Cricket 1913

408 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u l y 12, 1913. Cricket Chirps. (B y E . H . D . S e w e ll.) There w as nothing very rem arkable about the cricket ot last w eek, and probaDlv tne best match w as at Worcester, where M iddlesex set their opponents 432. Until the fourth w icket iell the task looked like being accom plished; but atter that M iddlesex ough t to have won. But didn't. “ J. \V.” had a go od matcn, as did Hendren. A t B lackheath rain on Friday nigh t made K e n t’s prob­ able victory certain, lor alter rain has (alien -K en t's 10 w ickets are better than any other 10 in the country, so long as B lythe and Woolley are in health. W oolley had a great match, his first innings of 177 being the real stumbling-block between Surrey and victory. W itnout it the paper chance is that Surrey would have g o t over the B lackheath “ bo gey,” as they bagged all the rest for a very moderate score. K u sh b y’s loss of form— he is not a rouust individual— is doing su rrey no good. Probably J. H . Naum ann, R . B. Lagd en , and T . r . F. Cam pbell in the team w ith a brace of other am ateurs, who m ust be nameless at present, would w ork wonders. It is a rare thing to see a K ent v. Surrey score w ithout B lythe h avin g b agged H a y w a rd ; but I wonder how often he has been cau gh t or stumped Huish. H itch had a bad m atch ; and K irk is nothing like the bow ler he w as. T hey don’t g e t m any runs off him— and they never will-— but he has lost or is last losing that ball. Gloucester and W arw ick had a level-pegging sort of a g am e up to a point, and that w a s when i arsons and B aker settled the matter in W a rw ick ’s first innings. When 1 saw Parsons at the O val he looked like a real run-getter, pro­ vided he w ould but hit the hittable ball. He w as then play­ in g as gently a s a little g ir l taps, a toy balloon. A fellow ot his inches and straight blade is bound to get heaps of runs on hard w ick ets it he only uses the muscles Providence has endowed him w ith. Dennett had a poor match ; but the bow lin g of Jeeves contributed considerably to his side’s victory. E ssex have won a m atch, D ou glas h aving at last achieved an a n a ly sis; but even so they would not have g o t home without the batting of Freem an, Buckenham , and Louden. That w as the m atch-w inning factor. T o have Perrin, Fane, G rinter, Russell, and D ou glas silenced for 28 runs on a plumb ’un is a big leew ay to m ake up. T he altogether extraordinary share N. J. H ollow ay has in the Sussex bowl­ in g must of course be capable of explanation*; but, on paper, it is weird, to say the least of it. He g e ts 6 for 104 in 32 overs first knock— a fine analysis— and does not bowl in the second innings ! At the O val he w a s in somewhat sim ilar case, g e ttin g four coves ou t— to w it, H ayw ard, Hobbs, H ayes, and G oatly— in 31 overs for 79 runs, whereas Vincett sent up 31 overs of curious stuff for 105 runs and no cove’s w icket. Possibly Chaplin had read in— I w o n ’t g iv e the scribe a w a y !— that “ H ollow ay bowled very well until the top had worn off the pitch, after which he w as harm less ” (italics mine), and declined to risk a harm less bowler at Leyton once the top w as off i t ! T h is glorious bloomer— the record one of the season so far— is almost as good as that one in 1909, which, in describ­ in g the prelim inary practice of the Australians at L o rd ’s, said (of O ’Connor, I believe) “ he can make the ball break several inches either w a y even on a rough practice w icket! ” H ollow ay's uselessness after the top has been knocked off the pitch is rendered even more am using by the fact that he w as beating his men in the air at the O val, whether the * It is ! Holloway strained his bow ling arm. Chaplin knows som ething, if he does keep Vincett on too long !— E d it o r . pitch had a top or not m attering nothing as regards that particular bit of bowling. I see that Lancashire m anaged to exact first innings’ point from their “ dear friends ” of Northants at Old frafford. A s Lancashire have won the toss most times this year, and very shrewdly farmed first in n in gs’ points by punching a big score and riskin g nothing for the rest of the three days— one advan tage (!) of the existing silly method of scoring in the Championship— perhaps they are not now such “ dear friends ” ! But it is sure to take more than a few paltry points to sever such eternal bonds. Especially as at the moment the Cham pions of the Masses at C ricket are 8.33 in front of Lancashire in the w eekly table. 1 hope the Masses appreciate the arithmetical ad va n ta ge! It is quite likely that now’ Alletson is doin g some bowling he w ill g e t all the more runs. T here are some men (Hirst for one) who thrive on w ork and bat better the more they howl. W ith his muscles loosened by a few overs, Alletson is much more likely to clout sixers than, g o in g stiff to the wicket, he is if he tries to “ play himself in ” ! + T h e con­ tinued absence of “ Jonah ” is much regretted by everybody. H. P.=T.’ s Two Division Scheme. The following tables show what would have been the results up to July 5, had this heme, which has been explained in previous issues, teen in force. UPPER DIVISION. Kent Middlesex .\otts Surrey Yorkshire Northants War .vickshire Lancashire Hants Susssx ................ Worcestershire ... Leicestershire ... Essex Somerset Gloucestershire ... Derb} shire Staffordshire Norfolk ... P. w. D. L. P. s. 7 • • 5 • 1 . . 1 • 4 6 .. . 4 . 2 .. 0 ..• 4 7 • • 3 •• 3 • 1 .. 2 9 •• 3 • 3 .. 3 •.. 0 (> .. 1 4 1 .. 0 7 • 2 • 3 2 0 8 • 3 • 1 4 • 1 9 • 1 .. 4 4 . ■• 3 7 • ION. 0 1 6 .. 6 4 ,. 2 1 1 1 3 •.. 2 ... 0 . 1 1 3 •.. 2 ... 0 . 1 1 2 .. 1 .. 0 . 1 0 3 • 1 1 1 0 3 •.. 0 .... 2 1 1 4 • 1 ..—O • 3 •.. 2 Z ' 1 I Z ' • z ; Matches between eojntksin different Divisloi.s, which would te expunged from W. D. L. W. D. L. Yorkshire............... 9 0 0 Gloucestershire ■ 3 1 4 Kent ............... 5 0 1 Hants 1 1 Surrey 3 1 0 Derbyshire ... 2 0 3 Northants ... 4 0 1 Sussex 2 2 4 Lancashire 3 2 1 Worcestershire 1 2 3 Notts ............... 2 1 1 Somerset ... .. 0 0 3 Warwickshire 2 2 1 Essex ... 0 3 5 M iddlesex............... 1 2 1 Leicestershire ... 0 1 8 (Thes *figures would anect only the placing of any county qualified for translation to the other Di.ision.) Answers to Correspondents. M arcon i. — Dr. W. G. Grace is the only man who has ever averaged over 50 per season in first-class cricket for each of six successive years— 56*81 ; 57-39 ; 54-78 ; 78-25 ; 57-11 ; 73-66 ; and 52-00 from 1868 to 1874 inclusive. But if you mean an average of 50 or more for a period of six successive seasons, disre­ garding the fact th at the average may have fallen below that figure in one or more seasons, there are the following instances :— Seasons. Comp. I. Runs. Aver. K. S. Ranjitsinhji ... 1899-190420613,799 66-9 C. B. Fry ... ... 1900-1905 237 15.405 65-0 Abel (R.) ......................................... 1896-190129714,956 5°'3 | There is another advantage worth considering. Allet^on can bow l. — E d it o r . Printed and published for the Proprietors by C r ic k e t & S p o rts P u b lis h e r s , L td .. 25. White Street. Moor Lane, London, E.C., July 12th, 1513. 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