Cricket 1909

200 CR ICK ET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J une 17, 1909. H. GRADIDGE And SONS, Manufacturers Used by all the Leading Players. Made In Hen’s, Small Men’s, #r Celle*e, 6, 6, 4, * 8 fixes. P r ic e L ist* F r e e o n A p p llcm tlo a . Of all First-Class Outfitters and Dealers. o f a ll Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, a n d a l l British Sports. PATENTEES AND SOLE MAKERS S OF THE % \ % R ebladin g a S p ecia lity. Factory ; A r tille r y Place, WOOLWICH. “ URINE” For cleaning and whitening Buckskin and Canvas Boots and Shoes, Crisket Pads, &c. Packed in spunzinecontainer,with sponge. Of all dealers, or post free 6 d . WILL NOT RUB OFF OR CAKE. STANLEYFEAST&CO., jSSSSSS; Cricket: A WEEKL Y RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THURSDAY, JUNE 1 7 th , 1909. | 3 abUimt ©tfsstp- The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. T h e record of the Australians is now as follows:—Matches played, 12; won, 5; lost, 3 ; drawn, 4. They have won the toss six times and lost it six times. S in c e Friday evening, when the names of the players from whom the England side would be chosen for this week’s Test- match at Lord’s became known, the Selection Committee has been very freely criticised. The absence from the list of the names of Jessop and Brearley has given rise to much speculation and many rumours. There is no need to dwell upon the matter at any length ; suffice it to say that if, as many people imagine, the pair named had not been invited because they were not considered worth their places, the Selection Committee would at once have forfeited the confi­ dence of the public. No one would quarrel with the selec­ tion of George Gunn and Haigh, but many unkind things have been said con­ cerning the invitation extended to King and Jayes. There certainly seems to have been little to justify the choice of the last-named, but King has been well above the average of all-round players for several seasons past. The selection of King struck me as being a very happy one. It is always advisable to have a sound left-handed batsman in a side, and when there is available one who has been showing good form, and one, moreover, who is a very useful bowler, what more natural than that lie should be picked ? Of King it may truly be said that if he had been associated with a more prominent county his real worth would have been appreciated more as it deserved to be. As it is, he can point to the following excellent record since his entry into first-class cricket:— BATTING AVERAGES. Inn­ ings. Not out. Most in an inns. Runs. Aver. 1895 ................ .. 8 2 12* 17 2-83 1897 ................ .. 10 0 56 169 16-90 1898 ................ .. 11 1 77 242 24-20 1899 ................ .. 35 2 65 537 16-27 1900 ................ .. 42 3 121 991 25-41 1901 ................ .. 49 5 143 1630 37-04 1902 ................ .. 47 5 130 1200 28-57 1903 ................ .. 44 3 167 1209 29-48 1904 ................ .. 51 4 186 1788 38-04 1905 ................ .. 40 4 95 964 26-77 1906 ................ .. 49 4 126* 1159 25-75 1907 ................ .. 40 3 80* 669 18-08 1908 ................ .. 45 1 142 1204 27-36 1909| ................ .. 16 1 77 485 32-33 * Signifies not out. t To Saturday last. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. 1895 ... ... 18 3 62 0 — 1897 ... ... 85 17 229 2 114-50 1898 ... ... 182-4 38 277 10 27-70 1899 ... ... 439-4 144 ’ 967 22 43-95 1900 ... ... 738 230 1793 81 22-13 1901 ... ... 833-2 239 2081 80 26-01 1902 ... ... 618*5 151 1734 68 25*50 1903 ... ... 651*1 164 1681 63 26-68 1904 ... ... 877 225 2277 78 29*19 1905 ... ... 358-5 90 1070 40 26*75 1906 ... ... 424*1 95 1192 38 31*36 1907 ... ... 309 63 776 44 17*63 1908 ... ... 679-1 147 1800 74 24*32 1909t ... ... 256 60 588 35 16-80 t To Saturday last. His great feat was, of course, to score 104 and 109 not out in the Gentlemen v. Players match at Lord’s in 1904. It was his first appearance for the Players, and he took part in the match only because Tyldesley, at the last moment, decided to stand down owing to an injury and Carpenter, the twelfth man, missed his train and did not reach the ground in time to take his place in the team. T h e absence of Blythe was due to the fact that he had not been quite well since the Test match at Edgbaston. The news that he would be unable to play this week was announced in the form of the follow­ ing telegram from Lord Harris to Mr. Leveson - Gower : “ Specialist strongly advises Blythe ought not to play on Monday, but is quite hopeful he will be fit for remaining Tests if wanted.” The absence of Fry was due to his presence being necessary in a law case in which a relative was concerned. T h e inability of the Australians to avail themselves of the services of Whitty, who had contracted a chill, naturally handi­ capped the side somewhat, but, consider­ ing the weather they have experienced lately, it is a wonder that more of them have not been laid up. Noble has not been enjoying the best of health recently, and Armstrong has had some trouble with one of his legs—a serious matter for a man weighing nearly 17 st. So it will be seen that England was not the only side to experience ill-fortune. T h e second Test match has passed into history, and few Englishmen will recall it with any satisfaction, for it has provided one of the blackest pages in the chronicle of this country’s cricket. Noble’s action in sending his opponents in upon winning the toss was thoroughly justified, and the success of his side should more than compensate him for the many dis­ appointments experienced since the Essex match. England, as was expected, severely felt the absence of a really fast bowler, but that does not excuse the very weak batting display they gave on a plumb wicket in their second innings. O n e astute observer summed up England’s collapse on Wednesday in very few words. “ It needs no explana­ tion,” he said ; “ it was simply the game asserting itself. ’’ After all, the philosophy of cricket can be condensed into the dictum that every ball is a possible wicket, while, of course, in Test matches the failure of one or two men leads to the