Cricket 1912

M ay 25, 1912; CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 173 bowls a fine medium pace ball and fields well. Jewell of Sutton is a brilliant fielder at cover-point and one of the hardest hitters I know. Bell of Sutton is a very- tricky slow bowler with a wonderful legbieak. Baker of the London County and Westminster Bank is a batsman with a rare defence and three effective scoring strokes. Jones of Lauderdale wields a beautifully straight bat and cuts and drives with rare power. Dalton, of Mill Hill Park, is another run-getter with a sound defence and many neat scoring strokes. E x c it in g C r ic k e t in W e s t H a m P a r k . Although heavy scoring is n ot'to be expected on the wickets at West Ham Park the matches are generally well contested and the results very close. As an instance of this the champions of the local league beat West Ham Church by a single run chiefly through the batting of Bartbelmeh and the bowling of Slennett. You do not of course find stylish batsmen in Park cricket simply because the wickets are not good enough for the men to make pretty strokes on, but in West Ham Park you do see good bowling, keen fielding and free hitting run-getters. ^Possibly one of the very best men playing in West Ham1Park is the Rev. Wilkinson. He often assists] Essex Club and Ground. He is a clever batsman with a variety of scoring strokes and he bowls a good ball. P. B. Pelly and A. Tyler are also more than useful cricketers, while1Barth elmeh is not only a dangerous bowler, but he can hit with plenty of power. Another good cricketer playing in West Ham Park is Marsey. He plays quite a clever game and knows how to defend his wicket. James and Lewis are also cricketers above the average, and Steff is a fast bowler with an easy action who makes the ball come off the pitch at a great pace. V ic t o r ia P a r k P l a y e r s . The Cricketers in Victoria Park are just7now playing so well that the M.C.C. when they visit them on June 8th will require quite a good side to make sure of winning. The Victoria Park players have once beaten the M.C.C., and they have a good chance of repeating their success this season. St. Stephens have quite a good run-getter in Watts, and All Saints, a successful bowler in Norris. Howes, of Victoria United, is another match winning bowler, and Strutt, of the Hope Club, knows how to get past a batsman’s defence. Lincoln, of the same club, is a rare good hitter, and Norden, of Allan Cockshutts, is one of the best Park wicket scorers in East London. Bishop, of Poplar Shaftesbury, is a free hitter, and Hatcher, of Old Victoria, like Anderson, of Bow Midland Railway, is a difficult man to get out. The last-named Club have quite a good bowler in Nicholls, while in Andrews, Hadden, and Adamson, Saxons have three very capable all-round men. An Aristocrat. And who are these that stride so solemnly From out the dark recesses of the pav. ? Some dukes perchance, that in their majesty, A t price of lofty condescension, have Consented to be party to the game . . . N ot so ? A lord ? A mayor ? A magistrate ? Not one of these ? What other men could claim So high a sense of dignity, such gait ? See bow by leisurely, magnificent Approach, he gains the pitch ; and with disdain Surveys its surface, with an indolent, Aristocratic eye. His garment plain Befits him wondrous well : on other folk ’ Twould seem a raiment for nocturnal wear ; But not on him ; it is his regal cloak, His robe of office. Willingly I ’ll swear That this important individual Was bred ’mong princes-—mark that yawn so bored. Who could have put in that so trivial Expression, such a languor, save a lord ?•—■ But what is that ? From out a cavity Within his white midnight-recalling wrap He brings— the bails ! . . Of course, how mad of me— I had forgotten. He’s the umpire chap 1 P h il is t in e . Big Matches of the Week. S u r r e y v . A u s tr a lia n s .— The absence of Smith and the in­ disposition of Hitch severely handicapped Surrey; but, making all allowances for this, the county went down heavily. It was not their captain’s fault; better and more resolute cricket than his none need wish to see. He batted three hours in his two innings, scored 76 and 68, and hit four 6’s and eighteen 4’s. Harrison, playing a dogged game, helped him to add 98 in about as many minutes for the sixth wicket in the first innings. Hobbs and Hayes made the one stand of any note in the second. Hobbs was brilliant, scoring his 81 at the rate of close on a run a minute, while the usually vigorous Hayes outdid Harrison in defensive tactics—his share of the 80 added with Hobbs for the second wicket was 16! But of course Macartney was the central figure of the game. He scored his third century in succession, gave no chance, showed complete mastery over the attack, and hit eighteen 4’s. Matthews, after a shaky start, batted well, and helped him to add 125 in 90 minutes for the sixth wicket. Emery was again most effective, and Whitty bowled well in the first innings. K e n t v. S om erset.— Daniell away, and Lewis practically a passenger through a damaged knee— Somerset’s luck holds yet, in spite of the victory at Hove ! A win over Kent was scarcely to be looked for anyway ; but a better fight would have been made with better luck. Humphreys (92 in about 2 hrs., with thirteen 4’s) played the highest innings of the match ; Seymour helped him to add 123 for the second wicket; Woolley scored 58 in less than half-an- hour (two 6’s) and 65 in three-quarters of an hour, and bowled well also; Hutchings made 51 at the rate of a run per minute on a damaged pitch ; Blythe bowled in his old form. So much for Kent. Of the Somerset doings, apart from Greswell, not much that is good can be said. Poyntz, who helped the old Reptonian to add 62 for the sixth wicket after 5 were down for 52 in the first innings, Robson, and Sutton, who ought to make plenty of runs before long, all did something ; but Greswell not only made the highest individual score for his side, but did practically all the effective bowling. He is in the old country on holiday. He bowled for over three hours at a stretch on Friday. It would not be just everybody’s notion of a holiday ; but Greswell is no end keen, and no doubt he enjoyed it. He will win more matches for the side before the season ends. E ssex v. N orth a m p ton sh ire. — People murmured “ Anno Domini ” sometimes when discussing the Essex team last year. Well, they are good men still, but certainly they don’t get younger, and one fears their fielding generally does not im ­ prove. Only John Douglas, who bowled splendidly and was top scorer when others failed badly in the second innings, Gillingham, who totalled 101 in the match, and Russell, who totalled 55 and helped Gillingham to add 83 for the sixth wicket in the first innings, after 5 had fallen for 27, did anything worth noting. The two great features of the winners’ cricket were Sydney Smith’s bowling—he did practically nothing with the ball last year, but seems to have come again—and the stand of 124 in 80 minutes for the seventh wicket by Vials and John Seymour. The captain was fortunate ; but luck for him was due and overdue— time after time he had the other sort of thing last season. Seymour played as well as he has ever done in his life. In the last innings of the game Haywood made some clinking strokes in every direction, and East some fine cuts. N o ttin g h a m sh ire v. L e ic e s t e r s h ir e . —Rather a drab match. John Gunn’s innings was good value, but scarcely thrilling; he batted 3£ hours for his 113, and was badly missed a little past halfway. His brother played in excellent style. Tom Wass showed that he is as deadly as ever on a wicket that suits him, as this did. But the best things in the match were done for the beaten side. John King’s 57 in a total of 121 stands out by itself—a hundred minutes of rare pluck and self-confidence. A great man in the day of disaster, John King! Then in the second innings Harold Wright, of the Leicester Ivanhoe club, a left-hander appear­ ing in county cricket for the first time, and John Shields, whose 54 is his highest for his side to date, fought a great-hearted fight, and added 91 for the ninth wicket in an hour after the game had seemed practically over. It was a pity they failed to avert the innings’ defeat. Cam bridge U n iv e rs ity v. S u ssex.— Even H .H . the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar— in future one fears he will have to be called “ Ranji,” space being at a premium—could not carry Sussex to victory. A man of their own thew and sinew had no small part in their defeat, however, for F. S. Gough Calthorpe, the old Reptonian, helped his captain to add 175 for the seventh wicket, and that stand was really the turning-point of the