CRICKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2471, 24 July 1901, Page 60

CRICKET.

tf&TES BY SLIP* Cricketers will regret to hear that bad news is all that is to be heard oi Johnny Briggs. He is perpetually under the impression that he is playing against an Australian • Eleven and bowls any object he can get hold of again-st an imaginary Australian wicket. Yet another Trott of that ilk may shortly make his bow to the English public as a cricketer. Fred Trott, » brother of G. H. S. Trott and Albert Trott, has been practising at the nets at Lords, and has pleased the critics immensely. He varies bis pace, has the same occasional "fast one" as Albert, and breaks noth ways— "round the box," a la George Giffen. He is a good and punishing Tiat, again of the same type as Albert," but whether he can throw a cricket ball like hi 3 famous brother we do not know. Every county in England, according to the gossip" at ieadquarters, is after Trott Tertius. , On May 25 Rhodes had taken 41 wickets, the highest aggregate, with Albert Trott (39) next. C. M'Gahey, of Essex, was in great form at the beginning of the»season ,and when the last mail left he had played the following eight consecutive innings in fotvr matches: •77 not out and 125, 63 and 77, 114 and 125 not out, 74 and 47 not out. These make a total of 722-— an average of 120 runs per innings. Naturally he was leading in the race fox the -first thousand ; others being Abel 714, Hayward 675, and Jessop 604. Here is a curiosity in the way of batting averages. Hunter, the Yorkshire wicketkeeper, has batted' six times this reason with this result: — Six inaings, six not outs, total 55, highest score 20 not out. average 53. The following are a few of Gilbert Jee-iop'a Herculean achievements. In August, 1894, he made 61 (not out) out of 73 in 50 minutes, against' Somerset, and in August, 1895, 53 in 30 minutes against Sussex, and 63 out of 65 in 28 minutes against Yorkshire. During the Freshman's match at Cambridge in 1896 Jessop amassed 102 in 60 minutes by 32 hits out" of 57 balk delivered to him. At Old Trafford in July. 1386. the Light Blue rattled up 81 in 70 minutes, but 12 month* later, at Harrogate. Je^sop -actually obtained 101 out of ]1B without giving a chance in 40 minutes. Even adjusting that the pretty Harrogate ground is circumscribed, this was more like conjuring than cricket. In less than two hours 171 (not out)' were registered by Je^op for Cambridge Fniversuy against Yorkshire, while at Brighton last June against Sn« e ex the Glouccte, e&utain scored 179 out of 257 recorded in an hour and three-quarters. In the course of an interview J. H Sinclair, the South African crack, told a iepresentative of Cricket a few personal items about "!-.p war. He was talking about tl.e cricketers he met while he wa- out fighting, and went on to jay: "On the night when I was taken prisoner by De Wet I had t«o guards allotted to me. Presently on" of them lit hi,-- pipe and then held the match to my face. 'Well, I'm .' he said. " J knew T should come aero« c some of you fellow?.' He was a cricketer in the poat ofScf at Johannesburg, whom I knew well " Sinclair, -nith two others, "legged" it while the Boer? were in a big fight at Rustenhurg. and after a couple of day- wandering he found Lord Methucn's camp, and almost ran into the arms, of Frank Mitchell, the Yorkshire amateur, who wa-5 then aetmsr quarterma-tf-r to the Yeomanry. The South Afneavi champion felt cold when he arrived in England and up to the end of May had been unable" to strike trtie batting form. Sixty-seven matches have now +>ecn played between the rival "Blue-." Of the-e Cambridge has won 32, and Oxford 29. while six havv been drawn. Last vearV rnetch uadrawn, the scores being : Oxford 503 ,md 219 for six wickets (innings declared clo^d). Cambridge 392 ard 186 for two wicket-. Tl is" rather curious that in la-t yeai's miUeh Oxford made the highest -coif (505) in any inter-TTnivei>ity came (mile*- thi~ v ir'« r\eeected it),- and thai Cair bridge'- 392 v ;< -, next, while Mr R. E Foster" th« (Kfo.-d captain, made th-e luuhest lmh- id'--.l -cip. 171. In the course of three c'ayi 1300 rrn~, wei'P scorad, and onl3' 28 vrie'eta vent <U .i i

The event of the Su-^e^f^once^er-'-m-e game was the appearance of RanjiN-nhii for the first time this season in big cricket, tfe was in rattiiasc Ivsai, and. according to one

authority, was dismissed cheaply for 65. A curious feature about the match was that the top scorers on both sides in the first innings failed in the second, Wrathall making 135 and 0, Ranjitsinhji 65 and 0, and Golclie 140 and 0. Je<s«op's 57 occupied him only half an hour. He had a hand in the bowling, too, for when the Sussex batsmen failed on the second try he secured 4 for 37, Paish being responsible for another quartet for 9 runs. It is seldom that a county has begun a season more disastrously than Derbyshire, whose record at present is a follows : — V. London County— beaten by an innings and 119 ltma. v. Surrey— beaten by an innings and 111 runs. v. Yorkshire— beaten by an innings and 282 uini. v. M.C.C.— beaten by nine wickets. v. Hampshire— beaten by two wicket?. The following a.re some of the latest English hundreds-: — MAY. '23. R E. More, Oxford Univ. v. Surrey . . 133 ij. E K. Longman, Cambridge Univ. v. Yorkshire .... 150 23. Carpenter, Essev v. Gloucestershire . 136 ~2i G. M'&ahev, Es°cx v. Gloucesteislme 11* 24. Tyldesley, Lancashire v. "Worcester .. 117 24. A. Eccles, Lancashire v. Worcester .. 125 24. Board, Gloucestershire v. Essex .. 161 24. Hale, Gloucestershire v. Essex .. . "109 25. C. M'Gahey, Essex v. Gloucestershire 145 27. Carpenter. Essex v. Kent 127 S7. Perrin, Essex v. Kent 189 27. S. EL Evershed, Derbyshire v. Hampsliir© .. •• •* •• •* *■ ** ** ■*"*^ 27 Wrathall, Gloucestershire v. Sussex .. 135 2S'. Hearne (A.), Kent v. Essex 152 28 X O. Goldie, Sussex v. Gloucestershire If* OS. Carpenter, Essex v. Kent .. .. •♦ l"4 *Not out. Centurie" were numerous when Essex met Kent, for, in addition to Carpenter's 127 and 104, Perrin launched out with 189 in his little bag. That he was forceful in his »ttentions is testified to by the record, which states that "many of his drives sent the ball clean over the ring of spectators. Once it landed on the balcony of the pavilion, several times it fell among the ladies in their reserved enclosure, and once it went clean over the pavilion." The veteran, Alec Hearne, came along with an unfinished 152. Naturally the bowling averages suffered.^ There weri several accidents at Lord's on Whit Monday. Mr F. A. PhilWps m stooping to pick up a ball when fielding stepped on one of his fingers with his spikes and broke a bone. After play had proceeded for some little time, the Middlesex captain at once allowed Mr Fowler to take his place in the Somersetshire team. Then Braund dislocated one of the fingers of ki& left hand in trying to stop a hard return by Mr Bosanquet, and Mi; R. C. N. P&*airet's knee again gave way. The death is announced from enteric fever, at Kimberley, of F. N. Town-end, the eldest son of Mr Frank Townsend. so well known as a member of the Gloucestershire team in its early years, and brothei of C. L. Townsend ,the famous cricketer of the present day. Born on September 16, in 1875, F. N. Townsend was educated at Blair Lodge, and wLile at school showed considerable abDity as & wicket-keeper, but he obtained bis firsttrial for Gloucestershire in 1826 as a batsman. He met with some success in the following year, and then went out to South itirica, but returning to England a year ago he was again introduced into the Gloucestershire team, iln the match against Lancashire at Manchester, Board was injured, and Townsend, when called on to take his place, made three catches. Moreover, his steady batting at the finish of the game helped Gloucestershire to gain a victory by three wickets. He kept wicket for over a month after this, and his services proved of immense value to his county. Playing against Lancashire, Somerset, Middlesex, Kent, Yorkshire, and Essex, he had a hand in dismissing «ncr a dozen balpmen. Bis batting in this year was a weak spot, and hifi best score was 26.

An admirable exponent of cricket i s G H. Hirst, who is still on the sunny side of 30. He distinguished himself by practically winning the game for Yorkshire against the M.C.C., taking 11 wickets in the match for 83 runs, and scoring 104 for once out — 36 in the first inninge, and 18 no* out in the second, the latter when things were going very b.xdly for his side. Mead had four wickets for 12 runs to his credit before lrneh. Yorkshire eventually won by six wicket. The other "not out" wa? Den ton, who al j o made the grand t-core of 80 in the first innings, and 15 not out in the seconds Hirst is reckoned one of the best alljound men in England, and to be classed with T. Hoy ward and F. S. Jackson. Last year be va- fifteenth ir> the bstting averages, irit'i the figure 3of 56 inning? — totnl itm«.. 1960: aventsre. 40.83. In the bowlin<T. in championship matches, ne was fourth, being rather overshadowed by the briHiant work of Rhodes and Haigh.

The latest English files contain an account of the thiid match .played by the South African cricketer-. K>nt t\a< the oppo-ung team, and tiro game was contested at B°ekenham, on Muv 9 3 and 2 L . The visitors made 225 and 139, and the home team 227 and 139 for thiee wick t-. Comm r nhng on the match, p writer in Cricket «ay< : — "For t'le third time in sr.c-cesiion the South .African* ha\ c shown ti'at they have plenty of grit, and that the tail i<? not in the !r>a-t discouraged by the failure of the best bat-. As yet they ha\e not become thoroughly accustomed to turf wickets, an! it would have been a^tciiis'iing if the 3" had done so, for to men who duiino tho whole of their career have been u»ed to matting, turf wicket- must for some time c eem peeu lidr. Their bowling badly wants accuracy, and a? met of the members of the tepm have had tew -nances of playing during tlie last couple if year«, it is not likely t^at they will get into their true .form for a few more week°. But despite these drawbacks, they have not done badly. At Btrcken^am they were =e\erclv beaten, bnt a little good fortune at critical moment- might easily have turned the scale in their favour. Their fiiNt li-impoß 'ppmor! likely to be a fp'lnve. for eight wickets were down for 119 run", but it i= not very ot'ten that big scores are mi'de iv the firsf-ila :■ matches at T? p i kenham, po- .ibly because ir-sny bat-men .\m not accu^om t Tl cn-.-el\ es to the beautiful tree- vnt 1 ' wL'ch rhe i* suiioun« T ed. An extrcinolv p^iuv -t me 1 Ijv Mr Reid, who put <m 77 in on !'ov> and 10 minutes. ,ii:d I retted ( ie bf.wVi^ a, it limy were of the "cm'Tio!' S^tui'dav afternoon \.incty. ami Mr l"?o ye ,!'i'l -U' KoUe 'MOn^hi the tcuil to o\ ■>• 201. >'.i( i :• Fivi be^iTi 1 . 1112 ivis ,na'*( 'oi K r .ir. by Mi Ts'irn-"-|> and Hum"ohrev- ivhi pi>t un ±08 foi tie fiv->t \tu \st m 3u hm,i, r i •> l whop ilmiiiir weip cli-awn IvpiU h'd an inv.mnie n;"l\.iuiaoe. bp;na oiilv 63 run- b^hii-*! v. ltb -*»* en wicVft 0 in bin' l Xotl Mie d,uinterl. M^e South Aliiea-n= nlawl up keenly on l-'ncLiy moriuus, sad taLe in-

nings was brought tc a very abrupt conclusion, Kent being only two runs to the good. The South African captain changed hi* order in tho second innings, and sent in Mr Tancred and Mr Shalders, who put on 81 runs. The latter was out just before lunch, and afterwards there was such a eollapae that Kent only had to make 138 to win. For the second time in the match Mr Biirnup and Humphreys brought up the hundred before they were separated, the former doing nearly all the scoring. The duration of the partnership was 55 minutes. _ There is always a flutter of interest among the spectators when it i« Trotfs turn to bat. for although he sometimes playes a steady and painstaking innings, he is much more likely to hit hard and often. He puts enormous power into his strokes, and when a ball doe* not go to the boundary it is generally because one of the fieldsmen has done a clever bit of work. Trott can hit about as hard as anyone who i« now playing, and his famous drive over the pavilion off M. A. Noble will be numbered among the most astonishing hits ever made. As a rule patience when batting is not Trott' s greatest virtue, and he sometimes lose* Ins wicket from sheer inability to resist the temptation to make a big #it. Probably as the years go on he will not make this mistake, and then he will be a really great batsman. We believe, says Melbourne Sportsman, that Mr MacLaren is particularly anxious that it should be known this trip is not a matter of private speculation by English cricketers* He need not worry himself, for the Melbourne Club will be careful to keep both eyes on the profit*. When Mr A. E. Stoddarf and his companions were in the colonies in 1897-98 we heard a great deal about "turning the corner." Whenever any inquiries were made concerning the monetary success of the venture, Messrs Ward ill and Phil Sheridan were always engaged in an operation which they described as "just turning the corner. 1 ' Well, the "Kangarooa" eventually hopred round the corner ■uith about £7000 for division after the Englishmen had left. A London cable reports the death of Robert Carpenter, a well-known cricketer ; aged 71 years. He was a famous Cambridge County player. In rhe year 1860 he took 158 wickets during the season. A London cable htates that Abel, the cricketer, has made 2000 run* dm nig the season. ENGLISH CRICKET. LONDON, July 17. William Gunn. playing for Notts against Derbyshire, scored 273 run-. Somerset beat Yorkshire at cricket, -coring 87 and 630 L. Palairet marie 173. Braund 107, and F. A. Phillips 122. Yorkshire scored 325 and 113. J. "PHILLIPS ON NO BALLING. LONDON. July 15. Mr J. Phillips, the umpire, explains that Ye ought to have no-balled Mod 80. not 18, time=. In future he will apply law No. 4-8 severely.