Cricket 1913

CR ICKE T : A WEEK LY RECORD OF THE GAME. August 23, 1913. rank officially as first-class ; but th at point was not settled till after it was p layed , and in the summ ary given later I have in clu d ed it. T h e W est Ind ian s were first-class in 19 0 6 ; why not in 1900 ? H is other ap p earan ces th at year w ere v. Oxford U n iversity, M .C .C ., and L o n d o n C o u n ty at the C rystal P a la ce ; but in n on e o f them did he do anyth in g very noteworthy. In 19 0 1, his first regular season in the team , he accom p lish ed rea lly excellen t all-round work. In both m atches v. L eicestersh ire he was seen to sp ecial advantage. A t W orcester he m ade his first century in big cricket, 108, he and B ow ley pu ttin g up 147 for the first w ic k e t; at L e iceste r his con tribution to a b ig total o f 561 was 83, he and W . W . L ow e ad d in g 169 togeth er in 90 m inutes. A t B risto l, v. G lou cestersh ire, he sco red 90, an d shared in a partnership o f 14 1 with A rn o ld . Am o n g his bow lin g a n alyses were 6 for i\ 2 v. L a n ca sh ire at W orcester, 5 for 48 v. D erb ysh ire a t 1 )erby, 5 for 50 v. K e n t at M aidstone, and s for 56 v. Surrey at W orcester. A lto geth er, with a total o f 945 runs and a lak e o f 51 w ickets, he had done rare good work b y the tim e the season end ed for a youngster o f under 21. B u t in 1902 h e fell aw ay, and in 1903 his form seem ed to have deteriorated so m uch th at he lo ok ed in dan ger of b ein g dropped altogether. H e scored a cou p le o f 50’s in the earlier season^ but in the later one his highest score d id not reach 40, and he on ly p layed in 8 m atches. In n either year did his bow ling meet with su ccess ; in 1903, indeed he failed to take a w icket. T h o se two were b a d seasons for a you n g player. During them th ere was much rain from tim e to tim e ; and tran sition s from fast to slow and from slow to fast w ickets, such as are in evitab le during a cam p aign o f this type, try hard fiian y a m ore exp erien ced p layer than was F red P earson in those days. H e d id very m u ch better in 1904. E arly in Ju n e he was top scorer— 69 and 3 7— in each in n in gs v. K e n t at M aidstone. Jam es Seym our, with a cou p le o f centuries, to p p ed the score each tim e for K en t. P earso n ’s was a less m arked tr iu m p h ; but his siiccess when others failed h elped to estab lish his reputation , and he has been a regu lar m em ber o f the team ever since. In Ju ly he scored 106 in a cou p le o f hours v. H an ts at W orcester, and he finished up with a total n ot far short o f 900. In 1905 he reach ed four figures for the first time, th ou gh his th ousandth run was scored after the C ou n ty S eason ended, for a scratch eleven again st the A u stralian s at B ou rn em ou th. A fine d o u b le o f 49 (top score) a n d 86 v. L a n cash ire at W orcester in June redeem ed a rather m oderate start ; in m aking 86 v. H a n ts at Bournem outh he h ejp ed B ow ley (64) to send up the first 100 in less than an hour, and the w inn ing h it w as m ade in the last over with '5 w ickets down after W orcestershire had go n e in, again st a declaration , to m ake 277 in 145 m inutes ; when he m ade his 104 v. K e n t at W orcestershire h e and H . K . F oster a d d ed 18 7 in a cou p le o f hours, p avin g the way for R . E .’s m agn ificent 246 n ot o a t ; again st Surrey he made 95 in 2^ hours, a n d he and B ow ley sent up three figures in 75 m inutes w ithout a w icket down. H e d id not reach the th ou sand in 1906, when his highest score w as 105 n ot ou t v. Som erset at Taunton, m ade in 115 m inutes w ithout a ch an ce— the fifth century of a gam e in w h ich r 3 7 i runs were registered. B u t a m ore really n otable innin gs was his 83 (in a total o f 218 with 32 by Burrow s next h igh est score) v. S urrey in his first m atch o f the season. H is 18 w ickets th is year cost oyer 50 runs each. In 1907 he again fell short o f four figures, but had a higher average than ever before or since. In successive m atches (though ten days d ivid ed them ) he played innings o f 100 n ot out v. W arw ickshire at B irm ingham and 139 (3^ hours, th ree 6’s, twelve 4 ’s) v. Sussex at W orcester. A g a in st his native County at the O v al he sh ow ed fine a ll­ round cric k e t: 29 (run out), 8 for 42 (5 for 26 in the last h a lf hour o f the first day after the board had shown 47 for o), and 84, H .K . and he ad d in g 10 1 for the second wicket. T h is year he had 31 w ickets, th ou gh they cost over 25 each. H e fell som ewhat below his best in 1908, when his total was 803. But in two m atches his form was equal to an yth in g he had ever shown. H is innings o f 71 v. K en t at Stourbridge was made by really fine c r ic k e t; but still better was his 116 n ot out v. L a n ca sh ire at W orcester. T h e hom e side n eeded 234, and got the runs in 2^ hours for the loss o f one w icket, B ow ley and Pearson m aking 88 for the first, and the latter and G . N . Foster 147 unparted. T h e season o f 1909 saw him reach his high-w ater m ark to th at d ate in the m atter o f runs scored (114 0 ). It was not an ideal season for batsm en ; but he p layed very consistent cricket on varying w ickets. A ga in st K e n t at Stourbridge, as again st the sam e side at M aid ston e five years earlier, he was top scorer in each innin gs with 161 and 43. In the first innings h e was in first, out ninth, after a stay o f 3 f hours ; he hit tw enty-three 4 ’s, gave no chan ce, a n d only m ade one bad stroke. In the second, after W oo lley and F ield er had m ade their record tenth w icket stand, he fou gh t hard to save the gam e ; bu t only M . K . F oster gave him m uch support, and the effort failed. A ga in st G lou cestersh ire at C helten ham he m issed his century by 4 runs on ly ; but he ought to have made it— he had been in lo n g en o u g h— 3 hours. In 1910 h e began with 104 and 8 v. W arw ickshire, 72 a n d 54 v. Surrey, 58 v. O xford U n iversity, 26 and 43 v. Lan cash ire, 23 and 10 v. M id d lesex, and 76 v. H an ts— 474 in i r in nin gs up to June 18. T h e n he h ad rather a bad spell, but cam e back to form again with 47 and 113 (in 150 m inutes) v. M idd lesex at W orcester, and finished up with a total o f 1 1 1 4 . T h e next season saw him a gain start with a century, and that in circum stan ces which m ade it doubly valu able. A t B ou rn ville W orcester needed 300 to win v. Surrey. Burns played a brillian t innings o f 7 0 ; but it was m ainly P earso n ’s stay o f 4 hours for 10 7 which gave his side victo ry by tw o w ickets. In th at innings his qu alities of defence and discrim in ation were seen at their best. A gain st Surrey at the O val in Ju ly he was a lo n g way top scorer in each innin gs, with 99 and 78. In th e W h itsu n ­ tide m atch with W arw ickshire at W orcester h e batted 260 m inutes for 155, in clu din g n ineteen 4’s, a n d gave on ly one chan ce, at 25. C o llie r’s 40 not out was the next highest score. H is to tal— 1 1 8 7 — was the h igh est he has yet recorded. T h is season h e took 43 w ickets, his best perform ance being 5 for 60 v. Sussex at H a stin gs. H e started 1912 in great form , but quite failed to keep it up, sh arin g in the general im p oten ce w tiich marked the efforts o f his cou n ty’s batsm en in that “ dem ’d, demp, u npleasant ” cam paign , though his failure was less m arked than th at o f one or two o f his colleagues. T h e two cen tu ries referred to were 154 n o t out v. Surrey at D ud ley,