Cricket 1910

J u l y 2 8 , 1910. CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. parallel to the above performance we have to go back to 1892, when the county finished every match played— fifteen of the eighteen games played that year being lost off the reel. During the decade 1900 — 1909 Sussex actually took part in 139 unfinished matches, which was 31 more than those recorded during the previous G8 years! ” T he same correspondent draws my attention to the report of the match between Sussex and Leicestershire which appeared on page 276 of the last issue of Cricket. He says:— “ It was Chaplin, not Hazlerigg, who kept wicket in the second innings of Sussex whilst Shields bowled. Chaplin therefore played for two counties in one season. What would the M.C.C. have said if three or four wickets had fallen before the winning hit had been made? ” The incident furnishes an addition to the ever-increasing list of curiosities of cricket, though it proves that the rigour of the game was not maintained to the end of the match. A c o r r e sp o n d e n t who signs himself A. N. Oppicker sends the following query, and also answers it, doubtless untruthfully:— “ Why does Preston Seymour Blythe than usual?” “ Because he’s got Morfee for Fairservice.” C r ic k e t e r s will be interested to hear that, on the occasion of the meeting of Middlesex and Essex the week after next, the experiment will be tried of having a band at Lord’s during a first-class match. There is something to be said against as well as in favour of the idea. Music is probably appreciated by the majority of those who attend cricket matches, but it is sometimes the cause o f a player losing his wicket. In the Kent v. Sussex match at Hastings a week or two ago, Killick, who is an accomplished musician, was bowled all over his wicket owing to his inability to confine his attention to the game. Doubtless many other cricketers could tell of similar experiences. I t is evident that E. H. D. Sewell has completely recovered from the accident which kept him out of the cricket field a year or two ago. He has recently taken part in the Old Bedfordians’ “ W eek ” at Bedford Grammar School, and has scored 194, 70, 45, 83 not out, 88 and 14—a total of 494 for five com ­ pleted innings, besides taking 22 wickets at an average of about a dozen runs apiece, chiefly with leg-breaks. Al­ together this season he has scored 815 runs in 10 completed innings, including 111 for Surrey Club and Ground v. Cobham, 137 for Surrey Club and Ground v. Richmond Town, and 39 for Free Foresters v. Haileybury. S u r r e y , after being beaten by Hamp­ shire, have defeated Northants by an innings and over a hundred runs. Such is the “ glorious uncertainty ” o f the game. At Southampton the batting of the side failed, despite two splendidly-hit innings on the part of Bird, whose value to the side appears to increase as the season advances. The fielding and bowl­ ing of Surrey have hitherto proved satis­ factory, but the team possesses something of a “ tail ” and a left-handed bowler in the side would prove a source of strength. S in c e the last issue of Cricket was published, a Sydney newspaper has offered to guarantee £5 ,COO in order to secure a visit to Australia of a South African team during our next winter. The intention may be a laudable one, but whether it will have the effect o f remov­ ing the seeming deadlock remains to be seen. The Australian Board of Control have promised to do their utmost to make the tour a success, and it is only as a matter of principle that they have declined to undertake the guarantee demanded by the South African Cricket Association. A t the South Melbourne Town Hall on June 20th, Frank Laver was presented by the President of the S.M.C.C. with a silver urn containing the “ A shes” re­ covered from England by the Australians last year. The “ Ashes ” were made from the stumps used in the fourth Test match, in which they won the rubber. O n Tuesday Jessop gave evidence— I almost wrote striking evidence—that the injury he sustained whilst fielding against Warwickshire at Edgbaston last week was not of so serious a nature as many people feared. “ For which relief much thanks.” It would have been nothing less than a disaster, especially in a season rendered so dreary by rain, if the most lively cricketer in the country had again been placed hors de combat. His innings o f 57 out of 61 in half-an-hour came as a most reassuring bulletin : he made 14 and 16 off Iremonger in two overs, and during the 30 minutes he was in hit a 6 and ten 4’s. N o r t h a m p t o n s h ir e have probably had more remarkable bowling feats recorded against them during the last few seasons than any other county, but what “ Surrey ” Smith accomplished at their expense at the Oval on Tuesday ranks as one of the most extraordinary o f all. In the two innings he obtained fourteen wickets for 29 runs, taking three in four balls in the first and doing the hat-trick in the second. The ground, as one would naturally suppose, was in his favour, but what he did was nevertheless of a most meritorious nature. The only other instances of a bowler taking so many wickets in a first-class match at so small a cost are by Briggs, 15 for 28 (7 for 17 and 8 for 11) for England v. South Africa at Cape Town in 1888-9, and Dennett, 15 for 21 (8 for 9 and. 7 for 12) for Gloucestershire v. Northants at Gloucester in 1907. A g a in s t Sussex at Hull to-day York­ shire will play Oldroyd, of Dewsbury, instead of Turner. Newstead has been allocated to Bradford until August 15, when he will enter upon an engagement in Scotland offered by the Duchess of Marlborough. THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSH IP. MATCHES ELIMINATED. At Monday’s meeting of the M.C.C. Com­ mittee they had before them tbe question of matches, in May, which were reduced to two days in consequence of the late King’s funeral, and it was decided that county matches unfinished owing to the funeral of his late Majesty King Edward shall not count in the County Championship. It is understood that the Surrey and Derbyshire match at the Oval, abandoned on May 7th through the King’s death, is also affected by this decision. Consequent upon the ruling of the M.C.C. Committee, six games, which had been counted as drawn, were eliminated from the list of matches played. Under the new system of scoring, the counties concerned— Surrey and Derbyshire (two matches each), Kent, Essex, Lancashire, Sussex, Leicester­ shire, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, and North­ amptonshire—all benefited by the decision. Plyd. Won. Lost. Drn. Per­ cent­ Kent.................... . 16 12 2 2 age. 75-00 Middlesex ... . 13 7 2 4- 58*84 Lancashire ... . . 18 9 3 6 50 00 Hampshire ... . . 16 8 6 2 50 00 Sussex .............. 14 7 5 2 50-00 Yorkshire.............. 17 8 4 5 47-05 Surrey .............. 17 8 6 3 47-05 Essex................... . 10 4 4 2 40-00 Northamptonshire . 13 5 5 38-46 Nottinghamshire . . 14 5 3 6 37 41 Leicestershire... . . 10 3 7 30-00 Gloucestershire . 13 3 7 •23-07 Warwickshire... . . 15 3 7 20-00 Worcestershire . 12 2 4 16"66 Derbyshire ... . . 14 2 10 14-28 Somerset............. . 12 0 11 1 — T H E M I N O R C O U N T I E S C H A M P I O N S H I P (Compiled to the c!tk th inst). NORTH AND EAST. P. W. Won on 1st Inns. D. Points pos. obt. Per cent­ age. Yorkshire II. ... 7 4 2 0 35 26 74-28 Norfolk ......... 5 2 2 0 25 16 64-00 NorthumbeiTnd 6 3 1 0 30 18 60-00 Lincolnshire ... 4 2 0 0 20 10 50X0 Staffordshire ... 8 4 0 0 40 20 50-00 Suffolk ......... 3 1 0 0 15 5 33-33 Notts II............ 5 1 1 0 25 8 32-00 Durham ......... 7 2 0 0 35 10 28-57 Cheshire ......... 8 0 3 0 40 9 22 50 Bedfordshire ... 1 0 0 0 5 0 _ Cambridgeshire 2 0 0 0 10 0 — Yorkshire 2nd XI. v. Notts 2nd XI., at Wakefield, was abandoned on account of rain. SOUTH AND WEST. Glamorganshire 7 7 0 0 35 35 100-00 Surrey II. 6 3 1 1 25 18 72 00 Berkshire......... 3 2 0 0 15 10 66*66 Hertfordshire... 4 2 0 0 20 10 50-00 Devon ......... 4 1 0 1 15 5 33 33 Monmouthshire 3 1 0 0 15 5 33-33 Buckingham’ire 1 0 0 0 5 0 — Carmarth’nshire 3 0 0 0 15 0 — Cornwall......... 2 0 0 0 10 0 __ Dorset ......... 1 0 0 0 5 0 __ Wiltshire......... 2 0 0 0 10 0 — Five points are given for a win and three for a match decided on the firstinnings. Drawn matches —matches in which no result on the first innings is attained—are ignored. R u g b y v . M a r lb o r o u g h .— This annual match was commenced yesterday at Lord’s. At the end of the day the total scoreswere:—Marlborough, 221(W. F.A. Shuldham, 70); Rugby, 340 for eight wickets (J. L. Andrews, 103; P. S. Fraser, 76).