Cricket 1909

354 CR ICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A u g u s t 26, 1909. follow ed; but then he played a practically faultless innings of 118, for which he batted 4.| hours, v. Hampshire at Worcester. I saw this, as I saw, I believe, all Bowley’s home centuries between 1900 and 1904 ; and, to my mind, he has scarcely a superior among professional batsmen in point of style. The special stroke of his to which I have referred — a forcing, lifting h it to the on, which from the Diglis end at Worcester was apt to rattle the pavilion rails— is one that no other batsman makes in quite the same way. I do not think I ever saw him caught in making it, yet the stroke was always an aerial one. But it was made at the right time and off the right ball, with nothing haphazard about it. He was top-scorer with a well-got 43 in tbe first innings v. Warwickshire in the Bank Holiday battle at W orcester; but thereafter for a time he could do nothing right. Thirteen successive innings only yielded him 76 runs. The turn of the tide came in the Lancashire match on the home ground, when his 29 and 38, repre­ senting the highest aggregate made by anyone on the side, stood out boldly among many failures. He followed these scores with 48 on a very fiery pitch at Gloucester. Against the M.C.C. at Lord ’s he ran up 98, he and Fred Wheldon adding 162 in partner­ ship for the fourth wicket. In scoring 97 v. Derbyshire at Worcester in August he was Mr. G. E . Brom ley-Martin’s partner in a stand of 138 for the first wicket. In tbe course of his first innings of 73 v. Hampshire at Bournemouth he reached his thousand runs for the season ; in the second innings he made 58. The two Hampshire matches provided him with over 25 per cent, of his total for the season, as he aggregated 279 runs in them. But he has always been partial to the Hampshire bowling. Worcestershire’s second match of the 1901 season— that v. Yorkshire, at Dewsbury— saw bim at his best. He made 63 in the first innings, when he and Mr. W . H . Wilkes between them were responsible for 172 of 213 from the bat; and in the second, when the visitors went in to get 233 to win, he put up a splendid fight, scoring 73 in an innings in which the next highest score was Whel- don’s 21. In the next match, v- Sussex, at Hove, he split his hand so badly in catching Bland that he could not bat in either innings of his side, and was kept out of the team for ten days. He came back to it to prove highest aggregate scorer, with 91 and 40, in the Leicestershire match, at Worcester. He and Pearson (108) put up 147 before the first wicket fell in the first innings. H is next innings of note, though meanwhile he had made several useful scores in the neighbour­ hood of forty, was a capital 71 on a slow wicket, v. Hants, at Southampton, a match in which Messrs. E. M. Sprot and R. E . Poster were the only other batsmen to reach fifty. A little later he scored an excellent 51 v. Kent, at Worcester, he and Mr. R. E. Foster putting on 72 after “ H. K .,” Pearson and Arnold had all fallen for 28. But it was in successive matches in August that he did his biggest performances of the 1901 season. At Derby, he and Mr. H. K. Foster sent up 309— in 190 minutes— before a wicket fell, Bowley making - v id e “ W isden” — “ a superb 140.” Going on to Leicester, the team followed up its 483 for three (de­ clared) v. Derbyshire, with a completed in ­ nings of 561 against Mr. De Trafford’s men. Bowley had some luck in making his 134; but he and Mr. R. E . Foster added 172 for the third wicket in 100 minutes. Hardly at the top of his form in the early part of 1902, he played his first really notable innings of the season as late as June 19th, when he scored 68, v. Somerset, at Worcester, Mr. L . 0. H . Palairet and Robson being the only other men to top fifty in the match. He was at his best in the next game, with 82 and 57, v. Gloucestershire, at Bristol. Against Lancashire, at Worcester, in the middle of July, he scored 44 and 122 (not out); but the big score, well-hit as it was, was not one of his best innings. Nor was his 122, v. Derbyshire, on Severnside, in August, worthy to rank with his most notable scores, for, Thursday and Friday having been blank, the Worcestershire in ­ nings on Saturday, in which three centuries were made, was largely an exhibition affair. Mr. H. K. Foster made 112 of the 147 which Bowley helped him to Bend up before a wicket fell, and Mr. R. E. Foster and Bowley put on 192 for the second wicket. But if 1902 was not, on the whole, one of his best seasons, he finished it well, for his 90 v. Gloucestershire, at Worcester, in the course of which he completed a four-figure aggregate, was a really fine innings. In 1903, though wickets in general were against the batsman, he made a marked advance. H is scoring in May was moderate; but early in June he made 149 at Cambridge v. the University, he and Arnold (who registered two centuries in this match) adding 221 together for the second wicket in the second innings. Less than a week later he made an excellent 90, a long way the highest score of the match, v. Kent at Wor­ cester. Then Hampshire came along, went down before Arnold and W ilson for 30, and saw Bowley (102) and his captain (79) put up 156 for the first home wicket in 90 minutes. “ Driving on both sides of the wicket superb ”— vide “ Wisden ” — and I who saw can add my testimony. At the end of June and beginning of July came a splendid double against the same side at Southamp­ ton. . He was top scorer in each in n in g s; 164 in four and a-half hours without a mis­ take in the first; “ H. K.” and he made 173 in 90 minutes for the fourth wicket, and Gaukrodger helped him to add 125 in 70 minutes for the fifth ; 55, in a total of 161, in the second. Hants went down by 91 runs ten minutes before time. A week later there was hitting of the merriest by Severnside. The Worcester captain made bis highest score (216) ; Bowley scored 148; and these two added 250 runs in 115 minutes for the second wicket. The Somerset men were the victims. The Bank Holiday match at Birmingham with the county’s near and dear neighbours of Warwick produced some queer cricket. Warwickshire 102, Worcestershire 71, W ar­ wickshire 94; then “ H. K.” (56) and Bowley (57 not out) 114 for the first wicket, and victory for the visitors with nine wickets to share— a cause of rejoicing in the Faithful City. Next Bowley took a turn at saving a game, his 55 not out v. Leicestershire at Worcester, after the two Fosters and Cald­ well had left for 13 runs in the follow-on, coming at a very opportune moment. That was his last success of the season, which he finished with a capital average of 33. In his second match of the 1904 season he made 153 and 30 not out v. Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The century was not chance- less ; but it was of enormous value, for the Worcester total was only 249, and the home side had made 392. Gaukrodger (50) helped him to add 153 for the seventh wicket. Bowley followed up this score with a splendid 78 v. Yorkshire at Sheffield a week later, Arnold (45) helping him to add 125 for the second wicket in an innings of 192. In June the Hants bowlers at Southampton again found his bat wide ; he made 66, and helped his captain in a partnership of 105 which practically won the match. Then once more he did well against York­ shire. Worcestershire, at home, had to follow-on in a m inority of over 200, in spite of a splendid century by their captain. Bowley (107) and Pearson (66) put up 176 before a wicket fell in the second innings, and that without resorting to stonewalling tactics, for the runs were made in two and a-quarter hours. Bowley’s innings was faultless. The August Bank Holiday match saw his next pronounced success. He batted four hours, with only one mistake, for 138 v. Warwickshire, and he and his captain put on 181 for the third wicket. A week later he scored 38 and 51 v. Somerset at Taunton, followed by 2 i and 53 v. Gloucestershire at Bristol, 8 and 66 (114 for the first wicket with Wheldon as partner) v. Kent, 53 and 60 v. Gloucestershire and 20 and 116 v. Leicestershire, these last three matches all at home. The 116 was an innings marked by restraint rather than freedom ; he batted 3 hours 40 minutes, and his only chance was one of stumping at 68. He started 1905 in splendid style. It is doubtful whether he has ever played a better innings than his 151 v. Yorkshire at W or­ cester. It was made out of 222 while he batted in four hours; and as long as he stayed a victory for his side (who had been all out for 97 in the first innings) always looked likely. Fo r some weeks after that he did nothing very b ig ; but the Bank Holiday match— a “ Derby Day,” whether at W or­ cester or Edgbaston— found him scoring 101 in three hours and a-half. A few weeks later he hit the biggest innings of his career, v. Leicestershire at Stourbridge, making 217, including two 6’s and thirty-four 4’s, in four hours, with only one chance, at 82. Arnold helped him to add 216 in less than two hours for the fourth wicket. In his next match he scored 66 v. Somerset at Worcester, he and his captain sending up 150 before a wicket fell. Chosen to play for the Players at Lord’s he made 47 in his first innings, Hayward and he running up 76 for the first wicket. Against Kent at Tunbridge Wells he played well and with fine judgment for 111 not out, taking two hours and a-quarter to make his first 50, at a time when caution was needed, and hitting up the rest of his score in an hour less, after the follow-on had been saved. At Bournemouth he scored 43 and 64 v. H an ts; this was the game in whichWorcester won by five wickets after the home side had declared, and Bowley and Pearson, by send­ ing up the hundred within an hour, materially contributed to the victory. Fo r the remainder of the county season he was scarcely at his best; but at Blackpool later on he scored 22 and 51 for South v. North, and 17 and 31 for an England XI. v. Lancashire, and finished up with 73 for Players of South v. Gentle­ men of South at Bournemouth. Though he only made one run in his two innings for Players v. Gentlemen at Lord’s in 1906, that season was the best he has yet had. He started it well with 85 in 105 minutes without a chance against Northants at Worcester. Ten days later he made 30 and 54 not out in the home match with Surrey, he and “ H .K .” (96) adding 148 for