Cricket 1909

376 CR ICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t . 2, 1909. H. GRADIDGE And SONS, M a n u f a c t u r e r s of all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, and all British Sports. P A T E N T E E S A N D SO L E M A K E R S >F T H E U s e d b y all the L e a d in g P la y e r s . Made In Man’s, Small Mem’s, *r Cellege, 6, 5, 4, A 1 sizes. P ric e L ist* F r e e on Applicatlom . Of all First>Class Outfitters and Dealers. Reblading a Speciality. Factory; A rtillery P lace , WOOLWICH. Cricket: A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THURSDAY, SEPT. 2 nd , 1909. liairiltnn (Btfsatp- The abstract a d brief chronicle of the ime. — Hamlet. T he record o f the A u stralian s is now as follow s :— M atches played, 34; won, 13 ; lost, 3 ; drawn, 18. Th ey have won the toss 17 times and lost it 17 times. I n their match w ith Sussex at B rig h to n they came w ith in an ace o f experiencing defeat for the first tim e since they w ent down before E n g la n d at Edgbaston. Everyw h ere it is recognised that Sussex are a splendidly-balanced side this year, but not very m any people can have anticipated them giving the Australians so great a fright. It was not generally thought that the visitors w ould have m uch difficulty in obtaining the 119 runs set them, the consequence being that the attendance on the last day was not large. Those who were present, however, w ill long remember the keen struggle and the desperate finish. W h en W h itty went in, last man, the total was only 100, and the situation was one w h ich m any a man w ith a reputation for batting m ight have been forgiven for proving unequal to. B u t he and h is partner, H opldns, show ­ ed w onderful nerve and judgm ent and gradually obtained the runs, W h itty m aking the w in n in g h it by means of a four to leg off V incett. M issed chances, however, had not a little to do w ith the result, G regory giving the fieldsmen two opportunities o f sending h im back in m aking 20 and H op kin s, w hen the A ustralians still required a couple o f runs to p u ll through, being let off at slip— a sharp chance— by Robert Relf, who allow ed the ball to pass through his hands. A s the m atch concluded early on Saturday an exhibition game was played for the benefit o f the spectators, but the arrangement did not meet w ith the appreciation anticipated, only a few hundred spectators w atching the pro­ ceedings. R e s u l t s o f matches between Sussex and the Australians :— 1878.—Brighton. Australians won by seven wickets. 1880.—Brighton. Drawn. 1882.—Brighton. Australians won by inningsand 355. 1884.—Brighton. Drawn. 1880.—Brighton. Drawn. 1888.—Brighton. Sussex won by 58 runs. 1890.—Brighton. Australians won by innings and 45. 1893.—Brighton. Australians won by eight wickets. 1896.—Brighton. Australians won by six wickets. 1899.—Brighton. Drawn. 1902.—Brighton. Drawn. 1905.—Brighton. Australians won by innings and 76. 1909.—Brighton. Australians won by one wicket. Th irteen matches in all, Sussex w inning one and the A ustralians seven. The rem aining five were left unfinished. H i s t o r y has frequently been made in matches between Sussex and the Australians. Thus, in 1882 the visitors scored 643, w h ich was at the tim e the highest score made in a first-class match in E n g lan d. M u rd o ch carried out his bat for 286 and paid W alter H um phreys the h ig h com plim ent o f saying that all through his long innings he could not tell from w atching h is hand w h ich way the ball was going to turn. Tw o years later all the honours o f the game fe ll to the County, who required only 33 runs to w in w ith six w ickets in hand when play ceased. G. N . W y a tt and H a rry P h illip s created no little surprise by scoring 112 and 111 respectively— their only three- figure innings in first-class cricket— against Boyle, Giffen, Palm er and Spof­ forth, and H um phreys, who had done the hat-trick in the m atch of 1880, repeated the feat at the expense of M cD o n n ell, G iffen and Scott. In 1888 Sussex, in a low -scoring game, proved successful for the o n ly tim e in the series o f matches, A rth u r H id e and H um ph reys by their bow ling and M r. W . N ew ham by a not­ out innings o f 44 carrying off the honours. T w o years later M u rd o ch scored 158 and w ith J. E . Barrett (83) added 228 for the second w icket. In the game o f 1899 Trum per, who was touring E n g la n d for the first time, contributed 300 to a total o f 624 for four w ickets and was still unbeaten when the innings was declared closed; three years later N oble made 284 and put on 428 in partnership w ith A rm ­ strong (172 not-out), the play o f the pair enabling the closure to be applied w ith 580 scored for six w ickets ; w h ilst in 1905 N oble was again to the fore w ith an innings o f 267 and the Au stralian total reached 556. A t the request o f the Australians them ­ selves, who were naturally desirous of securing a souvenir o f the m atch w hich made the “ ashes ” safe, the Lancashire County Comm ittee have forwarded the stumps and bails used in the fourth Test match, at O ld Trafford, to M r. F . Laver, the manager of the team. W akren B ardsley has stated to an interview er that he has no intention whatever of q ualifying for an E n g lis h county. Th e rum our that he m ight be tempted to do so gave rise to a storm of criticism w h ich should make any county hesitate for some tim e ere attem pting to rob A u stralia o f any o f lie r leading cricketers. It has been made abundantly clear that public opinion is very strongly against any such policy being adopted, and the suggestion that any club so offending should be deprived o f its fixture list is generally approved. “ I t w ould be regrettable,” says the F ie ld , “ if stringent legislation were adopted to prevent the m igration of players, inasm uch as in some cases of b o n a -fid e change o f residence it is unde­ sirable to exclude the m igratory players summ arily from first-class cricket. A rule to be effective against all attempts at evasion w ould probably have to prohibit m igration altogether, since it is practically impossible to define in words the con­ ditions under w h ich m igration is per­ missible, and extremely difficult to dis­ tinguish between direct and indirect remuneration. B u t an honourable under­ standing among the counties, w ith the M .C .C . Comm ittee as a court o f appeal, should be perfectly feasible.” A . C arton de W iart took seven w ickets for no runs in eleven balls for Officers v. Sergeants’ Mess (4th Dragoon Guards) at B righton on August 16th. H e also scored 102 (retired). B y their well-m erited w in over Leicestershire at D over K e n t made their position at the head of the counties for the season secure, thus repeating their success of 1906. Th e fact that they have again carried off the Cham pionship has naturally given rise to the greatest enthusiasm in the County, and the large m ajority o f cricketers everywhere w ill be