Cricket 1909

S e p t . 9, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 397 THE COUNTIES IN 1909. The honours of the County season clearly belong to Kent, who, for the second time since the institution of the Competition in 1873, have carried off the Championship. The final positions of the counties are as follow s:— Per- Plyd. Won, Lost. Dm. Pts. centage. Kent ................. 26 16 2 8 14 77*77 Lancashire ......... 24 14 4 6 10 55*55 Yorkshire ......... 26 12 4 10 8 50 00 Sussex ................. 26 7 3 16 4 40*00 S u rrey ................. 30 16 7 7 9 39*13 Middlesex ...........21 6 5 10 1 9*09 Northamptonshire 18 9 8 1 1 5*88 H am pshire.......... 22 7 7 8 — — Worcestershire ... 20 8 8 4 — — Notts ................. 19 6 8 5 — 2 —14*28 Somerset .......16 4 7 5 — 3 —27*27 Warwickshire ... 20 3 8 9 — 5 —45*45 Leicestershire ... 21 3 10 8 — 7 —53*84 Essex ................. 18 2 7 9 — 5 —55*55 D erbyshire............ 21 2 15 4 —13 —76*47 Gloucestershire ... 22 1 13 8 —12 -85*71 The matches between Essex and Leicestershire and Essex and Middlesex, both at Leyton, and Derbyshire v. Notts at Glossop, were abandoned without a ball being bowled, and are not included in the above table. O n June 7th the leadin g sides w ere :— Per- Plyd. Won. Lost. Drn. Pts. centage. Kent ................... 5 3 0 2 3 100*00 Sussex ................... 6 2 0 4 2 100*00 Middlesex ........... 4 1 0 3 1 100*00 Surrey ... ... ... 8 5 1 2 4 66*66 Lancashire ... ... 7 4 1 2 3 60*00 Yorkshire ........... 9 4 1 4 3 60*00 On J u ly 5th the six lead in g sides w ere in the follow in g o r d e r :— Per- Plyd. Won. Lost. Drn. Pts. centage. Middlesex ... 10 4 1 5 3 60*00 Lancashire ... 12 8 2 2 6 60*00 Kent ........... 1*2 7 2 3 5 55*55 Yorkshire ... 14 6 2 6 4 50*00 Surrey ........... 16 9 3 4 6 50*00 Sussex ........... 11 3 1 7 2 50*00 O n A u gu st 1st L a n cash ire headed the table with Kent whilst Middlesex, having been defeated three times, occupied the seventh place instead of the firs t:— Per- Plyd. Won. Lost. Drn. Pts. centage. Lancashire ... 17 11 2 4 9 69*23 Kent ........... 18 11 2 5 9 69*23 Yorkshire ... 18 9 2 7 7 63*63 Surrey ........... *21 11 5 5 6 37*50 Hampshire ... 14 5 3 6 2 25*00 Sussex ........... 19 5 3 11 2 25*00 Middlesex ... 14 4 3 7 1 14*28 L a n cash ire afterw ards w ent dow n before Y orksh ire and W orcestershire, and Y ork ­ shire before W orcestersh ire and Surrey w hilst K ent, w in n in g five o f their eight rem ain in g m atch es an d draw ing th e other three, advan ced to first p lace and finished the season w ith a su bstantial lead over their nearest rival. T h e season w as a very wet one and m an y dreary w aits and blan k days w ere experienced in con sequ en ce. Several cou n ties m ust have sustained a financial loss and especially, it is to be feared, is this so w ith E ssex, tw o of w h ose h om e m atches — against L eicestersh ire and M iddlesex— were aban don ed in one w eek w ithout a ball being bow led . K E N T . F o r the second tim e in fou r years K ent have carried off the C h am pion sh ip , an d it is generally adm itted that th ey th orou gh ly deserve the distinction. O f the 26 m atches played th ey w on 16 and lost 2, their record being identical w ith that o f 1906, in w hich year, also, th ey w ere first am on g the cou n ties. T h eir tw o reverses w ere at the hands o f W orcestershire and L a n cash ire during the T on bridge W eek , the form er beating th em by 108 runs and th e latter, after declarin g their secon d innings closed w ith on ly five w ickets dow n, by 312. T h e bow ling of B urrow s and B rearley w as res­ pon sible fo r their defeats, the secon d o f w h ich w as so heavy that th e future o f the side appeared very uncertain. A s it h a p ­ pened, how ever, n ot an oth er reverse was experienced, tw e l^ of the rem ain ing m atches being w on and five draw n. D illon , in his first year o f captain cy, led th e side ably and frequently rendered it very good service by his left-h an ded batting. H e did n ot play after the C anterbury W eek, but the C ounty w ere very fortun ate in being able to en joy the services of M ason, w ho n ot on ly captained the eleven skilfully, but batted as w ell as at an y previous period of h is distingu ished career. In con secu tive innings he scored 179 not out v. S ussex at B righ ton , H i v. Som erset at T au n ton , aud 152 n ot out v. Surrey at the O val, and was the on ly player during the season to m ake three hundreds in su ccession . A . P. D ay w as responsible for m an y brilliant innings, h is highest being 177 against E ssex at L eyton , w hilst H u tch in gs, after an indifferent start, gave several characteristic displays, and, strictly on his m erits, was chosen for E n gland. H um phreys, like the latter, m ade m ore than tw elve hun dred runs w ith an average of over 40, but Seym our show ed a fallin g-off, an d H ardin ge, w ho had d on e so w ell in 1908, could score on ly 332 runs in tw enty com pleted innings. W o o lley im ­ proved both as batsm an and bow ler, and in partnership w ith F ielder established a new last-w icket record o f 235 on the W orcester grou n d. In bow ling, B lyth e proved a tow er o f strength to the side, n ot on ly head in g the averages but taking alm ost as m an y w ickets as any three oth er players put together. T h e in trod u ction in to the team of 1). W . C arr, w ho had been w ell-k now n as a clu b cricketer fo r several years, proved a success­ ful and interesting experim ent. H is googlies. w h ich w ere quite new to the great m ajority o f batsm en he m et, gained him m an y w ickets, and also ligh ten ed the labours o f B lyth e and F ielder, to w hose bow lin g they proved an in valuable contrast. F ielder, w ith ou t being quite so effective as in previous years, took 81 w ickets, and F ail service rendered useful assistance. H uish th orou gh ly m aintain ed his form as a w icket-keeper, an d the fielding of the side, if occasion ally n ot o f the very highest class, w as alw ays reliable an d often brilliant. BATTING AVERAGES. Times Most not in an Total Inns. out. inns. Runs. Aver. J. R. Mason ............ 12 2 179* 738 73*80 A. P. D a y .................... 19 0 177 905 47*63 K. L. Hutchings ... 30 1 155 1251 43*13 Humphreys ............ 34 4 208 1207 40*23 S. H. D a y .................... 11 2 86 358 29*77 Woolley (F. E.)............ 29 0 185 922 31*79 E. W. Dillon ............ 29 2 89 788 29*18 Seymour (Jas.)........ 34 1 88 897 27 18 Fielder ................ 23 12 112* 247 22*45 H uish............................ 30 7 65 495 21*52 H. E. W. Prest ...4 0 57 82 20*50 L. H. W. Troughton... 3 0 46 53 17*66 Fairservice.................... 27 5 39* 382 17*36 Hardinge .................... 21 1 56 332 16*60 C. H. B. Marsham ... 3 0 29 37 12*33 I). W. Carr............................7 1 20 52 8*66 Blythe................... 29 5 38 206 8*58 The following also batted: Preston, 4, 4*, and 6; Hubble, 17 and 13; and Jennings, 4. * Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs Wkts. Aver. Blythe ....................1040*1 294 2506 178 14*07 D. W. Carr ........... 303 72 725 51 14*21 Woolley (F. E.) ... 437*2 116 1063 57 18*64 Fielder .................... 514*5 105 1698 81 20*96 Humphreys .......... 103 32 234 9 26*00 J. R. Mason ............ 169*1 41 444 17 26*11 Overs Mdns. Runs Wkts. Aver. Fairservice ........... 4*22*2 124 1059 39 27*15 Preston .................. 35 13 89 3 29 66 Seymour (Jas.) ... 11 1 48 1 48*00 A. P. Day .......... 23 3 66 0 — Hardinge (8-2-39-1), C. H. B. Marsham (5*3-0-48-0), and K. L. Hutchings (10-2-29-0) bowled in two innings and S. H. Day (2-0-18-1) and E. W. Dillon (14-2-55-0) in one. L A N C A S H IR E . F rom seventh p lace in the C h am pion sh ip table in 1908 L a n cash ire have ascended to second, and it m u st be adm itted that their im p roved position is due to better cricket than th ey show ed tw elve m on th s ago. A s in 1908, T yldesley (J. T .), Sharp and A . H artley alone exceeded 1,000 runs. T h e first-nam ed lacked con sisten cy, and w as often d is­ appointing, but h e m ade hundreds against W orcestershire, E ssex and M iddlesex, and w as as brilliant as ever in the field. Sharp w as the greatest run-getter on the side and, w ith 183 on the S tourbridge grou n d as his h ighest score, m ade 1333 runs w ith an average o f 39*20. L ate in the season R . H . Spoon er re-appeared in th e side an d show ed very plain ly that he h ad lost n on e of h is skill. H e reached three figures both at E astbourne an d L ey ton and headed the averages w ith 45 77 runs an in n in gs. M akepeace did m uch excellen t w ork and H orn by m ade several very useful scores. K enneth M acleod, how ever, w as disappoin tin g : he gave a w onderfu l display o f h ittin g in m akin g 128 against Som erset at B ath , but, apart from innings of 33 an d 62 v. K ent at T on brid ge played few oth er in n in gs of n ote. M acL aren had, for him , a poor record, and can n ot, in the ordinary cou rse o f things, expect to appear fo r m an y m ore seasons. T h e bulk o f th e bow lin g fell to B rearley, H uddleston, and D ean. B rearley, though absent du rin g Ju ly ow ing to a strain, and n ot playin g in the fou r last m atch es, took m ore w ickets than anyon e else and w as the on ly m em ber o f th e side to obtain over a h un dred. H eap, w h o headed the averages, had a great triu m ph in the return m atch w ith Y orksh ire and m igh t have been utilised m ore frequently. O f the 24 m atches played by the side, 14 w ere w on and on ly 4 lost, T h eir defeats w ere sustained in the two m atches w ith Y orksh ire an d w hen playing N otts, at T ren t B ridge and W orcestershire at hom e. BATTING AVERAGES. Times Most not in an Total Inns. out. inns. Runs. Aver. R. H. Spoon er........... 10 1 113 421 46*77 S h a rp .......................... 36 2 183 1333 39*20 A. H artley.................. 34 2 111 11*29 35*28 Tyldesley (J. T.) ... 37 2 131 1173 33*51 Makepeace.................... 33 2 81* 930 30*00 A. H. H o rn b y ....................3*2 6 71 693 26*65 Tyldesley (W .)....................5 1 26 99 24*75 A. C. MacLaren ... 18 1 80 418 24*58 C. R. Hartley ... . . 5 1 35* 80 20*00 Huddleston ... .... 35 6 78* 535 18*44 Tyldesley (E.) ....................8 1 61 120 17*14 K. G. M acleod........... 26 0 128 410 15*76 D ean.............................. 29 7 48* 299 13*59 Cook (L.) ... ....................9 3 29 69 11*50 Heap ........................... 2*2 3 60 212 11 15 Blondey ............................7 3 21 32 8*C0 W. Brearley ............ 21 > 1 26 154 7*70 Worsley .................... 21 9 13 75 6*25 The following also batted : Whitehead (R.), 12, 2* : A. F. Spooner, 8. * Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. Heap........................... 219*2 73 480 37 12*97 W. Brearley ............................................. 551*380 1821 11515*83 Huddleston ............ 680*4 222 1358 82 16*56 Sharp .................... 125*4 33 398 2*2 18*09 Dean........................... 654*1 183 1624 89 18*24 Cook (L.)................... 147*4 37 451 20 22*55 K. G. Macleod ... 175*5 28 618 26 23*76 Makepeace ............ 69*1 11 181 5 36*20 The following bowled in one innings : A. Hartley (3-0-15-0), Whitehead (R.) (1-0-2-0), A. H. Hornby (2-0-11-0), and Tyldesley (W.) (1-0-1-Q).