Cricket 1910

A u g u s t i i , 1 9 1 0 . CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 3 ^ 9 —an advantage which would in all proba­ bility have proved sufficient to win them the match with an innings to spare had not Hayes and Hitch, by most plucky cricket, put on 130 together after seven wickets had fallen for 56. Their partner­ ship would in itself have been enough to render the game noteworthy, but Smith and Hayes, bowling unchanged, got rid of Middlesex the second time for 41 and Surrey, after having seven men out for 39, pulled through with a couple of wickets to spare. It was stirring cricket, and, as a contemporary remarks, worth sixpence a ball to watch. During the day twenty- one wickets went down for 186 runs : after lunch eighteen fell for 121, and it took Surrey two hours to obtain 80 runs in their second innings. S mith ’ s analysis o f six for 16 was remarkable against a side so strong in batting. As 4 runs were made off him before he met with any success and 9 were obtained at his expense after he had secured his sixth wicket, he actually dis­ missed half-a-dozen men whilst oniy 3 runs were scored off his deliveries. His bowling during that period of remarkable success is chronicled thus in the official score-book:— .' 2 . w The feat, it will be seen, included the capture in 21 balls of five wickets at the cost of a single. B ut Smith’s services to the side did not cease when, the Middlesex innings closed, for he w^ent in to bat at a time when Middlesex appeared to have the game well in hand, and by plucky, though lucky, cricket stayed in with his captain until the game was a tie. Leveson-Gower batted with exemplary skill throughout a most anxious period, playing his role to perfection, though for the greater part of the time handicapped by lameness. For Hayes, “ Razor ” Smith and Leveson-Gower the match should always provide a pleasant memory. F rom Punch :— ‘ ‘ The game had only been in progress ten minutes when there was a cloud-burst, and the players were literally washed off the field .”—Manchester Evening News. Per- Played Won Lost Dr’n cent’ge Lancashire... 19 10 3 6* 52-63 * Including one match in which team was washed away. “ B. B. Wilson cannot exactly be called one of Yorkshire’s young players, for he has passed his 13th year.”— Dundee Advertiser. You see it is already a year since they let him into the Pavilion at half-price. He’s getting quite a big boy now. T he Toronto Zingari team completed their tour in England at Chelford on Saturday, when they beat the Gentlemen of Cheshire by an innings and 34 runs. This week they have been in Ireland, and yesterday entered upon their last match— against Phoenix— before return­ ing to America. Every member of the team, I am glad to be able to state, has found the trip a most enjoyable one. I t was certainly a curiosity of cricket that the constitution o f the Gloucestershire team should be changed twice during the progress of the match with Kent at Can­ terbury. N. S. Cornelius, whilst fielding, became so indisposed that it was considered advisable that he should retire from the game. This he agreed to do, and A. H. Haines took his place. On the second day Langdon was called home owing to the death of his father, and Cornelius, who had recovered sufficiently to be able to play, re-appeared in his stead. “ C lub cricket in this country," opines Dr. L. 0 . S. Poidevin, “ is too mag­ nificently disorganised to ever do itself justice or reach anything above hopeless mediocrity in standard of play.” I t was testimony to his skill that R. E. Foster’s chanceless innings of 133 against Yorkshire last week, on his first appearance in a first-class match since 1907, should have been received with admiration rather than surprise. Like A. G. Steel, W . H . Patterson, J. R. Mason and the Hon. F . S. Jackson, to mention only a few names, he appears able to take his place in county cricket after a long absence and at once do himself justice. H is participation in club cricket had kept him in form as regards stroke-play, but it was never­ theless a noteworthy performance on his part. But for his fine display Yorkshire would in all probability have won the match easily. I n bowling G. N. Foster at Worcester last week Hirst obtained his one-hun­ dredth wicket of the season, and is the first player to obtain so many in addition to scoring a thousand runs. This is the eighth consecutive season in which he has accomplished the performance. F or F . Mayo’s X II. v. Col. Ricardo’s X II. at Cookham on August 1st R. E. Adair (145) and A. S. Bull (127) made 279 for the first wicket. Their side scored 479 runs and won by 367. I f rumour is to be trusted, the present season may be the last in which H . K. Foster will be seen in first-class cricket. His retirement would be a distinct loss, not to the game in Worcestershire only, but to cricket generally. Everyone will hope that the report referred to will prove to be premature. A v a l u e d correspondent writes :— “ I got a keen football follower to accompany me to a cricket match tbe other day. It would not be fair to indicate which, but I think you will guess it. I had previously induced tbe same party to read the cricket articles in a certain weekly paper which attract me none the less for differing in one opinion from my own. B had run up a big score against A, a reputedly stronger county. 1Here is a case,’ said my friend, fortified by the said paper’s sentiments, ‘ where the new rule will make the ^game more attractive. A must play all out for a win. Under the old rule we should have seen them pottering about for a draw ’ (which, by the way, was a libel). We did see a spirited attempt, which may or may not have been as attractive as the sterling cricket that I and my friend used to be content to see Notts and Surrey playing in the eighties.” “ But in the end A were all out a long way behind B- t o o far behind to sland any chance of winning. On asking my com­ panion, then, whether he would come to see the third day’s plav he replied ‘ What’s the good ? Anybody knows what the result will be. A are going to lose so as not to do B out of a win ! ’ This, if not ajain a libel, was*I believe an exaggeration, but anyway A did lose without much apparent effort to avoid doing so. What tickled me, however, was this : that, in spite of my friend’s fulness of airy admiration for the sUshing game, he would have been more likely to patronise an aching coffer if he could have been sure of a stern struggle to ‘ save Ihe game’ and an undecided issue till the fiuish.’’ G reat things are hoped of the young professional, Parsons, who made his first appearance for Warwickshire in the latter part of last week, against Derbyshire at Edgbaston. He was tried for the county on the strength of an innings of 200 against Worcestershire 2nd X I. on the Worcester ground on Bank-Holidaj^, and although he scored only 20 and 2 off the Derbyshire bowling the form he showed in obtaining the runs should cause him to be persevered with. His early cricket was played with the Humbers and King’s Heath Clubs, and whilst with the latter he occasionally had Lilley and Charlesworth as comrades. This year he has been professional to the Lichfield C.C., for which, in addition to making several useful scores, he has ob­ tained many wickets with his right-hand medium-paced deliveries. S trange to say, until last week Parsons had never made a hundred in any class of cricket. It was, therefore, quite a curiosity that upon entering three-figure land for the first time he should not be sent back until he had reached his second century. The experience reminds one of what befell Mr. G. A. S. Hickson, of the Hampstead C.C. about eight on line years ago whilst playing against Birchington House, near Bexhill, in a two-day match. He had never made a hundred in his life, but on the first day he scored 146 and a telegram conveying the welcome news was sent to the club’s headquarters in London. Before play commenced on the second morning Hickson received a wire stating, of course in chaff, “ We don’t believe i t ! ” So far from disheartening him, he made 102 when he went in for the second time and carried out his bat. Th e takings at last week’s match at Southampton between Hampshire and Sussex amounted to £881. This is stated to be the largest sum ever taken at an inter-county match in Hampshire. H . S almon , playing for West Hartle- |pool against Redcar on the latter's ground