Cricket 1910

J une 23, 1910. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 217 I t seldom happens that one of the im ­ portant Public School matches ends in a tie, but such a result was chronicled on Saturday in the game between Clifton and Eugby on the former’s ground. As a curiosity it should be mentioned that Tunnicliffe, who was umpiring at one end, by mistake allowed C. R . B. Murray to bowl seven balls to an over and that with the extra delivery a wicket was obtained. The best-known instance o f a tie-match in inter-school cricket is, of course, that fur­ nished by the Eton v. Winchester match at Lord’s in 1845. On that occasion the last man—E . W . Blore, of E ton—was run out with the scores level. I n the course of some remarks at the opening of a bazaar at Barnet on the 15th inst., Father Vaughan remarked that every true Englishman had a touch of the sportsman in his character, and when it was developed on legitimate lines it helped him to realise himself and gave him that indescribable something in his deportment and character which made for English manliness. A t last week’s match at Manchester between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire, a gentleman was requested to button his coat, as the gold buttons of bis waistcoat dazzled the fieldsmen! N ot for some time, certainly not during the present season, have the Yorkshire team been seen to such advantage as at Lord’s on Saturday, when, set 331 to win, they defeated Middlesex by two wickets. The cricket was always bright, and for the greater part of the time exciting, as must be evident from the fact that the runs were obtained in four hours and a-half and the winning hit made on tbe stroke of time off the fifth ball of what would in any case have been the last over of the day. As at Cambridge, Hirst made a large score at a most critical time, but on this occasion received excellent support from Denton, the pair putting on 163 together after three wickets had fallen for 47. Myers also had a considerable share in the victory, and departed from his usual quiet methods just in time to enable his side to win on the post. As a matter o f record it should be stated that Munds (of Kent), who was fielding for Litteljohn missed both Hirst and Myers in one over off Tarrant and that his mistakes in all probability cost Middlesex the game. Hirst was 119 at the time and Myers 17. A t im e - t a b l e o f the innings may prove of interest:— 331 to make in 4i hours with 10 262 » 3| „ 7 231 ,, ,, 205 mins. ,, 7 l'*l >> n 2 hours ,, 7 121 „ „ n „ 6 109 ,, „ 70 mins. ,, 5 94 ,, ,, 1 hour ,, 4 81 ,, ,, 45 mins. ,, 4 68 „ „ 40 „ „ 4 60 „ „ 30 „ „ 4 41 » » 20 „ „ 4 25 » 15 4 16 » io „ „ 3 12 » 5 ,, „ 2 The match compares not unfavourably with that between the same sides, also at Lord’s, in 1889, when the hitting of T. C, O’Brien and the late G. F. Vernon— of the former especially— caused Middlesex to gain a memorable victory by four wickets ten minutes before time. T h e two counties first met in 18G8, and the 77 matches played between the sides have resulted as follow s:— Date of Won by Won Ground. Match. shire. dlesex. Dm. Total. Sheffield........... 1868 ... 5 ... 5 .,,. 6 ... 16 Islington .. 1868 ... 0 ... 1 .... 0 ... 1 Prince’s ... ... 1872 ... 3 ... 1 ., 1 ... S Scarborough ... 1874 ... 0 ... 0 .,.. 1 ... 1 Lord’s ... ... 1877 .. 21 ... 8 .,.. 5 .. 34 Huddersfield. .. 1879 ... 2 ... 0 .. . 2 ... 4 Bradford... ... 1886 ... 3 ... 0 .... 5 ... 8 Halifax ... ... 1889 ... 0 .. 0 .... 1 ... 1 Leeds ,.. ... 1892 ... 3 ... 2 .,.. 2 ... 7 In Yorkshire. ... 13 ... 7 .,.. 17 ... 37 ,, Middlesex. ... 24 ... 10 . .. 6 ... 40 Totals .. 1868 ... 37 ... 17 ... 23 ... 77 It is somewhat melancholy to find that, although three or four members o f the Middlesex team which played in the first match of the series—at Sheffield in 1868— are still living, only one of the Yorkshire side—Mr. H . W . Verelst, the old Rugbeian—survives. E. L. K id d , who has obtained his Blue for Cambridge as a Freshman, had a fine record at Wellington last year, heading the batting with 452 runs and an average of just over 41. He also took twenty-six wickets for slightly under 20 runs each. He is a slow bowler, slightly faster than Lockhart. D avid C harles C o llins , who has also been awarded his Blue, was born at Wellington, N.Z., on October 1st, 1887, and was educated at Wellington College, N.Z., where he was in the Eleven for three seasons and captain in his last. During the season of 1906-7 he appeared for Wellington against the M.C.C.’s team and scored 11, 23 and 7 : he also took part in the inter-provincial match with Canterbury at Christchurch, when he made 53 and 1 and carried his bat through the first innings. In the Fresh­ men’s match at Cambridge in 1908 he scored 10 and 29 and took ten wickets for 100 runs, but did little when tried for the Eleven. Last year he made 113 and 138 in the Seniors’ match in addition to taking five wickets for 53 runs and immediately afterwards scored 109 for Etecteras v. Perambulators, but again he failed to do much when tried for the University. This year, however, he has batted very well, and thoroughly deserves the distinction which has been accorded him. O f Surrey’s match at Horsham it is not necessary to say much except that on the first and last days the cricket was always interesting, but that on Friday Sussex played a much slower game than the circumstances warranted. Still, it is better to win clumsily than to lose prettily, and, as it happened, the home side’s tactics did not prevent them from pulling off the match, but that was due' solely to the fact that wickets fell much faster on Saturday than anybody could have anticipated. It is somewhat remarkable that Smith should deliver, 54 overs and Less 41 on a good wicket in an innings of 331. The finish was ideal. Sussex, set 125 to win, lost their ninth wicket at 123, and then Vincett finished the match by means of a square-leg hit for 6 off Bird. Smith bowled beautifully on the last day, and was unfortunate in being on the losing side. B y permission of the Sussex County C.C. a collection was made on the H or­ sham ground last week during the Surrey v. Sussex match on behalf o f Killick’s benefit fund. It resulted in the sum of j K8 I s . lid . being placed to the credit of the account. T h e r e was a rousing finish to the Central Lancashire League match between Crompton and Moorside on the former’s ground on Saturday. Crompton were set 207 to win, and won just before time by five wickets, thanks to J. A. Lowe and Bardsley, who put on 73 together in twenty-six minutes. The last hundred runs were made by the side in three-quarters of an hour, and Lowe, formerly of York College, carried out his bat for 78. “ W . G .” obtained his highest score of the season on Saturday, when he made 71 for Eltham against Charlton Park. Can it be that the G.O.M. has his eye on the Gentlemen v. Players match at Lord’s ? L . P. C o llin s , who made 102 not out for M .C .C . against Oxford University on Friday, is a batsman who would quickly make a name for himself in first-class cricket if he could spare the time to play regularly. Military duties abroad, how­ ever, have kept him out of the game, and it is seldom that his name is found in a match of note. Whilst stationed in India, he made the following scores in succession between February 8th and March 12th, 1904: - 12*2 ) Gurkha Brigade v. Umballa, at Umballa, Feb- 120 j ruary 8tli and 9th. 8 ) Gurkha Brigade v. Meerut Garrison, at Meerut, 23 } February 10th and 11th. 119 |Gurkha Brigade v. Greenjackets, at Meerut, *116 ) February 12th and 13th. 0 ) Gurkha Brigade v. Cawnpore, at Cawnpore, 6 J February 15th and 16th. *206 ) Gurkha Brigade v. Bareilly, at Bareilly, Feb- *110 [ ruary 17tli and 18th. 136 Mian Mir v. Lahore, at Lahore, March 12tli. *Signifies not out. This gives an average of 121-50 for eleven innings commenced. Mr. Collins was in the Marlborough Eleven in 1896 and 1897, in the latter year, when he opened the innings with R. H. Spooner, scoring 67 and 46 in the match with Rugby at Lord’s. Subsequently he obtained his Blue at Oxford for cricket and hockey, and in addition has appeared for Berkshire. He has not yet completed his thirty-second year. The Surrey County C.C. Committee have decided to reduce the charge for admission to the Second Eleven and Club and Ground matches at the Oyal from 6d. to 3d.