Cricket 1914

138 THE WORLD OF CRICKET. M a y 16, 1914. a display marked b y good hitting to leg and very fine on-driving. The year 1883 leaves two very definite marks in his record. He made his first century in big cricket, and he took over the Yorkshire captaincy, hitherto held (not to the advantage of the side) b y worthy professional players, who lacked the authority th at a leader should have. The century was for Cambridge v. Mr. C. I. Thornton’s X I — 141 in 4h. 20m. w ith scarcely an error. For Yorkshire th at season his best was 60 v. Surrey at the Oval, made after all the earlier batsmen, except the stolid Hall, had failed. Owing to illness, 1884 was almost a blank for him. He played in one of Cambridge’s matches and in half a dozen or so of Yorkshire’s, but did nothing. In 1885 he captained the L ight Blue team, and made 73 out of 113 d. M.C.C at Lord’s, hitting eleven fours. His scores v. Oxford were 17 and 5 not out. He only played in one match for the county this season— an interregnum in his captaincy during which Louis Hall took over charge. B u t from 1886 onwards to quite recent days he was always the Yorkshire leader, and in most seasons played in most matches. This was the first year in which he made a considerable number of runs for the county. Among his best were a splendid 144 v. Sussex at Hove (17 fours, no chance), 76 and 56 not out v. K en t a t Sheffield, far and away the biggest aggregate of the match, and 63 and 29 v. Middlesex at L ord’s. For the Gentlemen of England v. Australia at the Oval he scored 56 and 30. In 1887 he played for Gentlemen v. Players both a t Lord’s and the Oval, doing little, however. For Yorkshire he was in good fettle. His best was 123 v. Lancashire at Old Trafford. L et off at 8, he gave no other chance during a stay of 3I1. 50m., and h it 15 fours. Yorkshire totalled over 400, and beat their neighbours and old rivals in an innings. Among his other scores were 78 not out v. Notts at Trent Bridge, 64 v. Middlesex a t Huddersfield (in the match in which A . J. Webbe played his great innings of 243 not out), 58 v. Lancashire at Bradford, and 73 v. Derbyshire at Derby. There followed for him a couple of lean years. In 1888 he did nothing ; it was a waterlogged season, and all against his style. In 1889 he made 69 v. N otts at Nottingham, starting badly, bu t hitting well later, and a brilliantly-hit 52 not out v. Lancashire a t Huddersfield (one six, nine fours), a long w ay the highest score of the game ; but there was not much else to note in his record. The season of 1890 was a better one for him. He averaged nearly 22, and made 74 v. Middlesex at Bradford in a total of 169, hitting w ith great power (two sixes, six fours), 65 and 48 v. Sussex on the same ground, and 65 against the same side at Hove. In 1891 he had a long run of bad luck, and twice was dismissed for o and o ; but after a succession of failures he h it up a fine 126 v. Somerset at Taunton, which did something to redeem his record. In 1892 he was much more con sisten t; but, frequently making useful scores, he only made one long one— 74 not out v. Gloucestershire, a t Bradford. Again in 1893 he was not at his best. He did not play as much cricket as usual ; and a couple of fifties— 59 for M.C.C v. Oxford at Lord’s and 53 for Yorkshire v. Eleven of the South a t Scarborough— were his highest efforts. In the following season he played what was probably his hardest-hit innings. The Cambridge bowling that year was very moderate, and, appearing for Mr. A. J. Webbe’s X I against the ’Varsity, he made hay of it. Four sixes and 16 fours were included in his 157.' His other chief scores that season were 64 for M.C.C. v. Kent, and for the county 71 v. Derbyshire at Derby and 56, a good forcing display, v. Somerset a t Huddersfield. For the first and only time he totalled over 1000 runs in 1895. That he m ight have done so in several other seasons had he cared about figures the records will show, for they include four totals of 900 odd which m ight easily have been improved into thousands. Bu t he never has cared about figures. That year he made 20 or more in 23 innings of 51 played, and among his scores were 79, 65, 61 not out, 60, 54, 52, not out, and 51 not out. Was it not S. M. J. Woods who said once : “ When Martin gets ’em, he gets ’em as well as anybody ? ” He was getting them p retty often in 1895. Scarcely appearing so frequently in 1896, he only in­ cluded three big innings in his total of 700 odd. These were 166 v. Warwickshire at Edgbaston, when the “ pro- deegious ” total of 887 was recorded by Yorkshire, and the Hon. F . S. Jackson, Wainwright, and Peel all contri­ buted centuries ; 110 not out v. K en t a t Leeds ; and 62 v. Somerset at Taunton. Peel and he added 292 for the eighth w icket on the Birmingham ground. His highest score in 1897 was 9 1 n° t out, and this was his best innings, too, for it was made at a critical stage of the match v. Notts at Trent Bridge, he and Peel adding 148 together when their separation m ight have meant defeat for their side. He had made 54 in the first innings. This season he had a higher average than ever before, but it owed something to not outs, as did his 30-64 in the following year, which eclipsed it. Perhaps he never played better in his life than in 1898, when he was for more consistent than in many seasons. When he made 107 not out v. K ent at Bramall Lane, David Hunter aided him in a memorable stand of 148 for the last wicket. In successive innings he scored 62 v. Essex at Bradford, 57 v. Leicestershire at Dewsbury, and 52 v. Sussex a t Bradford. Later on, aided b y a little luck, he ran up 134 v. Warwickshire at Edgbaston, a five and 16 fours included. Again in 1899 he scored regularly, and w ith 127 v. Hants at Southampton (2% hours, no chance, 17 fours), 81 v. K ent at Tonbridge, 69 v. Warwickshire at Birmingham 51 v. Sussex at Harrogate, 50 v. Worcestershire at Sheffield, and a dozen more scores of the useful 20 to 50 order did himself justice. In 1900 he fell away, his best scores being 79 v. Gloucester­ shire at Cheltenham and 67 v. M.C.C. at Scarborough; but he came again in 1901 w ith 89 v. Notts at Sheffield as his best, six more scores of 50 and over, and eleven of 20 to 50. In 1902 he only twice reached 50, but on each of these occasions ran on into three figures— 107* for M.C.C. v. Oxford, and 126 v. Surrey at the Oval. He was missed three times in this last innings, but hit w ith great vim, 21 fours being included. He and Haigh added 165 together for the eighth wicket. He began well in 1903. Starting w ith the second match, one finds him making in succession 20, 25, 27 not out, 29, 24, 76 (v. Worcestershire at Worcester), 52 not out, 22 not out, 79 ( v. Lancashire at Old Trafford), 4, 1, 25, 26, 61 not out (v. Sussex a t Bradford), and 24*. B u t he fell away after that, and in his remaining 22 innings only reached 20 four times. In 1904 he scored his last first-class century-— 100 not out v. Leicestershire at Bradford. It was made when runs were needed, too, for 5 w ickets had fallen for 55, and Rothery and he stemmed the tide of disaster. Among his other innings this season were three fifties. B ut this was the last season in which he scored at all heavily. Up till 1908 inclusive he played p retty frequently, and everyone was glad to see him playing, but he was only waiting until the right man should come along to succeed him. He scored 51 v. Somerset at Taunton in 1905, 61 not out v. Essex at Leyton in 1907, and 50 not out v. Gloucestershire at Sheffield in 1908. A t times the old lusty, full-blooded drive was in evidence, but as a rule, going in very late, he was content w ith small scores, and others were sure, if he was not, th at he was more than worth his place for his leadership. That has meant much to Yorkshire. There have been greater tacticians in the field tha,H Lord Hawke, though he