Cricket 1909

J u l y 29, 1909. CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 291 CR ICK ET™ IWFROVEDMAKE-KEEPTHEIRSHAPE-LAS f LONCERl C A T A L O Q U E U P O N A P P L IC A T IO N . width of the wicket. He has frequently been called upon to bat at a critical time, and it has been seldom indeed that he has failed. His highest score in a match of note is 159 against Notts at Sheffield in 1901, when Yorkshire totalled 528 and won by an innings and 226 runs. That year the Notts men were given good cause to remember him, seeing that in the previous match be­ tween the sides he and Rhodes had got them out on a sticky wicket for 13. He has fre. quently appeared in Gentlemen v. Players matches, and in 1905 played twice—at Lord’s and Leeds—for England against Australia. During his two trips to South Africa he did all that was expected of him, averaging 19'26 with the bat and dismissing 209 men for 9'47 runs each. Those wishing to contri­ bute to Haigh's benefit fund should com­ municate with the Yorkshire County C.C. Secretary, Mr. F. C. Toone, of 14, Park Square, Leeds. The fourth Test match has passed into history, and by not succeding in winning the game England have lost the opportunity of regaining the Ashes. There is, however, much consolation in knowing that we were deprived, through accidents, of the services of three of our greatest players in Jessop, Hayward and Hobbs. The Selection Com­ mittee performed their thankless task in a manner which met with general approval, though it may be questioned whether the substitution of Mason and Relf (A. E.) for MacLaren and Thompson would not have provided better material to choose from on the morning of the match. The English batting was again very disappointing on Monday: Laver, it is true, bowled splendidly, but that fact is not in itself sufficient to account for the poor score. The Australians certainly had the better of the game, and there is no getting away from the fact that they are a great side admirably led. It is most remarkable how the Englishmen have repeatedly failed to bat up to their reputation in this year's series of matches: Their nerve appears to forsake them when a great effort is required, so that they are quite unable to play their own natural game. Spooner was a notable exception, but he is a player not to be judged by the ordinary standard. The first cricket-match ever played in the Hunan Province of China took place in June between teams representing Changsha and H.M.S. Nightingale. The Hunan Province has a population of about 22,000,000, not one of whom had probably ever seen a cricket bat before. The match was won by Changsha, who scored 84, by an innings and 24 runs, H.M.S Nightingale being dismissed for 19 and 41. Two bid Harrovians in W. M. Hewlett, the acting British Consul, and C. E. S. Wakefield, acting Commissioner of Customs, assisted Changsha, the former to the extent of an innings of 40. The game was played on the parade-ground, kindly lent for the occasion by General Yang, who also supplied tents for the players. The pitch was not in any way prepared except that stones were removed from it by young Chinese boys : the bowling did not bump, but shooters were fairly frequent. The local Chinese population displayed the liveliest interest in the proceedings, but frequently crowded so close round the wicket that the police had to assist in keeping them back. Slogging was naturally the order of the day, the big hits being greeted with shouts of approval by the natives. The crowd was very orderly in spite of the fact that Hunan has the reputation of being the most anti-foreign Province in China. SCHOFIELD HAIGH. Photo by ] [Hawkins &Co., Brighton. Quite early in his career he came under the notice of Louis Hall, one of the soundest of cricket judges, and upon his recommenda­ tion accepted an engagement with the Aberdeen Club. There he remained three years, after which he was identified with the Perth Club for a couple of seasons. It was during the latter engagement that he was chosen for a Scotland team against Lanca­ shire and performed a feat which brought him prominently to the fore. Going on to bowl, he had 63 runs made off him before he took awicket, but after that he carried everything before him and wound up with an analysis of eight for 78. In 1895 he played in a couple of matches for Yorkshire without doing anything extraordinary, but in the following year, when given a better oppor­ tunity of proving his value, he came right to the front, taking ninety-nine wickets in seventeen matches for 14'09 runs apiece. Space will not allow all his great deeds with the ball to be given in any detail, but enough has been said to show that he has proved a tower of strength to his side and deserves a ‘‘ bumper” benefit. On his day he is almost unplayable, being able, with a wicket to his liking, to make the ball break more than the The construction of the Demon Drivers is fully described in The Evolution of a Cricket Bat, which may be obtained free upon applica­ tion. C A T A L O G U E U P O N A P P L IC A T IO N . AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. By F. S. A shley - C oorE R . The proceeds of next week’s match at Bradford between Yorkshire and Lancashire will be set apart as a benefit for Schofield Haigh, one of the best bowlers and most deserving players his county has ever pro­ duced. Born at Berry Brow, a suburb of Huddersfield, on March 19th, 1871, he made his first appearance for Yorkshire in 1895, and the fact that he has been a regular member of the side for over twelve years is tantamount to saying that he has been one of the best cricketers in the country during the same period. In all first-class matches in England he has made over eight thousand runs with an average of 18 and taken more than fifteen hundred wickets at a cost of 16 runs each. These figures are eloquent tes­ timony to his physique as well as to his skill. His great season was 1904, when he made 1,055 runs and obtained 121 wickets. As an all-round cricketer he has been some­ what overshadowed by Hirst and Rhodes, but when at his best he was worth a place in almost any eleven in the world. Had he been identified with a weaker county he would in all probability have made an even greater name for himself, for he would have had more opportunities of proving his worth. 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