Cricket 1912

A p r i l 27, 1912. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 81 know— the brother of the ever-popular Rev. J. C., and consequently uncle o£ Frank, Reggie, and John Crawford. C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s , belated but sincere, to Mr. Eustace B. Shine, of Cambridge and Kent fame, on his recent marriage, and to the Rev. C. E. M. Wilson, of Uppingham and Cambridge, on a similar auspicious event. Mr. Wilson held— I believe he still holds— the record of having made more runs than any other blue in his four ’Varsity games. He scored 13 and 35 in 1895, 80 and 2 in 1896, 19 and 77 in 1897, 115 and 10 in 1898— total 351 in 8 innings. In 1893 he made 722 runs in 8 completed innings for Upping­ ham— average 90'25, which must surely be a school record. W i l f r e d R h o d e s is the only batsman who totalled four figures during the Australian first-class season of 1911-12. The feat is a rare one, owing to the comparatively small number of matches played. Clement Hill is the only man who has twice accomplished it, and the others who have done it are four Australians, four Englishmen (counting the Jam of Nawanagar as such), and two South Africans. From the Schools. P r i o r to 1880-1 no first-class season down under ran to more than five matches. Tom Horan’s 318 (aver­ age 35.37) in that season was the first aggregate of over 300. A year later, with an English team present, W. L. Murdoch totalled 679 (average 61.72). In 1886-7 Arthur Shrewsbury lifted the record to 722(average 48.06). Harry Moses, in 1887-8, raised it again, to 815 (average 62.69). N ot till seven years later was this passed ; then George Giffen (902) and Albert Ward (916) beat it. Three years after that came the earliest four-figure totals, three of them in one season. These, with the subsequent records are given here :— Not Highest Batsman. Season. Tnns. out. Runs. Aver. score. C. Hill ........................ 1K97-8 ... 19 ... 1 ... 1100 ... 00-44 ... 200 K. S. Ranjitsinhji ... 1S07-8 ... 22 ... 3 ... 1157 .. 60*80 ... 180 A. C. M acL aren............ 1807-8 ... 20 ... 1 ... 1037 ... 54*57 ... 142 C. Hill ........................ 1001-2 ... 20 ... 0 ... 1035 ... 51*75 ... 107 W. W. Armstrong ... 1007-S ... 10 ... 2 ... 1033 ... 73*78 ... 231 M. A. Noble ............ 1007-8 ... 10 ... 1 ... 1071 ... 59*50 ... 170 Hardstaff (J.) ............ 1007-8 ... 28 ... 2 ... 1300 ... 52*30 ... 13f V. T. Trumper ... W. Bardsley A. D. Nourse G. A. Faulkner ... Rhodes (W.) 1010-1 1010-1 1010-1 1010-1 1011-2 20 ... 2 10 ... 1 29 ... 5 27 ... 1 24 ... 4 * Signifies not out. 1240 1233 1454 1534 1098 G0*22 ... 214* 68-50 ... 191* 60-58 ... 201* 59-00 ... 204 54-00 ... 170 I t seems worth while to note the other totals exceeding 900, which do not greatly exceed in number the four- figure aggregates. In 1897-8 Joe Darling totalled 978. In 1901-2 A. C. MacLaren scored 929. In 1903-4 Trumper made 990, Noble 961, and Duff 938. In 1905-6 J. R. M. Mackay scored 901. In 1907-8 Kenneth Hutchings aggregated 953, and Rhodes 929. In 1910-1 Clem H ill’s total was 903. In the season lately ended Warwick Armstrong registered 954, and John Hobbs 943. A g g r e g a t e s of 800, but under 900, have been registered by Ransford (twice), the late J. T. Brown, R. E. Foster, Syd. Cregory, (Jeorge Gunn, Clem Hill, John Hobbs, Frank Iredale, MacLaren, R oy Minnett, A. E. Stoddart, and Trumper. T u r n e r , the Terror, is the only man who has taken 100 wickets in an Australian first-class season— 106 at 13'59 each in 1887-8. P rin cipal M a tch e s of N e xt W eek . April 29, 30, May 1.— Oval, Surrey Trial Match. „ 29, 30 ,, 1.— Cambridge, the University. Seniors’ Match. May 1, 2, 3.— Lord's, M.C.C. v. Nottinghamshire. ,, 2, 3, 4.—-Oval, Surrey v. Northamptonshire. ,, 2, 3, 4.— Cambridge, the University Freshmen’s Match. ,, 4.— Derby, Derbyshire v. South Africans (1st day). N o t e s A b o u t S o m e o p t h e 1911 ’V a r s i t y F r e s h m e n . Schoolboy form does not always work out correctly on Fenner’s or the Parks. Many a man who has gone tip with a big reputation has gone down eventually without winning his blue—sometimes without even making one appearance in his ’Varsity’s eleven. But by their form at school alone is it possible to judge the new blood at Oxford or Cambridge; and, after all, the man who is capable of making a lot of runs or taking a lot of wickets must have cricket in him, though his potentialities may not rise to first-class form. On the other hand, men with quite moderate records may turn out top-notchers; it depends so much upon the conditions under which they made those records, and of course, upon their ability to maintain progression. Both Universities appear to have a notable influx of new blood this year. More well-known public school men have gone up to Cambridge than to Oxford. On the other hand perhaps Oxford has the pull in the matter of quality, and as a cricket team only consists of eleven men this is what matters most. First and foremost, though he has not been mentioned by most of the writers of forecasts, one would put W. M. Brownlee, who, unless his plans have changed since a few months ago, is now up at Lincoln. In his case there is small need to resort to school figures for a guide. He has won his spurs for Gloucestershire. But it is worth while to point out that he was four seasons in the Clifton eleven (1906-9), and during that time scored 1139 runs, average over 21, without the help of a single really long score— 65 was his highest— and took 114 wickets at under 17 each. Though he depends a trifle too much on his swerve, there are great possibilities in Brownlee as a bowler, and he is already a really fine bat. G. R. R. Colman had only one season in the Eton eleven, but in that he headed the batting averages, and showed such form as puts him well in the running for a freshman’s blue. He has strokes all round the wicket, and makes them all well. D. J. Knight (Malvern), who has gone up earlier than was anticipated, was simply wonderful as a schoolboy batsman. Getting his colours unusually early, he had three years in the eleven, and can boast -—if he cares to boast, which is unlikely— of an average exceeding 40 over that period, with a highest score of 211 v. Mr. H. IC. Foster’s team last year. But the Malvern ground is notoriously easy, and if it were not for the number of splendid batsmen who have hailed from the school and the form Knight himself has shown when appearing for Surrey Second, one would feel inclined to discount this record heavily. As it is, he must be accepted as quite one of the likeliest candidates at Oxford. A. K. Hickman, of Clifton, had three seasons in the eleven there, but did little until last year, when he averaged 38 per innings. He is said to be very sound, and he played a great innings against, Rugby. B. Pawle (Haileybury) was in the school team from 1908 to 1911, scored 1052 runs with an average of over 25 during that period, and has played for Herts. He is a bowler, too, though rather an expensive one. F. M. (!. Hare (Hadley) averaged nearly 40 per innings in 1911 ; in 1910 he took his 23 wickets at under 12 each ; he is a fine field, and should go far. R. F. Popham (Repton) is painstaking rather than brilliant; so was Warren Bardsley in his early days, and, if one does not leave the development of hitting till too late, defence is a rare good foundation to erect one’s batting edifice upon. Popham averaged 26 with a highest score of only 42 in 1910 ; in 1911 he averaged 37, and his biggest score was just a hundred greater ; this looks like coming along. K. Lister-Kaye (Eton), who in his two seasons in the school eleven had 50 wickets at 18 each, and did much better last year than the year before, though the conditions could hardly have suited his left-hand medium stuff so well, may be heard of in the bowling line. There is talk, too, of .T. .T. Savage, a Rhodes scholar from Australia, as a fast, bowler. Cambridge has two men who have done wonders at two of 11 k ; smaller schools—A. J. Wood, of. Denstone,