Cricket 1909

M ay 27, igog. CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 153 was abandoned owing to rain. Of the sixteen matches played the M.O.C. have won six and the Australians five. I n many quarters it has been said that, in consequence of their two defeats in London, the Australians will take the field to-day at Edgbaston a disheartened side, but those who are best acquainted with the temperament o f Australian cricketers will not share that opinion. The fact that they have, thus early in their tour, sustained a couple of reverses, will but serve to spur them on to great deeds in order to recover some of their lost prestige. T h e eleven which will represent England to-day will be chosen from the follow ing:— Blythe (Kent), aged 30, W. Brearley (Lancashire), aged 33, C. B. Fry (Hampshire), aged 37, Hayward (Surrey), aged 38, Hirst (Yorkshire), aged 37, Hobbs (Surrey), aged 26, G. L. Jessop (Gloucestershire), aged 35, A. O. Jones (Notts), aged 35J, Lilley (Warwickshire), aged 41J, A. C. MacLaren (Lancashire), captain, aged 37i, llelf, A. E. (Sussex), aged 34J, Thompson (Northants), aged 31J,and Tyldesley (Lancashire), aged 35J. It is a team of veterans, but it is very doubtful indeed if a better selection could have been made, although the inclusion of another all-round player in the side —J. N. Crawford or Bhodes for choice— would have strengthened the bowling. P l a y in the Test match will commence at half-past eleven to-day, and half-an- hour earlier on Friday and Saturday. On eacli of the three daj’s an adjournment will be made for lunch at half-past one, and stumps will be drawn at 6.30. “ T h e Test business,” says The Observer,” “ is liable to be overdone. ‘ Never mind the Tests, let’s come and play cricket,’ spoke a school captain to his team the other day, when the boys were dallying to talk ‘ Tom Hayward and Fry,’ instead of getting into the field. This young captain delivered a stinging satire on those who run mad for the Tests, in which the cricket is stripped of every shred of poetry.” S om e time ago, when announcing the formation of the Scottish Cricket Union, I said that the election of Mr. Leslie Melville Balfour-Melville as its first President would be a very happy idea. It is, therefore, with much gratification that I am able to announce that the well- known Grange player has been so honoured, for no more popular choice could possibly have been made. He has probably played more three-figure innings m Scotland than any other cricketer, one of his best remembered scores being 150 in the second innings of Edinburgh against Glasgow in May, 1872— the match which inaugurated the new ground of the Grange C.C. at Raeburn Place. T h e scoring of D . C. Collins, the New Zealand Senior, has been one of the chief features of University cricket at Cam­ bridge this year. Last season, on the strength of his all-round cricket in the Freshmen’s match—he scored 10 and 29 and took ten wickets for 100—he played twice for the ’Varsity, but scored only 5 not out and 9 not out against Yorkshire and 0 and 12 against Lancashire, and had 53 runs hit from his bowling without taking a wicket. This month he has been in excellent form, scoring 113 and 138 in the Senior’s match and 109 for Etceteras v. Perambulators, in addition to bowling well. In the season of 1906-7 he played on a few occasions for Welling­ ton. Against the M.C.C.’s team he made 11, 23 and 7, and against Canterbury on the Christchurch ground 53 not out and 1. In the first innings of the latter he went in first and carried out his bat, Ollivier and Bennett being among the bowlers opposed to him. B o l d advertisement in Gossip deserves to be accorded the fact that, on Saturday last, at Edgbaston, Sydney Santall obtained his 1000th wicket for Warwick­ shire when he caught and bowled Strud­ wick. He has been presented with the ball, which will be suitably mounted. Santall originally played county cricket for Northamptonshire— he was born at Peterborough — and first appeared for Warwickshire in 1894. H. C o lb y took seven wickets in 13 balls for C. F. Clark's X I. v. South Ben- fleet on the latter’s ground on Saturday, performing the hat-trick twice. A l t o g e t h e r remarkable was the inn­ ings played by Kenneth Macleod for Lancashire against Somerset at Bath last Thursday. He went in when five wickets were down for 81 and left when the seventh fell at 270. Of the 189 runs (173 from the bat) made during the 95 minutes he was in he was responsible for as many as 128. He made 37 out of 56 in 20 minutes before lunch, and reached 53 out of 83 in 37. One over from Braund he punished for 20 (6, 4, 2, 4, 4) and three successive overs from that bowler produced 36, all of which, except a single to Makepeace, were made by Macleod. When 77 he was missed at deep square-leg by Daniell off Braund, whose next ball he hit 130 yards to the pitch to square-leg. He obtained two 6’s off consecutive balls from Greswell, and made 103 out of 142 in 65 minutes. Hardy missed him at long-on when 117, and again when 127, but it was only to be expected that a man hitting so freely should offer a chance or two. H is runs, stroke by stroke, were made thus :—4, 2, 4, 3, 4, 6, 4, 6, 4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 6, 4,2, 4, 4, 3, 6, 1, 2, 6, 1, 2, 1, 2, 6, 6, 1, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 1, 3, 6, 1, 1. His innings was thus composed of eight 6’s, eleven 4’s, three 3’s, six 2’s, and fifteen singles. possible occasion. At a club match recently one of these gentry was effectively answered by a somewhat impolite juvenile critic. After lifting the bails time and again un­ necessarily, he at length made a more than usually audacious claim. *How’s that ? ’ he shrieked. From the ropes came the re­ sponse, ' Botten! ’ ” F r o m the Star :— “ A number of stumpers appear to consider it essential that they should cry out ‘ How's that ? ’ in most ferocious tones upon every T h e large innings played during the past few weeks by Hobbs have been one of the most welcome features of the season. Those who follow the game at all closely are unanimous in predicting that he is destined to play an important part in Test match, as well as in Surrey, history. He is by far the best of the younger generation of present-day bats­ men, and it would be somewhat remark­ able if he is one of the two players not chosen from the thirteen asked to be in attendance at Edgbaston for the first Test match w'ith Australia. He has performed so well this year that his doings during the next few days will be followed very closely as he possesses a fine opportunity of completing his thousand runs by the end of the month. When “ W .G .” did so in his great year of 1895 his innings were :— of M ay. Scores. 1st day. ( 1 3 9. M.C.C. & Ground v. Sussex, at Lord’s j jqj 13. M.C.C. and Ground v. Yorkshire, at ( 18 Lord’s .......................... _ ...I 25 16. Gloucestershire v. Somerset, at Bristol 288 20. A. J. Webbe’s XI. v. Cambs. Univ., at C a m b rid g e...................................... 52 (257 23. Gloucestershire v. Kent, at Gravesend j 27. England v. Surrey, at the Oval ... 18 30. Gloucestershire v. Middlesex, at Lord’s 169 Total .............. 1,016 Average for 10 innings (once not out) 112f88. Five years later Hayward made the following scores by the end of May :— A pril . 16. Surrey v. London County, at the Oval *120 M ay . 3. Surrey v. London County, at the f 55 Palace............... ...........................1 10S 7. Surrey v. Warwickshire, at the Oval... *131 10. Surrey v. Hampshire, at the Oval ... 55 14. Surrey v. Leicestershire, at Leicester.. 193 17. Surrey v. Derbyshire, at D erby............. 120 21. Surrey v. Worcestershire, at the Oval 5 24. Surrey v. Essex, at the Oval ............. j g f 40 28. Surrey v. Sussex, at the O v a l.............j 31. Surrey v. Gloucestershire, at the Oval 92 T o ta l..............1,074 Average for 13 innings (twice not out) 97’63. Hobbs’ efforts during the present season have been :— M a y . (1 2 5. Surrey v. Northants, at the Oval ... -J gg 6. Surrey v. Hampshire, at the Oval ... 205 ! 41 159 17. Surrey v. Australians, at the Oval ... j *| 20. Surrey v. Warwickshire, at Edgbaston j 24. Surrey v. Essex, at the Oval ............... 99 Total.............. 857 I t is good to hear that the trouble which arose between the Northampton­ shire County C.C. and some members of the ground staff has been settled. It will be recalled that five of the players demanded an extra £1 per week owing to increased duties and were, in con