Cricket 1910

A u g u s t i 8 , igio. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OK THE GAME. 345 twenty-four he should be well to tlie fore for several years to come. O ne of the most serviceable players in the Surrey team just now is Hitch. Always a brilliant field in any position, he has recently been batting better than ever before, having followed his 74 not out against Middlesex with 54 v. Northants. and 50 v. Yorkshire. To most people his innings at the expense of Middlesex came as a complete revelation, but he has since shown very clearly that it was no flash in the pan. His fast bowling is at times deadly— as against Worcestershire at the Oval this year— but his length is more than occasionally rather erratic. In last week’s match he drove into the Press- box a ball which would probably have pitched over 150 yards from the wicket had nothing stayed its progress, and in Yorkshire’s first innings ran out George Hirst when stationed within six yards of the boundary in a manner which was nothing less than brilliant. He was born at Kadcliffe, in Lancashire, twenty- four years ago, and is just over two months the junior of Ducat. P layin g for Teddington against Priory Park at Chichester on Thursday last, K. E. M. Barker (156 not out) and It. S. Lucas (103 not out) put on 258 together for the fourth wicket in two hours without being separated. Priory Park were afterwards dismissed for 87. M ore than a passing word deserves to be given to the fact that Mr. A. E. Newton has been keeping wicket splendidly for Somerset recently, despite the fact that he will complete his forty-eighth year on the 12th o f next month. In this connection it is interesting to recall that he made his first appear­ ance at Lord’s, for E ton against Harrow, thirty-one years ago, and that he toured with English teams in America and Australia, in addition to taking part in the University match, before some of our present-day first-class players were born. It is not often that a wicket­ keeper has been chosen, strictly on his merits, for inter-county cricket at such an age, although the cases of Prebendary Wickham and David Hunter have occurred during the last few years. A. I. S te e l , of this year’s Eton Eleven, has been gaining triumphs at golf. At Sheringham on Thursday last he carried off the Tradesmen’s Challenge Cup. He and his father were coupled in the four­ somes, and, receiving 3 strokes, finished 5 down. F oe a side to lose after declaring each of its innings closed is an event of the rarest occurrence. An instance of it was recorded last week, however, in the match between The Mote and Eton Eamblers in the Mote Park ground, Maidstone. The home side made 340 for six wickets and 103 for eight, and were beaten by two wickets, the Kamblers scoring 157 and 288 for eight wickets. The match was played on August 10 and 11 and was the second in the Mote Park Week. F. ( t . J. Ford made 52 and 44 for tho beaten side. O yez ! O y ez ! This is to give notice that the proceeds of the Kent v. Surrey match which will commence at the Oval on Monday next are to bo set apart as a benefit for Apted, the ground super­ intendent. To everyone who visits the ground the figure of Apted must be very familiar, and if all batsmen who have been helped to obtain talent-money there by the excellence of the pitch would remember, in a practical way, that they owed something to the skilful preparation S. APTED; of the wicket the beneficiare would receive a sum which would make him a happy man for the rest of his days. Apted, the son of a very useful cricketer, was born at Eeigate on July 21st, 1848, and was a good player in his younger days. In 1867 he was chosen for the Surrey Colts, and afterwards played a lot o f club cricket, chiefly for Chislehurst, Bromley and the Borough Hop Club. In 1874 he was engaged by the Bickley Park C.C., and lliere he remained until 1888, when he went to the Oval. Everyone who knows him likes him and will hope that three days of brilliant weather and cricket will be experienced in the early part of the coming week. I t is estimated that Killick will not receive more than X'500 or £600 from his benefit match last week, for, although the weather was fine on each of the three days, the “ gates ” were not altogether satisfactory. The Sussex team are not a very great draw just now, and no doubt his subscription list suffered from the 20,000 shillings fund which is being raised in order to put the Sussex County C.C. on a sounder financial basis. I h e a p , that next reason Leicestershire will play two additional counties, their programme of Championship games being thus increased to twenty-two. They will also have a Week at Leicester. It is suggested that two o f the Championship matches should be allocated to towns other than the county borough, Hinckley being given one of the games. I t will be remembered that early in the season the Yorkshire team visited Perth, and that their match there was abandoned owing to the death of King Edward. It had been hoped in some quarters that ft would be found convenient for the county side to go north again this year. This, however, has been found to be impossible, but the Yorkshire Com­ mittee have promised to send a team to Perth at the beginning of next season. T hompson , of Northants, was included in the M.C.C. team against Hampstead at Lord’s last week and made his presence felt on the first day by means of an inn­ ings of 202. His chief hits were a 6 and twenty 4’s. He also took eleven wickets in the match for 96 runs. As readers o f Gossip well know, individual scores of 200 or more at Lord’s are very seldom chronicled: but Thompson now has two such innings to his credit, as against Cambridgeshire nine years ago he ran up 247. E. H . L am be rt , Ireland’s best all-round cricketer, has now made over a thousand runs and taken more than a hundred wickets during the season— a double performance which he has accomplished with remarkable consistency f6r several years past. In consecutive innings last week he made 139 against Toronto Zingari, 86 and 48 v. Free Foresters, who enrolled him as a member upon the conclusion of the match, and 98 v. W ood­ brook. W . A. B. w r it e s : The following note is belated, owing to various circumstances j over which I had no control, but it may I interest your Yorkshire and Lancashire readers. Almost immediately after Lan­ cashire had declared in the Bank Holiday match at Old Trafford two newspapers were blown at the same moment over the iron railings which guard the seats at the top of the Old Trafford pavilion. One of these newspapers, credibly stated to be the Yorkshire Post, fell with a thud on the heads of the members below—ror as much of a thud as a newspaper can make