Cricket 1911

424 CE ICKET : A W EEK LY EECOED OF THE GAME. A u g u s t 12 , 19 11. H. GRADIDGE and SONS, Manufacturers of a ll Requisites — F O R — Cr icke t, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, and all British Sports. Used by all the Lead. ^ ing Players throughou t the W o rld Pricc Lists on Application Of all First-Class Out­ fitters and Dealers. Reblading a Speciality. F a cto ry :— A r t i l l e r y P l a c e , WOOLWICH. Patentees and Sole Makers TH E AM E R IC A N CR ICKETER . F o u n d e d 1877. Published by H. H. Cornish on behalf of The Associated Cricket Clubs of Philadelphia. An Illustrated Journal of Cricket, Association Football, Tennis, Golf, and Kindred Pastimes. No. 608, Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa , U.S.A. p r ic e — 19/- per annum, post paid anywhere. Specimen copies mailed on request. SPECIAL NOTICE. If any difficulty is experienced in obtaining C kicket from the news­ agents or bookstalls kindly communicate with the publisher, or a copy will be sent direct from the office on receipt of 2Jd. in postage stamps. Agents for Australia, &c. : Gordon and Gotch, London, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Launceston, Hobart and Wellington (N .Z.). For South A frica: Central News Agency, Ltd., Cape Town, Johannesburg and branches. 6 6 For cleaning and whitening Buckskin and Canvas Boots and Shoes, Cricket Pads, &c. Packed in spun zinc container, with sponge. Of all dealers, or post free Will not Rub Off or Cake. S T A N L E Y F E A S T & C O . , ^ n o r 1 he : Cricket: A W E E K L Y R E CO R D OF TH E GAME . 168, UPPER THAMES S TREET, LONDON, E.C. Ifravnlicn Gossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. HE present summer has scarcely been of the sort, thus far, to suit a slow left­ hander. Blythe, while bowling well, has scarcely equalled his performances in most recent years; and George Dennett, who has not the luck to be on a side which can afford to give him an easy time when the wicket does not help him a little, has met with far less success than usual. He bowled particularly well in the Warwickshire match at Gloucester, when he had 12 wickets at a cost of only 11 runs each; apart from that, the only matches in which he has taken as many as 10 wickets have been the two with Lancashire. He had 10 for 197 at Bristol, and 10 for 184 in last week’s game at Manchester. D en n ett first played for his county, in nine matches, in 1903, taking 42 wickets. In each first-class season since then he has secured a three-figure total of victims—129 in 1904, 163 in 1905, 175 in 1906, 201 in 1907, 153 in 1908, 156 in 1909, and 126last year—1,103 in seven seasons, an average of over 150 for each.They are wonderful figures in one sense, because of the comparatively poor support he has had; in another sense, it may be said, his large totals are partly due to the poor support, since he has had to go on bowling when otherwise he would have been relieved. P erh aps Dennett comes nearer than any other Gloucester­ shire professional, except John Board, who was for years quite England form, to being a really front-rank player. The Western shire has had many good men among its paid players; but somehow they have fallen short of actual greatness. Leave out Midwinter, really more Australian than English, Board and Dennett, and none of the others has been quite representative form. J ohn P ain ter was a brilliant hitter on his day. Woof was an excellent bowler, but not of great account otherwise. Wrathall made many fine scores, was good to watch when he got going, but never rose to the top of the tree. Fred Roberts, untiring, cheerful, keeping up his form and pace so long—he, again, fell short of the highest. Tom Langdon is a really good bat; but one cannot see him playing for England. A nd there have been so many others who have not fulfilled their early promise of making good average county players. Murch, Gregg, Spry, Winstone, Huggins, Parker, Mills, Nott —the list might be extended without difficulty—not one of these has proved consistent. Some of them are still in harness, and may yet do better things. Huggins, who seems to have been dropped lately, or perhaps is unwell, bowled with considerable pluck and energy, and with some effectiveness, in the earlier part of the season. In eleven successive innings he bowled as many as 262 overs, and took 40 wickets, though it is true they cost nearly 29 runs each. Parker was quite good last year and the year before ; Mills, who has never fulfilled expectations as a bowler, seemed to have developed into a consistent bat of the defensive type; but neither has done much in 1911. Young Dipper promises best among the Gloucestershire professionals of to-day, one thinks. Mr. J. F. I reland said, when interviewed for Cricket, that he did not think he had been a so much better batsman in his last year at Marlborough than in the year before it ; it was mainly increase of confidence that caused his figures to take