Cricket 1912

526 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t . 28,1012. Sunderland Stalwarts. Cecil Brooks is the captain of the Sunderland C.C.’s first team, which has lately won for the fifth time the championship of the Durham Senior League (Eastern Division). Alfred Morris is the club’s professional, and is undoubtedly next to Bames the best bowler playing in the Minor Counties Championship. Both have done fine work for their side, and it seems appropriate to give their portraits together. The Sunderland skipper was born in July, 1884, at Darlington, and received his education at Oliver’s Mount School, Scarborough, where of course he was in the eleven. On leaving school in 1901 he took his place in the third eleven of Sunderland, but his slow bowling —his batting powers are of more rocont development)— soon won him promotion to the second, and in 1902 he played his first game for the first team. That season he headed the second team’s bowling averages, with 60 wickets at 8’33 each. The summer of 1904 saw him a regular member of the first team, and his bowling proved very useful ; but it was not until 1906 that he came to be highly thought of as a batsman. His 106 v. Philadelphia in that season was a really fine innings—probably the best he has ever played. He averaged 23'90 in 1906, 18‘20 in 1907 (a wet season), 21’75 in 1908, 25-78 in 1909, 34-50 in 1910, 28-18 in 1911, and (up to Sept. 7) 28‘57 in 1912. Meanwhile he had also been taking a good many wickets— 41 at under 12 each in 1907, 45 at. under 9 in 1908, 45 at under 14 in 1910, and 51 at just 14 each in 1911. Up to the end of this season he had scored in all matches for Sunderland’s first team 2749 runs in 138 innings (24 not outs), with an average of 24'11, and had taken 339 wickets for 4270 runs, average 12‘59. w. IAns. 138 N.O. 24 R. 2749 A. 24-11 Overs. 4270 Aver. 12-59 Prior to 1907 Sunderland had a very strong array of batsmen going in early ; and they often made enough runs to enable the closure to be applied. There were such as E. W. Elliot, Alleyne Burn and Prank Butler, the old Notts man, now in New York. Since they dropped out, the team has shown itself a very level and dependable batting side, and Cecil Brooks has done his share—and more—in making it so. He is not as brilliant a bat as his brother Hubert; but, though some people say he was “ born tired,” he is a very good and dependable all­ round man, and gets through a lot of work without any trace of bustle. He is an engineering instructor at the Sunderland Technical College. Mr. J. B. Sparkes, the Acting President of the Durham C.C., is his uncle. Brooks both bats and bowls left-handed. Batting, he waits for the loose ones ; bowling, he sends down a very slow ball with a phenomenal break. He first played for the county in 1909, when he totalled 178 runs in 11 innings, and took 8 wickets for 128. In 1910 he made 268 runs in 14 innings, and had 17 wickets at 20 each. Last year ho played seldom and did little, and he has not done himself justice in his few matches this season. Alfred Morris is a native of West Hartlepool, and before he came to the Sunderland club in 1907 had played for North Ormesby, in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League, for his native town (for whom he took 79 wickets at 9'7 each in 1904), and for Burnmoor, in the North-West Durham League. He has now had six seasons with Sunderland, and will play again for them in 1913. His first match for the county was in 1905 ; ever since he has been a tower of strength to Durham, as his figures will show :— Overs. Runs. W ickets. Average. 1905 ... 68.1 208 16 13.00 1906 ... 321.1 f 856 65 13.16 " 1907 ... 298.5 794 64 12.40 1908 ... 408.5 1024 84 12.19 1909 ... 256.3 664 48 13.83 1910 ... 291 855 74 11.55 1911 ... 366 1066 97 10.98 1912 ... 278*3 687 49 14-02 For Sunderland he has taken over 100 wickets in each year, his highest being 114 in 1910. Up to date he has taken well over 600 wickets for the club at an average cost of under 7 runs each. On July 13, 1910, ho did the biggest performance of his career, taking all 10 wickets for 130 runs (in a total of 301) for Durham v. Yorkshire II. He bowls fast medium with a swinging ball, and also with one that breaks con­ siderably from the off. As a batsman he is a hard hitter, but scarcely reliable ; that he is not to be despised, however, is proven by the fact that from 1807 to Sept. 7, 1912, he had scored 1125 runs for Sunderland with an average of nearly 18. He has sometimes made useful scores in county matches, too. For much of the information given above I am in­ debted to Mr. E. Lewis Todd, the secretary of the Durham Senior League. Eastern Division. J. N. P. Ladies’ Cricket : the South Wilts Ladies’ C.C. Much ladies’ cricket in this country is a more or less bad joke. W omen cannot play men at cricket on even terms unless the men are duffers. But the South W ilts Ladies’ C.C. plays the game in earnest. They will not me* t m en’s teams at a ll; they have nb use for the left-hand handicap, the broom stick tom foolery, or anything of that kind. They will— and they do —meet boys’ teams (under 1G) on_even terms, and they won sevtral such n a tch fsin 1912. Ladies’ cricket on these lines is an excellent game. T he club was established last year, and has a m embership of 45. No fewer than 35 of these figure in the averages, which shows general keenness. Mrs. Locker-Lam pson is the club’s P resident; among the Vice-Presidents are the Countess of Pembroke Lady Mary Morrison, the H on. Mrs. C. Bathurst, and Lady Smith-Dorian. Twenty-three matches were played this season, and of the?e 15 were won and 7 lost. As many as 7 were scratched; but weather probably accounts for this. T he principal averages are appended, and it will be seen that the side numbers some very capable batswomen and bowleis. Miss M. K. S. Edwards and Miss D. Pretor-Pinney »re evidently good all-round; Miss M . S. Leach, who took over a hundred wickets, must be a very effective bowler. B o w lin g . O. It. W . A. 117 10 11.70 232 55 4.21 — 26 13.00 252.4 462 105 4.40 — 20 3 6.66 — 15 5 3.00 181.2 405 59 6.86 B a ttin g . Inns N .o. R . A. H.S. Alexander, Miss M. 9 0 54 6.00 15 — Carver, Mrs. S. R . P. 5 0 111 22.20 88 43.4 Edwards, Miss M .K.S. 20 4 341 21.31 82* 122.2 Furneaux, Miss E. ... 7 0 57 8.24 25 Hulbert, Miss K . ... 15 0 184 12.26 50 Jesson, Miss C. ... 5 1 42 10.50 18 Leach, Miss M. S. ... 23 0 85 3.69 12 N otley, Miss W . ... 4 1 95 31.66 43 P itt, Miss A. B. ... 6 0 49 8.16 19 Pretor-Pinney, Miss D 16 1 235 15.66 46 llawlence, Miss A. M. 13 1 108 9.00 25* Stoop, Miss N. ... 4 0 46 11.50 26 — — — — W ard, Miss E. M. ... 13 6 91 13.00 27* 41 116 17 6.82 W ilscn, Miss B. ... 12 2 249 24.90 92 — — — — W ilson, Miss E. M. ... 12 3 70 7.77 17 — 77 7 11.00 W ordsworth, Miss I. 11 0 53 4.81 23 47.1 154 16 9.62 Also batted, but without much success, or in only one or two innings: Misf Bracher, Miss Cartwright (20 and 1), Mrs. Farr, Miss E. Harper, Miss F. Hart, Miss G. Jesson, Miss M. Leach, Miss Q. Leach, Miss W . Leach, Miss D. Macklin, Miss L. Martin, Miss F. M oody, Miss F. N otley, Miss R . Pepper, Miss Ponting (44), Miss J. Read, Miss A. Stratton, Miss M. W heeler, and Miss J. W right. Also bowled : Miss G. Jesson (4 for 34), Miss F. Notley (1 for 14). Of a total of 118 catches made, Miss M. S. Leach took 17, Miss M. K . S. Edwards 10, Miss M. Alexander 9, Miss Q. Leach 9, Miss R . Pepper 9, Miss E. B. W ilson 8, Miss I). Pretor-Pinney 7, Miss I. W ordsworth 6. The highest total for was 259 v. Sto»*kbridge Ladies’ C.C. There were also totals for the club of 170 for 9, 169 for 5, and 152. The highest against was 172 by Queen Anne’s School. T he lowest for was 8, v. B ishop’s School Juniors, who had an innings of 6 last season to avenge. T he lowest against was 2, by Salisbury School Juniors. One wonders what the Salisbury youngsters had to s^y about ladies’ cricket after this terrible experience ! G E O R G E L E W I N & Club Colour Specialists and Athletic Clothing Manufacturers. OUTFITTERS B Y APPOINTMENT TO The Royal Navy and Arm y, Cornwall, Kent, M iddlesex, Som erset and Surrey Counties, and London Scottish, Irish and Welsh, Blackheath, Harlequins. Rich­ m ond. Catford Rugby Football Clubs, and all the leading Clubs in the British Isles and abroad; M.C.C. S. African Tour, 1909, 8 . Afriran Cricket Association 1910. and Queen’s Club, Kensington, tho M.C.C. Australian Team 1911-12, and the Sooth African Association Cricket Team 1912. Established 1869. W rite for E stimatks . Telephone: P.O. 607 C IT Y Worlr* at Camberwell. 8 , C R O O K E D LANE , M O N U M E N T , E .C .