Cricket 1908

CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF 'THE GAME. S e p t . 3, 1908, their first innings; Charles Makinson, a brother of Joseph Makinson, of Cambridge and Lancashire fame, 23 in the second. H. Newcombe’s 23 not out was the leger score for N .S.W ., for whom Captain Ward took eight for 49, aud G. Richardson six for 51. There were two prominent new men on the home side in the seventh match, at Melbourne, in January, 1862—R. W.Wardill, one of the most prolific scorers for Victoria in these early days, and J . Conway, an all­ round player of considerable ability, who sixteen years later was manager of the first Australian team that visited England—and not only manager, for he was really the promoter of the enterprise. Wardill played a first innings of 3 6 ; but J. Huddlestone was ahead of him with 44, and George Marshall only a run behind with 35. Gilbert's 26 and J. Moore’s 21 were the best for New South Wales, who in their second innings topped the hundred for the first time in the series. Cosstick had six wickets for 33, Conway five for 39, for Victoria, who won by ten wickets after makirg their opponents follow-on. There was trouble during the eighth match. The Victorians arrived at Sydney very seasick, and wanted to postpone the game for a day. Charles Lawrence, the old English professional, who had stayed behind when H. H. Stephenson’ steam returned to England, was captain of the home side. He refused. Wills won the toss for Victoria, and sent the Sydney men in. Gilbert made 22, and the total was 108. Wills was top scorer for the visitors, making 25 not out in a total of 76. Then New SouthWales scored 97, D. D’Arcy making 34 not out. S. Jones was given out stumped (or, in another veision, lu n out) but the home side prote ted on the double pround that he was not beyond bis crease aud that over bad been callei before his wicket was struck, and he was allowed 10 resume his iunings. Marshall and W. H. Greaves, two of the Melbourne pro­ fessionals, were so disgusted at this decision that they would take no further part in the game ; and the feeling engendered was so strong that no match was played in the two succeeding seasons. Conway had nine wickets for 48, Wills eight for 96 ; for the home side, who won by 84 runs, Lawrence took fourteen (seven in each innings) for 73. E . J. Gregory (“ Lion-Hearted Ned” ), the father of Syd. and Charles, played his fir 3 t match for New South Wales. The matches had become too popular to be allowed to lapse for long on account of an umpire’s erratic decision and a display of temper by two professionals. 'Ihey were resumed in the Christmas holidays of 1865, when at Melbourne the homs side won by an innings and 20 runs, though New South Wales included that great all-rounder,William Caffyn, left behind by George Parr’s team, as well as Lawrence, and although Cosstick, for this one occasion only, assisted the Sydneysiders. Wills, with 58, hit the first 50 of the series; and with contributions of 37 each from W. L. Rees aLd E . Fowler, 33 each from Conway and G. O’Mullane, and 25 from the remonstrant Greaves, Victoria totalled 285, setting a new record which st* od for over four years. Ned Giegory, with 43 and 18, did best for the losers. He was a fine dashing bat, who would have made any number of runs on the easier wickets of to-day; and his sobriquet of “ Lion Hearted Ned ” shows the estimation in which he was held. Cosstick had eight of his old comrades’ wickets for 109 ; for Victoria Conway took eight for 115 , Wills six for 58. T. J. D- Kelly (“ the Little Wonder ” ), G. Gibson and Joseph Phillips (who three years later scored a century against Tasmania) made their first appear­ ances for Victoria ; all three were men who stood out a bit above tho ruck, and Kelly lacked little of being a great pla}er. In the tenth match, at Sydney, Christmas, 1866, New South Wales turned the tables, winning by an innings and 13, though Cosstick hud returned to his allegiance. There were six double figures in the home side’s innings of 145, the highest being Caffyn's 24. Gibson made 22 in Victoria's first. David Gregory, afterwards captain of the first Australian team, played his first match for New South Wales—apparently as a bowl*-r, for he went in last and made a duck, but took seven wickets for 77. Thompson had six for 46, and Conway, for the losers, six for 42. G. P. Robertson, of Rugby and Oxford, played for Vic'oria, as did B . J. Wardill, “ the Major” of later days, manager of more than one Australian team. (To be continued.). COUNTRY HOUSE CRICKET. A side which would be welcome as opponents in first-class cricket could be made up out of those who prefer to abstain fiom it, though they have leisure enough to make at least occasional appearances. A great change has come over country house and kindred cricket since the days when an authority on the subject said that the main object of the captain of a country house team was to see that everybody enjoyed himself and that as many of his team as possible went on to bowl. Now the moss has disappeared from the pitch, which in most cases has been dressed with Nottingham marl and subjected to drastic treatment with stiff brooms, rollers, and mowing machines. In a match between the home eleven and, say, the Free Foresters there will frequently be found a large number of players who would be welcome in most county teams. Stumps are pitched early and drawn la te; three-quarters of an hour suffice for luncheon; the host does not bother to open champagne for men who refuse it and ask for a ginger- beer: attempts to combine cricket with dancing are doomed to failure when every­ body is off to bed before m idnight; and from eleven in the morning till half past six at night the cricket is of the keenest. Nor is that all. It is to country house cricket that we owe the “ googly ” bowling. Mr. Bosanquet is belived to have discovered the possibility of making the ball go the wrong way when playing some game with a lawn tennis ball before cricket began, He gradu­ ally developed his discovery on the cricket ground, and the South African bowlers have improved upon his work. It is doubtful whether this particular type of bowling is going to last. Batsmen must inevitably by practice learn a good dfal more a* out it than they now know; they may even learn to detect the “ wrong ’un ” before it pitches, and then one of the chief terrors will be gone; there will still remain the one which does not break either way but comes exceptionally fast from the pitch, but that one is said to be the most difficult to bowl of all varieties. The great weakness of googly bowling is that it involves a preat Strain on the bowler. The excessive turning of the wrist involves also an excessive turning of the arm at the shoulder point, and this fact makes it doubtful whether a nnn could in county cricket keep one end going with the curious stuff for several consecutive seasons. — The Morning Post. THE PHILADELPHIANS. The Philadelphians concluded their tour, so far as first-class fixtures were concerned, on Saturday last, when Kent beat them at Canterbury by four wickets. Of the ten m atches played four were won and six lost. They accomplished their best performances against Worcestershire and M.C.C., defeating the former in the opening week of their tour by 95 runs and the latter by 25. Their form, taken as a whole, was disappointing, though it must not be overlooked that they were not at full strength, P. H. Clark being one of the m ost notable absentees. The batting of the side, especially on slow wickets, was their weak point, as their displays against Middle­ sex and Kent testified. King, who had made s me enormous scores in America since he last visited us, averaged only 16 *11 and Lester but 11*83. The feature of the team ’s cricket was the bowling of Kii g, who, if not quite so fast as before, swerved as much as ever. H is record of 87 wickets for 1 1 runs each was a wonderfully good performance. He was well supported by Hordern, an off- break bowler with a leg-break action, who took 45 wickets, but at a much heavier cost. BATTING AVERAGES. Times Most not in an Total Inns. out. inns. runs. Aver. A. M. Wood .......... 16 0 132 389 24*31 F. S. White .......... 18 0 02 346 19*22 C. C. Morris .......... 18 0 74 347 19*27 W. P. Newhall.......... 3 0 28 55 18*33 J. B. King................. 18 0 52 290 16*11 N. Z. Graves .......... 18 1 76 261 15*35 F. A. Greene .......... 15 4 49* 160 14*54 F. H. Bohlen .......... 18 0 49 246 13*66 H.V. Hordern........ 18 4 32 180 12*85 J. A. Lester ......... 18 0 40 213 11-83 W. H. Sayen .......... 12 1 29 113 10*27 T. ,C. Jordan .......... 8 4 13* 36 9*00 E. M. Cregar ... ... 6 1 10 34 6*80 C. H. Winter .......... 11 5 12 24 4 00 D. H. Adams .......... 4 0 6 8 2*00 *Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. J. B. King .......... 338*3 103 958 87 11*01 J. A. Lester......... 48*4 7 164 10 16*40 H. V. Hordern ... 274*1 42 930 45 20*66 F. A. Greene......... 104 13 309 13 23*76 W. H. Sayen......... 69*3 9 259 9 28*77 E. M. Cregar......... 37 3 195 0 — In all, the Philadelphians played 16 m atches of which seven were won, six lost, tw o drawn, and one abandoned. The follow­ ing are the averages for all m atches :— BATTING. Times Most not in an Total Inns. out. inns. runs. Aver. A. M. Wood .......... 19 0 132 452 23*78 J. A Lester .......... 25 0 124 5*20 20 S0 F. S. White .......... 25 0 62 497 19*88 C. C. Morris .......... 25 0 74 452 18*08 H. V. Hordern.......... 24 4 55 334 16*70 N. Z. Graves .......... 25 1 76 389 16*20 J. B. King................. 25 0 53 39S 15*92 F. H. Bohlen ......... 22 0 56 342 15*54 F. A. Greene ......... 21 7 49* 202 14*42 D. H. Adams .......... 9 0 56 120 13*33 W. H. Sayen .......... 15 2 29 139 10*69 W. P. Newhall.......... 8 0 28 71 8*87 E. M. Cregar .......... 8 1 13 59 8*4*2 T. C. Jordan .......... JO 4 13* 47 7*83 C. H. Winter ......... 15 8 12 31 4*42 G. Bromhead (*26) and A. Priestley (12) also batted. * Signifies not out. BOWLING. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. J. B. King .......... 471*4 145 1274 120 10*61 H. V. Hordern ... 383 54 1265 74 17*09 J. A. Lester.......... 82 13 266 15 17*73 F. A. Greene ... 146 20 443 16 27*68 W. H. Sayen ... 79 10 303 10 30*30 E. M. Cregar ... 60 8 *249 1 249*00 D. H. Adams (15-0-49-1), A. Priestley (20-0-19-0), and W. P. Newhall (14-2-33-0) also bowled. It is said that Greswell will not be available for Somerset after next season as he will proceed to Ceylon.