Cricket 1912

342 CEICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. J uly 20, 1912. that two men made 268 between them. Add the 30 extras and you leave only 92 to the other nine. When the South Africans, 127 behind, went in again at 4 o ’clock sad experience had quite prepared one for what followed. Tancred, who went in first with Strieker, hit out, and White did the same. The result was that though 54 runs were scored in 25 minutes, it was at the expense of two good wickets. Nourse stayed for a little, but he never was like the Nourse of old, and Llewellyn alone showed any ability to deal with the bowling. He treated it on its merits and played precisely the game which he would have played in a Lancashire League or county match. He made 59 out of 80 in 75 minutes, and the arrears had been hit off before he left. No one gave him any support, however, but merely came and went, mostly out to bad strokes. Indeed, the batting suggested that the South Africans have temporarily lost their ability to do their powers justice in tests. A t the close 8 wicket® were down, and the South Africans were only 19 on. The King visited the ground in the afternoon. His Majesty had a great reception, and took a lively interest in the game. The captains were presented to His Majesty, and then presented each member of their respective sides. T h e F in a l S t a g e . When the game entered upon its final stage the only interest remaining in the match, as a struggle for supremacy, was the extent of the Australian victory. The issue was never in doubt. The South Africans got the other 27 runs for their two outstanding wickets in 30 minutes, and then in the same time Mayne and .Tennings hit off the 47 runs required to win. It was as tame a finish as when Australia beat England at L ord’s by 10 wickets in 1899 and by 9 wickets in 1909, and the defeat of South Africa was due to the same cause as the two defeats of England in the years mentioned—poor batting made all the poorer by the influence of the occasion. Everyone will regret the fourth defeat of the South Africans in four tests. It is most unfortunate that their batting should have been so weak when there was most need of its being strong, and that they should have done so badly in the most important series of competitive matches ever arranged. Moreover, folk have so little of the historic sense that many will say that South Africa has no present pretensions to meet England and Australia on enual terms. That is absurd and unjust. South Africa will rise again in her old might even if her cricket be under a cloud at present. No one ever suggested that England had no pretensions to meet Australia in 1909. when we did just as badly at Lord’s and almost as badly at I.cuds as South Africa has done in anv of the four matches of 1912. One cannot alter the sad fact that South Africa’s record in tests for 1912 is black with disaster, but the fact merits sympathy and regret, and does not justify any such sweeping generalisa­ tion as to South African cricket present and to come. It is better to think of the past in judging the present and future strength of South African cricket for test purposes. The Australians are a good test side, as we will find before the curtain is rung down on the Triangular tests at the Oval. The South Africans are not a good test side by reason of their poor batting, but on general results they are the better side in other games. The fact suggests the big part played b y the moral factor in test cricket. Big Matches of the Week. G entlemen v. P layers . —First-rate sides were secured for the m atch at the Oval, and atten dan ce were good. The Gentlemen, with Foster, Greswell, Carr, Simm s, E van s, and D ay were stronger in bowling than for a long time past., and every man on the other side bar Sm ith was a county bowler, even if only an occasional one. Yet scoring ruled high. F ry and Spooner, each missed once, sent ud 13 3 for the first wicket of the Gentlemen in 105 m inutes ; F ry and D ay added 94 for the second in 85, and there were further stands by Day and E van s and by the Jam Sahib and Robinson. D ay’s innings was chaneeless ; but F ry and Spooner had each one slice of luck F ry batted 190 minutes for his 10 1. a splendid display, marked by special cleverness to le g ; Spooner was in 105 m inutes for 73, and Dav 130 m inutes for the same number. Hitch worked like a Trojan and others bowled w e ll; but no one’s analysis calls for special com' ment. On the whole the fielding was very good, certainly better than that of the amateurs on Friday, when several fieldsmen were guilty of lachrs. Hobbs went for a duck ; H ayes and Rhodes put on 71 ; but four wickets were down before the hundred appeared. Tarrant and Hearne, greatly favoured by fortune, for each was missed thrice,' but batting well after starting badly, added 106 in 75 minutes. Hearne eventually carried his bat for 12 3. after 220 minutes at wickets. He hit a 5 And seventeen 4’s. The Players finished up 12 runs ahead on Friday evening. Greswell had the best bowliug analysis, and with such a side—all but Dean century scorers —one must not talk of the tail, or it m ight be pointed out that three of his four wickets were taken late in the innings. There was no real hope of a finish on Saturday, but a good crowd gathered. The Gentlemen lost. Fry, Spooner, and Dav for 80; but E vans and the Jam Sahib added 84 for the fourth wicket, and Jessop hit up 4 1 in half-an-hour, enabling the innings to be declared at 4.80. Hobbs rattled up 5 1 out of 55 in about 20 minutes, and reached his 1.000, then slowed down, but when out, first to go, had made 54 of 72. Hayes also made his runs pretty quickly. L eicestershire v . W orcestershire . — The home county in this match cannot be said to have done great things this season, but the visiting side has performed with such consistent want of success that a victory for it, scarcely to be considered likely beforehand, looked next door to impossible when Leicestershire went in with only 1 1 1 wanfed. Bowley’s innings was the brightest feature of the first day’s play. Coming back to his best form—which is very good indeed— he scored a level century in 2 hrs., with one 6 and ten 4's and only one chance, driving brilliantly and cutting well. No one else did anything really notable, though Burrows hit up a useful 33 and B . G. Stevens showed promise. A still bowled capitally. Leicester­ shire lost 3 for 54 ; then Cecil Wood and John King made a stand of 1 3 1 , plaving out time on Thursday, but being parted early on Friday. Wood batted 200 minutes for his 9 1. The rest scarcely gave a sign, but King stayed to the end, batted 3 hrs., and reached his century, hitting ten 4’s. Worcestershire’s second innings was a poor show. Pearson lasted 90 minutes for 4 5; no one else topped 15. Astill again bowled well and seems to have recovered the form he lost last year. Then Leicestershire collapsed before Cuffe, Burrows, and Simpson-Hayward, though so few were the runs wanted that during the brief time Shipm an stayed and hit it still seemed any­ one’s game. S ussex v. G loucestershire . — This was rather a queer match. Sussex, even without the Jam Sahib, Albert Relf, and H. L . Simm s, is a stronger side than Gloucestershire lacking Jessop ; but that Sussex should win in an innings could hardly have been expected by anyone when three of their best wickets had fallen for 44. A t this stage Vine and K illick got together and added 119 for the fourth. W ith only 30 more scored tbe seventh fell. Then Fender and Street, hitting hard, put on 1 3 1 in 75 minutes, and a total of 352 was reached. Vine’s innings of 52, very slow but very valuable, lasted 190 minutes ; K illick made his 88 in 13 5 minutes, hitting thirteen 4’s. Gloucestershire’s batting was quite void of distinction. Langdon did something in both innings ; Sewell batted very well in the first, and A. H . G . White, a newcomer, in the second ; but a big stand never looked likely. Vine bowled his leg-breaks with great success, and Roberts, a fast bowler, did useful work in the follow-on. N orthamptonshire v. S omerset . — To beat Somerset lacking Greswell, D aniell, and Johnson, the last-named seldom seen in county cricket these days, may be no great fe a t; but the manner in which Northants go on winning matches by good margins has its own significance. Hardy hit hard ; Bisgood, after being missed earlv, played good free cricket fo ra trifle over an ho u r; nine other men made 45 among them ; Wells, though hit about at times by Hardy and Bisgood, bowled at a great pace and with considerable success— so much for Somerset's first venture. W. H . Denton and E a st put up 58 for the home side’s first w icket; E ast (one 6, seven 4’s) and Havwood added 10 1 in 70 minutes for the second ; after three more had fallen quickly J . S. Denton and Joh n Seymour added 48 in about half-an-hour; and on Friday morning Denton carried his score to 74, made in 85 minutes by wrist.y batting always good to watch. Braund. new to the opposing side, was the most successful bowler. The chief feature of Somerset’s second innines was the fine stand of Robson and Bisgood— 10 1 for tbe fifth wicket in 80 minutes. W anting only 70 to win, Northants had run up 13 from one over when a terrific thunderstorm broke over the ground, and play was at an end for tbe day. On Saturday morning, with Sm ith hitting freely, the runs were got in quick time without a wicket down. K e n t v . Y o r k sh ir e .— A total of 543 against the Kent bowling is no small performance ; but to take 8 hrs. 40 m. to make the runs vas scarcely rapid. Wilson and Oldroyd began slowly ; their 71 for the first wicket took 105 minutes. Oldroyd (who batted 4 hrs. in all) and Denton added 160 for the secoLd in quicker time. H irst, who