Cricket 1909

386 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t . g, igog. THE ENGLAND TEAM OF 1912. I must confess tbat nothing in cricket interests me so much just now as the ques­ tion of what the England eleven w ill be like if the Triangular scheme comes into being in 1912, writes “ B alin ” in The Referee. The date is so far ahead that it may seem rather absurd to trouble about the matter now, but I have a strong feeling that the work of preparation cannot begin too soon. The formation of practically a new Test match team is no light business. I think everyone whose opinion is worth having is agreed, after the disastrous experiences of this year, that in future we must reform our methods and get together a real England eleven and not trust to a varying assortment of players picked at the last moment. In other words, we must, in face of stern com­ petition, condescend to organise. So far as one can judge at present we shall in the immediate future be short of great individual players— there is no sign of a new Jackson among the amateurs or a budding Hayward among the professionals— and this being the case it behoves us all the more to get to­ gether the best men we have, and work them into a fighting force. The fi'st step, as I pointed out the other day, w ill be to give every encouragement next season in the Gentlemen and Players matches to the young men who give any sign of being up to Test-match form. It is quite clear that without a strong element of youth in our representative elevens we cannot hope to approach in fielding the standard set by the Australians this year. Men of thirty- five are not fast enough, and, as a rule, they cannot thr .w. There are, of course, excep. tions such as Jessop, but he is one man in a thousand. As Mr. John Shuter stated some ]itt’e time ago, the success in modern days of middle-aged batsmen— due in a measure, I think, to the practice of having boundaries all round the ground— caused us to forget the fact that cricket is essentially the game for young men. The man of forty is not so much with us iu the cricket field as he was a few years back, but his influence is stiil felt. We are only beginning to realise—the present Australian team having partially «pened our eyes— the paramount importance of the best possible fielding. The Australians, by the way, have, like ourselves, one man who in fielding defies the years. Gregory at thirty-nii.e is as quick and sure as when he first came to this country in 1890. That young Englishmen can hold their own in fielding v as proved to demonstration this summer in the Eton and Harrow match. The fielding in Harrow’ s second innings was equal to anything I have ever seen. The Eton boys were quick as lightning, and they did not make a single mistake. One cannot look for quite the same pace in a Test match, but the modest standard reached this year can easily be improved upon if, when the time comes, we choose the right men and give them a little preliminary work together. In the Test match at the Oval Spooner at cover-point—till he hurt his back—was un­ surpassable, and HutchiDgs, in the deep-field, did not suffer much by comparison even with Ransford. It would, of course, be ridiculous at this distance of time to attempt to forecast our Test match teams of 1912. There can be no harm, however, in mentioning a few players who, all going well in the meantime, strike me as most likely to help in recovering our lost laurels. I do not know what amount of time Spooner w ill be able to spare for cricket — he has lately been given a position on Mr. Leonard Brassey’s estate— but, circumstances being favourable, he is by far the best man I can suggest as captain. As he is now a little under twenty-nine he w ill not be too old. K. L . Hutchings is two years younger, and as he finds time to play all through the season for Kent, we may, I think, safely reckon on him. Another amateur batsman of the requisite capacity is A. P. Day, but how he w ill be situated in 1912 I have not the faintest idea. As to his class, however, there can scarcely be two opinions. He ought to have been in the Gentlemen’s eleven at Lord’s this season. He was des­ cribed, to me a few days ago by a famous old cricketer as a magnificent batsman, to whom anything should be possible. Two young batsmen for whom the future may have much in store are M. C. Bird and H. E . W . Prest. When Bird, immediately after his triumph in the Eton and Harrow match, failed for Lancashire two years ago on bad wickets an impression gained ground that his school reputation had been cheaply earned, but his performances for Surrey during the last six weeks or so have scattered all such notions to the winds. At' present he is, with his forward style of play, essentially a hard- wicket batsman, but there is no reason why he should not learn how to play on slow grounds. It may seem premature to suggest Prest as one of the batsmen of the future, but he was a star at Malvern last year, and this season, apart from a brilliant innings in the University match, he has proved himself good enough for the Kent eleven. It is quite possible that in 1912 he w ill be Captain at Cambridge. W ith Prest I would bracket A. J. Evans, who, though also a Freshman, was clearly the best bat in the Oxford team. As to the young professional batsmen who have not yet had a chance outside county cricket, I am very hopeful of Wilson, of Yorkshire, Robert Relf, and Ducat, and I do not think we have yet seen the best of Payton, of Notts. W ilson has lately been too cautious, but early in the season he made three hundreds. Cricketers at the outset of their career do not do that sort of thing with­ out possessing first-rate ability. XII. OF SURREY v. XVI. OF MITCHAM AND DISTRICT. Played at Mitcham Green on Saturday, for the benefit of Boxall, and won by the Surrey XII. (which had been got together by Holland) by six wickets. The visitors scored 157 for five wickets in an hour and a quarter. Score:— XVI. o f M it c h a m a n d D ist r ic t . 0 H. Wilde, b Rushby... H. Pillinger, st Strud­ wick, b Davis......... 36 P. Palmer, c Stuart, b Rui-hby .................. 15 A. Sandham, b Rushby 5 R. Davey, not out ... 42 * Innings declared closed. H. Woollett, T. Potter, G. H. Curtis, J. Keene, H. Lacy, R. Chart, and J. Atkinson did not bat. XII. o f S u r r e y . 23 E. Palmer, b Rushby 1 J. Boxall, b Hayes ... 22. H. Britton, b Rushby 10 W.C. Rhoades, not out 7 Byes, &c. ... 4 Total (7 wkts)*142 Hobbs, b Potter... Hayes, c Boxall, b Keene .................. 11 Marshal, c Sandham, b Keene ...................81 Hamish Stuart,run out 7 Holland, Goatly, Smith (W. C.), Rushby, Lees, and Jackson did not bat. Davis, not out .......... 30 Strudwick,b Wilde ... 3 Byes, &c.............. 2 Total (5 wkts) 157 Both P. G. Skilton and C. E. Eoughton did the hat-trick in same innin ,'s for L. and N. W. v. Berk- hamsted on the latter’s ground on August 2S. CRICKET IN INDIA. H IN D U G YM K H AN A , v. B O M B A Y G Y M K H A N A . Played on the Hindu ground at Bombay on August 14 and won by the home side by 74 runs. Bombay were without their five best batsmen and their defeat was anticipated. Score and analysis :— H in d u G y m k h a n a . S. G. Mehendale, b l over.................. ... 37 •I. V. Shroff, b Lover... 68 K. A. Date, c and b Stileman ...................27 C. V. Mehta, b Lover 19 Shivram, b Milne ... 1 S. K. Diveker, not out 12 D. A. Shete, not out 4 Byes, &c..................15 Total (5 wkts) *183 ♦Innings declared closed. K. Sesachari, N. H. Kharwa, S. B. Pilagaoker and S. D. Thakur did not bat. B o m b a y G y m k h a n a . C. D. Baker, b Date ... 0 E. G. Lover, not H. L. Richmond, b Out ......... ... 15 Shete.......................... 7 L. F. Hearson, b J. S. Milne, b MehenMehendale ... 1 dale .......................... 10 General Barter, b D. G. Hurlbutt, b Date 0 Mehta .. 11 E.E.Coombs,b Shivram 26 A. N. Other, run out D. F. Vines, c Kharwa, Byes, &c. ... 18 b Shivram.................. 12 — C. G. Stileman, b ShivTotal ...109 ram .......................... 5 H in d u G y m k h a n a . O. M. R. W. O. M. R. W. Milne ... 10 2 35 1 Stileman.. 5 0 25 1 Coombs ... 4 0 18 0 Hurlbutt. 5 0 22 0 Lover ... 16 0 68 3 B o m b a y G y m k h a n a . O M. R. W. O. M. R. W. D ate..........." 8 1 15 2 Shete ... 3 1 13 1 Mehendale. 8 0 30 2 Mehta ... 3 0 10 1 Shivram ... 5 0 23 3 K A T H IA W A R v. BOM B A Y. Played at Rajkote on August 13 and 14 and won by Kathiawar by an innings and 10 runs. Ranjitsinhji, G. N. Foster and H. L. Simms assisted Kathiawar, the two first-named adding 162 for the second wicket. Simms made 24 off an over and took ten wickets for S4 runs. Score :— First innings. Brooke, run o u t ........... B o m b a y . Pope, c Buch, b Keshavlal 65 Christie, c Ambalal, bUm - rigar .................................. Frederick, c Foster, b Simms.................................. 5 Purcell, c and b Simms ... 0 Reid, c Foster, b Simms ... 16 Sanderson, b Umrigar ... 0 Roberts, b Simms .......... 1 Phillips, b Simms ........... 5 Powell, not out ................... 2 Simpson, c Umrigar, b Simms.................................. 5 Byes, &c.......................19 Total ... Second innings. 9 c U in r i g a r , b Thakor Saheb.. 24 lbw, b Keshavlal 3 0 b Thakor Saheb... 16 ..........127 K a t h ia w a r . Cheetham, c Purcell, b Roberts................. 20 G. N. Foster, c Reid, b Sanderson ...........92 H.H. the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, c Reid, b Sanderson 76 Monteath, c Simpson, b Frederick ........... 8 Turner, b Sanderson 38 H. H. the Thakor Saheb, b Sanderson 9 not out ......... 22 c Jam Saheb, b Simms .......... 29 c and b Simms ... 30 b Thakor Saheb... 0 b Simms ... c Cheetham, Keshavlal lbw, b Simms c A m b a l a l , Berch Byes, &c. Total 0 0 18 ...173 Umrigar, c Simpson, b Sanderson .......... 6 H.L.Simms,stBrooke, b Phillips .......... 41 Ambalal, c Powell, b Phillips .................. 0 Beech, b Frederick ... 9 Keshavlal, not out ... 0 Byes, &c...............11 Total .......... 310 GEORGE LEW IN & Co., (Established 1869.) 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