CRICKET NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 9173, 5 August 1890, Page 2

CRICKET NOTES.

The Midland Club seem this year likely to have even stronger teams than those which carried off the double last year. J. Lawrence, who a few years ago was one of the moat promising all-round colts ever brought out by the M.C.O. and who was obliged to relinquish the game on account o? his business, has again decided to play and will return to his old lore. E. Turner, popularly known as “Brush,” who has been one of the mainstays of the Addington Club in the bowling line, has also decided to don the “blue and white” in the approaching season. When the mail left, Shrewsbury was still at the head of the batting averages, a position, by the way, he had occupied during the whole of the season. Some of the principal averages were ,as follows: Shrewsbury 74*6, Quaife 53'1, G. Hearne 41*4, Gunn 38'8, Cranston 33*7, Hall 33*2, Webb 31-9, Lee 31-6, Douglas 30, M. Bead 29-1. W. W. Head 28, Stoddart 27*11, Hide 27*6, Painter 27*5, Ulyett 26'2, W. G. Grace 25*16, Eadcliffe 25*7, Merchant 25*5, Hornby 24 - 5, Murdoch 23*89. W. Tester, the Sussex cricketer, died on June 9, in the Sussex County Hospital, baying succumbed to the injuries he received six weeks previously, in throwing himself from the upper storey of his house. He completed his thirty-third year on June 8, having been born at Brighton on June 8,1857. He was a good steady bat, a slow right-hand bowler, and a moderate field. He played his first match for Sussex against Yorkshire in June, 1878, and till the close of the 1888 season played in each following year for his County. He leaves a widow and five children, tue fifth haring been born so recently as June 8. Commenting on the match between the Australians and Lancashire the Sporting Life says:—The supremacy of the Australian bowlers has often been proved on a sticky wicket, and yesterday, probably, no bowler in the world could have made more use of his advantages than did Charles Turner. In the concluding portion of the Lancashire first innings he sent down eight overs (five maidens) for nine runs aiTd five wickets, and followed this in the second innings by taking five wickets for forty runs, so that altogether ten wiokets yesterday fell to hia share at a cost of only forty-nine runs. _ In referring to the doings of the Seventh Australian Eleven the Home News, after eulogising them as being “ almost” equal to very nearly any cricketinsr combination in tL Old Countryf saysln one respect, and a most important, they fail. They have literally no one amongst their number who can play a good forcing game. Hot one of the previous elevens which have visited England has been deficient in this respect. Murdoch must feel the want of the assistance of M'Donnell, Bonnor, Moses, and Horan. And what shall bo said of the loss of Giffen, indisputably one of the very best of the all round players of the world ? It is not too much to say that, had the above-named brilliant hitters been included in Murdoch's team, the enthusiasm created, the exciting play, and, it may be inferred, the sensational slogging, would have eclipsed anything of the kind ever wit

neseed on the great cricket grounds of the Old Country.” The story about Puller Pilch explaining his refusal to give Mr E. M. Grace out on the occasion of his first appearance at > Canterbury on the ground "ho wanted tol see if the young gentleman could bat, 7 seems, after ali, to have been the creation of the fertile brain of that inventive personage, Mr Benjamin Trovato. W.G., in his "Forty Years of Cricket,” however, ruthlessly destroys the illusion of years, in showing that there is really no foundation for one of the best of the many stock anecdotes of the cricket jokist. Sere is W.G.’s version:—The story of his being cub first ball, and Puller Pilch giving him " not out” on the ground that he “wanted to see the young gentleman bat,” is • myth. In the early part of the innings the bowler appealed for a catch at the wicket,' hut Pilch unhesitatingly said " Not out." He was chaffed for his decision afterwards, but said he had no doubt about it. Then laughingly added, " Perhaps I should not have given him out if I had. I wanted to see Mr Grace do a bit of hitting.*’ The Hon Edward Lyttelton, who is. the head master of Haileybury College, tells anj apt little story in the last chapter of the Cricket volume of the “All England'*! series recently published by Messrs' G.' Bell and Sons. Mr Lyttelton calls attention to the fact that for some unknown; reason or another the striker who gets, stumped is censured more than if he gets bowled, and the anecdote he tells is in illustration of this peculiar but none' the less common doctrine. The reason, Mr Lyttelton thinks, is perhaps that tradition is in favour of this view. But here is the story:—Nearly thirty years ago' an elderly lady was quietly sitting in her drawing-room in London, when' her eon, the father of a celebrated cricketer, came into the room with a look' of unutterable shame and disappointment in his face. He flung himself into an am-, chair, and groaned aloud, “I never should have thought it possible that he could have' done it—he of all men in the world.” “ What do you mean?” asks the old lady, seriously alarmed. “ Who ? What ? Charles,” was the answer, in the same grief-choked voice. “Quick, what has he done P” “ Why, he ran out to a slow and got stamped.” The batsman's grandmother, it must be confessed, was somewhat relieved to find it was no worse, and that she need not expect the family name to be dragged through the mire in the next day's police news. Towards the end of May and the beginning of Jane there was a great deal of heavy scoring done in England. Flaying for the Incognite against Greenwich Naval College, W. B. Martyn scored 120 out of 800, while in the match Lyric Club v. Green Jackets C. I. Thornton scored 188 for the former, and Captain Bowen was re-' sponsible for 101 out of a total of 209 for the latter. Bouham-Carter, and Captain Barton scored 174 and 116 out of a total of 485 for the Hampshire Hovers against the United Service, but perhaps the “record” was made in the, match Corinthians v. United Service, when P. G. T. Henery, Bonham-Carter, and Major Bethune scored 128, 117, and 126 respectively, while the score for the whole Corinthian eleven was 602. A. H. Heath made 116 for Staffordshire against Lincolnshire, and in a match between Mr Barry’s eleven and Windsor, the former made 449 for the loss of seven wickets (two retired) out of which D. Barry retired for 201, and W. J. Barry scored 166, while the same day A. F. Kempe scoredlß7 not out, for the Lyric Club ▼. Eoyal Military. C, I. Thornton’s 138 runs for the Lyric; Club were compiled in fifty-eight minutes. 1 The telegraph showed 180 as the total for the first hour’s play, an average of 3 runs per minute —which we should think isi about the record for fast scoring. Four scores, however, deserve a position' by themselves, for while the above figures all sound large, they were not compiled in first-class matches, as were those made: by' M. Sead, Lockwood, W. E. Boiler, aha F. Butler. Playing for Surrey against Gloucestershire, Bead scored 135; Lock-; wood and Boiler made 168 and 120 respectively for the same County v, : Leicestershire, while Butler’s score of 171. was made when playing for Not£itfgfcsm>i : shire against Sussex. Nottinghamshire heat‘ 'Sußsex" - fln' '-ons innings with four wickets to spare. Score*. Nottinghamshire, 362 for six wickets (F. Butler 171, Shrewsbury 51, Scotton not out 50). 105 and 119. After big scoring on both sides Surrey defeated Leicestershire by ten wickets. Surrey 388 and 79 for no wickets (Lockwood 168 and 36 not out W. E. Boiler 120, Abel 9 and 41 not out.) Leicestershire 190 and 273 (Warren 62 ana 71, Lorrimer 0 and 109.) Surrey beat Lancashire on June 10; by 61 runs. It was a bowlers’ match right through, only 283 reus being scored in the four innings. Lohmann took thirteen wickets for 54 runs for Surrey, and Briggs eleven for 112 runs for Lancashire. _ Surrey scored a single innings , victory over Gloucestershire, thanks to the splendid bowling of Sharpe and Bead's fine innings. In the first innings of the Western County Sharpe took six wickets for 60 runs, and in the second eight wicketa at the marvellously low cost of 27 runs. Scores Surrey 464 (M. Bead 135, Lockwood 65, Wood 63, Lohmann 57, and W. W. Bead 51.) Gloucester 238 and 74 (Cranston 83 not out and 19, Painter 65 and 0), Yorkshire defeated Staffordshire in-one innings with three wickets to spare, a victory which was mainly due to Brown’s batting and Peel’s bowling. Scores: Yorkshire, 375 for seven wickets, . (Brown, 135, Peel 76, Ulyett 54). Staffordshire 71 and ,167 (Heath 4 and 44, Brookes 17 and 25). Peel took seven wickets for 26 in the first innings of Stafford, and seven for 47 in the second.

Sharpe (Surrey) did another howling performance besides the one mentioned elsewhere. In the match Surrey v. Leicestershire be took six Leicester wickets at the small cost of 29 rnns. Yorkshire beat Sussex by six wickete on June 3 and 4. Scores, Yorkshire, SBB and 158 for four wickets, (Lee 94, Lord Hawke 65 and 48, Hall 50 and 35, not out, Ulyett 69 and 19). Sussex 285 and 260, (Qnaife 67 and 31, Newham 50 and 40, T., Brown 24 and 68, C. A. Smith 40 and 11, W. H. Dudney 40 and 4).