Cricket 1908

J an . 30, 1908. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 3 F j OOTBALL IMPROVEDMAKE-KEEPTHEIRSHAPE-LASTLONGER r e d I |QfgDEMONDRjVj _ ARE OUT AND OUT THE BEST. lOfe OTHERGRADES 7 -6 -S '3 -A 6 -A --3 '6 -3 '-Z r6 ~Z'~ S'AP^kLCATI GEO. G. BUSSEY & CO., LTD, 36 & 38, Queen Victoria St., LONDON. Manufactory: TimberMUXs: PEOKHAM , LS.E. ELM SWELL, SUFFOLK. A T T H E S IG N O F T H E W IC K E T . B y F. 8 . A s h lb y -C o o p b r . NOTEWORTHY EVENTS OF 1907. (i Continued from 'page h5% of Vol. xxvi.) III.— T h e B o w l e r s . With weather and wickets so greatly against run-getting, many howling triumphs were naturally recorded during the season. Playing for Kent at Northampton, Blythe obtained seventeen Northamptonshire wickets in a single day at a cost of only 48 runs, thus accomplishing a feat without parallel in the history of first-class cricket. In the first innings he took ten wickets for 30 runs, and this was the only occasion during the season upon which a bowler secured all the wickets in an innings. Nine in an innings, however, were taken by Cuffe (J. A.), Dean (H.), Fielder (A.), Birst (G. H.), Tarrant (F. A.) twice, and Tyler (E. J.), the last-named making a sensational reappearance for Somer­ set at Hastings against Sussex. Blythe’s seventeen wickets against Northants was easily the largest number obtained by a bowler in a match, and there were only four other instances—one by Blythe himself, two by Dennett (G.), and one by Hirst (G. H.)—of as many as fifteen being taken. From a figure point of view, the most remarkable perform­ ances during the season were as follows :— | Blythe (C.), Kent v. Northants., at J Northampton. J. N. Crawford, Surrey v. Sussex, at the Oval. } Dennett (G.) Gloucestershire v, Northants., at Gloucester. Fairservice (W. J.), Kent v. Derbyshire, at Chesterfield. G. A. Faulkner, South Africa v. England, at Leeds. Haigh (S.), Yorkshire v. Warwickshire, at Sheffield. Hallam (A. W.), Notts v. Essex, at Leyton. Newstead(J. T.), Yorkshire v. Worcester­ shire, at Bradford. R. O. Schwarz, South Africans v. Northants, at Northampton. Trott (A. E.), Middlesex v. Somerset, at Lord’s. A. E. Vogler, South Africans v. Derby­ shire, at Derby. Wass (T.), Notts, v. M.C.C. and Ground, at Lord’s. In the two matches between Gloucestershire and Northants, Dennett obtained thirty wickets for 118 runs — fifteen for 21 at Gloucester, and fifteen for 97 at North­ ampton. The hat-trick was performed during the ‘‘ summer” no less than ten times, and on two of the occasions as many as four wickets were taken with consecutive balls. The instances were as follows:— 10 for 30 a 7 „ 18 b 17 „ 48 c 6 „ 15. 8 M 9 a 7 „ 12 6 15 „ 21 c 6 „ 14. 6 „ 17. 7 „ 13. 6 ,, 18. 7 „ 10. 6 „ 11. 7 „ 20. 6 „ 17. 6 „ 3. Thom pson/ NorL“ V' 4 <G J > at Manchester. 1 Deyes (G.)- Dennett (G.) Hallam (A. W.) Hirst (G. H.) Jayes (T.) Tan-ant (P. A.) Yorks, v. Gents, f of Ireland, -c at Bray. v Glouces. v. | Northants, -I k at Gloucester. ( [Notts, v. Leices- | tershire, ■{ [ at Nottingham. I f Yorks. v. Leices- j tershire, -{ L at Hull. I 1 Leicestershire v. j Kent, \ at Maidstone. I Middlesex v. Gloucestershire, at Bristol. T. C. Ross. W. Harrington. G. W. F. Kelly. R. W. Hawtin. R. N. Beasley. Buswell (W. A.) V. F. S. Crawford. J. Shields. W. W. Odell. C. J. B. Wood. King (J. H.) Knight (A. E.) E. W. Dillon. L. H. W. Troughton. Woolley (F. E.) Board (J. H.) D. Morgan. Huggins (J. H.) Spry (E.) Trott, (A. E.) Young <H.) Middlesex v. Somerset, at Lord’s. Essex v. Leicestershire, at Leyton. H. D. Stanning. Heap (J. S.) Huddleston (W .) Lewis (A. E.) E. S. M. Poyntz. S. M. J. Woods. Robson (E.) / O. C. Mordaunt. J A. P. Wickham. ( Bailey (A. E.) Knight (A. E.) Coe (S.) V. F. S. Crawford. The two instances by Trott, in one of which he took four wickets in succession, occurred in the same innings —a feat without precedent in the annals of first-class cricket. Playing for Northants against Warwickshire at Edg- baston, Thompson (G. J.) dismissed two men with consecutive balls, and with the follow­ ing delivery got another caught off a no-ball; liter in the same innings he obtained three wickets in four balls. On ten occasions two bowlers were unchanged through both com­ pleted innings of their opponents, but Hallam (A. W.) and Wass (T.) were the only pair who performed the feat more than once; they were unchanged against Northants at Northampton, and agdinst Derbyshire at Chesterfield. Nine bowlers obtained over one hundred and fifty wickets during the season, Hallam taking one hundred and sixty - eight (average 12-69), Wass one hundred and sixty-three (average 14-28), Hirst one hundred and eighty-eight (average 15-20), Blythe one hundred and eighty-three (average 15-42), Rhodes one hundred and seventy-seven (average 15*57), Tarrant one hundred and eighty-three (average 15-70), Dennett two hundred and one (average 16-05), Fielder one hundred and seventy-two (average 16-12), and Cox (G.) one hundred and sixty- four (average 17’ 68 ). IV .— T he W ick et - K e epers . It seldom occurs that a wicket-keeper allows neither byes nor leg-byes in either innings of his opponents, but the cricket of 1907 furnished three instances. The first was by Oates in the Notts v. Leicestershire match at Trent Bridge, the second by Gregor MacGregor for Middlesex v. Kent at Ton­ bridge, and the third by Strudwick in the Surrey v. Essex match at Southend-on-Sea. The last-named kept wicket whilst 329 runs (151 and 178) were made, Oates during innings of 134 and 56, and Mr. MacGregor whilst totals of 114 and 67 were being chronicled. The best performance of the three, aud, indeed, of the whole year, was undoubtedly that by Mr. MacGregor, for, in addition to allowing no extras in the entire match, he obtained seven wickets—six caught and one stumped. The largest number of extras allowed in an innings was 39 by the Rev. C. D. Robinson, of the South African team, and he, curiously enough, was twice responsible for so many—in an innings of 222 by Derbyshire at Derby, and in an innings of 258 by Scotland at Edinboro’— while the record for a whole match was 87 (56 byes) allowed by Messrs. W . S. Bird and P. W . Sherwell in the Middlesex v, fc’outh African match at Lord’s. There were two occasions upon which a wicket - keeper dismissed as many as six men in an innings— by Oates (all caught) for Notts v. Leicester­ shire at Leicester, and by Gaukrodger (four caught and two stumped) for Worcestershire v. Kent at Tunbridge Wells. Oates, in the match mentioned, took eight wickets (seven caught and one stumped), a number which no other wicket-keeper succeeded in obtaining in a single match during the season, though Gaukrodger, Huish, Mr. MacGregor, and