Cricket 1912

256 CEICKET: A WEEKLY EECORD OF THE GAME. J un e 22, 1912. th a n h e is. H e c o a c h e s h is b o y s a t th e s c h o o l, a n d s e v e ra l or t h e la d s h a v e t u r n e d o u t t o b e r e a l g o o d p la y e r s . H e a ls o te a c h e s th e la d s s w im m in g a n d fo o tb a ll. P o s s ib ly ho e x c e ls m o re a s a s w im m e r t h a n a s a c ric k e te r, y e t I h a v e se e n h im a c c o m p lis h so m e w o n d e r fu lly fin e p e r fo r ­ m a n c e s w it h th e b a t. M o re t h a n o n ce I h a v e b e en a s s o ­ c ia te d w it h h im in a b ig fir s t w ic k e t s t a n d , a n d on one o c c a sio n a t D u lw ic h I w a s a t th e w ic k e t w ith h im a ll th e a fte rn o o n . T h is p a r tn e r s h ip is th e b ig g e st I b e lie v e h e h a s ta k e n p a r t in , a n d i t a m o u n te d t o 18 4 fo r n o w ic k e t. O n th e h e a v y s id e , B e a l is e s s e n tia lly a d efe n d e r. H e s e l­ d om h its , b u t h e c a n p la c e t h e b a ll w e ll, a n d I d o n o t k n o w a m o re d iffic u lt m a n to g e t o u t. M o st o f h is ru n s a re sco red o n th e le g sid e , b u t h e c a n d r iv e a n d a ls o c u t ffe e c tiv e ly , Big Matches of the Week. W arw ickshire v . L e icestersh ire .— A big fight on new ground. Never before had a county m atch been played at Nuneaton, but 4.000 spectators on each day should ensure the town one next year. The pitch does not seem to have been accountable for the low scoring, though of coarse it was never a batsm an’s paradise. Most of the Leicestershire men hit well to start with. Mounteney, the highest scorer, had the audacity to clump Foster for 19 in one over, and Whitehead played better than in any other match this season. At his first essay Foster had 0 for 46 ; going on again later he took 5 for 25. K ing and A still bowled capitally, and W arwickshire had 5 down for 42. The total was 85, of which Baker and Sm ith made 55 between them. The visitors could do nothing with Foster in their second innings ; after the first three wickets had fallen no one made a sign. The champions wanted 202 for victory, and looked like getting them. Charlesworth and Quaife, in their very different styles, put them well on the way. Afterwards Baker and Parsons made a big effort. W ith two to go, 18 were wanted. E igh t were made ; then Coe shied out W indridge, who had attempted a risky run. Field came in to do his best, and it was not he who failed. Six were added ; then A still beat and bowled Santall. The real turning-point of the match was when Cecil Wood—never a great bowler, but a decidedly useful change—bowled Frank Foster. If that dangerous young m an had been allowed to stay only a few minutes longer, the wearers of the fox badge would hardly have won that thrilling three runs’ victory. M iddlesex v . Y orkshire . — Ju st the kind of match to please spectators ; scores not too big, a hard struggle, and some really good batting and bowling. The pitch was a bit queer, and the Yorkshire captain would probably just as soon have lost the toss. He took first innings, however. Rhodes and Denton added 5 1 for the second wicket. Booth and Haiph 54 for the eighth. Jack Hearne the elder bowled in something like his old form, and made a really fine catch. Jack Hearne the younger top-scored, playing a capital in n in gs; Murrell, hitting well, helped him to add 54 for the eighth wicket—a curious coincidence (see above). Rhodes’s splendid 84 (2| hrs., but never dull) was the feature of Yorkshire’s second. He and Drake added 56 for the third wicket. Tarrant did the damage this time. E . S. Litteljohn and young H eaine, by a partnership of 95 for the third wicket, made the home side’s success practically certain ; it had not looked so when Tarrant left at 5, with Warner away ill. Haigh then took three wickets quickly. Stumps were drawn with only 15 wanted for victo ry; but the rain did not come to Yorkshire’s aid, and a few minutes on the third morning were enough. S ussex v . K ent .— The play at Hove on Thursday was dreadfully slow. A year or two back the Kentish enthusiasts claimed that, winning, losing, or fighting for a draw, their team always played bright cricket. It was not wholly correct th e n ; like other sides, Kent could be slow at times ; it is certainly not true now. Hardinge took 3 hrs. over his 72, and there was no bright cricket at all till Fairservice, Blythe, and Fielder did a bit of hitting, adding 75 runs in 45 m inutes for the last two wickets. Robert R elf and H . L. Simm s, after Vine had gone on Friday morning, put on 106 in 80 minutes. But the Jam Sahib’s innings was the feature of the day—real jam to the crowd, the best seen at Hove this season. It was not absolutely chanceless, though the so-called chance at 65 was scarcely a real chance—Hatfeild only got the tips of his fingers to it—but it was a real R an ji innings, the first 50 coming in 65 minutes, and the old- time m astery alw ays apparent. Chaplin, shaking off the ill-luck that has dogged him , helped the other skipper—it was at Chaplin’s special request to the committee that the Jam Sahib was made captain whenever playing—to add 140 for the sixth wicket in about as many minutes. After the great man had gone the old Harrovian hit out, but his bad luck re-asserted itself, and H atfeild beat him when two more boundaries would have given him a century. On Saturday morning two of the Sussex youngsters, Street and Jupp, added 80 in an hour for the ninth wicket. Kent played the dogged game, only Woolley attempting to hit—he made 50 in 55 minutes, whereas Humphreys took 2 hrs. to score 29—and, helped by rain, avoided defeat—one run ahead with five wickets to go at the close. Relt’s bowling analysis for the second innings reminds one of some of Alfred Shaw ’s figures. E ssex v . S u rrey . — John Douglas won the toss, and put Surrey in. Probably he wished he had not, and in any case it seemed strange that after doing so he should start with fast bowling from each end. Essex fielded b a d ly ; but Hayes, who played a beautiful innings of 14 3*, owed nothing to the leniency of the field, for he never gave a chance in his 210 m inutes’ stay. Spring helped him to all but double the score for the fifth w icket; four were down for 96, five for 190. Abel stayed while 59 were put on for the sixth. The E ssex batting was very slow—under 50 an hour. Freem an’s 4£ hrs. for 89 largely accounted for tbis, but it was a fine innings nevertheless. Perrin and he added 79 for the third wicket, Douglas and he 53 for the sixth. On Friday evening Essex seemed to have lost the game, for after Hayward had left at 30 Hobbs and Hayes took the score to 147 unseparated. They were parted next morning early, having put on 129 for the second wicket in 65 minutes. Hayes very narrowly missed the double century feat. Ducat ran up 73* in 70 minutes ; the innings was declared, and then followed an utterly unexpected rout of the home side. Bowling very fast, Hitch was too good for one after another of the batsmen. Freem an’s off stump, M cGahey’s leg stump, F an e’s middle stump, went flying; Gillingham played on, and Buckenham , Mortlock, and Coleman were disposed of in four balls. Only Perrin made double figures, and the innings lasted but 90 minutes. L ancashire v . A ustralians . — This match was alw ays a fight for runs on a sporting pitch. Matthews seems to find Old Trafford a happy hunting ground ; under very different conditions from those obtaining in the Whitsuntide test he took 7 for 83 in the home side’s two innings. Makepeace, cool and clever, and Whitehead, fierce of hit, alone did much as batsmen for the County Palatine. M acart­ ney’s 80 was the great feature of the A ustralian’s firs t; it was Macartney at his best, despite one chance, and that is good enough for anybody. If Lancashire bad the worse pitch to bat on in the first innings, the Australians suffered in the same way at the end of the game. While Macartney and Gregory, who added 49 for the fifth wicket, were together, their prospects seemed hopeful; even after Macartney left Gregory was still there, with only 4 1 wanted and four wickets to fall. B ut the skipper was out directly after luncb, and the rest gave no sign. Heap had a pitch to his liking, and made excellent use of it. N ottinghamshire v . S ou ih A fricans .— Tancred did even as John Douglas, and with very much the same result in the opening stages. A . O. Jones and the younger Gunn sent up 54 for the first wicket, the two Gunns added 81 for the fourth, and the elder Gunn and Hardstaff put on 74 for the fifth. Then rain stopped play. On Friday morning Pegler quickly finished off the county innings. Though Hartigan and Nourse batted well for a short time, the prospects of the Afrikanders looked very dubious when 6 were out for 92. But Strieker and the tail came to the rescue. Strieker played quite his best innings of the tour thus far, making 79 in two hours ; Beaumont helped him to add 30, Pegler 54, Carter 38, and Campbell 62. The last four wickets thus realised exactly twice as many as the first six. Notts again scored well, the great feature of their innings (declared at 7 for 269) being a fine stand of 142 in 2 hrs. by Jones and John Gunn. A little over two hours remained for play. H art­ igan left at 29, but then Taylor and Tancred, mastering the bowling completely, put on 174 runs in about 90 minutes by fine cricket. Tancred had just reached his century when his partner was o u t; and then stumps were drawn. D erbyshire v . H am pshire . —There was nothing remarkable in the first innings of the visitors, except that the first three batsmen accounted for 83 of 1 1 7 runs from the bat. Morton bowled very finely. Cadman alone could do anything for the Peak C ounty; he carried his bat through an innings of 7 1 for 36, a feat worthy of all praise, for the wicket was really difficult, and Newman and Kennedy were bowling finely. On a much improved pitch Johnston and Stone sent up 1 15 for the first Hants wicket, and Barrett and Bowell added 61 for the fifth. The rest did little, Warren finishing with the same analysis as Morton in the first innings—6 for 59. Set 277 to win, Derbyshire began splendidly. Oliver aud Cadman made 127 for the first wicket. Then George Brown, who had done practically nothing as a bowler this year np to Saturday, came to the rescue of his side, and quickly secured half-a-dozen wickets; and when Morton and Slater seemed to have tamed his fiery mood Kennedy suddenly struck