Cricket 1912

190 CEICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. iJ u n e 1, 1912. means so difficult as to justify the slump that ensued. Cuffe made ‘29, driving w ell; the rest did nothing. Faulkner took the first three wickets, Pegler the rest, both bowling finely and getting a good deal of work on. The pitch rolled out well, and Taylor and Hartigan made a splendid start for the Afrikanders. They sent up 146 in 1/5 minutes before the Natalian was out for a capital 83. Hartigan batted 190 minutes for the first century of the tour. Of the rest only Snooke and White did anything, the Worcester captain’s lobs pla>ing havoc with the tail-enders. Bowley and W. B. Burns put on 49 for the third wicket in the county’s second innings; but no one else did much till Burrows and Bale came together, and by plucky hitting added 77 for the ninth. S u r r e y 2nd X I v. Y o r k s h ir e 2nd X I. — Two days at the Oval produced 938 runs for 25 wickets, but no result. Goatly hit a centurv in about 90 minutes ; Sandham made 97 ; H. C. Stanley, Kilner, and Birtles all scored over 75 for Yorkshire. Of these five Birtles is the only man who has not figured in first-class cricket. Smith (slow left) was the one bowler who met with any real success. W o r c e s t e r s h ir e v . W a r w ic k s h ir e . —Ten thousand people at Dudley— five of the visitors’ wickets down, and all to Cuffe, for 43— Worcester partisans exultant. Then came a fino stand of 122 by G. W . Stephens, who has never done so well for his side before, and Baker; after that another collapse. The champions’ fielding was not up to the mark, but Foster bowled splendidly, and the home side did poorly. Arnold had a nasty accident, playing a ball hard into his face, and sustaining a wound over one eye that needed surgical repairs. Smith, keeping up his recent good form, played the best ^innings in Warwickshire second, though Baker, Quaife, and Foster all did useful work. Worcester (Arnold, absent) collapsed before the fine bowling of Foster and Field in the last innings of the game, and the champions won by 189 runs. They may be champions again—who knows ? N o r t h a m p t o n s h ir e v . L e ic e s t e r s h ir e .— The man who makes 101without a chance in a total of 242 is entitled to credit even if he does not score more than 25 runs or so per hour, and when Cecil Wood’s century is written down “ characteristic” that statement carries a message of pluck and level-headedness as well as slowness. Thompson was no more rapid, but his 87 had much to do with the liome side’s strong position at the end of an innings each. W. H. Denton and East sent up 72 before a wicket fell; J. S. Denton and Thompson added 88 for the fifth ; John Seymour showed all­ round scoring ability in an innings of 84* made in 105 minutes, he and Buswell adding 51 for the last wicket in half-an-hour. The second innings of the visitors was a failure except for a stand of 71 for the fifth wicket by Mounteney (41), who hit a 6 and six 4’s in about 50 minutes, and Knight, who showed his old form in an uphill innings of 70 in 110 minutes. Northants had quite an easy win. S o m e r s e t v . G lo u c e s t e r s h ir e — There seems to be some revival of cricket interest at Taunton, which is an excellent thing to hear. There was another Somerset revival—that of Leonard Braund, whose 79, though slow, was very serviceable. Johnson played beautiful cricket, and Capt. Tillard showed to advantage. Dipper maintained his recent good form ; Langdon performed better than in any other match this season yetj and Braund did well in the second innings. But neither Sewell nor Jessop accomplished much ; and Somerset, set 177 to win, got the runs for the loss of 7 wickets. They had much to thank Braund, Johnson, Robson, and Gresswell for, but the whole team showed up better than was generally the case last year, and this second victory should do them good. Y o r k s h ir e v . L a n c a s h ir e . —The Red Rose’s chance of the championship has been discounted by this match. If Hornby had won the toss— but Hornby didn’t ! The wicket always helping the bowlers, to some extent was undoubtedly worse when the visitors batted. Rhodes’s century was a really great performance. He took his time ; but to reach three figures on a difficult pitch against good howling without a chance is no small feat. Booth helped him to add 80 for the sixth wicket in an hour. Huddleston had the last five tickets for 14 runs, and in the follow-on slashed hard, making 37 (three 6’s) in 20 minutes. John Tyldesley and Sharp were the only other men who did much against fine bowling by Hirst, Drake, and Haigh. N o t t in g h a m s h ir e v . S u r r e y . — Hardstaff made his record score! It reads well. The innings was valuable. But—it wasn’t the true Hardstaff! Just upon seven hours for 197 is more like Joseph of Sussex than Joseph of Notts. Perhaps some excuse may be made for him in the fact that he had only aggregated 51 in 5 iunings previously this season, and it must not be forgotten that the side lost its first two wickets for 6. Iremonger so far outdid the big scorer as to make 45 of the 58 added for the sixth wicket; Oates lie1prd to ndd over 120 for the eighth, and Riley 69 for the ninth. Hardstaff hit twenty-seven 4’s; his only chance was at 137. Hayes’s splendid 116--225 minutes, one chance, at 62, ten 4’s—was the feature of Surrey’s first innings. Another big effort was required to save the visitors from defeat. Hobbs supplied it. On a wicket that played queerly and in a bad light he made 104. Ducat helped him to add 124 in 95 minutes. Hitting out, the Notts batsmen made the 69 required to win for the loss of a wicket. M id d l e s e x v . S u ssex . —After the victory over Derbyshire. Sussex supporters felt a little more hopeful, especially as the Jam Sahib was playing at Lord’s. But their hopes were dashed. The great man made top score in each innings, it is true. If he could have made two hundred in each his side might have won. Albert Relf helped him to add 64 for the third wicket in the first innings, and also bowled well. Jupp again showed all-round promise. Simms hit a 6. So much for Simms. For the winners Warner again showed in what fine form he is. To make 130 in 150 minutes is good going, and a 6 and twenty 4’s are eloquent figures. J. W . Hearne disposed of seven of Sussex for 28, and then helped his captain to add 142 for the third wicket. Tarrant was most destructive in the second innings. Basil Foster and A. I. Steel appeared for the home side for the first time. As a benefit for Carlin the maitch was a disappointment, though not a total failure. H a m p s h ir e v . K e n t . —Two wickets were down for 18 when Charles Fry joined Phillip Mead. Somewhere between 4 and 5 hours later (lunch in) the third wicket fell at 264. The scoring had never been rapid, but during the four hours’ association only one chance was given—by b'ry when 122. This was the old Oxonian’s fourth successive century v. Kent. He hit ten 4’s, Mead 9. One must add that he ran Mead o u t; but that a man of close on 40 should at the end of four hours be capable of making short runs is rather wonderful, if not consoling to Mead. Kent’s troubles were not over when the two centurians had gone. Johnston and Barrett added 94 in 80 minutes for the fifth wicket. The former hitting Woolley over the pavilion ; 45 were added for the seventh, 47 for the eighth, and 74 (Remnant and Newman) for the last. Kent lacked Blythe, as well as Dillon and Hutchings. Humphreys and Hardinge made 145 for the first Kent wicket, Hatfield and Jennings 67 for the seventh. The young pro.’s century (his.only chance was at 76, he batted 2 f hours and hit twelve 4’s) saved Kent from outright defeat, and when their innings closed it had become quite immaterial what use should be made of the hour or two left. In the match 1,201 runs were totalled for the downfall of 24 wickets. E ssex v . D e r b y s h ir e . —Essex played a new amateur in C. Mort- lock, a Felsted old boy and Brentwood man. Derbyshire kept up their erratic form ; Chapman and Warren put on 70 for the third wicket in an hour, Root and Slater 50 for the ninth in half as long; the rest did nothing. The “ Essex Treasure ” had quite an old-time analysis— 3 of his 5 wickets were taken in the course of 7 maiden overs. John Douglas and Percy Perrin added 99 for the second wicket of Essex, the captain much freer than usual. Then Perrin and McGahey added 312 in a brilliant three hours’ partnership. Perrin’s innings was practically faultless, lasted 315 minutes, and included twenty-nine 4’s. It is the highest of the season so far, as is the Essex total. McGahey hit hard (a 5, seventeen 4’s included); he gave a couple of chances. Gillingham and Perrin added just 100 for the fourth wicket, and Freeman made 55 out of 89 before the closure was applied. Derbyshire, having practically lost the match, now proceeded to fight hard for it. To start with, Oliver and Wood sent up 80 before the first wicket fe ll;.Oliver and Morton added 60 for the fourth, and later Forester and Slater made a plucky stand for the seventh. But, dying hard, Derbyshire could not quite save the innings defeat. Mortlock’s bowling was quite useful to his side. N o r t h u m b e r l a n d v . D u r h a m .— Matches between the two northern counties often produce a biggish crop of runs. In the latest one 845 were registered for only 25 wickets. Yet no one scored a century, and there were only six innings of over 50. No one took more than 3 wickets in an innings, either ; and altogether the play was too level to present many salient points. Northumberland score points for a first innings’ lead. W a r w ic k s h ir e II. v. N o r th a m pt o n s h ir e II.—Bar Jeeves (129 runs and 4 wickets for 7 in the match), the home team shaped rather poorly, an excellent innings of 146 by O. L. E . Holland and good bow liD g by Freeman (8 for 111) and Clarke (7 for 93) gave the visitors an easy win. S u r r e y II. v. K e n t II.—Here again scoring was too big for a finish in two days, 1,116 runs being made for 31 wickets. A brilliant 148 by W . J. Abel was followed by an excellent 107 by Collins; Kent followed on, and L. H. W . Trougton, Morfee, J. H. E . Whitehead, and Collins all did so well that they were able to declare at 393 for 6, and in the end had slightly the better of the draw.