Cricket 1913

June 28, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 337 W a r w ic k s h ir e ’ s i6 v. K ent was just one o f those accidents which w ill happen now and again. A queer pitch, bowlers whom it exactly suits, bad batting by some men and bad luck for most, and you get a score which does not reach the score. It looks worse when, as hap­ pened at Tonbridge, the other side goes in again and makes runs with seeming ease; but a bad pitch at one o’clock may be quite a decent one at three. And Foster had neither a Blythe nor a Woolley to call upon. In modern first-class cricket, i.e., since i860, there have been six smaller totals than Warwickshire’s, three equal­ ling it, two o f 17 , three o f 18, and three o f 19. Oxford v. M .C .C . (12— one man absent) was record for that period; Northants had the unwished-for distinction of equalling it and taking the County Championship record (12); Notts has a 13, Northants (one man absent) a 15. Fifteen (by Victoria) is the Australian record. The real lirst-class record is 6. K ent v. the Bexley Club in 1805 may be ruled out, if you w ill; but The B ’s (with J. Lawrell and John Wells) v. England in 1810 was cer­ tainly a first-class game. T h e hoped-for increase in the amateur element in county sides has not yet been in evidence, except in the case o f Essex. Mr. A . F . Somerset calls my attention to the fact that in one week recently eleven first-class coun­ ties played only 27 amateurs among them— Derbyshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, and Sussex four each, Leicester­ shire and Surrey three each, Lancashire and Northants two each, K ent and Yorkshire one each, Notts none at all. I s a w a most interesting relic the other day at Bridge House, Crookham, Hants, the residence o f Mr. Claude S. Buckingham , an old E lstree and Harrow boy. Mr. Buckingham has done much for local cricket, and his efforts seem to be appreciated. The house in which David Harris, the famous bowler o f old Hambledon, formerly lived at Crookham was being pulled down ; and it occurred to someone in the village who knew Mr. Buckingham ’s keen interest in the hero o f bygone days (that gentleman W'rote a monograph on Harris for a local paper, and this has been reprinted in pamphlet form for private circula­ tion only— a veritable treasure fo r collectors) that the demolition presented an opportunity for recognising the good work done in cricket’s cause by him. O u t o f the oak panelling o f D avid H arris’s house a clock case was constructed, and the clock was presented to Mr. Buckingham with a special address o f thanks for all that he had done to further Crookham cricket. A more essentially graceful testimonial I cannot recall, and I can guess how much the recipient must value it. T h e jubilee o f the Hampshire Cricket Club (formed in 1863) was celebrated by a banquet at Southampton on Tuesday, the 17th inst. Lord Harris was among the guests, and in proposing “ Success to the Hampshire County Cricket Club ” made a very interesting speech. “ There was nothing the matter with cricket,” he said. “ The game was still as fu ll o f attractiveness and sport­ ing principles as ever it w as.” I n reply the chairman (Mr. J. C . Moberley, the club’s President) remarked that there were two members o f the original Hampshire X I. present— Mr. Orlando Spencer Smith and D r. H . Maturin. The latter still plays, and on the Saturday before had taken 3 wickets for 20. D r . M a t u r in is more than six years W . G .’s senior, and beside him Lord H awke, Lord Harris, M r. A . F . Somerset, George Heam e, and other still active veterans are quite young men. B u t the original Hampshire X I. was not the ’63 one. County club or no county club, Hampshire dates back as a representative side nearly 150 years. Hampshire met K ent, Surrey, and even England before the nineteenth century began. The present county club, it may be worth while to note, very nearly lapsed entirely in 1879, playing no match that season. M o r t o n ’ s strain is rare hard luck for Derbyshire. The player named has not done very much this season as y e t ; but, with the possible exception o f Cadman, he is the best all-round man on the side, and to be deprived o f his services for several weeks is no slight misfortune. He was bowling to Frank M itchell in the nets at L ord’s when the accident happened. In a general w'ay I am not interested in the “ spectacle list.” “ T o every man upon this earth Death cometh, soon or la te .” And to nearly every cricketer soon or late comes the horrible sensation o f walking back to the pavilion with his second blob o f the match fresh on the score-sheet. B u t Mr. E . I,. K id d ’s o and o v. Yorkshire ought to have mention. Why ? Because it is an instance of what may happen to a really fine batsman at the top o f his form. Prior to this game the old Wellingtonian had made 95, 8, 123, 50 not out, 55, 11, 24, and 144 in suc­ cessive innings. For Cambridge v. Yorkshire he scored 173 for once o u t; for M iddlesex v. Yorkshire o and o ! When he faces the Yorkshire bowling again no one need be surprised i f he makes two hundred, or two hundreds; he is good enough. T h e thousand runs scorers to date a r e :— 1, Mead (C. P .), June 14. 2, Q uaife (W. G .), June 24. “ C r ic k e t at Trent Bridge is being reduced to a farce,” says an outspoken correspondent. “ In both the Yorkshire and Lancashire matches the Notts innings were not cricket. The regular bowlers were rested, and anybody w'ho liked sent down rubbish. In one case George Gunn, in the other John Gunn, got a century, which ought not to rank in the records. I call it clown cricket.” T h is may be too strong. But I don’t mind owning that I have no relish for play which is only continued to amuse the crowd. I f that must be done, let the match proper be declared at an end, and an exhibition game be started. B y the way, the Australians are said to have made 294 in an hour in such a game at Prince Albert. I f they were properly clocked, this must be something very like a record. But if only the “ cub reporter ” clocked them, the hour might have been one o f anything from 61 to 119 minutes ! T h e Cambridge captain has given G. B. Davies (Rossall) and B. S. Cumberlege (Durham) their blues.