Cricket 1909

J an . 28, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 13 September 15th, 1834, d;ed at Rowditoh Lodge, Derby, on Monday evening last. He was educated at Marlborough and Oxford, and in 1854 and 1855 played against Cam­ bridge at Lord’s. He was on the winning side in each year, and in the former played a capital innings of 40 in a low-scoring game. He was a good batsman and fine field, especially at cover point. For several years he was a member of the Committee of the M.C.C. and at the time of his death was one of the auditors. He was also a vice-president of the Derbyshire County C.C. in Cricket as recently as February last. He was buried at the Hastings Borough Cemetery on the 8th inst. M r . W. H. B e n t h a ll. Mr. William Henry Benthall, one of the best-known amateur batsmen in England fifty years ago, died at St. Leonard’s on the 4th inst. ia the seventy-second year of his age. Scores and Biographies (v. 42) says of him :—“ Height, 5 ft. 7J in., and weight about 10 stone. Bats in an exceedingly pretty style, cutting beautifully to the off, and has made some capital scores in the best matches. In the field he is generally point, where he is extremely effective.” As a slow bowler he was also occasionally successful, but his wickets were generally costly. He was born in Little Dean’s Yard, Westminster, on July 3rd, 1837, and was educated at Westminster (where his father was a master), Marlborough, and Cambridge. He was only eight years of age when he left Westminster, as he was considered too young to stay after his father had retired, and it was at Marlborough that he learnt the game from Jimmy Dean, of Sussex, who was engage 1 to coach the boys. In 1855 and 1856 he represented Marlborough in the first two matches ever played with Ru^by, and, although he made 61 runs in h's four innings, he was on the losing side on each occasion. Proceeding to Cambridge, he failed to secure his Blue as a Freshman owing to a damaged hand, but he played against Oxfrrd from 1858 to 1860 and in two of the three years had the pleasure of being on the winning side. When Cam­ bridge won by 28 runs in 1859 he played a sound and valuable second iunings of 39, and in the three matches in which he appeared against Oxford averaged 19 runs an innings. In 1858 he represented his University in the doubles at racquets, but he and his partner, J. M. Moorsom, were beaten 3—0 by W. Hart Dyke and J. P. F. Gundry. Between 1859 and 1863 he assisted the Gentlemen in seven matches against the Players, making 215 runs in fourteen innings, his highest score being 45 in the match at the Oval in 1860. In county cricket he appeared for Devonshire, Buckinghamshire, and Middlesex, and in 1868 tools part in the tie-match between the last-named county and Surrey at the Oval. After leaving Cambridge Mr. Benthall, owing to his duties at the India Office, where he at various times held important private secretaryships, including those to Lord Dufferin and the Duke of Argyll, found few opportunities of playing in great matches, though his name will occasionally be found in some of the excellent matches played on Mr. John Walker’s ground at Southgate. Had he been able to appear regularly he would no doubt have become famous, but, in addition to having many demands upon his time, he was handicapped by poor health and in 1874 retired on a pension. Since 1876 he had lived at St. Leonard s, and for many years was a familiar figure at the Hastings Festival. An interview with Mr. Benthall was published T h e R ev . A. G. B u t le r . The Rev. Arthur Gray Butler died on the 16th inst. at Glenfinnan, Torquay, in his eightieth year. He was in the Rugby XI. in 1847 and 1848, being Captain in the latter year. As a batsman he was a free and lively hitter, though, owing to the rough grounds which existed in his time, few large scores will be found credited to him. In 1847 he made 46 against the Rugby Town Club and 14 and 4 in the match with the M C.C. and Ground, who had the famous William Lilly- white to bowl for them, whilst in the follow­ ing year he scored 40 v. Rugby Town and 37 not out v. I Zingari. In the latter sea?on, also, he made 74 not out for the School against Price’s and Congreave’s in a total of 180 which contained 41 extras, going in first and carrying out his bat. He was a Fellow of Oriel College, an assistant-master at Rugby under Dr. Temple, and first headmaster of Haileybury College. He was Butler of “ Butler’s Leap” at Rugby and winnrr of the racquet pairs at Oxford in 1855. He is said to be the only man who ever jumped the river Cherwell, a tributary of the Thames at Oxford. B. C r a n fie ld . Be lumont Cranfield, Somerset's well-known left - handed slow bowler, died at Bristol on the 20th inst. of pneumonia, the result of a chill contracted whilst watching a foot­ ball match four days before. He was born at Bath on August 25th, 1874. and first represented his county in 1897 His career was somewhat disappointing, inasmuch as he never took the position which at one time seemed to be within his reach. He was at his best from 1900 to 1904, during which period he performed as follows in first-class matches : Year. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. . 1900 ... 554 107 1751 74 23-00 1901 ... 852 197 2534 122 20-77 1902 ... S69-3 192 2018 141 18*50 1903 .. 723-1 147 2351 121 19-42 1904 ... 597-4 101 197S 74 20-72 He showed a considerable falliog-off in 1905 and was never again particularly effective. At his best he had good command over the ball and considerable spin, and when the ball was new was able to impart a distinct swerve to i t : at times the swerve was so pronounced that he would place nearly all his fieldsmen on the leg side. A summary of his best bowling feats in great matches is appended:— (« )—7 o r m ore W ickets in an I nnings . 8 for 39, Somerset v. Gloucestershire, at Glou­ cester .......................... 1903 8 ,, 05, ,, v. Lancashire, at Manchester 1902 8 ,, 07, ,, v. Sussex, at Brighton ... 1904 8 ,, 89, ,, v. Lancashire, at Bath ... 1902 7 ,, 48, ,, v. Worcestershire, at Bath .. 1901 7 ,, 74, ,, v. Middlesex, at Taunton ... 1900 7 ,, 89, ,, v. Surrey, at Taunton ... 1903 7 ,, 90, ,, v. Surrey, at Taunton ... 1900 7 „ 95, ,, v. Yorkshire, at Dewsbury... 1900 7 ,, 105, ,, v. Oxford Univ., at Oxford 1902 7 „ 105, London County v. Derbyshire, at the Crystal Palace...............1903 7 ,, 110, Somerset v. Gloucestershire, at Taun­ ton .......................... 1901 ( 6 )- ll or more W ickets in a M atch . 14 for 120, Somerset v. Lancashire, at Manchester 1902 13 „ 102, , v. Gloucestershire, at Glou­ cester .......................... 1903 13 „ 132, , v. Lancashire, at Bath 1902 13 „ 159, , v. Yorkshire, at Dewsbury... 1900 12 „ 107, , v. Gloucestershire, at Taun­ ton .......................... 1901 12 „ 218, , v. Surrey, at Taunton 1900 11 n 115, , v. Worcestershire,atTaunton 1903 1! „ 180, , v. Middlesex, at Taunton ... 1900 Against Gloucestershire on the Gloucester ground in 1903 he and Braund bowled unchanged through­ out, the former taking thirteen wickets and the latter seven. Somerset won by an innings and 72 runs. When Somerset beat Yorkshire at Leeds in 1901 by 279 runs after being 238 behind <n the first innings Cranfield, by dismissing four men for 35 runs on a wicket upon which Somerset had scored 630, contributed in 110 small measure to the wonderful victory gained by his side. He was a member of the ground-staff at Lord’s from 1899 until 1906, and in his great year of 1902 was picked for the first of the matches played between M.C.C. and Ground and the Australians: later in the season he assisted the Players against the Gentlemen at Scarborough and, in a heavy-scoring game, did by no means badly in taking four wickets for 102 runs. During many of the years in which he played for Somerset the bowling of the team was far from strong, and, had he wished, he could have ti'ld of many a huge score chronicled at the expense of his side. When Surrey made 811 at the Oval in 1899 (Abel 357 not out, Hayward 158, and V. F. S. Crawford 129) he took two wickits for 180 runs, and in the same season had an analysis of one for 113 in the match at Taunton against Hampshire, who ran up 672 for seven wickets : they made 607 for the loss of only three men on the second day, Major Poore (304) and Captain Wynyard (225) putting cn 411 for the sixth wicket in two hundred and sixty minutes. Two years later the same side scored 642 for nine wickets on the same ground, three players exceeding the hundred and the run-getting being so fast that 640 were made for eleven wickets in the course of a day : Llewellyn hit 153 out of 221 in one hundred and ten minutes, and Cranfield had 99 runs scored off him without taking a wicket. In 1904 the deceased saw four players reach three figures in the course of L ‘incashire’s innings of 580 at Manchester, and three men do so on the Worcester ground for Worcestershire, who made 590. In the former match his analysis was 0 for 107 and in the latter 6 for 171—by no means bad figures considering the magnitude of the to al and seeing that the scoring was so fast that a day’s play resulted in 570 runs being made for the loss of a dozen wickets. He did not appear for the county against the Australian team of 1905, and doubtless he congratulated himself upon escaping a severe leather-hunting, for Warwick Armstrong made 303 not out and the visitors’ total amounted to 609 for the loss of only four men. Cranfield was buried on Saturday last at Arnos Vale, Bristol. M r. J. B. D yn e. (See illustration on page 9.) Mr. John Bradley Dyne, barrister-at-law and conveyancing counsel to the High Court of Justice, of 4, Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn, died very suddenly on the 8th inst. at his residence, 12, The Grove, Highgate. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge, but, although he was for five years in the former Eleven, he failed to secure his Blue. Scores ar,d Biographies (v. 90) says of him : “ He did not participate in the great matches, but a good score will occasionally be found attached to his name, being a free hitter, and in the field is generally point. Is also a slow round-armed bowler.” His scores in the Public School matches were as follows:— Year. v. Harrow. v. Winchester. 1855 ... 1 and 12 1850 ... f 1857 ... — 1858 ... 2 and 8 1859 • ... 0 and 16 ... ________ t Signifies that no match was played ; * not out. S* and 4* 3 10 and 35 0 and 21