James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annaul 1897

7 0 L I L L YW H I T E ' SC R I C K E T E R S' A N N U A L. (13) M.C.C. andGroundv. Oxford University. Lord's, June 29 and 30. TheOxford Captain, in view of the Inter-University match the following week, only played three of his regular team . All his bowlers were resting , so that as a real test the match was a farce . There was no bowling to get a good side out, and though M.C.C. could have been very muchstronger in batting , every one whowent in scored well . W. G. Druce got 100, and three others 80 or over . W h a tthe total would have been had the innings been completed can bejudged from the fact that when it was closed the total was 583 with only seven batsmenout. Oxford got well over 200 in each innings . For this they hadmainly to thank G. O. Smith (41 and 85), and F. L. Fane(63 and58), M.C.C. wonby an innings and 109 runs. M.C.C. 583 (7 wickets ) ; Oxford, 251 and223 ; total , 474. (14) М.С.С. andGroundv. Australians. e Lord's , July 23, 24 and 25. Unlike the previous match the wicket this time was in excellent condition , and as a consequence the cricket was of quite a different character . The Australians , though fortunate enough to win the toss , madepoor use of their opportunity . Generally the batting was disappointing to a degree . The exception wasthe captain , Trott , whowas batting just under three hours for 103, out of a total of 202. W h e nM.C.C. went in, Messrs. Stoddart a n d M c L a r e nput on 96 for the first wicket, andas mostof the later batsmenscored well the result was a respectable total of 367. Though 165 behind on the first innings , the Australians were in no waydismayed. C. Hill (65), Iredale and Trott (each 62), in particular played fine cricket , though eight of the side got double figures . Itlooked for a long time as if the Australians must be beaten, but they played for a draw and succeeded . Gunn, put on to bowl lobs as a last resource , took three of the last four wickets for 37 runs. There was no time for M.C.C. to get the runs at the finish , but they did well to make99 of the 166wantedfor the loss of only three wickets . In the match Mr. A. E. Stoddart made120 runs for M.C.C. for once out. M.C.C. , 367 and99 (3 wickets ) ; total , 466. Australians , 202 and 331 ; total , 533. (15) М.С.С. andGroundv. Yorkshire. Scarborough , Sept. 3, 4 and 5. Rainonly admitted of play on the second day, so that there was no chance ofmuchprogress with the game. Yorkshire went in first on a slow but not a difficult wicket, and did fairly well to reach a total of 184. Of these four batsmen were responsible for 148, with Mr. F. S. Jackson (70) the chief con- tributor . M.C.C. had about two hours ' batting on the second evening , and in this time made100 for the loss of half their wickets . Mr. McLaren, whowent in first , like Mr. Jackson scored well , making44 of the 100. In the one day's cricket 284 runs werescored and15 wickets fell . T h ebest all-roundcricket of them a t c hwasthat of Mr. F. S. Jackson, w h o, in addition to his 70 runs, took three wickets for 33. Mr. F. R. Spofforth took eight of the ten Yorkshire wickets for 74. Yorkshire , 184. M.C.C. and Ground, 100 (5 wickets ).