CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 307, 21 September 1908, Page 8

CRICKET.

ENGLISH BATTING AND BOAYLING FIGURES. OF COLONIALS. (bt lEi.ECP.irn—rp.Ess association—corritiGaT.) (Rec. September 20, 4.20 p.m.) London, September 19. Tho following are tho leading English batting averages for tho season:— BATTING. Batsman. Averago. P. R. Johnson 75.37 B. J. T. Bosanquet 54.05 C. B. Fry 52.63 H. K. Foster 45.04 T. Hayward 45.82 P. F. AA 7 arnor 45 55 Ranjitsinhji 45.52 J. Tyldesley 43.97 G. L. Jessop 41.88 . F. A. Tarrant 41.04 . A. Marshal 40.22 J. A. Cuffo, 33.46, is 3Sth; L. 0. S. Poidovin, 29, is 61st. BOAVLING. King, of the Philadelphian touring team, hoads the bowling, with the two leading bowlers of Yorkshire (the champion county) next. The throe leading averages are:— Averago Bowler. Wickets. per wkt. King 87 11.01 Haigh 103 13.29 Hirst 174 14.05 Tho ex-Victorian F. A. Tarrant, with 159 wickets at 16.68 runs apiece, is 12th on tho bowling average list. The ex-Queenslander A. Marshal, with 56 wickets at 15.83 runs apiece, is 28th. REST OF ENGLAND V. JONES'S „TEAM. London, September 18. Tho cricket match, Champion County (Yorkshire) v. Rest of England, resulted in a draw. Tho Rest compiled 483 for eight wickets and declared their innings closed. Bosanquet contributed 214. Yorkshire scored 264 in tho first innings, and in tho second lost two wickets for 170 runs. JONES'S MEN ARE ABSENTEES. A cricket correspondent writes:—"ln view of tho visit of the Australian Eleven next year to England, the above figures are decidedly interesting. Tho names of members of Jones's team, which lost 'the ashes,' do not catch the eye, and this latest record of English cricketers places them on the skyline of remembrance. K. L. Ilutchings, J. N. Crawford, ,T. .Hardstaff, L. C. Braund, G. Gunn, F. L. Fane, A. O. Jones, J. B. Hobbs, and AY. B. Bhodos wero the batting strength of the# last English importation, but this year's statistics do not disclose tho remotest possibility of their resuming play in next year's fight for 'tho ashes.'

"P. R. Johnson is tho first native of Now Zealand to bo placed on top of the more seasoned English batsmen. It might bo suggested that tho New Zealand Cricket Council should cable New Zealand's congratulations to the popular Somerset amateur, who toured this country with Warner's and Captain Wynyard's elevens. In .1907 T. Hayward's figures ran out at <15.25. Bosanquet's average is a gain of 19 points on his last season. J. A. Cuffe (Worcestershire), 'also started' in 1907, has found this summer more to his liking. He is only 28 years of age, and he may yet find a place in an All England Eleven. "The two Yorkshire howlers, S. ITaigh and G. H. Hirst, are old friends. Tho latter has often been termed tho best all round man in the world. Notnblo absentees from tho cabled bowling figures are W. Brearley (Lancashire), A. R. Warren (Derbyshire), W. Lees (Surrey), A. Hallani (Notts), and T. Wass (Notts). A. Fielder, C. Blythe, and J. N. Crawford, of tho M.C.C. team which toured Australia last season, are also posted as missing. S. F. Barnes does 1 not take part in first-class county cricket. "The selection committee for the 1909 English Eleven have a rare lot of talent to select from, pnd local enthusiasts are not in any way downcast as to the result of the next series of test matches." THE TOP FIGURE MEN. J. B. King, the American bowler, has put up some great feats for tho Philadelphians during their tour. For instance, against a strong team like Surrey, on August 2, he took six wickets for 47 in one innings and three for G4 in the other. His performance in heading tho English bowling averages recalls that of the South African bowler, It. 0. Scliwarz, who, during the last tour in England of the South Africans, was easily first with 113 wickets at 1H runs apiece, as compared with King's 87 wickets at 11.01 runs apiece.

Though Mr. P. R. Johnson heads tho batting averages, it is to bo noted that he has made his first appearance in English county cricket this season only as recently as August 3, when he started brilliantly bv hitting up IG4 for Somerset against Middlesex, being eventually bowled by Tarrant. Still, Johnson cannot have nearly as mauy innings against his name as most of tho othors hr^ve. Marshal has batted splendidly for so young a player, and is closo behind his fellow Australian Tarrant. It is a pity that Hirst's batting figures are not cabled, so as to facilitate a comparison betwen Hirst and Tarrant, the two great all-rounders. On August 8 their rivalry was interesting. Whilo Tarrant was at that dato 7th among the batsmen with 43.70, Hirst was 13th with 38.22. In tho bowling averages Hirst was second on August 8, with 131 wickets at 12.23 runs apiece, Tarrant third with 115 wickets at 14.33 runs apioco.