Cricket 1914

260 THE WORLD OF CRICKET. J u n e 20, 1914. A lob bowler had been substituted for the long youth, and the tail-enders shaped so poorly against him that Mann had small chances of much further increasing his total. When the tenth w icket fell he was still unbeaten, and his score was but one short of three figures. He had made his 99 of 132 added while he was in, the total being 157. The innings had not been absolutely chanceless. A D avid Denton in the long-field m ight possibly have accounted for him a t 45 ; or an E. M. Grace a t point w ith his score 58. Bu t it was the finest hitting innings ever played on that ground, and even now it is not forgotten there. “ I won’t ask you to bowl y e t,” said Crosby, as the visiting side took the field. “ I can see y ou’re a b it fagged.” For the stranger’s face was very pale, except for two red spots that burned above his cheek-bones. “ Yes, it has taken it out of me a bit. My health isn’t quite of the best, and I ’ve done little cricket of late.” Langton was one of the first two batsmen in on the home side. He was going strongly from the outset. Other batsmen came and w e n t; but he stayed. When five w ickets had fallen for 63, it appeared th at the visitors had an excellent chance of winning, however. Bu t the long youth came in and lent his captain such yeoman aid th a t 120 went up and still the sixth w icket had not fallen. Mann had been stationed in the slips, and had made two good catches there, one of them almost marvellous, indeed. He was fidgeting now, longing to be at the batsmen. And at last Crosby glanced towards him. He nodded. The leather was thrown gently into his hands. A model for a sculptor he looked as he ran lightly up to the w icket and delivered the ball w ith easy grace. It pitched a good length, came in w ith a break and a whizz, seeming to gather speed from its impact w ith the ground, and sent the long you th ’s middle peg turning somersault. Six for 120. A couple of minutes later, and it was seven for 120, for the n ext batsman played his first ball back in the air, and Mann, running half-way up the wicket, made a fine catch. Then once more the middle peg went. E ight for 120, and the hat-trick b y the emergency man ! Number ten was a youngster o f fifteen. D id Mann relax his efforts a little, or was the bo y pluckier, more skilful, than his predecessors ? He managed to p lay the three remaining balls of the over, anyw ay, though he did not score off them. Langton made a four off the second ball of Crosby’s over, a single off the last, and faced the redoubtable stranger. The home captain was a really good bat. They told with pride in the village how when once the County Club and Ground had brought up a strong team he had taken a cen­ tu ry off H arry Baldw in and Tom Soar. B u t this unknown was a greater than Soar or Baldwin. Again the ball came whizzing in from the off, and flicked off Langton’s leg-bail ! The last batsman succumbed to the third ball sent him, and the visiting side won b y 32 runs. " A re you staying in the village, Mr. Mann ? ” asked Langton when the game was over. “ No. I simply strolled over from Southampton. And I must be getting back if I can obtain a vehicle ; I don’t feel quite up to walking.” " Come and have a cup of tea, and I will drive you back afterwards myself. Y ou will ? I ’m glad of that. Y o u ’re coming, of course, Crosby.” The three of them w ent off together. The stranger did not talk much over the teacups in Langton’s old-world garden ; but he seemed quite happy, and they all liked him. The doctor, whose place he had taken, looked in just after Langton had driven off w ith him in the four-wheeled dog­ cart. He found Crosby still talking to Mrs. Langton and her sister. “ Met W alter just now,” he said. “ Who was th a t w ith him ? Thought I knew the face.” “ A stranger. Played for us as an emergency in your stead this afternoon.” “ Do anything ? ” asked the doctor, w ith quick interest. “ Well, just a trifle ! Scored 99, not out, and took the last five wickets w ithout having a run scored off him .” “ Well, I ’m not surprised. Yes, I ’ll have a cigarette, thanks, as long as th ey’re not Egyptian. Y o u people have been entertaining ‘ an angel unawares ’ ! F01 that was George Lohmann ! ” “ Oh, are you sure ? ” asked Mrs. Langton. “ B u t I believe you’re right ! I ’ve seen Lohmann’s photograph, and I was wondering all the time who this Mr. Mann was so like. Now I know. B u t I thought he was in South A frica still.” “ Expected back this week, I understood. B u t I ’m afraid he’ll not be w ith us long. He has the marks of death on his face.” * » * They thought the doctor was wrong a year later, when Lohmann helped Tom Richardson to send the Australians to the right-about at L ord’s for 53. B u t th at season of 1896 was his last in English cricket. He came back in 1901, as manager to the South African team. Crosby and Langton met him a t Southampton when the Afrikanders played Hampshire, and he talked of the match in which th ey had all played their part, and said how much it had meant to him on the threshold of his return. “ Poor fellow ! ” said Crosby huskily, when th ey had left him. “ We don’t need the doctor to tell us now,” answered Langton. Little more than six months after th at one of the greatest all-round cricketers the world has ever known passed away. Under the Southern Cross he lies ; and, w ith all her brilliant players, Surrey has never had —perhaps, will never have— his like again ! -----+----- P a r s o n ’s G r e e n were without Harrod and A. C. Higgs, and Roe- hampton treated their weakened bowling very unceremoniously, making 295 for 3, dec. (H. C. Boden 104*, J. F. Berry 101, J. Goodwin 64). Towards the visitors’ total of 154 F. G. Driver contributed 65. C a t f o r d E x c e l s i o r (60) beat Handen (55) by a narrow margin. W. Fenwick made 24 for the winners, and A. F. Andrew bowled in deadly style, taking 6 for 7. For the losers D. Carmichael had 5 for 18, F. Watson 3 for 4. P u t n e y (103) defeated West Wimbledon (102) by a single run. Fisher did well for the winners— 43 and 4 for 12. For the losers Phillips made 32 and H. Price bowled well. R o y a l S c h o o l, Armagh (31 and 71 for 6, dec.) were beaten by Royal Academical Institution, Belfast (34 and 69). The victory is chronicled as by a single run, but should properly have been by one (or possibly more) wicket, as there was no object in continuing play once the winning hit had been made. The highest score of the game was J. A. H. Helby’s 26 for Armagh ; but its chief feature was the bowling of J. Exshaw, who took 9 of the Belfast wickets in the first innings at a cost of only 4 runs, the tenth man being run out. F o r Leinster Schools v. Ulster Schools the following team has been chosen : Calbeck, O’Connor, Perkins (St. Columba’s College); J. Bell and Boyers (High School); Rollins and Lyle (St. Andrew’s ); Hobson (Mountjov); Quinlan (Belvedere) ; M’Caffrey (Masonic); McLoughton (St. Mary’s). Reserve, Larkin (High School). The Ulster team is not yet chosen. H a i l e y b u r y ’s 9 wickets victory over Wellington on June 13 was largely due to the fine batting of H. D. Hake, the Haileybury skipper, who carried his bat through the first innings (155) for 90, and made 109* (of 180 for 1) in the second. The rest of the batting in the match was so moderate that Hake’s scores shine out with all the more lustre by comparison. T o n b r id g e beat Sherborne, as Haileybury beat Wellington, by 9 wickets. The Dorset school succumbed for 51 in their second innings, Bingham taking 8 wickets for 27, seven of them bowled. R. SherweU’s 52* in the final stage of the game was the highest individual effort.