh, whose ages ranged from 55 to 80, played a m atch at Yarm outh on T hursday Fast, fifteen a-side, in aid of local charities. The gam e w as in the old style, all the bowling being underhand and the players w earing tall hats. Norwich made 108 all out, and Yarm outh, reply­ ing w ith 1 1 5 for four wickets, won easily. There was a large attendance. I h a v e received a copy of “ The Gas, L igh t, and Coke Company Cricket L eague Handbook for 1908.” The L eague was founded last year, but already eight clubs participate in the m atches. Copies o f the Handbook can be obtained, price 3d. each, from the H on. Secretary, Mr. W . H . K irrage, 19, Kem psford Road, Kennington, S .E . T h e follow ing rem arks on “ H ard Knocks at Cricket ” appeared in The Evening Standard o f M onday la s t :— Cricket is encompassed about with many dangers. One peril is that it brings crowds of men together, and crowds raise suspicions in the minds of tyrants, so that the game died an early death at Stamboul, and not the least blessing of the new regime will be that Constantinople will soon have its Oval or its Crescent; perhaps the Moslems will prefer the Crescent, allowing five for a boundary hit into the horns. Before long we may be welcoming an Osmanli eleven in England, captained, of course, by tho mighty Madrali. Another danger of cricket is the fast ball on a bumpy pitch. It is easy to scoff at “ flannelled fools,” but the man who will stand up to a fast bowler and hook him round to leg has a large share of the spirit which makes heroes. Of the reality of the danger the accident to Hardisty at the Oval is proof enough, and unhappily another proof comes from Evesham, where a farmer’s son has been killed on the cricket field. Without such a spice of danger, however, cricket would not be the king of games. With the improvement of pitches the danger has diminished, but the late Mr. H. F. Boyle brought in a new peril when he invented that “ silly mid-on,” at which a fielder requires all his wits and all his courage if he does not wish to be exter­ minated. Hard knocks and plenty of them the cricketer must expect, hence the popularity of the game in Old England. T h e Lew es P rio ry C.C. w ill long rem ember their m atch against United Services, at Portsmouth, on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Fo u r of the home side reached three figures, and retired, and a fifth was more than h alf­ w ay to his hundred when the last man was bowled. The score of the innings w a s :— U n ite d S er vice s . Comdr. H. D. R. Wat­ son, retired .............101 Lieut. O. E. Leggett, retired .....................101 Comdr. B. S. Evans, retired .................... 102 Capt. McCarthy, st Ruble, b Campion 19 Staff-Srgn N. J. Roche, retired ....................100 Oapt. C. S. H. Way- mouth, c Green, b Cam pion.................... 1 Lew es Priory, who went in first, scored 13 8 and 296, and were beaten by an innings and 10 7 runs. Staff-Sgn. F.H.Nimmo, c Bernard,b Campion 10 Capt. R. F. C. Foster, c Sturgeon, b Fuller... 7 Comdr. 1*. M. Royds, not out ...............50 Major G. N. A. Harris, lbw, b Fuller....... 23 Capt. H. S Strong, b Fuller ................. 9 Byes, &c...........12 Total ... ••541 O n the same days Charterhouse F riars made 554 for eight wickets against Folkestone, three players exceeding the c e n tu ry :— C h ar ter h o u se F r ia r s . W. Rensliaw, c and b Liebenrood ..............59 J.W .S. Malden, bK.G. Symons .................... 1 B. E. G. Eddis, c Rad­ ford, b Hawkes ...110 G. T. Branston, c Rad­ ford, b Liebenroodl55 G. O. Smith, c Gore, b Liebenrood............118 W.O.Timmis,bMunns 54 A. F. Wharton, b Lie­ benrood .................. 0 C. O. H. Bury, not out 27 W.F. H. Stanborough, c Gore,b Liebenrood 3 J. S. Richardson, not out ... .................. 9 Byes, &c..............18 Total (8 wkts.) *554 * Innings declared closed. L. H. Irvine did not bat. Folkestone, who went in first, were dism issed for 260 and 185. A t Shillinglee, on F rid ay and Saturday last, H .H . the Ja m Sahib of N aw anagar’s X I I . defeated N . D igby's Cambridge X I I . by an innings and 303 runs. The score of the former side is appended:— Reeves, c Laughton, b Grace..........................90 R. W. Fox, c Gray, b Grace..........................55 H. L. Simms, b Barker 21 C. L. A. Smith, c Falk- ner, b Morton.......... 50 The Thakor Sahib, st Sutcliffe, b Grace ... 16 C. P. McGahey,cGrace, b Morton.................. 78 Dr. Bailey, lbw,b Grace 40 K. S. Dilavahsinhji, c Falkncr, b Grace ... 69 Overton, b Barker ... 25 Geeson, c Barker, b Morton ...................32 The Jam Sahib of Na­ wanagar, not out ...103 A. C. MacLaren, c and b Grace .................. 0 Byes, &c..............14 Total ...599 M r. D igby’s X I I . scored 97 and 199 (A. L . Sutcliffe, 10 3). H .H . the Jam Sahib made his 10 3 not out in forty m inutes. M r . H e r b e r t E r n t a g e , o f B rid ge­ town, Barbadoes, draw s m y attention to the fact that the Inter-Colonial Tournament, which had been arranged to take place at Barbadoes in September, lias been postponed because D em erara finds it inconvenient to send a team then. M y correspondent adds, “ So, in event of an En glish team com ing to the West Indies in Jan u ary, the In te r­ colonial competition, according to the rules, w ill be postponed for a yea r.” T h e Adelaide Observer rem arks that it is high ly improbable that the South Australian E leven w ill again include the brilliant North Adelaide batsm an, C. B . Jenn in gs. H is duties with D algety and Co., in whose house he has been engaged for some time, w ill require much travelling at all times of the year in various States, and with great reluctance he has given up the idea o f further participation in first-class cricket. H is retirement means a big loss to South Australia, for Jen n in gs was one of the soundest batsm en on the side, and last season he came more nearly fulfilling the expectations formed of his ability than in an y previous year since he scored 77 not out in brilliant fashion against the first M.C.O. team in November, 1903. Jen n in gs was a stylish, graceful batsman to watch, and last season was in quite the front rank of Australian cricketers. O n Saturday Beckenham beat Loudon County, at Beckenham , by nine wickets two minutes before time, scoring 242 for one wicket (J. H . Todd, not out 1 1 2 ; K . R . McCloughlin, not out 128) in an hour and three-quarters. London County had declared their innings closed with eight wickets down for 241. O n the same afternoon H ounslow scored 403 for two wickets against Southall, F . Racker m aking 116 , G . P ratt 1 1 6 not out, and C. W illiam s 10 7 not out. Southall were dismissed for 6 1. H . W . P e r s s e , the H ampshire cricketer, had a very successful time on F rid a y and Saturday last whilst playing for Trojans against E . C. B igw ood’s X I I . at South­ ampton. He scored 15 5 and 7 not out, took twelve wickets, and made a catch. The visiting side lost only four wickets in their second innings, which m akes his performance the more remarkable. D o n a ld K n ig h t , aged 14 , a pupil at H ildersham H ouse, St. Peter’s, Kent, has been show ing extraordinary batting form this season. In eleven innings he averaged 159 , carrying his bat five times, and scoring three centuries. H e proceeds next month to M alvern, where more should be heard o f him . L a n c a s h ir e are, o f course, hopelessly out of the running for the Championship, but a good deal of interest attaches to their rem aining matches, for i f they are not placed among the first half-dozen of the counties they w ill be w ithout a representative on the A dvisory Counties’ Committee.