Cricket 1911

S ept . 23,1911. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE GAME. 543 The First=Class Season of 1911. B y J. N . P en te low . A g loriou s season ! T h ere m a y have b een p reviou s summ ers in w h ich better fo rm all-rou n d w as sh ow n ; bu t, n o t sh arin g th e pessim ism w h ich exists in som e quarters as to E n g la n d ’s cricketers o f the presen t d a y , on e does n ot feel su re o f th a t, a n d on e does feel sure th a t never has a crick et cam p a ig n b een fo u g h t o u t in m ore real summ er w eather, a n d n ever has th e interest in the C ou n ty C ham ­ pion sh ip b een better sustained. T h e S om erset sch em e ? W ell, it falls sh ort o f p erfec­ tion. B u t su rely it is better th an the L ancashire one. A d raw is n o t— n ever ca n b e— never w ill be a cce p te d as — th e sam e th in g as a loss. S o on e said at th e en d o f last season, a n d so on e says again. T h e in d iv id u a l side o f th e season’s crick et w ill ch iefly o c cu p y a tte n tio n here. C ongratulations to W arw ickshire on their sp len d id re cord , h ow ever, a n d to m ost o f th e other sides fo r real g o o d fo rm a t tim es, th o u g h there w as m u ch in c o n s is te n cy ; con d olen ces w ith D erbysh ire, L eicester­ shire a n d S om erset on w retch ed b a d lu ck ! M orton below par as a b ow ler, ow in g to illness, C urgenven g on e, W arren scarcely g ettin g a ru n , an d aw a y from tw o or three m atch es th rou g h a n a ccid en t— Ja yes o u t o f th e team th rou g h illness, A still a lm o st a tota l failu re— L ew is absen t from several m atch es, tw o or th ree lead in g am ateurs seld om p la y in g— D erby sh ire, L eicestershire, S om erset, h a d these an d other excuses fo r th eir p o o r record s. B e tte r lu ck to th em n ex t year ! In all 487 p layers to o k p a rt in th e 223 m atch es w h ich m ade up th e sea son ’s first-class crick et, bein g 30 m ore m en th an la st y ea r, w h en n o team from a b roa d v isited us, an d 16 few er th a n in 1909, w h en there w as an A ustralian team in E n g lan d . A m o n g th e 487 there w as on e w h o d id n o t get an in n in gs, th ere w ere 8 w h o b a tte d o n ce or often er and fa iled to m a k e a run , 42 m ore w h o d id n o t to ta l double figures, a n d 164 w h ose tota ls ran ged from 10 to 100. Of th e 315 p layers w h o b ow le d , 74 fa iled to take a w ick et, 35 ha d o n ly on e cap tu re each , 18 secu red tw o v ictim s, and 56 to o k b etw een tw o an d ten w ickets. B u t, o n th e oth er h a n d , as m a n y as 58 ba tsm en reach ed a fou r-fig u re to ta l, nine o f th em scorin g ov er 2,000, an d 67 others (of w h om nine w ere ov er 900) m ade 500 or m ore. T w e n ty -o n e bow lers w ere cred ited w ith ov er 100 w ickets each , th ree m o re to o k 90 b u t un der 100, seven h a d 80 bu t u n der 90, fiv e 70 or m ore, fiv e 60 or m ore, an d nin e betw een 50 an d 60. T h e figu res w h ich fo llo w m a y b e o f interest in th e w ay o f com p arison . Number Number Number of batsmen of bowlers of batsmen Number scoring taking scoring of centuries S e a so n . 1,000 runs. 100 wickets. centuries. scored. 1911 58 21 110 257 1910 43 18 77 142 1909 43 19 84 160 1908 52 17 95 183 1907 35 22 76 126 1906 50 20 91 186 L a st y e a r th e headings o f the last tw o colum n s g o t tra n sp osed , w ith curious results w h ich n o one seem s to ha ve n o tice d . T h ere are ten new nam es in the thousand runs l i s t : th ose o f M r. F . R . F oster, Mr. K . ( r. M a cL eod , B o o th , B row n , D ip p e r, D rak e, H earn e (J. W .), H en d ren , M ake­ p eace, a n d S ton e ; an d fou r in the h u n d red w ick ets l i s t : H earn e (J, W .), H itch , Irem on ger, a n d S hipm an. T w e n ty - eigh t ba tsm en registered centuries w h o h a d n ever d o n e so before in E n g lish first-class crick et, b u t D r. H . D . K a n g a has p e rfo rm ed the fe a t in In d ia , fo r B om b a y P resid en cy v . P arsis in a m a tch w h ich has g o o d claim s to first-class rank. T h e nam es o f the o th er tw en ty -sev en w ill b e fou n d n o te d elsew here. F rom th e table w h ich follow s som eth in g as to the represen ta tion o f th e co u n ty sides can be gleaned. T he n um b er o f p layers p u t in th e field b y G loucestershire equals S om erset’s b ig to ta l o f la st year. F o r th e w h ole sixteen sides there is a d ifferen ce o f on ly th ree— 401 as again st 398. T h e m a tch colum n g iv es a to ta l o f 387, again st 380 la st year, w h ich m o re th a n a ccou n ts fo r th is sligh t increase. In 18 m a tch es E ssex o n ly called u p o n 14 m en , it w ill be seen, an d N o tts, g o t th ro u g h 21 m a tch es w ith the a id o f o n ly 18. C o u n t y . Matches played. Players taking part. Played in every match. Derbyshire ... 18 25 Cadman, Humphries, L. Oliver. Essex ,.. 18 14 (Buckenham, Carpenter, J.W. H.T. (Douglas, Mead, Tremlin. (None). Gloucestershire ,.. 22 38 Hampshire .. 25 31 Newman, Stone. Kent ... 29 26 Huish. Lancashire .. 31 23 K. G. MacLeod. Leicestershire .. 24 28 Knight, Whitehead. Middlesex... .. 23 21 Murrell. Northants... ... 19 21 Buswell, Hayward, Seymour. Notts ... 21 18 (Gunn (J.), A. 0 . Jones, Oates, Somerset ... ... 17 26 '(Payton. Braund, J. Daniell. (None). Surrey ... 34 26 Sussex ... 27 28 Killick, Belt (A. E .), Vine. Warwickshire ... 22 20 Charlesworth, Quaife, Santall. Worcestershire .... 25 27 (None). Yorkshire... ... 32 26 Denton. D erb y sh ire an d E ssex p la y e d n o m a tch es ou tsid e th eir ch am p ion sh ip p rogram m e. G loucestershire, K e n t, L a n ca ­ sh ire, L eicestershire, N orth an ts., S om erset, S u rrey, S u ssex, W arw ick sh ire, a n d Y ork sh ire m e t th e A ll In d ia n T eam . H a n ts, K e n t, L eicestershire, M idd lesex, N o tts., an d Y o r k ­ shire (tw ice) p la y e d the M .C .C ., G loucestershire, S u rrey (tw ice), Sussex (tw ice), a n d Y o rk sh ire en cou n tered th e C an tabs, a n d K e n t, S u rrey a n d W orcestersh ire m et O x fo rd . W arw ick sh ire p la y e d E n glan d. T his a ccou n ts fo r all the e x tra m a tch es in clu d e d a b o v e. V e ry fe w m en w h o p la y e d at all fre q u e n tly la st yea r h a v e d ro p p e d o u t o f th e list en tirely this. One n otes Mr. V . F . S. C raw ford , E llis, M r. A . L . G ibson , C aptain J. G. G reig, Sir A rth u r H a zlerig g, M r. C. V . L . H o o in a n , L lew ellyn , M r. T . E . M ann ing, M yers, M r. J. W . W . N a son , M r. C. J. T . P o o l, M r. W . P . R o b e rts o n , R o th e r y , an d W ilk in son , an d o f cou rse th e list m ig h t b e e x ten d ed b y th e in clu sion o f p la y ers w h o tu rn ed o u t b u t in freq u en tly in 1910. A m o n g th ose w h o p la y e d v e ry little first-class crick et w ere M r. R . B . H e y g a te, Mr. P . C artw right, V in ce tt, A b e l, L ees, A lb e rt T ro tt, Ja yes, W o rsle y , H u d d le ston , M r. S. H . D a y , M r. A . J . L . H ill, M r. M . G . S alter, a n d M r. R . S ale, all o f w h om w ere fa r m ore a ctiv e p a rticip a tors la st season. O ne n otes th e reap pea ra n ce o f Messrs. C. L . A . S m ith , W . T ro u p (th ou g h , after his lon g ab sen ce, h e o n ly p la y e d in tw o m a tch es), F . M . L u ce, D . M . E v a n s, H . E . W . P re st, A . R . L itte ljo h n , H . G . G arn ett, W . P . H a rrison an d G . T . B ra n sto n , C aptains G . H . S. F o w k e a n d K . O. G old ie, a n d C arpenter, n on e o f w h om p la y e d a t all last year ; som e o f th em p la y e d b u t few tim es this, fo r th a t m atter. T h e m o st im p ro v e d m en o f th e season w ere u n d o u b te d ly M r. F . R . F o ste r, P h ilip M ead an d y o u n g J . W . H ea rn e, th o u g h in this con n ection th e nam es o f D rak e, B o o th , G eorg e B ro w n , H a rd in g e, M ak ep eace, F ield (a better bow ler th an ever b efore), M r. M . C. B ird , H en dren , M r. F . G. S teph ens, M r. E . S. M . P o y n tz , H a y w o o d , J o h n S e ym o u r, M r. J . S. D e n to n , th e H o n . R . A n son , Mr. F . T . M ann , Mr. T . F orester (a fa r better a ll-rou n d p layer th a n ev er b efore), J u p p , F reem an , R ussell, D ip p er, R em n a n t, K e n n e d y , H itc h , M r. M . F a lc o n , H u b b le , H ea p (as a b a ts­ m a n o n ly ), a n d W illiam T y ld e sle y , m u st n o t b e le ft ou t. A m o n g th e n ew p layers o f th e y ear— in clu d in g a few w h o h a d p la y e d on ce or tw ice earlier, b u t h a d d on e little— v a ry in g degrees o f p rom ise w ere sh ow n b y L o rd , M ou n ten ey, Curtis, B ro w n an d M r. F . M . J o y c e , o f L eicestershire ; S later an d W ick ste a d o f D erby sh ire ; Jen n in gs, o f K e n t ; F a irclou g h , o f L ancashire ; O ld ro y d , o f Y o rk sh ire ; P arsons, o f W arw ick sh ire ; L ee, o f N o tts. ; W a ld e n , o f N orth an ts. ; a n d C am bridge U n iv e rsity h a d g o o d n ew m e n in Mr. M . E . C. B a g g a lla y (w ick et k eep er), M r. H . G rierson (bow ler), an d th e H on . H . G . H . M u lh ollan d , a left-h a n d e d batsm an o f con sid erable a b ility , w h o ca n also b o w l a bit. S om e g o o d m en fell b e low th eir b est, o f course. B ra u n d , R o b s o n a n d H a rd y w ere all d isap poin tin g fo r