Cricket 1912

CEICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OP THE GAME. A ugust 10, 1912. Big Matches of the Week. S u r r e y v . W o r c e s t e r s h ir e . — T he Oval wicket bad recovered very quickly from the effects of the heavy rain of W ednesday ; and W orcestershire, batting first, m ade a highly creditable show. In putting on 93 for the second wicket in 80 m inutes Bowley and Arnold showed m uch of their old-tim e skill; W . B. Burns, who has been out of health and of luck, cam e back to his best form with a capital innings of 8 7; Cuffe helped him to add 62 for the fifth w ick et; and C. B. Ponsonby batted 105 m inutes for his useful 50. In the absence of R azor Sm ith, and with Rushby and Platt ineffective, H itch and Hayes were worked hard at the crease, and the latter had excellent figures. On Friday the Surrey men (Hayward had left overnight) devoted themselves to the task of obtaining a first innings’ lead, and when stumps were drawn they were a run ahead with 5 wickets to fall. Ducat, who batted finely if somewhat slowly for 3 f hrs. for his 124, without a chance and with sixteen 4’s, was chief scorer of the day. Hayes and he added 79 for the third w icket; Donald Knight, who played particularly well, was in while 102 were added for the fo u rth ; and Goatly made 73 in irreproachable style. W orcestershire lost two of their best wickets for 10, three for 32, and four for 41. Cuffe and Collier then put on 39, and the arrears were wiped off with 5 wickets down. U ltim ately Surrey were set only 89 for victory, and H obbs and Hayward made the runs without being separated at the rate of two per m inute. S o m e r s e t v . S u s s e x . — On a wicket that had been affected by rain, with Greswell bowling finely and well backed up in the field, Sussex failed. Not a chance was m issed, and only four men reached double figures. T he hom e side, with P . R . Johnson m aking 50 in 40 m inutes, passed their rivals’ score with only two wickets down ; but later the batsmen could do little with Cox, and the Somerset lead, after all, was only 58. At their second attempt Sussex did much better, though for a tim e they scored slowly. V ine was in 3 hours for his 43 ; Robert R elf and Cox made useful scores at a better pace ; but C haplin’s well-hit 74, including nine 4 ’s, was far and away the best and brightest innings. A total of 276 left Somerset 219 to get for victory. There were interruptions by rain on Saturday, but the visitors had always a grip on the game, and won in the end by 89, only Poyntz, Bajana, and Greswell giving any real trouble. D e r b y s h ir e v . A u s t r a l ia n s . — There was only 100 minutes’ play on Thursday. Kelleway batted the whole of that time for 20, and his side lost 4 for 56. On Friday wickets fell fast— 21 for 203 runs during the day. Kelleway and Matthews increased their overnight partnership to 49 ; but there was no other real stand, and only Emery, who hit out well, and M orton, who stayed 95 minutes for 32, did m uch. Forester and Cadman bowled well for the county, and Matthews puzzled nearly all the opposing batsmen. Saturday’s play was started with the Australians 111 on with 5 to go. Bardsley was twice m issed early on, mistakes which went far to prevent D erby­ shire’s gaining their first victory over an Australian side. Nine wickets were down for 89, but W ebster stayed and helped the crack left-hander to add 48. Bardsley batted 145 minutes for his 59*. M orton, who had bowled finely, was the only man to shape well against the Australian attack, and 5 wickets were down for 82 of the 187 needed when rain closured play. Lancashire v. South Africans. — When Faulkner had dis­ missed Spooner, Makepeace, and John Tyldesley with only 24 on the board, Lancashire looked in a bad way. But John fcharp saved his side. He batted only 150 minutes for his resolute 121, and hit twelve 4’s, giving no chance. William Tyldesley helped him to add 72 for the fourth wicket, and F. R . R. Brooke (whose 30 included six 4’s) and he added 50 in 35 minutes for the seventh. The Afrikanders had all the worst of Friday’s play. Huddleston was at the top of his form ; only Faulkner, who batted 110 minutes for 44, shaped really w ell; at one time 6 wickets were down for 30, but then Beaumont and Faulkner made a stand. Spooner and Makepeace put up 59 for the first wicket in Lancashire’s second, and at time the County Palatine led by 250 with 3 wickets to go. In the event the Afrikanders were put in to get 270 on a pitch badly cut up, and in facing this impossible task they made very little resistance to the fine bowing of Dean and Huddleston, who dismissed them in 75 minutes for 44 runs, only two men getting double figures. In the match Huddleston had 10 for 62, Dean 9 for 68, and Faulkner (who took his hundreth wicket of the season) 10 for 153. This was the South Africans’ first defeat by a county side. Y o r k s h ir e v . W a r w ic k s h ir e . —WTith Thursday and Friday blank through rain, there was never m uch chance that this match would be finished, though when an innings each had been played, with an advantage of 29 to Yorkshire, and a couple of hours remained for play, it seemed just possible that the cham pions m ight go under. Determ ined defensive play prevented this, however, and Yorkshire took only first innings’ points. H irst, Drake, and Foster bowled effectively on the difficult pitch. Four tim es two batsmen fell to successive balls— twice to Drake, and once each to Foster and Santall. E ss e x v . K e n t . — T he hom e team gave a very poor display, John Douglas, who stayed in nearly 2 hrs. for 35, G illingham w ho helped him to add 48 for the fourth wicket, and Smith (a ground bowler) and Mead, who hit up 30 for tbe last, being the only m en to reach double figures. The Kent batsmen soon showed that this failure was not the fault of the pitch. In 90 minutes Hardinge and W oolley added 152 for the third wicket. W oolley gave no chance in making his 82, and bit thirteen 4’s. Hardinge batted 165 m inutes, hit a 5 and nine 4’s, and wa? m issed at 98, but otherwise played'finely. On Friday all the remaining Kent batsmen made runs, Collins staying 135 minutes for his 59, and Fairservice scoring 40 in about half that time. Nearly 300 in arrears, Essex lost Perrin and Russell for 56 before call of tim e. They had nothing to hope for on the last day ; but Douglas, again top scorer, showed fine defence and powerful hitting for bis 62, and Freeman hit six 4’s in his 25. W oolley had 6 for 70. H a m p s h ir e v . L e ic e s t e r s h ir e . — Three substitutes were in the field when the game began, the train which brought Jephson and M cDonell (the latter playing for the first tim e this season) having been delayed, and Fry also being absent. After all, the England captain had to cry off, and Pothecary filled his place. One of the umpires, Flowers, was taken ill, and R em nant officiated in his stead. W ood, though not at his best, stayed 130 minutes, and made top score for his side; Knight and Mounteney also contributed useful innings. W ith 5 down for 161, Kennedy went on again; after a rest, and carried all before him , securing all the outstanding wickets (three in one over) for only 9 runs. Before tbe end of the day Hants had got within three dozen of the visitors’ total with only 3 wickets down. Bowell and Mead, who added 109 in 95 m inutes for the second wicket, were m ainly responsible for this. Bowell took his score to 82, made in 160 minutes, next m orning, when Brown hit out finely, and ran up 104 in 125 minutes, M cDonell helping him to add 94 for the sixth wicket, and Kennedy 86 for the ninth. Leices­ tershire were 195 in arrear. W ood and Knight wiped off 57 of these before they were parted, and Knight and W hitehead put on 42 ; but at 99 these two and Mounteney were all out. Two m ore wickets went ch ea p ly; but then Joyce and King added 53 for the seventh, and Shipman, hitting fiercely, (two 6’s and seven 4’s were included in his 50) and King put on 67 for the ninth, so that after all Hants were set over 100 to win. King was in 200 minutes for his 86*. The runs were easily made, Stone hitting out in rare style. His 72* only occupied 50 minutes. M o n m o u t h s h ir e v. D e v o n s h ir e . — No play was possible at Newport on the W ednesday. On Thursday B. Knight played a good innings of 71 for Devon ; and Light did good all-round work. The hom e side had the worst of the wicket, upon which only Silver­ lock could stay in long, and at the end of an innings each Devon took 3 points, leading by 92 runs. C a m b r id g e s h ir e v . S u f f o l k . — Cambridge had the distinction of being the only place in which play was possible in a county m atch on July 31. But there was only half-an-hour’s play at Cambridge. On the second day Suffolk, with seven doubles, reached 183 ; then Trudgett and Penfold, each taking 5 wickets, disposed of the hom e team for 74. The follow-on was enforced, and at one time an innings defeat looked probable, but stubborn play by Watts and H. B . Hart saved Cambs. from this. C a m b r id g e s h ir e v . H e r t f o r d s h ir e . — H . C. Tebbutt’s free and faultless innings of 108 was the feature of the first day’s play. Six other Cambs. men got doubles, but none of them did anything big. T he stand of Grellet and G olding for the first H erts’ wicket was a capital one, and at the end of the day Herts were only 37 behind, with 7 to go. On Saturday they increased their total to 361. Coulson bowled well, as 6 for 63 in so long an innings shows. Coleman and Shelford were too m uch for the home side in their second innings, in which only C H. Pigg aud G. A. Bose did m uch, and Herts won by 10 wickets. S u f f o l k v . N o r f o l k .— At Bury St. E dm und’s a full and busy first day’s play put the visitors well on top. Three m en on their side reached 60, and the total was 274. Birkbeck’s was an excellent innings, but Fulcher and Prior both had some luck. Then Falconer proved so destructive that six Suffolk wickets were down for less than 30. Here E. L. D. Lake and Penfold made a stand, and later P. P. Cornell batted pluckily ; but Suffolk had to follow on 114 in arrears. Gibson now took a turn, and three wickets fell to him in very short time. T he day s play ended with the hom e side still 90 behind, with 7 wickets to fail. On the Saturday the innings closed for 78, and