Cricket 1911

S ept . 16, 1911. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 517 Cricket Notches. B y t h e R e v . R . 8 . H o l m e s . W IS H to ack n ow led g e su ndry com m u n ica tion s, all save on e com in g from w riters p erson ally u n k n ow n to m e. O n e from C atford states that ‘ ‘ w h en L an cash ire w o n th e C h am p ion ­ ship in 1881 n o t on e o f their bow lers b o w le d a w id e or n o -b a ll, n o r did th e y su ffer on e d e fe a t.” N o , n o t in c o u n ty v . co u n ty m atch es, b u t th ey w ere b ea ten b y C am bridge U n iversity. I w as p resen t a t th a t m a tch : it w as th e first p la y e d on the p ictu resq u e L iv e rp o o l g rou n d , an d the resu lt w as m ain ly ow in g t o th e fa ct th a t A . G. S teel, a L an castrian , p la y ed fo r his V a rsity .L an cash ire to o k p a rt in fifte e n m atch es in th a t season ,and their bow lers h a d the follow in g an alysis : 2352 o v ers, 2718 runs a n d 252 w ick ets, g iv in g an average o f o n ly 10'78 runs a w ick e t. H a s th a t ever b een equ alled ? D id ever a co u n ty p ossess a t on e tim e su ch an array o f fine bow lers as W a tso n , B a rlo w , N a sh , C rossland a n d A . G. Steel ? L ittle B rig g s, w h o w as th e n in his th ird season, h a d n o ch an ces as a b ow ler— 2 w ick ets fo r 7 runs. H is o p p o rtu n ity cam e later w h en th e old er han ds retired, a n d h e a n d M old carried d estru ction in alm ost e v e ry m a tch . M y co rre sp o n d e n t ad d s in a fo o tn o te , ‘ ‘ I h a v e read C r i c k e t sin ce N o . 1 .” C ou ld y o u h a v e a m o re con v in cin g p ro o f o f in tellig en t en th u siasm ? A letter from S y d n e y in form s m e th a t th e w riter is ‘ ‘ eagerly lo ok in g fo rw a rd to th e v isit o f th e M .C .C . team : W ill y o u p u t a w o rd in fo r A lle tso n ’s se lection ? B a tsm en o f th e ty p e o f D ou gla s, K in n eir a n d Irem on ger w ill m e e t w ith little fa v o u r here, v a lu a b le th o u g h their efforts m a y b e .” W h e n th is w as w ritten , A lle ts o n s p h en om en a l innings again st S u ssex w as th e ta lk o f th e crick e t w orld , b u t so far h e is a single inn ings batsm an . I t is refresh in g to be to ld b y a colon ia l th a t ‘ ‘ all th e ta lk a b o u t th e d eca den ce o f crick e t is u tter b o s h .” T h e p a st season has fo r a tim e silen ced th e croakers. F rom E ccles com es a n o te o f su n d ry b ow lin g p e rfo rm ­ an ces b y L an cash ire m e n ‘ ‘ th a t m ig h t p o ssib ly b e a d d ed to th e list a t th e close o f y o u r N otch es o f la st w e e k .” T h e bow lers w ere C rosslan d, W a tso n a n d B riggs ; b u t a t th a t tim e th eir o p p on en ts, S om erset, D erb y sh ire a n d W a rw ick ­ shire, w ere secon d -cla ss cou n ties. W a ts o n ’s analysis again st th e M .C .C . in 1886— 6 w ick ets fo r 8 runs— w as, o f cou rse, n o te w o r th y , b u t d id n o t figu re in m y list as it w as n o t d o n e in a C h am p ion sh ip m a tch . A L eeds m an , w h o has w ritten a b o o k o n crick et, w rites a t con sid erable le n g th o n a v a rie ty o f interestin g to p ics,'a n d criticises w ith sou n d ju d gm e n t th e ‘ 1m ism an age­ m e n t o f Y o rk sh ire b ow lin g this season, w h ich is resp on sible fo r m u ch o f their la ck o f su ccess.” T o this I m a d e referen ce la st w e e k in th e p a ra g ra p h b egin n in g ‘ ‘ A w o rd in th e ear o f all ca p ta in s.” A n d la stly I h a v e b een o ffered th e lo a n o f “ a v e r y in ter­ estin g o ld score b o o k , d a tin g from 1833 to 1851, con tain in g th e record s o f th e T w ick en h am C ricket C lu b, all w ritten b y h a n d ; th is, I th in k w o u ld m ak e a g o o d a rticle fo r w in ter read in g in C r i c k e t . ” W e ll, I ca lled on m y in fo r­ m a n t, lo o k e d th ro u g h th is MS b o o k a n d m a y p o ssib ly m ak e u se o f it later on . O ld M e trop olita n clu b s, su ch as T w ick e n h am , R ic h m o n d a n d m a n y oth ers, are deservin g o f a p erm a n en t re co rd in b o o k form . A s th e season has en d ed I h a v e b een am u sin g m yself b y d ra ftin g su n d ry tables w h ich m a y in terest others. T h e y co n ce rn o n ly C h am p ion sh ip m atch es. 1. Derbyshire 2. Essex ... 3. Gloucester 4. Hants ... 5. Kent ... Innings above 400. For. Against. ... 1 ... 8 ... 2 ... 3 ... 2 ... 5 ... 7 ... 7 ... 4 ... 2 C e nturies. For. Against. 5 ... 13 14 9 18 25 9 20 23 7 6. Lancashire In n in g s For, ... 6 ABOVE 400. Against. ... 3 C e n t u r ie s . For. Against. ... 18 ... 18 7. Leicester ... 2 ... 4 ... 15 ... 15 8. Middlesex ... 6 ... 1 ... 18 ... 6 9. Northants ... 2 ... 0 7 ... 5 10. Notts ... ... 5 ... 4 ... 14 ... 12 11. Somerset ... 0 ... 6 2 ... 17 12. Surrey... ... 8 ... 1 ... 20 ... 12 13. Sussex... ... 3 ... 5 9 ... 21 14. Warwick ... 5 ... 1 ... 17 ... 10 15. Worcester ... 2 ... 4 ... 10 ... 13 16. Yorkshire ... 3 ... 4 ... 14 ... 14 Totals ... 58 ... 58 ... 215 215 I n a b a tsm a n ’s season from sta rt t o fin ish it is rem a rk a b le th a t n o innings o f 400 w as scored a g a in st N o rth am p ton sh ire; T h om p so n is th e o n ly co u n ty bow ler w h ose w ick ets h a v e c o s t less th a n 15 run s a p iece. H u m p h re y s, o f K e n t, has n o t b o w le d en ou g h t o ch allen ge com p a riso n w ith h im . S u rre y ’s re co rd is q u ite as g o o d , if n o t b etter, seein g th a t th e y h a v e h a d 30 m atch es to N o rth a n ts’ 17. I t is su rprising t o fin d Y o rk sh ire w ith a n ad v erse b a la n ce in th e first colum n . O n th e o th er h a n d there h a v e b een th ree innings u n d er 50 :— H am p sh ire 44 , L eicestersh ire 26, Y o rk sh ire 47. T h e fo llo w in g b a tsm en h a v e ca rried th eir b a t th ro u g h a n in n in gs.— Mead (C. P.) Hardinge C. J. B. Wood it »» Knight »> *•* Tarrant Gunn (G.) ... J. Daniell ... Bowley W o o d ’s d o u b le a g ain st Y o rk sh ire— a ce n tu ry in b o th innings — has n o p arallel in first-class crick e t. T h r e e C e n tu r ie s in t h e same I n n in g s . For Lancashire v. Hants : R. H. Spooner 186, Sharp 137, K. G. MacLeod 101. For Surrey v. Derby: Hayward 202, Major Bush 135, Goatly 105. For Surrey v. Somerset: Hayes 101, Ducat 101 (not out), Hitch 100. Two C e nturies in One M atch. For full list see last week’s C r ic k e t : there were 9 ; in 1910, 1; 1909, 3 ; 1908, 4 ; 1907, 1 ; 1906, 4 ; 1905, 6 ; 1904, 2 ; 1903, 3 ; 1902, 1 ; 1900, 0. N o b a tsm a n scored 2,000 r u n s ; H a yw a rd (1 963) an d S harp (1959) h a d th e largest C ou n ty aggregates. S p ectac les . Derbyshire, 5 ; Essex, 1; Gloucestershire, 0 ; Hampshire, 3 ; Kent, 0 ; Lancashire, 0 ; Leicestershire, 3 ; Middlesex, 1 ; Northants, 0 ; Notts, 1 ; Somerset, 0 ; Surrey, 0 ; Sussex, 0 ; Warwickshire, 2 ; Worcestershire, 4 ; Yorkshire, 4. N o in d u cem e n t w o u ld m a k e m e g iv e th e nam es o f these p o o r u n fortu n a tes. 1,000 o r more Runs in a M atch. In 1911, 44 instances; 1910, 21 ; 1909, 18; 1908, 27; 1907, 21 ; 1906, 37; 1905, 30; 19 04,4 2; 1903,22; 1902, 15; 1901,50; 1900,27. T h e largest a g g rega te w as 1446 fo r 33 w ick ets— H am p sh ire v . K e n t. T h e h ig h est a v era g e p er w ick e t, 1314 fo r 21 w ick ets (or 62 ru n s a w ick e t), H am p sh ire v . G loucestershire. In on e m a tch m o re th a n 1400 run s w ere sco red , in 4 m atch es m ore th a n 1300 run s, a n d in 9 m a tch es m o re th a n 1200 runs. B o w lin g . O n ly on e b ow le r to o k 15 w ick ets in a m a tch :— A . R . L itte ljo h n for M id d lesex v . L an cash ire. 120 for Hants v. Yorkshire. 123 for Kent v. Essex. 78 for Leicestershire v. Kent. v. Northants. v. Yorkshire. v. Warwick, v. Hants. !•» ,, v. Surrey. 207 for Middlesex v. Yorkshire. 52 for Notts v. Essex. 129 for Somerset v. Hants. 104 for Worcester v. Middlesex. 54 107! 117) 58 66