Cricket 1911

A ugust 26, 1911. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 469 M anchester, and so he comm enced a p ilgrim age from B rad ford to H a lifa x , and to H ebden B rid ge and Todinorden, thence throu gh Sum m it, E o ch d ale and M iddleton to M anchester, w h ich he reach ed at 7.30. A nd he n a iv e ly added w hen recou n ting h is experience, “ W ait till a ra ilw a y porter w ants a tip. I ’ll give h im m y opinion.” T h e L e ice ster C .C . la st w eek returned from a successful tour in G erm an y. F o u r m atches w ere p layed, and all w ere w on by the E n g lish team b y an inn in gs and over 10 0 runs. The team s m et w ere B e rlin V icto ria, B erlin U nion , B erlin P rtu ssen , and, fin ally, A ll G erm an y. A t a m eetin g o f the M .C .C . Comm ittee at L o rd ’s on the 18 th in st. it w as decided to ask M r. P . F . W arn er to captain the team in A u stralia, an d to in vite M r. G . L . Je sso p and H itch to com plete the side. I f both could have undertaken the trip tw o u sefu l and m ost popular p layers w ould h ave been added to the team . "U nfortunately, how ever, M r. Jesso p , who w ould h a v e been a great asset to the side, has been obliged to decline, but H itch is an xio u s to go and is on ly w aitin g fo r the perm ission o f the S u rre y C oun ty C .C . before g iv in g a definite rep ly . I t w as m ost un fortu n ate for Stru d w ick th at the spell of fine w eath er should h ave ended ju s t in tim e to affect the atten dan ce at h is benefit m atch. B u t, despite the extent to w h ich the gam e w as interrupted and the attendances influenced, it is p leasan t to be able to add th at the crow ds present w ere, in the circum stan ces, w on d erfu lly good. H.JEt.H. the P rin ce of W ales sent three guineas tow ards the subscription list, w h ereat the p layer w as, to quote old Sam P ep ys, “ m ig h tily p leased .” S tru d w ick ’s success in m ak in g the high est score in S u rre y ’s first in n in gs w as n atu rally m ost popular. T h e r e h as p robably been no keener cricket seen th is y e a r than that on the th ird d ay. I t w as a great struggle th rou gh ­ out, the C ham pion s bein g seen at th eir v e ry best and both W oolley an d H u ish doing better than ever before. T h e form er obtained h is seven w ickets w h ilst on ly 5 runs w ere m ade off him— 4 being h it from h im ere he m et w ith success— whilst H u ish , in secu ring ten w ickets, set up a new record for K en t. T he latter h as accom plished a w onderful am ount o f w ork behind th e stum ps, and in K en t m atches alone h as obtained 1,00 9 w ickets. W h at he w ould h ave done had the co u n ty's fixtu re-list been as lon g as th at o f som e other sides can only be surm ised. I n so fin ely contested a gam e it is a p ity th at both sides could not w in. B u t, althou gh W oolley and H u ish h ave m ade the m atch m em orable, th ey did not m onopolise the honours. Sm ith , i f unable to claim such rem arkable figu res as those of the fo rm er, n everth eless obtained th irteen w ickets for 64 ru n s— a great p erform an ce again st so strong a side. W hilst tak in g his last six w ick ets in K e n t’s first inn in gs on ly five ru n s w ere m ade off h im . A t one period he actu ally secured eleven for 2 1 . K en t still possess a chance o f retain in g the C ham pion ship, but it w ill disappear if W arw ick sh ire beat N orth an ts in the m atch w hich com m ences to-day at N orth am pton. S in c e our last issu e the follow ing h ave qu alified for inclusion in the list o f those who h ave scored a thousand runs or m ore d u rin g the season :— 5 1 .—Board (J. H .) Aug. 17 . I 53.—King (J. H .) Aug. 2 1. 52__ Dip] er (A. E ) Aug. 18 . | 54.—Ducat (A.) Aug. 23. On A u gu st 2 1s t H ay w ard obtained h is 2,000th run. T h e list of bow lers w ho h ave taken as m an y as 10 0 w ickets h as been increased b y inclusion o f the fo llo w in g :— 16 .—Thompson (G .J.) Aug. 2 1. | 17 .—Dennett (G.) Aug. 21. I t is not, w e believe, gen erally know n th at T om L an gd o n possesses a q u alification fo r Su ssex. H e w as born at B righ to n in Ja n u a r y , 18 7 9 . T h is y e a r h as not been one o f h is best, for, though he h as got u sefu l scores in n early ev ery m atch , he h as o n ly tw ice topped 50— 83 v. S u rre y at the O val, an d 55 v. Som erset at B risto l. In 19 0 7 , 19 0 9 and 19 10 he reach ed a four-figure total, an d in tw o y ears o f the th ree w ithou t the inclu sion o f even one cen tu ry. A faster scorer than D ip p er, he is y et som ew h at on the slow side, and h a s on m ore than one occasion w h en m ak in g a lo n g stan d w ith h is h ard -h ittin g captain appeared to be alm ost stan d in g still. B u t th ere h ave been other tim es w hen he h as been quite the backbone o f the side. H e h as m ade four cen turies in first-class cricket— 15 6 v. S u rre y at the O val last y e a r, 1 1 6 v . M idd lesex at B risto l in 19 0 3, 1 1 4 not out v. D erb ysh ire at B risto l in 19 0 1, and 10 8 v. W arw icksh ire at C helten ham in 1908. F o r a m an w ho has p layed so lo n g and m ade so m an y ru n s th is is rath er a short /rf* Photo by] {Hawkins dc Co., Brighton. T. LANGDON. li s t ; but the difference in actu al valu e betw een a score o f 70 or 80 and one o f three-figures is far less th an the custom of tab u latin g centuries and le av in g a ll sm aller scores in oblivion has led people in gen eral to fan cy it, and L an gd o n has p layed a great m an y inn in gs o f betw een 50 and 10 0 . E v e n at this late period o f the season the destination of C ham pion ship honours is by no m ean s settled. K en t and M idd lesex m a y both slip up, and in th at case W arw icksh ire m igh t figure for the first tim e at the h ead o f affairs. It w ould be an exceed ingly fittin g th in g i f this happened, fo r certain ly no m ore im p roved side than th at w h ich M r. F ra n k F o ster leads could be picked out o f the sixteen .