Cricket 1913

214 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 24, 19 13. 66 v. D erb ysh ire at D e rb y w as to p score in the first innings. H e h ad now been promoted to a regular place as first man in, and three times du rin g th e season he had partn erships o f over i o o w ith A . C . Johnston— i n fo i the first and 137 fo r the second w icket in the tw o innings v. N ortham ptonshire at Southam pton, when his own scores w ere 63 and 60, and 108 fo r the first v. W orcestershire at S tou rb ridge, when he m ade 50. H e also scored w ell v. W orcestershire at Portsm outh, m akin g 71 in the second, innings, when he and Captain. E . I. M . B arrett added h i together, and v. Leicestershire at Southam pton (51), he and A . C . Johnston sending up 84 before a w icket fe ll. H e was am ong the thousand-runs scorers fo r the first tim e in 1907, when his best form w as shown v. M id d le ­ sex. H e m ade 69 and 108 not out at L o rd ’ s, the century a very finely hit innings, and 78 and 20 at Southampton. Am ong his other good scores w ere 86 v. Leicestershire at Southam pton, 74 v. G loucestershire, and 66 v. Y orksh ire, both at B ournem outh, and 68 v. Sussex at Portsm outh. T h is season he several tim es partnered P h ilip M ead in good stands. T h e tw o pu t on 160 fo r th e third w icket v. Sussex at Portsm outh, 113 fo r the first v. M iddlesex at L o rd ’ s, 109 fo r the first v. Y o rk sh ire and 91 fo r the first v. G loucestershire at Bournem outh. A g a in st M id d le ­ sex at Southam pton B ow ell and A . J. L . Hi ll added 111 in less than an hour. T h e season o f 1908 saw him m ake a b ig stride fo r ­ w ard . T h re e centuries were credited to him . T h e first w as 156 v. Som erset at B ath , when he had some lu ck, bein g tw ice m issed w h ile scorin g his first 13 ru n s; he batted a trifle over three hours fo r this, m ade a b ig on- drive fo r 6 a n d h it tw en ty-tw o 4 ’ s ; and it is w orth y o f note th a t Lion el P a la ire t’s 77 w as the o n ly other score in the m atch o f over 30. A little later h e hit up 160 v. the G en tlem en -of P h ila d e lp h ia at Southam pton. H e was let off three tim es, but th e innin gs w as a good one, al’ deductions m ade, and was m arked b y some very robust drivin g. H is 101 n o to u t v. W orcestershire at Southam p­ ton at th e end o f J u ly w as the c h ie f facto r in averting defeat fo r his side. In A u g u st he p la yed innings o f 50 or over in five successive matches— 51 v . D erbyshire at D e rb y , 57 v. K e n t at C an terb u ry, 65 v. Somerset at Southam pton, 64 v. N orthants at N ortham pton, and 87 v. G loucestershire at C heltenham , when he and M ead added 176 fo r the second w icket. H is 57 at C an terbury was th e h igh est in d ivid u al score fo r H an ts in a match w h :ch perhaps d id more than a n yth in g else to m ake the cou n tv’ s reputation for real sp orting, iro-for-the-gloves crick et, the fam ous on e-w 'cket victory over K e n t, to w it. T h ere was some fallin g-o ff in his figures in 1909 ; bu! th at was a wet season, and. though he is no duffer on a queer pitch, B ow ell, lik e most other batsmen, prefers the w icket dry and fast. H e p layed an adm irable inn­ ings o f 149 ( 3 ! hours, one 5, tw en ty-tw o 4 ’ s, a partner­ sh ip o f 156 fo r th e first w icket w ith M ead) v. Somerset at S ou tham p ton ; and his b rillian t hittin g fo r 117 not out in conjunction w ith L lew e lly n (the p air p u t on 199 in tw o hours) helped his side to w in a grea t victo ry over W o r­ cestershire on th e same ground. T h e innings was declared , and th e last W orcestershire w icket w as low ered o n ly six m inutes before tim e. H is best scores apart from these tw o were 70 v. G loucestershire at B ristol. 60 not out v. Leicestershire at L eicester, 58 v. Sussex at Southam p­ ton, and 52 v . Somerset at B ath . In 19 10 he fe ll fa r below his form o f the last few seasons, and on ly three tim es reached th e 50 mark— 74 v. G loucestershire at Southam pton, and 50 and 53 v . L a n ­ cashire at M anchester, when in th e second innings h e and M ead added 118 together. B u t o f 19 11 a fa r differen t story h a s to be told. A ga in and again he scored w ell on the fa s t w ickets o f that truly glorious summer. In th e th ird H am p sh ire game o f the season he m ade 65 and 85,, and had partnerships o f 126 w ith B row n in the firs't innings, and 194 w ith C . B. F ry in the second. D ire ctly afterw ard s he m ade 62 and 61 v. K en t at Southampton, h e and C . B . F r y ad d in g 129 together in the second innings. A score o f 51 v. Surrey at the O val w as fo llo w ed b y a fine century v. G loucester­ shire at B ristol— 118 in 2 | hours, no chance, nineteen 4 ’ s, and some exceptionally clean cutting. A good double show (43 and 47) v. Leicestershire at Portsm outh was f o l­ lowed by com parative fa ilu re in the next, half-dozen matches or s o ; but then he got fa ir ly go in g again w ith 50 v. W orcestershire at Southampton (155 fo r th e first wicket w ith C . B . F r y in 2 hoursi), 29 and 57 v . W arw ickshire at Southampton, 40 and 34 v. Sussex a t Portsmouth, 45 and 19 v. K e n t at C an terbu ry, 33 v. G loucestershire at Southam pton, and 146 v. Sussex at H o ve— all in suc­ cessive matches. F o r the last-m entioned score, p racti­ c a lly fau ltless, he batted 3 ! hours. A gain st M iddlesex at I.o rd ’s h e was top scorer (level w ith M ead in the first) in each innings, 51 and 67 b ein g his contributions. H is aggregate and average this season w ere th e best he has ever yet made. L a st season he w as rather disappoin tin g. In his first 16 innings he m ade double figures 12 times, but never got beyond 35. One o f his best, perform ances w as his 76 v. M iddlesex at Portsm outh, when he was top scorer in the innings and the match. H e also m ade a re a lly fine 82 v. Leicestershire at Southam pton, when he and M ead put on 109 fo r the second w icket, and 63 v. Sussex at E a st­ bourne. B u t his average was o n ly a little over 18, which for a batsman o f his cap a city must be reckoned a poor result. F o r B ow ell is rea lly a very able batsm an indeed. H e has an excellent p air o f w rists, and cuts fin e ly ; he drives w ith grea t pow er and certain ty. H e is, too, a cap ital field at cover-poinit. A s a bow ler he show ed some promise at one tim e; but at best his fa s t medium stuff can on ly be described as m oderate change bow lin g. H is figures fo r each season are as under :— Season. Inns. N.0. R. A. H.S. Season. Inns. N.o. R. A, H.S. 1902 9 0 157 r 7 '4 4 44 1908 45 3 1250 29-76 160 1903 27 2 3 73 14-92 61 I909 38 2 882 24-50 149 1904 29 1 628 22-42 95 19IO 35 1 5 7 ° 16-76 74 1 9 0 5 3 9 0 883 22-64 101 I91I 47 0 I418 30-17 146 1906 37 2 7 74 22-11 74 I9I-2 4 ° 3 683 * 8 -4 5 82 1907 46 1 1046 23-24 108* Totals 392 15 8664 22-98 160 H is centuries to date a r e :— 101 Hants v. Derbyshire, Southampton, 1905. 108* Hants v. Middlesex, Lord’s, 1907. 156 Hants v. Somerset, Bath, 1908. 160 Hants v. Gent, of Philadelphia, Southampton, 1908. 101* Hants v. Worcestershire, Southampton, 1908. 149 Hants v. Somerset, Southampton, 1909. 117* Hants v. Worcestershire, Southampton, 1909. 118 Hants v. Gloucestershire, Bristol, 1911. 146 Hants v. Sussex, Hove, 1911. 103 Hants v. Derbyshire, Southampton, 1913. J. N. P. C r ic k e t S e cr eta ries should obtain Mr. A. W . Somerset’s Unique Score Book, 150 openings, Records and Curiosities 5s.— A. J. Gaston, “ Argus ” Office, Brighton. For S ale: Cricket Annuals, over 2,co o Books on Cricket, Cricket Prints A Engravings. A. J. Gaston,/* Argus " Office, Brighton.