Cricket 1913

CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u l y 26, 1918. South Shields (169 for 5— H. L ee 50*, H arry 39, B. Hall 32*) were only prevented by the clock from beatin g Durham C ity (176— F. E. Scott 56, J. Jameson 33). Harry (8 for 42) bowled very finely for Shields. T h e gam e attracted a b ig ga te, ow ing to the m iners’ demonstration in Durham . H endon (129 for 7, dec.— G. M etca lf 53*, W . Harrison 35) beat Seaham H arbour (105— Warner 37). G. D aw son had 5 for 22 for the w inners. T h is was W arner’ s benefit. Ph ilad elphia beat Boldon by 7 w ickets. T h e Boldon tetal was only 158 (J. Dow son 47*, J. J. Common 35); and before time Philadelphia had taken their score to 181 for 3 (R. H all 75*, H u rlin g 50*). Burnm oor were all out for 95 (W. B. Sharp 36) again st Wearmouth, who, after lo sin g 4 good w ickets for 15, totalled 158, J. F in ch (53*) and G. B. P arrin gton (35) b ein g m ainly responsible. Chester-le-Street and the much improved Whitburn side had a good figh t, the form er w in n ing by 30 runs. J. K. B ew ick (53) and F. M ellor (49) made a b ig proportion of their total of 192, as did James (53) and F. P. W hittaker (42) of W hitburn’ s 162. Sunderland and Wearmouth are now bracketed at the top of the table w ith 22 points each; but Chester-le-Street are on ly two behind, and, with B rad ­ ford back, should cause the leaders trouble. G eorge M ilne, the Benw ell H ill and Northumberland pro., took his benefit on Saturday, when the County Club visited Old B enw ell. It was a record one (4,000 specta­ tors), and M ilne deserved it all, for he is a tower of stren gth to his club. E xcept for G. D enham , the home side’s captain, who hit three 6’s and five 4’s in his 53*, though hampered by an in jured hand, and R. W. Burn (36), the H ill batsm en did little; but their total of 175 proved enough. M ilne and E. N icholls b egan the bow l­ in g, and the first w icket fell at o, the second at 1, the third at. 2, the fourth at 6, the fifth at 13, the sixth at 14, and the seventh at 49! G. L. H u nting was still there, how ­ ever, and the tail gave him such useful help that the fight at the finish grew desperate. H is 78 included three 6’ s, a 5, and nine 4’ s. He was out at 148, and though Stap le­ ton tried hard, the last w icket fell at 161, and the County C lub were beaten by 14 runs. St. G eo rge’ s, th ough not at full strength, easily defeated Old N ovocastrians, W ingham takin g 5 for 36 for them. T h e Old N ovos’ total was only 103. C. F. Stranger-L eathes had put them in, by the way; and St. G eo rge’s, thanks to J. S. N esbit (61), W. W. Meldon (31), N. R. E. W ilkinson (30*), W in gh am (28), and Stranger-L eathes (18), ran up 18® for 4. Hubert B rooks, the Sunderland captain, of whom an excellen t portrait (by Mr. A . H ackett, of New castle-on- Tyne) appears herew ith, was. born in A ugust, 1886, at D arlin gton , and is elder brother of C ecil B rooks, o f whom a portrait was giv en late last year. He was educated at G rosvenor House School, Scarborough, and made several centuries whilst there, his highest being 152. In 1902 and 1903, he played for Sunderland I I., but was promoted to the first X I. in 1904. T h e coaching of F red B u tler, the old Notts man, was o f great benefit to him. D urin g his first few seasons he did not u su ally go in first for the c lu b ; but since 1907 he has alw ays done so, and he is regarded as an ideal first w icket b atsm an ; sound, cool, and u nflur­ ried. He has m ade many ru n s ; but those who have seen most of him reckon him at higher valu e than his figures m ight indicate. Since his low est average for Sunderland has been 22 and his highest 55, this to say a great deal. U p to the end o f 1912 he had batted 140 tim es for Sunder­ land (first X I.), w ith 20 not outs, and had totalled 3,757 runs— average 3 1 . 30 . F rom IQ 04 to 1908 his average ranged from 22 to 28.90; in 1909 he to talled 596, and averaged 33.11; in ig io his total was 772 (only E. W. E llio tt, now in South Am erica, has ever m ade more runs in a season for Sunderland than this), and his average 55.14; in ig n he made 550 and averaged 39.28. In three seasons (1909 to 1911) he topped the batting table, and he has never been low er than fifth. T hough not a heavy w icket-taker, he is a more than u seful change bowler, h avin g cultivated the go og ly w ith considerable success, and is alw ays a lik e ly man to break up a lo n g partner­ ship. T h is is his first season as captain, and he has under him one of the youngest— and also one of the most usefu l— teams Sunderland ever possessed. H ubert Brooics is quiet and retiring in d isp ositio n ; but this fact does not tell against his popularity. T h e sterlin g worth of the quiet man may w in later recognition than that of the self-assertive advertiser— but it w ears better. Mr. HUBERT BROOKS. (Sunderland and Durham County.) B rooks first appeared for the county in igo6. U p to the end of igi2 (he was unable to turn out in 1909) he had played 54 innings (4 not out) for 878 runs, average 17.56- T h is record scarcely does him justice. H is 45 v. G lam or­ gan in 1906 gave early evidence of his real a b ility ; but probably his best perform ance was v. Staffordshire at W earm outh in 1910. In the first innings he made 22 out of 45 against B arnes and D a y e s ; in the second he scored 77 (the highest of the county), and he and T u rn b u ll added 131 f 'ir the second wicket. Partnerships o f three figures against B arnes are rare enough to be worth very special note.