Cricket 1914

J u n e 6, 19 14 . THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 207 Gbe Morlt> of Cricket. E d it o r : M r. A. C. M a c L a r e n . A s s is t a n t E d it o r a n d M a n a g e r : Mr. J. N. P e n t e l o w . 61, TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, EMBANKMENT, LONDON, E.C. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor; sub­ scriptions, advertisements, and all communications on business matters to the Manager. Subscription rates : Inland, nine shillings per annum ; Overseas ten shillings. In order to give our Overseas Subscribers the same chance as others to come in at the old rates, we are extending the time limit for subscription at those rates to May 31st. This applies to all. The old rates were 6/6 and 7/6. Pavilion Gossip. Though the luck be against us, play pluckily, play ! And, losing or winning, with me you will say That the worst of all ills is the end of the day. — E. B. V. C hristian. H o b b s was really great a t the Oval against Warwickshire. H e has played many a fine innings, but scarcely a finer one than this. The last three balls of the first day, all of good length, were treated as half-volleys. The first of the three was lofted on to the on-side awning ; the second went like a ’flash to the pavilion rails ; and the third, like the first, was lofted, this time on to the pavilion seats. S u c h punishing methods came as a welcome fillip to the game after the uninteresting play of the later Warwickshire batsmen. B u t a good word must be said for Parsons. He gets his runs in very sound style, and will make a great many more before the season is through. H it c h , sticking to his work well as usual, got his reward in the shape of the hat trick towards the close of the War­ wickshire innings, the third victim , Hands, being out to a real clipper. F r o m Oxford I hear th at Rucker is a very useful type of bowler indeed. He takes a long run, makes his ball dip into one, and comes very quickly off the pitch. K n ig h t is in capital form. His footwork is exceedingly •clever, and they have had no finer b at at the ’Varsity for years. Jackson, who has appeared once or twice v. Derby­ shire, showed up well all round against M.C.C. Naumann also played a capital knock in the first innings, when runs were badly wanted. F r a n k F o s t e r ’ s splendid 305 not out v. Worcestershire— for the fact th at the bowling against him was not of tip-top •quality is counterbalanced by the facts that he was never in the slightest difficulty w ith it, never gave a chance, and kept everything along the carpet until quite late in his innings— is the tenth highest individual score recorded in this^country. The nine above it are :— 424, b y A. C. M acLaren, Lancashire v. Somerset, Taunton, 1895. 357 not out, b y A bel (R.), Surrey v. Somerset, O val, 1899. 344, b y W . G. Grace, M.C.C. v. Kent. Canterbury, 1876. 343 not out, b y P. A. Perrin, Essex v. D erbyshire, Chesterfield, 1904. 341, b y H irst, Yorkshire v. Leicestershire, Leicester, 1905. 338, by W . W . Read, Surrey v. Oxford U niversity, O val, 1888. 318, not out, b y W . G. Grace, Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire, Chelten­ ham, 1876. 315 not out, b y H ayw ard, Surrey v. Lancashire. O val, 1898. 311, b y Brown (J. T.), Yorkshire v. Sussex, Sheffield, 1897. O v e r s e a s the late Charles Gregory (383, New South Wales v. Queensland), Clem Hill (365 not out, South Australia v. New South Wales), and the late W . L. Murdoch (321, New South Wales v. Victoria) also rank above Foster in point of figures. There is, too, W arw ick Armstrong’s 335 for the Melbourne Club side v. Southland, which the leading Australian authorities discard. F r a n k W o o l l e y (in Tasmania), Col. R. M. Poore, W . W . Armstrong (in England), W . G. Grace again, V. T. Trumper (in England), and Brown again have to their credit the other scores of 300 or more in first-class cricket. Harry Moses, A. O. Jones, John Tyldesley, John Gunn, Victor Trumper, and L. C. H. Palairet have got within ten of 300, too. W h o would have expected the sturdy Samuel Coe, with his over 40 years in this " wale of life ” and his nearly tw enty years of big cricket, to make such a score as 252 not out, and th at in four hours, w ithout a chance ? Though Thompson had to leave off bowling owing to a strained ankle, and 'East was absent, it cannot be said that he scored his runs against cheap stuff, either. Anyw ay, other men have not found the Northants bowling too easy. ! I t is reported the John Daniell has played his last match for Somerset. If so, he finished up, as he began, well. Some readers m ay remember th at he owed his blue at Cambridge directly to a century innings played for the county against Lancashire. T h e s t o r y goes th at the Light Blue captain wired to S. M. J. Woods, then skipper of the western county’s eleven, as to Daniell’s form, and th at Woods wired back to the effect th a t the old Cliftonian was a moderate bat and the worst field in the world ! One suspects, however, th a t this is merely what Woods told Daniell he had replied. T h e Australian team for South A frica next November is evidently now being chosen, for a cablegram states that Ransford cannot go, owing to business claims, but that Armstrong is willing to make the trip. B r u c e H y l t o n -S t e w a r t hit 3 sixes, 1 fiv e , and 29 fours in his 1 9 7 for Peterhouse v. Corpus on May 27th, and then took 6 for 29 in the Corpus innings. B ig scoring characterised several of the Whitsuntide matches. Warwickshire led easily, but Leicestershire also totalled over 400, and Essex, Surrey, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Sussex, Somerset, and Gloucestershire made totals of over 300. The centuries were numerous, too, Foster and Coe, already referred to, Parsons, Ducat, Birtles, C. O. H. Sewell, Dipper, B. L. Bisgood, and Robert Relf all getting three- figure scores. T h e defeat of Hampshire b y Middlesex was one of the features, for some people have fancied Hampshire for the championship. Well, one never knows ; a single licking proves little ; and they have a really powerful side. E s s e x won their second successive victory, which should do them good, and they were much smarter in the field than usual. Leicestershire had a notable win over Northants, and Sussex took first innings points out of Kent, as did Notts out of Surrey. The championship looks very open indeed.