Cricket 1913

September 6 , 1913. CR I CKET : A WE EK L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. 591 T h is is a true story o f the first England v . A u s­ tralia match (at T rent B ridge) o f 1899. A fter the event— a draw in favou r o f Australia— " R an ji ” remarked to W . G . that “ we shall never win a test match till A rch ie M acLaren captains u s .” Sure enough that match at Nottingham was the last Test in wh ich W . G . figured, though it cannot be said that his successor in the captaincy en joyed a par­ ticularly happy time in most o f the remaining Test games against the very pow erfu l Australian Team o f 1899. C . E . de T ra ffo rd ’s 44 out o f 56 in 50 minutes for Leicestershire v . Su rrey at the Oval has interested many peop le in the “ palm y days ” o f this veteran o f 49. Perhaps his best work was accomplished in 1899 when for his coun ty he scored 854 runs and averaged 28.46. A n d that was fo r a persisently unlucky side, wh ich on ly won two matches all the season. T h e old Leicestershire skipper belongs, o f course, to the great Catholic fam ily o f de T ra f­ ford, and was, I believe, a Beaumont C olleg e b o y . H a rd in g e ’s feat o f m ak ing fou r centuries in suc­ cessive inn ings lifts him into a very select list. Hayward d id the same th ing inside a week in 1906, C . B . F ry d id it in 1911; and there is no other genu in e record in first-class matches, though A . C . M acLaren was robbed o f one such b y the fact that Queensland and New Sou th W a le s played 13 men against the English Team o f 1897-8, thus pu tting the match outside the first-class ca tegory . O f course, C . B . F ry made six in succession in 1901. A notice on the announcem ent board o f St. James’ s Chu rch , P on typ o o l, to which a sports hall is an ad jun ct, states that every member o f the church cricket team sco rin g 30 runs or tak ing 5 wickets in on e inn ings w ill be entitled to free drinks for a week ! S o said the “ M onm ou thsh ire E ven ing P o s t.” But, as a matter o f fact, the notice is on the sports hall board, not the church at all, and it expressly states that drinks are “ temperance drinks from C on sol Fountain ’ ’— whatever that may be. A n yw a y , they are teetotal lubricants. S o the w eep ing and w a iling and gna sh in g o f teeth have been w a s te d ! K e n t v e r y n ea rly cam e a cro p p er in th eir la st ch am ­ p ion sh ip g a m e o f th e se a so n . It w o u ld h a v e been d istin ctly a p ity if th ey had done so, for th ey have m o st w o rth ily earn ed th e h o n ou rs o f th e se a so n . D a y in and d ay out, p lum b p itch or wet w icket, they h a v e p ro v e d th em se lv es th e side o f th e y e a r. G lo u ce s­ tersh ire a n d N o tts b e a t th em in sid e ten d a y s ; bu t th ese h ap p en in g's le ft us w o n d erin g -— th ey w e re n ot at a ll a c c o r d in g to th e b o o k o f form . A n d S u rre y b eat th em in an in n in g s a t th e O v a l, a re su lt less su rp ris­ ing-. B u t w h en on e rem em b ers th a t m atch som eh ow th e sp len d id effort o f D illo n and D a y to sa v e the g am e b u lk s la r g e r in m em o ry th an a n y th in g else— w h ich m a y b e u n fa ir to S u rre y , b u t is a sig n o f the g la m o u r w h ich K e n t e x e rc ise s even upon th e m ind o f on e w h o se d e a re st c r ic k e t in te re sts a re e lsew h ere th an in th e G a rd e n o f E n g la n d . B u t th e y d o s a y th a t o n ly th e te a in te rv a l sa v e d K e n t on S a tu rd a y , and th ere seem g ro u n d s fo r th a t a ssertio n . W h a t a g r e a t g a m e y o u n g J a c k H e a rn e p la yed fo r his sid e ! H e m issed h is ce n tu ry b y fo u r ru n s, and h is sid e m issed v ic to ry b y s ix , b u t h e m u st n ot b e a b a te d an o u n ce o f c re d it b e c a u se o f e ith er fa ct. M id d lese x a re b e tte r v a lu e th an 50 p er c e n t., I th in k . T h e y h a v e been h a n d icap p e d o f la te b y T a r ­ r a n t’s s t r a in ; and th e in a b ility o f E . L . K id d to help during- A u g u s t h a s been a n o th er d ra w b a c k . B u t th ey a re a g o o d sid e, p o w e rfu l in all d e p a rtm en ts, a n d a fig h tin g side. M r. S ew e ll h a d som e th in g to s a y a fe w w e e k s b a c k ab ou t clu b cricketers a n d cou n ty crick et. T h e re is n ot th e le a st d o u b t in m y m ind th a t he is rig h t in the m a in ; and , o f c o u rse , h e a dm itte d— ta c itly , if n o t in so m an y w o rd s— e x c e p tio n s to th e ru le h e p ro p ou n d ed . M o st c e rta in ly tw o clu b c ric k e te rs w h o h a v e p la yed fo r m e tro p o lita n co u n ties th is sea so n are exce p tio n s. T h e tw o I m ean a re H . W . W e s to n , o f W a lh a m G re e n , and G . M . L o u d e n , o f Ilfo rd . T h e s e m en are su re ly g o o d e n o u g h fo r a n y c o u n ty side. W e s to n ’s v a lu e to M id d lese x in th e K e n t m a tch w a s g r e a t ; and if L o u d e n co u ld o n ly p la y re g u la r ly fo r E s s e x he w o u ld ta k e a lo t o f w ic k e ts and m a k e a g o o d m an y ru n s in h is ow n fre e , sp a n k in g sty le . T h e M id d lese x sco re -sh e et in th e la st co u n ty m atch o f th e se a so n fa irly b ristle s w ith th e n am e o f H u ish . S ix c a tc h e s a n d tw o stu m p in g s te s tify elo q u en tly to th e co n tin u ed fine fo rm o f on e o f K e n t ’ s m o st v a lu a b le men. U n less I h a v e erred in m y re c k o n in g— and if I h a v e I d o n ’t d o u b t I sh a ll h e a r o f it— H u ish h a s up to d a te (A u g u st 31) 63 c a u g h t, 28 stum p ed to h is c re d it th is y e a r. H e sh ou ld h a v e qu ite a g o o d ch a n ce o f b e a tin g h is 19 1 1 reco rd o f 100 c a p tu re s— 62 c a u g h t, 38 stum p ed . W o r c e s te r s h ir e ’ s m o st p rom is in g re c ru it, C h e ste r, h a s o n ly p a sse d 50 th ree tim es th is s e a s o n ; b u t on e ach o c c a sio n h e h a s g o n e on to m a k e w e ll o v e r th e h u n d red . In o rd e r o f m a g n itu d e h is fo u r h ig h e st sc o re s a re 148 n o t o u t, 128 n ot o u t, 1 1 5 , and 35. N o te th e d rop o f 80 b e tw ee n th e th ird and fo u rth ! A n a d v e rtisem e n t on a n o th er p a g e a ffo rd s an o p p o r­ tu n ity fo r som eo n e to b e com e th e h a p p y p o sse sso r o f a com p le te set o f th e “ M .C .C . C r ic k e t S co re s and B io g r a p h ie s .” B y re a so n o f th e fa c t th a t th e first fo u r v o lum e s a re o u t o f p rin t a c om p le te set is a ra re item in th e c ric k e t lite ra tu re m a rk e t. E v e r y c o u n ty c lu b o u g h t to h a v e th e fo u rte e n vo lum e s in i t ’ p a vilio n . I w o n d e r h o w m a n y c o u n ty c lu b s h a v e th en ?