Cricket 1909

S e p t . 2, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 377 pleased that a side w h ich always plays the game in the true sporting spirit has done so well. T h at they thoroughly deserve the distinction they have gained w ill readily be adm itted everywhere, and therefore it only remains to congratulate the side very heartily on its success and on having m aintained to the full the very best traditions of county cricket. T h e Cham pionship dates back to 1873 and has been won as fo llo w s :— 1S73. Nottingham shire. 1800. Surrey. Gloucestershire. 1891. Surrey. 1874. Derbyshire. 189*2. Surrey. 1875. Nottinghamshire. 1893. Yorkshire. 1870. Gloucestershire. 1894. Surrey. 1877. Gloucestershire. 1895. Surrey. 1878. Middlesex. 1896. Yorkshire. 1S79. Nottinghamshire. 1897. Lancashire. Lancashire. 1898. Yorkshire. 1880. Nottinghamshire. 1899. Surrey. 1881. Lancashire. 1900. Yorkshire. 18S2. Lancashire. 1901. Yorkshire. Nottingham sliire. 1902. Yorkshire. 18S3. Nottinghamshire. 1903. Middlesex. 1S84. Nottinghamshire. 1904. Lancashire. 1885. Nottinghamshire. 1905. Yorkshire. 1886. Nottinghamshire. 190fi. Kent. 1887. Surrey. 1907. Nottinghamsliire. 18S8. Surrey. 1908. Yorkshire. 1880. [Surrey. Nottinghamshire. [ Lancashire. 1909. Kent. On only two occasions have K en t occupied the proud position at the head of the counties. B u t in earlier days the side enjoyed m any periods o f success, and on several occasions went through the season w ithout a reverse. The match- list was n aturally far smaller in those far-off days than is the case now, but it w ill nevertheless be of interest to place upon record the particulars of the years referred t o :— Results Year. Won. Lost. Drawn. un­ known. Total. 1726 ... ... 0 •.. 0 ... 0 ... 1 ... 1 1728 .. ... 3 ... 0 ... 0 ... 0 ... 3 1730... ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 ... 2 1734... ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 1737... 2 .. 0 ... 0 . .. 1 ... 3 1738 ... ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 . 2 1739 ... ... 1 ... 0 ... 1 .... 0 . 2 1744... ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 1747 ... ... 0 ... 0 ... 0 ... 2 . 2 1748... 2 .. 0 ... 0 . 0 . 2 1774... 2 .. 0 ... 0 .... 0 . 2 1777... 2 .. 0 ... 0 ... 0 . *2 1779... !!! 1 !.. 0 ... 0 . 0 . 'l 1784... ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ,.. 0 ... 1 1806... ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 . ... 0 ... 1 1807... 2 .. 0 ... 0 ... 0 . 2 1822 ... 2 .. 0 ... 0 ... 0 .!! 2 1828... ” ! 4 !.. 0 ... 1 ... 0 ... 5 1837... ... 3 ... 0 ... 0 ,.. 0 ... 3 1839 ... ... 3 ... 0 ... 0 ,.. 0 ... 3 1843 ... 5 .. 0 ... 0 ... 0 . 5 1847... ... 6 . .. 0 ... 1 ... 0 . .. 7 1860... ... 6 . .. 0 ... 0J , ... 0 ... 6 In addition to the above they played four matches in Am erica in the autumn of 1903 and w on them all. C a p t. C r o s s m a n , playing for H am p ­ shire H o g s v. Somerset Stragglers, at T aunton on F rid a y and Saturday, took all ten w ickets in the second innings. T . A . H i g s o n , the O ld Rossallian, played for Derbyshire in the latter part o f last week for the first tim e since 1899. H e is a member o f the Lancashire Comm ittee, and has occasionally repre­ sented that county during recent years. O n e o f the most remarkable features of the present cricket season has been the marked success o f the A u stralian left­ handers, and, in view o f this, it is interest­ ing to note that, in T h e S tr a n d M a g a z in e for September, Sir A . Conan D oyle passes a severe vote o f censure upon left-handed batsmen, and urges that left - handed batting should be entirely abolished. In the course of his remarks he says :— The left-handed bowler hurts no one, but the batsman is undeniably a nuisance, delaying the game and giving tbe field an immense amount of trouble. Why should he be permitted to do this when he is in so immense a minority ? Of course, any legis­ lation upon the subject should respect the position of all existing batsmen, and should give a margin of three or four years, so that those players who are coming on might not be disqualified. But after that date I would enact that no new player be admitted as a left-handed batsman into first-class cricket. There is, o f course, not the most remote possibility of such a curious suggestion being adopted, for the simple reason that any proposal w hich w ould m ean the exclusion from first-class cricket of men of the stamp of C. L . Townsend, whose bow ling alone m ight be good enough to obtain h im a place in any side in the world, w ould not be entertained for a moment. W h e n I suggested, in the last budget o f G o ss ip , that the match between Gloucestershire and M iddlesex m ight be completed on the first day I little thought that such an event w ould actually happen. Th e occurrence prevented an interesting ceremony from taking place, as it had been arranged that during the luncheon interval on the F rid a y the D uke of Beaufort should present D r. E . M . Grace w ith a testim onial o f over .±'600 w hich had been subscribed in appreciation of his services to cricket in general and to the Gloucestershire County C.C., o f w hich he was for so m any years Secretary, in particular. I hear that it has been decided to make the presentation in B risto l on lu esd ay next. I n the course o f the day’s play th irty wickets went dow n for 259 runs, Gloucestershire being dism issed for 33 and 81 and beaten by an innings and 31 runs. (In passing it m ay be m entioned that the lowest score ever made by the C ounty is 17, for w h ich they were dis­ posed of by the A ustralians at Cheltenham thirteen years ago.) F o r Tarra nt the game was nothing less than a trium ph, seeing that he took thirteen wickets for 67 runs— seven for 18 and six for 49— performed the hat-trick, and carried his bat through the in n in gs for 55. In the four matches in w h ich he has played at B risto l Tarrant has made 861 runs w ith an average o f 72-20 and taken 46 wickets for 10-43 runs each. In 1907 he took four wickets w ith consecutive balls and last week, as already stated, did the hat-trick. I t is to be feared that G loucestershire’s balance-sheet for this year w ill show a heavy loss on the season’s w orking. Several o f their matches have been sadly interfered w ith by rain, and it was a very unkind fate w hich decreed that one of their most attractive games should be completed in a day. The absence o f F. B. Roberts undoubtedly handicapped the side severely last week, and the County is to be sympathised w ith upon the series of m isfortunes w h ich has befallen it. It has been estimated that the collapse of the M iddlesex m atch cost the Gloucester­ shire C.C.C. not less than ;£150. “ L o n g - L e g ” o f the S p o r tin g L i f e remarks that there does not appear to be any reason w hy the com bination o f two weak clubs who are neighbours should not smooth away m any o f the present difficulties, fill em pty coffers, and add greatly to the interest o f the C ham pion­ ship. Concerning the possibility of such an arrangement being come to by Gloucestershire and Somerset, he says :•—- “ It goes without saying that between them they would be able to put an exceedingly powerful eleven in the field. They would play half their home matches in Somerset and half in Gloucestershire, and it is improbable that their membership would decrease. Their home games, being rarer to each county, would be a greater attraction than is now the case, and since the combined team would be decidedly strong the Championship competition would be given an added interest. Two weak, struggling, poverty-clogged clubs, carrying little weight in the field, hangers-on of the Championship, would by amalgamation become one sound club, well supported, in a position to discover and train the younger players, and strong enough to play a prominent part in competitive cricket.” T h e same w riter adds :— “ Gloucestershire and Somerset provide only one case among many. For new life would be given not only to the counties immediately concerned, but to the championship as a whole were a combina­ tion of forces arranged between Leicestershire and Derbyshire and Northants and Warwickshire, while Essex might be happier both in pocket and on the field were they running in double harness with Herts. This would reduce the number of teams competing for the championship to thirteen. Each county would be able to engage in the same number of matches, the percentage method of arriving at results would become happily unnecessary, and the battle for “ top place” would be a much closer, sterner, more level contest than it is to-day. ” A t a general m eeting o f the L a n ca ­ shire County C ricket Club held at Old Trafford on Frid ay, M r. O. P. Lancashire presiding, it was resolved that A lbert W a rd be appointed ground manager and coach for next season in succession to R . G. Barlow , w ho w ill retire at the end of the year. B a rlo w ’s chief reason for giving up the post is that he does not care to reside at O ld Trafford, where the club provides a house for their coach. H is resignation is greatly regretted. W h e n Makepeace went in to bat on a difficult wicket in the second innings of Lancashire against Somerset on F rid a y he required only 29 runs to complete his 1,000 for the season. H e went in first and, after batting for 65 m inutes, was eighth out w hen still eight short of the desired number. A l l readers o f C ric k e t w ill regret to hear that A . A . W hite, the w ell-know n umpire, has been prevented by illness from carrying out the greater part of his duties this season. A s W h ite has always given satisfaction and the case is a deserv­ ing one, the S p o rts m a n , acting on the suggestion of M r. H . K . Foster, has con­ sented to receive donations w ith a view to presenting h im w ith a testimonial.