Cricket 1914

J u l y 25, 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 367 “ C o r n w a l l gave a remarkably fine exhibition of all­ round cricket throughout their first innings. Trevarthen was the star, compiling no less than 39.” No less than 39, mark you ! Trevarthen is somewhat in the veteran way, or he m ight expect an invitation to play for England in 1916. B u t how Cornwall, while batting, could give “ an exhibition of all-round cricket ” is one of those things “ no fellah can understand.” “ A t the close Cornwall led b y 76 runs.” (Their fine exhibition resulted in a total of 152 !) Here again our scribe trips up. I t was not the close. Apparently he could not make time to stay for that, for he tells us that “ E. G .” (E. S.) “ Phillips and Silverlock opened the second innings o f Monmouth, and this time the bowling did not affect them to the same extent as earlier, and in less than three-quarters o f an hour they put on 76 runs w ithout being parted.” T h e r e w i t h an end. B u t Monmouth’s score at the close of the d a y was 210 for one— Silverlock 130 not out. T h e latest (at time of writing) tenth w icket stand is the most remarkable of them all, perhaps. That Jaques, granted some luck, should make 50 or 60 quickly is not surprising. He is a long w ay off being a great batsman ; but he can hit. Livesey, however, has hitherto shaped like a No 11 all over— like John Board, for instance, and if ever there was an apparently born No. 11 it was John Board in his early days w ith Gloucestershire. He has changed all th at since. T h r e e of this year’s V arsity bowlers— Havelock Davies, Baker, and Woodroffe— have qualifications for Sussex. It was understood th at Woodroffe would play when the Long Vacation began ; but after all Davies has had the first trial. A g a i n and again has the utter futility of risking a valuable w icket for the sake of a first, a fiftieth, or a hundredth run been dwelt upon. Y e t on F riday iast an old hand like P. A . Perrin, cool, level-headed, unemotional (or so would one think), threw aw ay his w icket in trying for a chancy one to break Captain Turner’s duck. T h e other man would be the first to adm it th at it was all wrong. It is safe to say th a t he would have been content, for his side’s sake, to be out for a duck if that could have ensured his partner’s making a century. And the odds are never heavy against a century for Perrin when he has passed 50. The game was in a critical stage ; Fane, Gillingham, Douglas, and M clver were all o u t ; and the stupid throwing aw ay of th at w icket— the w icket of the best man left— may have made all the difference. P e r r i n is an angler. The art of angling is favourable to meditation. N ext time he goes fishing let him do a little bit of thinking on this subject ! M i d d l e s e x scored exactly 50 per cent, of the points possible in their championship matches last year. This season they have gone ahead of all competitors. The most curious feature of the matter is th at they have made this marked improvement w ithout the aid of any reinforce­ ment. T a r r a n t and J. W . Hearne scored heavily and took over a hundred wickets each for them last year. Mann’s improvement is more than counterbalanced b y a distinct falling-off in the form of Warner and Hendren. Haig has come on as a batsman ; but J. T . Hearne has been a far less successful i ow ler thus far.^- No new man of note has appeared. N o doubt half the charm of cricket lies in the unexpected — the strange turns which the game takes at times. Bu t one will not readily believe th at the Warwickshire players saw any great charm in Buswell’s century last Saturday, or in the stand which he and Thompson put up together. O n e expects such things as this of Thompson; but a more unlooked-for century than Buswell’s has not been made since Fielder hit up 112 not out against K en t at Stourbridge in 1909. Going further back, one recalls W alter Mead’s 119 v. Leicestershire at Leyton in 1902. Like Fielder and Mead, Buswell is scarcely value for three figures on his best known form. Bu t now and then a man plays quite above his form ; it is his day, and all goes well w ith him. Photo by] [Messrs. E. Hawkins & Co., Brighton. B l ^ w e l l (W. A.). B u s w e l l has never done anything like this before. He made 50 v. Warwickshire a t Edgbaston in 1907, and 59 v. Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1908 ; but the best of his other scores have been modest 20’s and 30’s. H e first appeared for the county^-in a few matches only— in 1906. For three seasons thereafter he played regu larly; but in 1910 T. E. Manning, who captained the side, kept wicket. Buswell only played in two or three matches, had three innings, and failed to score a run. Though Ellis was expected to supplant him, he came back in 1911, and has been a regular member of the side ever since.