James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1896

265 THE BOWLERS . O nly two bowlers got over 200 wickets, and these two were of the “ express delivery—Richardson and Mold to wit. Good as Mold’s performance was it was quite overshadowed by that of Richardson, whose record of 290 wickets is the best so far in the history of first-class cricket. Considering all the circum­ stances it was a remarkable perfonnance. Of other bowders to get 100 wickets there were thirteen, headed bv Mr. C. L. Townsend and Mead. Mr. Townsend’s slow bowling was phenomenal, so much sof that one could have wished he had been able to play often enough to make a comparison wdth the older hands. As it was Lis success was remarkable against every kind of batsman and on every sort of wicket, and his great command over the ball leads to the belief that he may even improve on his wonderful form of 1S95. Mead bowled with consistent success, and was fairly entitled to be considered the best profes­ sional medium-paced bowler of the year. Peel’s bowling was one of the best features of Yorkshire cricket in 1895, and Hirst gave him useful assistance. Davidson bowled, as he batted, well thoughout; and William Attewell show*ed a welcome return to his old form for Jslotts. Woodcock ’s very fast bowling established a “ funk ” at the commencement of the season, but towards the end he was comparatively harmless, as was Pougher, by the way. Of the newer bowders Baldwin, of Hants, was the most successful. One of the greatest dis­ appointments was Lockwood, to whom the Australian trip had not apparently done much good, to judge by the falling off in his bowling. In a lesser degree the same might be said of Brockwell; and with Lockwood quite out of form, Brockwell nothing like so successful, and F. E. Smith unable to do much on the fast wickets, it was fortunate for Surrev that Richardson could do no & wrong. How the bowlers generally fared the following list will show :— THE AVER AGES (FIRST -CLASS ) OF 1895. Over 200 Wickets : Richardson............. •■• Overs. ... 1690*1 Maidens. 463 Runs. 4170 Wickets. 290 Average. 14*37 M o ld ...................... ••• ... 16*29 598 3400 213 15*96 Orer 100 and under C. L. Townsend............ 200 Wickets ... 746*1 ■• 178 18*27 131 13*94 Mead ............. •■• ... 1206 390 2605 179 14*55 T e e l ....................... ••• ... 1691*1 714 2695 180 14*97 Baldwin ............. ••. ... 1010*4 386 1798 114 15*77 Briggs................... •• « ... 1109*3 412 2073 129 16*06 Davidson ............. ... 1383*4 591 2318 138 16*79 Attewell (Wm.) ... ... ... 1486 685 2246 136 16*88 Hirst .. ••• ... 1262*1 4*29 2560 150 17*06 W oodcock ............. ... 699*4 150 1967 102 19*28 Hearne (J. T.) *• ... 1*291*1 483 2577 133 19*37 Pougher ............. «•• .. 1191*1 498 2172 11*2 19*39 Martin «»• ... 1618*3 644 2759 136 20*28 Tyler...................... • «« ... 1085*3 251 2800 124 22*58 1hide r 100 1 Vickets: Capt. W. C. Hedley ... 3*20 116 669 48 13*93 Ixihniann ............. •• ... 496*2 166 904 64 14*12 Painter ............. •«« ... 238*1 T96 412 27 15*25 Hardstaff ............. «• 4 ... 119*4 38 261 17 15*35 C. J. Kortright t• * ... 468 105 1203 76 15*82 Bennett (Derby) ... • • k ... 261*1 104 465 29 16*03 Hayward ... ... ... 281*2 83 663 41 16*17 Porter (Derbyshire) ••• ... 725*4 258 1322 78 16*94 Phillips (J.) ... 350 75 822 48 17*12 C. M. Wells ... 167 34 415 24 17*29 (i. L. Jessop ••• ... 460*3 194 873 50 17*46 Pickett • 4 • ... 548*3 180 1170 66 17*72 Hoar....................... ••• ... 766 221 1706 95 17*95 F. S. Jackson k »» ... 600*2 204 1204 67 17*97 A. C. S. Glover k t• ... 217*1 50 611 33 18*51 H. R. Bromlcy-Davenport ... 70*2 15 186 10 18*60