Cricket 1911

252 CRICKET : A W EEK LY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u n e 17 , 11)11. towers of stength to the side have developed faults of temperament or conduct that have deprived them of more than half their value. The captaincy of the team has never been a light task. B u t just lately the Peak County has shown up better than for a long time past. Apart from the two matches with Yorkshire, the side has done at least respectably in every game. The narrow victory over Lancashire—the fine fight with Hampshire—the defeat of Northants. were all more than creditable, the last especially so because the team lacked one of its best men in Morton. There was nothing to be ashamed of, either, in the defeat by Essex, especially as the all-rounder mentioned was practicaly useless in that game. One hopes that the improvement shown will continue. h” B ig gates are the exception rather than the rule in minor county cricket. They are scarcely the rule, for that matter, in the first-class county championship. But the match at Newcastle on Whit-Monday attracted as many as 5,000 spectators. It was in the nature of a local “ Derby,” of course, which added to its attractiveness. Northumberland and Durham are old and keen rivals. Excellent batting was shown by Stanger-Leathes, the old Sherborne boy, Gilman, the Light Blue, Middlesex and London County man, the professional Richardson (who scored more runs in it than he aggregated in 12 innings in 1910), Harrison (a newly-qualified man for Durham, one believes), Dennis Hendren, and by T. A. Bradford, who hit fourteen fours in the course of his century, and made 159 runs in the match, Stanger-Leathes scoring 163, Richardson 132, and Hendren 106. Altogether the two days’ play realised 1,132 runs, which is sufficiently good going to satisfy most people. S u r r e y S e c o n d v . Kent Second produced as many as 1,073, and Warwickshire Second v. Worcestershire Second 1 , 000 , this last not being even a minor county game. The tall Atherstone amateur, J. H. Phillips, hit up 150 runs in 95 minutes. This fact would have been commented upon last week, but for extreme pressure on space. They are worth reference now, if only to show that minor county and second eleven matches ought not to be neglected by the man who demands fast scoring in return for his sixpence at the gate. A l b e r t R e l f is sta ted b y on e critic— on hearsay— to be b ow lin g sh o rt this season . I t m a y be tru e. B u t the e v id e n ce o f figures h a rd ly bears o u t th e con ten tion . T he ra tio o f runs to o v ers in A . E . R .’s case thus fa r is less th an 5 t o 2 , 'w h ich is v e r y m u ch th e sam e as in 1910, w h en he sen t d o w n 1,360 o v e rs fo r 3,108 runs, a n d n o t v e ry m u ch o v e r his figures o f 1909— ju st u n d er 1,200 ov ers fo r 2,474. If he rea lly h as b een b o w lin g sh ort, th en the ba tsm en o p p o s e d to h im m a y fa irly b e ch a rg ed w ith som e la ck o f enterprise. T h e H o n . H . G. H . M u l h o l l a n d , who has been showing good all-round form at Cambridge this season, has a younger brother who gives promise of developing into a very useful player. He is the Hon. G. .1. Mulholland, the giant of the Eton Eleven. He stands 6 ft. 6 in., is still growing, and is only nineteen years of age. “ H . G. H.,” by-the-way, has been awarded his blue, and so has another sound cricketer in the person of S. II. Saville. A c u rio u s accident happened to King in the first innings of Leicestershire against Worcestershire at Leicester last week. When he was bowled by Burrows, the ball struck the stumps with such force that a bail shot forward and cut his face near the left eye. The wound bled for some time, but King was able to field when Worcestershire went in. L a n c a s h ir e have every reason to complain of the ill-luck which has pursued them this season. John Tyldes­ ley, A. H. Hornby, H. G. Garnett, Eairclougli (the new left-hand bowler) and Alfred Hartley have been kept out of the side by injuries. Tyldesley has not been seen in the field for almost a month, and it is evident that his injury —he was struck on the arm by a fast ball from Wells, of Northants.—has proved more serious than was at first supposed. Apart altogether from the matter of accidents, however, Lancashire cricket is suffering just now from bad fielding. Few sides possess so high a reputation for good work in the field, and for this reason their recent form is the more regrettable and surprising. M r . E. D. H e a t h e r , who has been secretary of the Victorian Cricket Association for thirty years, has decided to retire from the position on August 31st. In his younger days he played a lot of cricket in Melbourne, being a good batsman with a strong defence, and was chosen to represent his State against New South Wales. I t is reported from Carrum, in Victoria, that a junior cricketer named B. Baxter, playing for Frankston against the Erratics in the latter part of April, scored 300 in about three hours. He was first in and last out, and was caught on the boundary. P l a y in g for Mid-Clarence v. Alstonville, at Ulmarra on April 29th, G. Whalen took all ten wickets for 36 runs in a total of 205. The performance was remarkable from the fact that all the other ten members of the side went on to bowl during the innings. T h e Report of the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association for 1910-11 is not very encouraging. It says : “ The past season cannot be regarded with much satis­ faction. No new talent was discovered, and the dearth of players of promise in view of the inevitable retirement of the senior leading lights is a matter of regret. These re­ marks apply with equal force to both North and South.” The N. T . C. A. batting averages were headed by E. A. Windsor, with 12— 2— 771— 77-10— 166.* He made three hundreds, and also obtained most wickets— 57, for 17-59 runs each. W h a t e v e r the amount of success destined to attend the efforts of the Indian Team, most certain it is that in Major Keki Manikji Mistri the side possesses a brilliant batsman who is worth a place in almost any side. The innings he played at Lord’s against the M.C.C. was a great one in more senses than one, and one which it would have been impossible for any but a really first-class batsman to play. Major Mistri is now in his thirty-sixth year, and if, as reported, he is past his best, he must have been wonderful indeed when in his prime. It is of interest to recall that it was as a bowler that he first came to the front, but much has happened since he played his first match for the Parsis, in 1893, and for some years past Ranjitsinhji has regarded him as the finest batsman in India. M o r e than once it has been our duty to refer to the cricket of Mr. A. C. Edwards, the “ head and right arm ” of the Folkestone C.C. He was well to the fore again in a match on the Club’s ground as recently as Monday last. The opposition, Hythe, made 284—a very useful score, as all will admit—but Folkestone made so light of their task that in a couple of hours A. C. Edwards (169) and D. M. Radford (106) had cleared off the runs without being parted. Twelve byes and a wide make the unfinished partnership 288. H a m p sh ir e have evidently unearthed a player of considerable promise in Albert Edward Fielder, who made his first appearance for the County in the recent match against Surrey at the Oval. He is a fast right-handed bowler and, judged by what he did at Bristol on Monday, a batsman of some nerve and ability. So far he has taken part in two inter-county matches ; in the first he had the best bowling figures for his side, and in the second scored 35 and helped to add 147 lor the last wicket. Fielder, who, we understand, will be able to play regularly if required, is only twenty-two years of age and is qualified for Ham jJ- shire by birth. A sh o r t time ago we drew attention to the fact that a few players had this season credited themselves with a three-figure score in a first-class match for the first time. Recent happen­ ings cause the names of Remnant (a son, by-the-way, of