ENGLISH CRICKET

North Otago Times, 27 October 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

ENGLISH CRICKET

0 Thoro was something of' a lull m County Cricket during tho week ending August 4, only eight matches being played. Publio interest was most apparent in the match between Surrey and Kent, in which the latter county wero victorious. In the other County matches Yorkshire beat Worcestershire, Lancashire beat Leicestershire, Sussex : beat Somerset, Essex beat Middlesex, Gloucestershire beat Middlesex, aud there were two drawn games-Surrey, v. Sussex, and Hampshire v. Worcester-' shire. Following are tho details: — Yorkshire v. Worcestershire.—Yorkshire 271 (Rudston 50, Denton 65). Worcestershire 25 and 236 (Arnold i, and not out 103); total, 201, The first innings of Worcestershire was a curiosity. Only 23 runs off tho bat (for tTvo of flie total of 25 were leg-byes), and yet only two of tho side failed to score. Two men made 5 each, six made 2 each, and one made a solitary single, the latter being Arnold, who made 103, not out, in tho second innings. Usually when a side goes out for such an exceptionally small score there are some exceptional features in the game to acj count for it, but in this caso the col- ! lapso appears to havo been brought I about solely by feeble batting against remarkably good bowling, Yorkshire wero trying a new bowler, Sedgwick, and he came off with startling results, taking live of the Worcestershire wic- ' kets for 8 runs. In the second innings he took four wickets for 69 runs, three j of the wickets (ailing to successive balls. Yorkshire won by an innings and 10 rung,

Lancashire v. Leicestershire.—Lancashire 655 (Tyldesloy 55, Poidevin 71, Sharp 111). Leicestershire 96 and 218 (Knight 0 and 77, King 10 and 47); totaC 314. Only 78 runs were made off the bat in the first innings of Leicestershire. and of this number five of the side contributed only 2, by means of two singles and throe "ducks' eggs." Lancashire won by an innings apd 41 runs.

One cannot help noticing the large number of extras given in some matches this season.- The first innings of Leicestershire in this match is a case in noint, where the total soore waa only

iTil iuhl yet 18 of this small number nero extras. •

Sussex v. Somersetshire.—Soinerso 17.) and 181) (Robson. -18 and <lO, Lewi 10 and CI. llniund ncro out 1G iukl 101 total. 3;w. Sn?wx 241 and 118 Jir tlirc tickets (Vino not out 62 and 12, liil lick 3 and 55). Total 359. Sussex woi an uneventful match by seven wickets Ah something of a novelty this seasoi it may be noted that iu tho second in nings of Somerset no extras wcro given Kent v. Surrey.—Kent'ls6 and 32 (Burnup 46 and 20, lv, L. Ilutclungs and C2i Woolley io and GB, Humphrey 23 and GB, lilakei' 2 and 41); total 4G3. Surrey 219 and 80 (Hayward 12 and 17). Total 299. Surrey wero play ing their full strength, and at the em of their first innings they seamed to b well on the road to another victory, bu tlieir second innings wis a disastrou failuro, and tho whole eleven .wer got rid of for 80 runs. The only ex planatioii seams to be that Blytho am lifason bowled extremely well, and tha Surrey, Ijy one of these freaks of for fcuno which occasionally happens, com pletely went to pieces. Owing to thei: ,'ictory over Yorkshiro last week, Surro; stood at tho top of tlio chainpionshii ist, but their loss of this match pui hem again on a level with the Northen bounty. . Essex v. Middlesex.—Middlesex 12t md 346 (Tarrant 13 and 70, LTltlcjohii ) and.not out 41, Warner 9 and 8G ; f. T, Hearno not out 56 and 12); ,otal, 474. Essex 134 and 311 for three rickets (Fane 11 and 130, Perrin 0 and lot out 50, Turner 33 and not out 23, )ouglas 9 and 98); total, 475. The irst innings of each side was marked iy very moderate scoring, and there ras a difference of only six runs be.ween tho two. In the second innings if Middlesex all but ono got into double igurcs, and Essex had to get 341 to vin. This was a largo number for any flam to make in the fourth innings ol > match, but Essex mado them with the ;reateet ease, and lost only thro© wiccots in doing it, Fano played a very ine innings of 130, and Douglas, the imateur bowler of the team-, batted alnost equally jvell these two contributng 228 of tl*e 341 required to win, It raa a wonderful victory, especially in «ew of tbe fact that Middlesex are rery strong in bowling. Tarrant esjeoially distinguished himself in the ield in this match, making no less than .even catches in. the slips, Surrey v. Sussex.—Sussex 215 and >O7 (Smith not out 66 and 5, leach 18 md 43, Dwyer G and not out 03); ;otftl, 422. Surrey 225 and 201 for one vicket (Hayward 3 and not out 7|2, ffayra 97 and not out 105); total, 426. Surrey hold an advantago of 10 row mly on tho first innings, but tliey won lie match easily by nine wickets. Startng their last innings wanting 198 to vin, they last Hobbs with the score at 11; but Hayward and Hayes set resoutely to work, and despite numerous ihanges in tho bowling, they hit off the ■equired number of runs and were both lot out at the end with 72 and 105 r» ipectivcly. Hayes in particular batted rery brilliantly, and as he had made 17 in his first innings, he was within ihroa runs of a double century in tho natch. Hayward batted in his usual jraceful style. "Never in a hurry and lever anxious, lie went along faultlessy and leisurely, and never looked like ;etting out." Gloucestershire v. Middlesex.—Ulou:est«rshire 2GI and 100 (Wratliall 50 ind 4, Jessop 48 and 15, Sewell 71 and 19); t-otal, 361. Middlesex 107 and 133 Tarrant 5 and 40, Littlejohn 1 and nob mb 41); total, 240. Gloucestershire lould only make 100 in their second linings, but they had obtained a very it'eful load in the first, and in the ind they succeeded in beating the itotropolitan County by 121 runs. Tho rioket was treacherous in the second linings of Middlesex, and with Denuotti wwling exceedingly well they only sueeeded in making 137. As Gloucesterhire ai'o very low down in the- chainlionship table, this win was a Very, ralitablo one. Curiously enough, this s tho fifth successive match they have roil against Middlesex. Hampshire v. Worcestershire.—Woreetershiru 301 and 34<3 (Bowley 4 and 1, Pearson 40 and 16, Arnold 49 and 8. Hums 52 and. 109, Crowo 78 and 17); total, Gi4. Hompshire 183 and 378 or nine wickets (Johnston 83 and 46, Jowell 50 and 9, P. Mead 15 and 52, Jacon 0 and 50, Stono 3 and not out .1); total, 561. This was a most intersting match, with an exciting termina* ion. On tho last day of the match ianipshire were set 4G2 to win. They elt this to be an impossible task, so hey set themselves to battle for tho Iraw. All but one of them got well nto doublo figures, and they succeeded n making 378 for nine wickets. The. wo last men—Stono and Madcock— I'ero tho heroes of tho match. lhey iccamo associated whon thero wero still (5 minutes left for play, and despite ho gravity of the situation they played i'itli greot coolness and nerve, kept ip their wickets to tho end, and wero lot out with 41 and 24 respectively. ,'hoy were enthusiastically cheered by ,n excited crowd of spectators.