Cricket 1912

340 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. J uly 20, 1912. H. GRADIDGE & SONS, Manufacturers and Exporters of all requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Squash Racquets, &c. Cricket in Scotland. B y H a m ish . The Australians have come aud gone ; but it cannot be said they have left any strong impressions behind. Indeed, their cricket pre­ sented few, if any, features that are not to be encountered in our ordinary Saturday afternoon cricket, They had no Trumper, no H ill, no Cotter. T heir players appeare I but as sim ilar types of our own men better trained. We looked in vain for any counterpart to Trum per’s “ flick,” H ill’s pull,” or Cotter’s “ d evil.” There was a woeful lack of enterprise and individuality about their methods which was not pleasing to the spectators. Even when the Scottish captain afforded them the opportunity of proving their mettle by scoring the 264 runs to win the game at Perth in the three hours Ht their disposal, they held on the even tenor of their w ay, and a tame draw was the result.. Macartney failed us, but we saw a lot 6f Bardsley, Mayne, and Minnett. “ Solidity ” was the watchword, with a clever stroke now and then to awaken interest in the play. The brightest batting was given by Minnett (65*) in the second inninps at Edinburgh. Their bowling was striking rather by reason of variety than of quality. Whitty (6 for 22), Minnett (6 for 35) and Matthews (7 for 46) all bowled well in separate innings though never suggesting that any one of them was the equal of Pegler or Faulkner, of the South Africans. At last a Scottish eleven has played up to something like form , and|the present writer has been justified to some extent in his optimism. Never mind the 52 at Edinburgh. That was “ funk,” and a badly chosen team. If the Australians had only failed to save the follow on at Perth ! But they didn’t. The Colonials may have shown a litt’e slackness at the start of that game ; but they were keen enough long before the finish, and were quite content with their draw. The Scottish batsmen played as we know’ they can play, and Benksin (79*), G. W . Ju pp (66) and M. R . Dickson (49) were the most successful. Over the whole week, however, Australians included, I must award the palm to M. R . Dickson for his great innings of 98 at Raeburn Place. Though at times rather shaky, his display was delightful to watch, one stroke in particular calling forth the adm ira­ tion of the critics, namely, what I m ight call a late off drive past cover. It was a splendid breakback from Minnett that ended his career. Of our bowlers R . W . Sievwright again made it evident that he is in the first rank. Analysis of 7 for 7 1 and 4 for 5 1 against such opposition go to prove this. Throughout both games his deliveries were always treated with the greatest respect. Financially the week was a success. Over 6,000 lined the ropes during the final stage of the match at Perth. Another big programme of Saturday matches was carried through under pleasant conditions. The home team of the Grange (145) came rather a cropper against Stew art’s College F .P . (165 for 5), for whom W . F . Turnbull (61) and H. D. R. Davidson (59) added 104 for the second wicket. The match between Edinburgh Academ icals (19 1 for 9) and Peebles County (173 for 5) ended in a draw, though M. P. Thorburn (90) made a praiseworthy effort against time to pull off the game for his side. The Watsonians (100) beat the Royal High School F .P . (76) in an otjer of the games without professionals. For the School T. M. Lawson had 9 wickets for 29, and for the losers T. D. Watt had 6 for 30. Probably the most exciting encounter of the afternoon was that between Forfarshire (155) and Aberdeenshire (154) nt Aberdeen. Two badly m issed chances just at the end appeared likely to be fatal for the Forfar side, but a well judged catch iu the country gave them the \ictory by a single run. A crowd of 5,000 watched the play. At Larbert Stenhousemuir (82) beat a weak representation of Heriot’s F . P. (37). J. Graham had 7 wicket* for 15 A few miles further north at Alloa Glasgow Academ icals (153 for 4) gained a good victory over Clackmannan County (118 ), with A. D. Laird’s 59* top score. With the’Glasgow holidays in full swing few clubs remained in the city, but the game between Drumpellier (100 for 3) and Greenock (139) was set aside tor the benefit of Benham , Drumpelllier’s pro­ fessional. The old Essex man him self, however, was playing for Scotland at Perth. Ayr (100) made their position at the head of the Western Union Championship more secure by beating Ferguslie (83), and Kilmarnock (77) fell to Kelburne (197 for 8). Three interesting matches took place on the Borders, where Grange (152 for 4) had easily the better of Hawick (128). H . B . Cummins scored a fine 78 for the winners. In the other two games the Borderers were victorious by large m argins. Leith Caledouian could only gather 68 against G ala’s 224 for 5 (West 82, F . H. Hoggarth 63), and Selkirk had no difficulty in topping Poloc’s score of 1 1 1 with 118 for 3 (A. Linton 50*). Reblading Cricket bats and Restringing Tenn is b a ts a Special feature. F a c t o r y : — ARTILLERY PLACE, WOOLWICH, S.E. Patentees and Sole makers of the ‘ ‘ I M P E R I A L D R I V E R ” Cricket Bats made in Men’s, Small Men’s, College, 6, 5 , 4 , & 3 , sizes. Every other requisite for Cricket, including balls, leg guards, batting gloves, gauntlets, stumps, nets, &c. Price Lists and Special Quotations free. ALL GOODS CARRIAGE PAID TO ANY PART OF THE UNITED KINCDOM. Sole Makers of the “ Imper ial D r i v e r ” and “ Improved G r ad i d g e ” Lawn Tennis Racquets.