Cricket 1913

190 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME M ay 17, 1913. in clu d ed also E . A . H a lliw e ll,.F ra n k H earn e, the h a rd ­ h ittin g T . A . R o u tled ge, the la te “ D on ” D a v e y , C . M ills (now o f H eath field ), and other good men. T h e team ’ s doin gs seem to have been forgotten b y all but the fe w enthusiasts. T h e y w ere not great, on the w hole, th ough qu ite good enough to render th e classin g their m atches as second-rate a distin ct injustice. B u t i f the team d id not do grea tly, S ew ell did. H is cap tain sent him in N o . 7 to start w ith, but his p la ce in th e b a ttin g list rose a fte r scores o f 30 and 46 in h is first tw o m atches, and before long h e was alw ays in first w icket down. A sp len d id innin gs o f 170 v. Som erset at T au n ton w as h is first re a lly b ig score. H e w a s highest scorer (52) in th e second innings v. Sussex, and again (47) in th e first v. W a rw ick sh ire; he m ade 79 v. G lasgow and D istrict, at D u b lin ; 128 and 24* v. D e rb y ­ shire, and in the n ext m atch 73 and 5 3* v. G entlemen o f Irelan d a t D u b lin . H e w as th e o n ly m an who to talled over 1000 runs d u rin g th e tour, and his average o f 30.52 w as more than fo u r runs ahead o f th at o f R o u tled ge, who cam e second. H is field in g earned him h igh praise, too. H is profession , th at o f th e law , h as prevented th e old M aritzb u rg C o lle g e boy from bein g a regu lar p la yer in first-class cricket since then, and o n ly in seven seasons has h e h a d more th an 10 innings in b ig matches. In 1895 he was very disap p oin tin g, though he show ed1 some o f his true form in m ak in g 50 v. Y o rk sh ire at C h elten h am ; but in th e fo llo w in g season he met w ith a good deal o f success. H is biggest innings o f th e cam p aign— 104 v. N o tts at B risto l— w as a b rillian t one, la stin g o n ly 90 m inutes, and just before th at he had scored 88 and 24* v. M idd lesex at Cheltenham . B u t his most rem arkable perform ance in 1896 was his 79 fo r the South v. Y o rk sh ire at S ca r­ borough. T h e total w as o n ly 16 1— 150 from the bat. T h e w icket w as difficult, bu t th e G loucestershire man p la yed great fo rcin g cricket. H e h ad o n ly tw o partners, though h is score w as p ra ctica lly h a lf th e total, and the second o f the tw o, P e rcy P errin , p la yed though the rest o f the innings fo r 36. T h e death o f his fath er took him back to South A fr ic a in 1897, and he w as absent from E n g lish fields during th e w h ole season. B u t in 1898 he p la ye d regu larly, and to ta lled over a thousand runs, w ith an average o f 33.75. T o h is credit fe ll th e first cen tu ry o f the season in big m atches, a rea lly b rillian t i n fo r M .C .C . v. Lan cash ire a t L o rd ’s. T h a t season w as one o f th e best G loucester­ shire ever h ad , and S ew ell was n o sm all contributor to th e success o f his side. O n e o f a sp len d id array o f off­ side fieldsm en, h e w as also one o f the five men who averaged over 30 fo r the cou nty th at year, and one o f th e six w ho m ade centuries. Against N otts, at B ristol, the side scored 634. T ro u p , S ew ell, and Charles T ow n sen d all passed th e hundred, and S ew e ll’ s 108 were m ade in less than tw o hours o f 162 put on w ith T ro u p for the th ird w icket. A t G ravesend v. K e n t, m akin g 67, he shared in a p artn ersh ip o f 121 fo r the th ird w icket w ith W . G . A t E d gb aston heand C h arles T ow n sen d added 161 fo r the th ird w icket in 2 hrs. 10 m in s., S ew e ll’s share bein g 73. I n the return m atch w ith W arw ickshire at Cheltenham he m ade 7 1, the highest and best innings p la ye d fo r his side. B u t h is greatest perform ance was again v. Y orksh ire, though th is time fo r h is county. G loucestershire had a b a d m atch at Sheffield. T h e y a llow ed Y o rk sh ire to score fa r too m any runs on a so ft w ic k e t; then R hodes, w ith h e lp from H a ig h and W ain - w/right, caused them to fo llo w on in a m inority o f 139. T h e y w ere beaten b y an innings and 12. Sew ell w ent in first, kept on gettin g th e b a ll in the m id dle o f his bat, watched man after man o f his com rades flounder and poke or slog and get out, and p la ye d right through fo r 88— total 12 7, next highest score 11 ! A n d Jessop, T ow n sen d, T ro u p , C ham pain, B row n, H em in gw ay, YVrathall, and B oard w ere among th e rest. In th e autumn o f th at y e ar h e visited Am erica w ith a team cap tain ed by P elh am W arn er, and h it u p 122 v. Ontario, h e and F ra n k M itchell ad d in g 225 fo r the third wicket. H e never p la yed regu larly fo r his county in any season between 1898 and 19 12 , ten m atches in 1901 b ein g his highest number. B u t his occasional appearances, chiefly in A u gu st, were not b y any means negligible. A certain “ C . L . Lew es ” p la ye d fo r M .C .C . v. Y o rksh ire in 1900 at L o rd ’s, and m ade an excellen t 87 in the second innings. A n y who fe e l doubts as to the identity o f this gentlem an m ay turn to W isd en o f 190 1, p. 277. In 21 innings du rin g the season 1901 S ew ell made double figures 16 tim es, and w a s on ly on ce out fo r a “ duck ” ; but he o n ly once top p ed 50. T h is w as at the O v a l, when h e scored 70, and h e and W rath a ll p u t u p 117 fo r the first w icket in G loucestershire’s second innings. D o in g little in 1902, he w as in better fo rm in 1903, and in successive m atches in A u g u st m ade 63 and 29* v. Sussex, and 47 and 39 v. M id d lesex at B risto l, the last innings a long w a y the highest contribution to a total o f 101 against Bosanquet and W ells on a queer pitch. In half-a-dozen matches in 1904 h is best d isp la y s w ere a fine 87 v. Sussex at B ristol (in n o m inutes), and a still better 68* v. W orcestershire on th e same ground, m ade in 90 m inutes upon a p itch which h elp ed K e e n e ’s left-han d slows. S ew e ll’s score was more than h a lf th e total (13 1), and he h ad a lot to d o w ith h is sid e ’s victory. H e w as a conspicuous figure in three o f th e western cou n ty’s w in s in 1905, to o ; and again h e demonstrated his genius fo r stayin g and scoring w ell w hile others fa ile d in the Sussex match at B ristol, w hen h e m ad e 1 1 4 * in tw o and a -h a lf hours, the to tal bein g 18 1, and1 the next highest score 12. W ith in eight d a y s he regis­ tered another b rillia n t cen tu ry, 130 v. L an cash ire at B ristol, scored at something a trifle better th an a run per m inute rate, eighteen 4 ’s in cluded. H is 65 w as the highest score o f the G loucestershire v. M id d lesex gam e at Cheltenham . P la y in g in on ly five matches, all in A u gu st, in 1906. he had n ine innings, and w as o n ly once ou t under 20, never under double figures. H is scores in order were :— 71 and 29 v. M iddlesex (B ristol), 21 and 14 v. Essex (B ristol), 107 v. W orcestershire (Cheltenham ), 24 and 20 v. Y o rksh ire (B ristol), and 87 and 36 v. W orcestershire (W orcester). H e w as highest scorer in each innings v. M iddlesex, p la yin g m asterly crick et on a slow p itc h ; on ly Jessop m ade more runs than he fo r the side in the E ssex game. H e and C h arles T ow n sen d put on 252 fo r the third w icket in tw o hours at Cheltenham , both hittin g out in great s ty le ; and at W orcester h e ga ve fu rth er p roof o f his relish o f the neighbouring co u n ty ’s bow ling. B etw een 1906 and 1912 he o n ly turned o u t fo r three games, p la yin g again st the A u stralian s at B risto l in 1909. and in tw o o f the Cheltenham m atches o f 19 10 . A gain st K en t then he was highest scorer in each in nin gs on a rain-spoiled pitch, w ith 42 and 62, and again st Surrey, m akin g 46, he shared with Jessop a partnership o f 144, fo r once bein g le ft quite behind in the scoring, a thing which seldom happens to C . O. H . Sew ell. L a s t year he p la y e d in every match fo r th e county,