Cricket 1912

J un e 22, 1912; CEICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. Cricket: A W EEK LY RECORD OF THE GAME. 33 and 35, MOOR LANE, LONDON, E.C. SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 19] 2. Communications to the Editor should be addressed to him at 33 & 35 Moor Lane, E .C . Advertisements, Subscriptions, &o., should be sent to the Manager, at the same address. The following are the rates of subscription to C ricket :— Great Britain. Abroad. One T ear ............................... 6s. 3d ... 7s. 6d. The 24 Summer Numbers ... 5s. Od. ... 6s. Od. The 6 W inter Numbers ... 3s. 3d. ... Is . 6d. NOTICE. M e s srs. W R IG H T & CO ., of 7 , T em p le Lan e, Tudor S tre e t, E .C ., a re A d v e rtisem e n t C o n tracto rs fo r CR ICKET , and w ill be g lad to g iv e th e ir b est atten tio n to a n y Firm s d esirin g to a d v e rtise in th e pap er. S c a le o f C h arg es w ill be se n t on ap p licatio n . pavilion (Sosstp. Tho abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. T h e v ic to r y b y th re e ru n s o f lu ck le ss L e ic e ste rsh ire o v e r th e c h am p io n s is n o t th e n a rro w e st m a rg in in th e m a tc h e s b e tw e e n th e tw o co u n ties, w h o h a v e m e t n o w fo r n e a rly 30 y e a rs re g u la r ly . W a rw ic k sh ire h a s p la y e d m ore m a tc h e s w ith L e ic e ste rsh ire th a n w ith a n y o th er c o u n ty , 5 5 t o d a te , w in n in g 2 3 , lo sin g 18 , a n d d ra w in g 14 . I n 18 9 3 , th e y e a r b e fo re th e tw o co u n ties w ore p ro ­ m o ted , W a rw ic k sh ire (13 0 a n d 18 0 t o 15 4 a n d 15 5 ) b eat L e ic e ste rsh ire b y a sin g le ru n . P o u g h e r w a s in a t th e fin ish a n d w e ll s e t, w ith 5 7 to h is c red it. H is la s t p a rtn e r w a s W h ite sid e— n e v e r m u c h o f a b a t— w h o , w ith tw o w a n te d fo r v ic to r y , c o c k e d u p a b a ll fro m P a lle t t , on to w h ic h S h ilto n , fie ld in g a t s illy p o in t, fro z e h a rd . T h e score o f th is m a tc h w a s n o t g iv e n in C r ic k e t a t th e tim e , an d I c a n n o t e v e n fin d a refe re n ce to it. W ith a ll d u e re sp e c t to th e w o rk o f m y p red ecesso rs, I th in k w e c o v e r th e g ro u n d m o re th o ro u g h ly n o w ! In 1 8 9 1 L e ic e ste rsh ire w o n a t E d g b a s to n b y tw o w ic k e ts, a n d in 18 9 6 a t L e ic e ste r b y on e w ic k e t. T h is w a s a re m a rk a b le v ic t o r y , fo r th e 47 n eed ed w h e n W o o d ­ co ck a n d W h ite sid e b e c am e p a rtn e rs w ere a c t u a lly m ad e, , in s p ite o f a ll t h a t S a n t a ll, P a lle t t , T om F o re s te r (nowi o f D e rb y sh ire ), a n d W a rd co u ld do. A 50 to 1 o u tsid e r’s w in n in g th e D e r b y co u ld s c a rc e ly b e m o re w o n d erfu l th a n th is . W o o d co ck co u ld h it a n d W h itesid e co u ld d efen d d o g g e d ly , b u t fo rty -o d d ru n s w ith o n ly th o se tw o le ft— it lo o k e d a c e r ta in ty fo r th e m en o f th e B e a r an d B a g g e d S t a ff c o g n isa n ce ! T h e n in 19 0 5 L e ic e ste rsh ire (fifth in th e ch am p io n sh ip t h a t seaso n ) w o n a t E d g b a s to n b y 9 ru n s. G ill w a s th e b o w le r w h o b ro u g h t o ff t h is v ic to r y , a n d h is le a v in g th e field fo r a r e s t a n d th e n com in g b a c k fre sh to s k ittle th e la s t w ic k e ts d id n o t p a s s w ith o u t com m en t. A m u ch m o re fa m o u s b o w le r h a s b een c ritic ise d fo r a sim ila r m o v e q u ite l a t e l y ; b u t I d o n o t b e lie v e t h a t in e ith e r case a n y u n fa irn e ss w a s in te n d e d , th o u g h in e ffe c t su c h a . p ro c e e d in g is b e y o n d a ll d o u b t u n fa ir to th e b a ttin g sid e. I n 18 8 9 W a rw ic k sh ire w o n b y 19 ru n s a t L e ic e ste r, a n d in 1 9 1 0 b y 20 a t C o v e n try . T h is w a s a ra re fig h tin g m a tc h — 3 6 7 , 3 1 7 , 2 7 1 , 29 9 th e to ta ls— a n d S a m C oe, w h o se s h o t a t th e w ic k e t h e lp ed to w in th e N u n ea to n g am e o n F r id a y la s t, v e r y n e a r ly p u lle d it o ff fo r h is sid e . b y h ittin g 12 8 (tw o 6 ’s , tw e n ty -tw o 4 ’s) in u n d e r tw o h o u rs. C oe h a s n o t d on e m u c h w ith th e b a t th is seaso n a s y e t ; b u t a fo u r-fig u re t o t a l is d u e from h im , fo r h e h a s a h a b it .o f d o in g w e ll in th e e v en -n u m b e red y e a rs a n d m u ch less w e ll in th e o d d -n u m b ere d ones. O n ly a series o f coin cid en ces, o f cou rse, y e t I sh o u ld n o t w o n d er if b y th is tim e S a m u e l h im se lf h a d com e to see th e h a n d o f F a t e in it. H ere a re h is figu res fo r th e la s t e ig h t seaso n s :— Y e a r . T o ta l. A v e ra g e . Y ear. T o ta l. A v e ra g e . 19 0 4 10 6 9 3 2 .3 9 19 0 5 883 2 4 .5 2 19 0 6 1 1 0 8 30 .7 7 19 0 7 774 19 .3 5 19 0 8 1 1 9 7 3 5 .2 0 19 0 9 6 8 1 18 .9 1 1 9 1 0 10 2 5 3 1.0 6 1 9 1 1 576 2 3.0 4 I h a v e re c e iv e d fro m M r. A . F . W . S o m e rse t, th e w ell-k n o w n S u s s e x c ric k e te r a n d th e c a p ta in o f th e la s t E n g lis h T e am to th e W e st In d ie s, a n e a rly c o p y o f h is “ S o m e rse t C ric k e t S co re B o o k .” T h e t itle p a g e w ill b rie fly d escrib e it , th u s : “ w ith 15 0 o p en in g s, ea c h one in n in g s to a n o p en in g , w ith th e L a w s o f C ric k e t. In stru c tio n s to U m p ire s, a n d C u rio sities a n d B e c o rd s o f th e G a m e .” A sco re-b o o k a t h a lf-a -g u in e a is q u ite a n u n u su a l th in g ; b u t th is h a n d som e v o lu m e , w ith its stro n g b in d in g , its la rg e c le a rly -p rin te d p a g e s, a n d its in te re stin g , e v e n a b so rb in g , a p p e n d ix , is g o o d v a lu e fo r th e su m . In a d d itio n to th e o rd in a ry fe a tu re s it c o n tain s sp a c e s fo r “ B e m a r k s ” (C atch es d ro p p e d , In te rru p tio n s, B a in , L ig h t, e tc .), “ U m p ires ” (B e m a rk s— n o t too b r u ta lly fra n k in a n y case, I h o p e !), “ W e a th e r,” “ W ic k e t,” “ W in d ,” e tc ., an d fo r tim e in a n d o u t fo r e a c h b a tsm a n . T h e “ C u rio sities a n d B e c o rd s ” — in c om p ilin g w h ic h , I u n d e rsta n d , M r. S o m e rse t h a s h a d th e in v a lu a b le h elp o f tw o e n th u sia sts (M essrs. A d a m L . F o r d a n d A . J . G asto n ) a re ta b u la te d a lp h a b e tic a lly , th u s : A c c id e n ts, A v e ra g e , B a t t in g (L o n g H its , L o n g In n in g s, L o n g S c o rin g , B a p id S c o rin g , S lo w S c o rin g ), B o w lin g , C a tc h in g , C u rio u s M atch e s, C u rio u s O ccu rren ces, H ig h e st A g g re g a te s, S c o rin g in M atch es (L o n g S c o rin g , B a p id S c o rin g , S lo w S c o rin g , S m a ll S c o rin g ), T h ro w in g , T ie M atc h e s, U m p irin g , W ic k e t- k eep in g , a n d F a m ily M atch e s. B u t th is lis t r e a lly g iv e s no a d e q u a te id e a o f th e n u m b e r o f in te re stin g ep iso d es o f th e g re a te st o f g am es th u s ta b u la te d fo r fu tu re referen ce. T h e a u th o r ity is g iv e n in e v e r y case. I h a v e n o t h a d tim e to m a k e a n e x h a u s tiv e a n a ly sis o f a u th o ritie s q u o ted ; b u t I th in k I a m c o rre c t in s a y in g t h a t C r ic k e t com es n ear h e a d in g th o lis t fo r n u m b er. O f 58 referen ces on on e p a g e it c la im s 2 4 , a n d o f 65 o n a n o th e r 26. T h is is to ld w ith n o se lf-p ra isin g in te n tio n . T h e p re se n t w rite r is n o t a g re a t rec o rd co lle c to r. I t is— s im p ly a n u n b lu sh in g a d v e rtise m e n t ! U m p ire s w ere re fe rre d to a p a ra g ra p h or tw o b ack . A g o o d frie n d o f m in e— p e rh a p s I sh o u ld s a y o f th e p a p e r, b u t I th in k th e p e rso n a l e q u a tio n e n te rs— sen d s m e th e la te s t u m p ire s to r y . T h e in c id en t to o k p la c e on J u n e 1 , a v e r y w e t d a y . T h e w ic k e t h a d b e en u sed b efo re, a n d h a d n o t b e en m a rk e d o u t a fre sh , th e re b ein g n o w h ite n in g a t h a n d , so t h a t th o creases w ere a lm o st in v isib le . T h e w ic k e t-k e e p e r a p p e a le d fo r a case o f stu m p in g . T h o v isitin g u m p ire (b ro u g h t b y th e sid e fo r w h om th e n a rra to r w as p la y in g , t h a t is th e field in g sid e) w a lk e d in c lo se r to m a k e su re o f th e w h e re a b o u ts o f th e p o p p in g -crease. “ N o t o u t,” sh o u te d th e h om e sid e ’s o fficia l. “ I g iv e th e b a tsm a n n o t o u t ! H e to o k to o lo n g in m a k in g h is d e c isio n .” T h e re w a s a g o o d d e a l o f tro u b le b efore th is ze alo u s a n d p ro m p t g e n tle m a n c o u ld be p e rsu a d e d t h a t in a n y case it w a s n o t fo r h im t o d ecid e. U m p ire s in t h a t p a r t o f th e w o rld , th e n a rra to r a d d s , a re o fte n th e b e st m en on th e ir sid es. T h e y d o n ’t e v e n p ra c tise “ fa ira - tio n — w ith ju s t a b it o f a le a n in g t o y o u r ow n s id e ,” as a n o th e r s to r y h a s it. T h e m a n w h o sen d s m e th is u m p ire s to r y is d istin c tly o f o p in io n t h a t w ic k e t-k e e p e rs are b o rn , n o t m ad e. H e d oes n o t co n sid er h im se lf a b o rn w ic k e t-k e e p e r ; b u t h e w a s p e rsu a d e d to ta k e o n th o jo b in a re c e n t m a tc h , w ith th e r e s u lt t h a t h e w e n t a b o u t fo r d a y s th e re a fte r w ith a g o rg eo u s b la c k e y e . A n d h is p ro fessio n— n o, I w o n ’t g iv e h im a w a y ! S u ffic e i t to s a y t h a t h e is n o t th e p a s to r o f th e lo c a l flo ck . Y o u m a y h a v e th r e e gu esses a s to th e p re c ise c a llin g in w h ic h , n e x t to t h a t o f th e ch u rch , a b la c k e y e m ig h t be h e ld m o st in c o n v e n ie n t; b u t n o p riz e