Cricket 1911

M ay 20,1911. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 167 cricket has, tor some years past, been regarded, not without reason, as dull, but on the occasion referred to it was bright throughout, even Kinneir and Quaife—the latter especially —playing a far more lively game than one generally associ­ ates with their names. If only they can show similar cricket throughout the season, they will find that the support from the public which their Club desires so much will be accorded it. Tw enty-tw o Englishm en, blithesome and vigorous, On with your flannels, and haste to the game ; Greet the Earth-M other, and meet the sun face to face, Offer your brows for the kiss o f his flame ! Children o f M idsumm er, Sons o f the Open Air, H ere in this m eadow , this fair summ er day, H ere ’m id the song o ’ birds, here ’m id the hum o ’ noon, H ere will we plav ! — E. V. Lucas. E s s e x have in past years gained more than one success over Yorkshire, and although they had the best of the wicket in their recent match at Leyton their success must not be attributed wholly to that cause. Their fielding, for long the weak spot in the side’s cricket, showed a distinct improvement, and it must not be forgotten that they took the field without Perrin and Gillingham. Like Warwickshire, Essex needs increased support from the public and there is no surer way for a side to obtain that than by playing attractive cricket and winning matches. ‘ ‘ A c c i d e n t a l death through being hit with a cricket ball ” was the verdict of a Flintshire coroner’s jury on Satur­ day in connection with the death, while playing cricket, of Herbert Edward Bugman, aged 18, a member of Shotton Cricket Club. While batting, deceased received a full pitch ball in the region of the heart. T h e writer in a contemporary who, commenting upon the match between Cambridge University and Surrey, poured scorn on the efforts of the new men in the Light Blue team—making an exception only of S. H. Saville as a fieldsman—and said that it would probably be a long time before any of them get another trial, would do well to take a lesson from the first two matches of the Warwickshire team this season. At the Oval, the side shaped wretchedly; at Old Trafford a week later they seemed like an entirely different team. Charlesworth alone made more runs in the second match than the whole team (Charlesworth included) managed to make in the first. And there were plenty of experienced men on the Warwickshire side, too ; collapse by a University team, necessarily lacking cohesion at the beginning of a campaign, is at least as excusable as collapse by a county side. How often it happens that a man playing for another county against that in which he was born does big things ! Lockwood usually did well for Surrey v. Notts, Lees for Surrey v. Yorkshire ; Mr. A. C. .Tohnston has taken heavy toll of the Derbyshire bowling, and Albert Ward scored more than one cent ury against Yorkshire. Charlesworth’s latest century is a case in point, though it cannot be said that he has made a habit of this sort of thing, as his only previous score of over 50 against Lancashire was 61 at Birmingham in 1906. C r o w t h e r C h a r l e s w o r t h was born at Swinton in February, 1877, and was only a little over 21 when he made his first appearance for Warwickshire at the end of the 1898 season. Since then he has played in the team pretty regularly ; but up to last year with only moderate success— one of the rank and file, useful, but of no special distinction. It is true that he averaged over 30 for 17 completed innings in 1901, making 99 v. Yorkshire at Bradford ; that he hit up 106 v. Hampshire at Birmingham in 1902, and 91 v. Surrey, also on the Edgbaston ground, in 1905 ; that in 1906 he played very consistent cricket, averaging 24-54 on an aggregate of 761, without a single not out, and with 68 as his highest score ; that in 1907 he again took a century v. Hants ; that in 1908 he totalled over 800, and ran into three-figures v. Northants ; and that in 1909 he again made over 800, averaging 21-72, with a highest of 60. B u t in all this, useful though it might be, there was nothing to lead anyone to expect that in 1910 he would head the County’s batting list with a total of nearly 1,200 runs, and an average of over 35. Not once during the season was he dismissed scoreless ; he made double-figures in 27 out of 36 innings ; and he scored centuries v. Derby­ shire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. His 216 v. Derbyshire at Blackwell took him only 220 minutes, and included six 6 ’s and thirty 4’s. His 133 v. Worcestershire at Edgbaston occupied 160 minutes and included twenty- two 4’s. His 105 v. Gloucestershire on the same ground was made in just 105 minutes, and a 6 and thirteen 4’s were among his hits. There were chances in all these in­ nings ; but what matters a chance or two when a man is hitting like this ? Charlesworth may lack the finish and style of William George Quaife and Septimus Paul Kinneir, Photo by ] [Hawkins and Co., Brighton. Mr. JOHN SHIELDS. (L eicestersh ire s N ew C aptain ). but one feels sure that he is a prime favourite with the home crowd. I t has been hinted in some quarters that Mr. Percy Perrin may be found playing for Middlesex this season : but one does not find it easy to believe that at this stage of his career he will leave the county of his great deeds for that of his birth. The possibility of his doing so raises interesting speculations, however. If the birth qualifica­ tion were suddenly made the only one, what a general post there would be ! “ R a z o r ” S m i t h , George Brown, Henry James Huggins, and Alec Bowell would be a nucleus for Oxford­ shire to build up a new county eleven around. Tom Hay­ ward, John Hobbs, William Reeves and Herbert Carpenter would strengthen Cambridgeshire pretty considerably, though three of the four are veterans. Sussex would lose Mr. Herbert Chaplin to Middlesex, and Mr. Rex Ileygate