CRICKET IN ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13514, 12 August 1907, Page 7

CRICKET IN ENGLAND.

' [FROM OUR OWN correspondent.] > London, June 28. i Up to (lie day before yesterday, the ' South African cricketers had pursued a triumphal march from victory to victory i in their contests with the first-class EngI lish counties. They had played 11 matches < and had won eight of them, the other three 1 remaining unfinished through bad weather, . There is every reason to believe that bad ? the weather and time permitted they would ; have won those three also. This week ■ they had to meet the champion county of : all England, Kent, all of whose exception--1 ally brilliant batsmen were available, and j whose bowlers, particularly Blythe and . Fielder, were at the top of their form. • Kent went in first and ran up the biggest score yet compiled against the visitors, 273, of which the lion's share fell to the ninth i and.tenth men, Fairservice and Blythe, who , were played chiefly as bowlers, but who, , nevertheless, made 61 and 33 respectively. . Seymour, who in the previous Kentish match had made an innings of 204, had , in this instance to be content with a miser- : able 11, while the mighty Hutcbings, the . greatest batting star of all, fared even worse, I failing even to get into double figures, when he was caught by the bowler Vogler after i he had only made nine. Then the South * Africans went in, and to the amazement of , their admirers, were all got rid of by Blythe, Fairservice, end Fielder for t.he : total of 95. This brought upon them the I humiliation of having to follow on," and > when play closed on Tuesday night the , South Africans still required 163 run,, to > avert defeat by an innings. I When play resumed on Wednesday morn--1 ing the South Africans again began very ; badly, and with five of their best' men out, • still needed 124- runs to save the innings' > defeat. Then Faulkner and Snooke got together, and began by putting on 93 runs in 80 minutes. Even then, at lunch time, I Faulkner having been bowled by Blythe for ; a brilliant 60, they were still apparently in ■ a hopeless plight. After lunch, Snooke was , joined by Sinclair, and the two put on [• another 110 before Sinclair was caught, , after contributing a second score of 60 to > the South African total, which was now 79 to the good as against Kent's first innings. i Snooke carried up his runs to 97, a magnificent innings, before be was caught after i three hours' batting, and the South African > second innings ultimately closed at 281. > leaving Kent, with its wealth of splendid batsmen, only 104- to make to win, with an i hour and 50 minutes to do it in. Then followed one of the most wonderful struggles 1 that cricketing annals record. The first three wickets fell for seven. When only 25 more runs remained to be made, Marsh am (the Kentish captain) and Woolley were disj posed of in the same over. At last, with ■ nine wickets down and one still standing, only two runs remained to be made to tie i and three to win. But at that moment i Kotzo made a marvellous low catch at niiclon, and the South Africans bad won by [ two runs amid tremendous applause, the

[ Kentish spectators being. almost enthusiastic in their recognition of the South I African prowe-s as i! it had been displayed by their own fellow-countrymen. The bowling and fielding of the South Africans in • the final Kentish innings was simply magnificent. .Voglt-r. Schwartz, and While carrying off chief bowling honours. Kotze, tse * famous fast bowler, only got one wiciet, but it was that of the redoubtable Seymour iq the first innings, while iu the , second innings ho caught the same great I batsman off Vogler for a cypher, beside making two other brilliant catches during ! the match. Whatever may happen in the : future, this splendid victory over the Eng- ! lish county champions, after so tremendous a fight, will render this South African team ever memorable in cricket history. When the Hon. F. S. Jackson finally de- \ clined the captaincy of the M.C.C. team ' for Australia, every effort was made to in--1 duce him to reconsider bis decision, but without success, his inability being due to the claims of business. The M.C.C. Committee in June resolved to recommend to the counties that it is not- advisable that wickets should be pro- . tected against- the weather within twenty-four • hours preceding a match. It has also been . decided that the right to demand a new i hall shall only be exercised after 200 runs | 1 have been scored from the old one. The : j decision removes a doubt (says the Referee), i j Suppose a side did not demand the new I I ball at 200. and that it was not until 270 , that, the shape of the old ball being af- ■ fected, another was called for. When can | No. sbe demanded—at 400 or 470? The [ regulation said after every 200 runs: it will . now be after 200 runs have been hit from a , ball. l Edward Poolev, the famous old English wicket-keeper, died in England a couple of weeks ago. aeed 69, after illness extending , over a considerabl period. Poolev belonged to Surrey, and in his prime was a . ! remarkable wicket-keeper. Me came to j [ Australia with T-illywhite's team in 1876, I | where he showed great ability as wicket- ; | keeper. His side, however, was deprived . i of his great services in the historic contest . j in which England and Australia first met I for " the ashes." The team toured New . j Zealand, and over there Poolev was mixed ' j up in a row which led to his arrest, and to I the departure of the team without him. i Thoimh he got out of the trouble he re- . joined the team too late for the two big matches. The residents of Christchurch presented Poolev with a gold ring and a purse of sovereigns as a token of their sympathy in connection with his trouble. John Cuffe (Toowoomba and Sydney) re- | cently secured five for 66 and five for 35 for Worcestershire against Gloucester, E. ! Arnold getting five for 49 and five for 26. Prince Ranjitsinhji, though probably lost to Sussex cricket for ever, has given practical proof that he retains his interest in his old county. It was stated at Brighton that lie has offered a donation of 200 guineas to the Sussex County Club, to be followed by an annual donation of a hundred guineas. Needless to say his munificent offer lias been accepted, and he has been made a patron of the club. 1