Cricket 1909

A u gu st 26, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 361 counties cannot be trusted to act in a sportsmanlike manner, the Australian Board o f C ontrol w ill probably find it necessary, in order to safeguard the in ­ terests o f A u stralian cricket, to insert a clause in their agreement w ith each player binding him dow n not to accede to the desire o f any county for h im to qualify for it. I n the m eantime it is gratifying to find that M r. Percy W . Dale, the honorary organising secretary of the N ortham pton­ shire C ounty C.C., had w ritten to the newspapers pointing out that “ There is not the slightest foundation for the rum our that has appeared in several papers that the N orthants officials have derers played five matches, w in n in g two, losing one, and leaving two unfinished. T h eir defeat was at the hands o f Canter­ bury, where it is only righ t to add that B radley was so lame as to he practically useless. Tonbridge, the scene o f the second match, has been visited every season for the last quarter o f a century. Th e South Saxons were beaten by an innings and over a hundred runs, and H astin g Hovers— after a race against time, and after the home side had declared— by three wickets. F ro m the scores, w hich appear on another page, it w ill be seen that P. H . Slater made 197 and 145 not out in consecutive innings. T h e W a n ­ derers were a stronger side on paper than in reality, for in addition to B radley being attempt to h it off the runs or be content to play out tim e : that they m ight fail to stay was hardly considered. The w icket was very treacherous, and Sm ith and Rushby, seeing a possibility o f p u llin g off the match, bowled in their best form. H a lf the w ickets fell for 16, and the last five went dow n w ith the total (26) unchanged. Th e w hole side appeared to be u tterly helpless, and no one reached double­ figures. B u t w ell as Sm ith and Bushby bowled on the rain-spoilt wicket, the collapse o f the Yorkshirem en must be attributed partly to the fact that at the present tim e the side is deficient in forcing batsmen. “ A t the Oval on Saturday,” writes an T H E W A N D E R E R S O N T O U R , 1909 , P. P. LINCOLN. ' P. W. ROBARTS. DR. H. C. PRETTY. J. N. CRAWFORD. R. T. CRAWFORD. P. H. SLATER. R. KENWARD. n . leicester -C larke . A. M, LATHAM. ri. COLMAN (d ip t.) D. L. A. JEPHSON. R. B. BROOKS. approached M r. Bardsley w ith a view to his q ualifying for this county.” L ittle W oolpits made 563 for nine w ickets (innings declared closed) against Rapsley on the 16th and 17th inst. The total is the largest ever h it on the Cran- leigh ground. J. I. Piggott scored 112 and P. B . W a llis 171. I t is reported that B estw ick has been suspended by D erbyshire for the rem ainder o f the season for failin g to put in an appearance for the match against Northants. D uring their recent tour the W an- incapacitated B. T. C raw ford was unable to bow l a single over ow ing to a damaged leg. The captain, Stanley Coleman, too, has been suffering from neuritis and was in consequence prevented from doing h im self justice. T hose who were at the Oval on Saturday were fortunate indeed, for they not only witnessed one o f the keenest struggles of the year, but saw Y o rksh ire put out in fifty-five m inutes for 26. It was thought that H irs t and Rhodes did excellent w ork in getting rid o f Surrey for 62, and, when Y orksh ire were left 80 m inutes in w h ich to make 113, it was debated whether they w ould observant correspondent, “ Yorkshire, in their second innings, had six ducks and one D rake. There was also a B ird in the opposing team .” Y orkshire C ou nty cricket dates back to 1833, but never before had the side been dism issed for so small a total as 26. P rio r to Saturday their lowest aggregate was 30 against K e n t at Sheffield in 1865, and it is o f interest to note that more than h a lf o f the m en who did duty for Ken t on that occasion are still in the land of the living. Bennett and W illsh e r bowled unchanged throughout, the former taking seven w ickets for 58 runs and the latter 12 for 28. Then, as last week, no