SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



biggest score being 157 on the Aylestone 

 ground. Mr. F. G. J. Ford, in August, 

 obtained no less than 603 runs, while mag- 

 nificent assistance with the bat and in the 

 field that month came from the brothers 

 Douglas and Mr. C. M. Wells. So well was 

 the standard maintained next summer that the 

 Middlesex side almost won the champion- 

 ship, eleven victories being set against three 

 defeats. Mr. Stoddart and Sir T. C. O'Brien 

 both dropped out, but in August the usual 

 triumvirate of schoolmasters reappeared and 

 Mr. C. M. Wells averaged 81, his great score 

 being 244 against Notts. Mr. Warner batted 

 better than ever before, and Trott not only 

 took 146 wickets for 15, but scored 164 

 against Yorkshire. It was the victory by an 

 innings and two runs over that team which 

 formed the proudest achievement of Middlesex. 

 Mr. F. G.J.Ford played three great centuries, 

 and Mr. Macgregor as a bat, as wicket- 

 keeper, and as captain was a complete success. 



There was a big drop in 1901, though Mr. 

 Stoddart came back for Hearne's benefit and 

 scored a masterly 22 1 against Somerset. Mr. 

 Bosanquet's play for his double hundred 

 against Leicestershire was electrifying, but 

 Mr. Warner bore the brunt of the batting 

 and Trott of the bowling. Although Middle- 

 sex finished second in 1901 there was little 

 brilliancy in the display apart from the fine 

 scoring of Mr. P. F. Warner, though Mr. 

 Bosanquet established himself as Mr. F. G. J. 

 Ford's successor. Disasters came so fast in 

 1902 that eleventh place only was obtained. 

 Apart from an innings of 180 by Mr. J. 

 Douglas at Leyton, and a creditable victory 

 over Notts, in which Mr. Bosanquet gave 

 his earliest swerve demonstration, there was 

 little to praise. 



All-round efficiency accounted for the un- 

 expected fact that Middlesex actually took 

 champion honours in 1903, the only reverse 

 being a tremendous defeat by a margin of 230 

 at the hands of Yorkshire at Leeds. Messrs. 

 Warner, Beldam, Bosanquet, Moon, and 

 the Douglases formed a formidable batting 

 nucleus. The bowling on paper did not look 

 remarkable, but it was effective. On 14 

 September the county played a favourable 

 draw with the Rest of England, represented 

 by Lord Hawke and K. S. Ranjitsinhji, with 

 Hayward, Hayes, Tyldesley, Arnold, Hirst, 

 Braund, John Gunn, Rhodes, and Strudwick. 

 In August 1904 the Middlesex side was 

 as good as ever, but previously with unre- 

 presentative elevens they gave only a poor 

 exhibition. The bright feature was the work 

 of Mr. B. J. T. Bosanquet. Against Kent, 

 after making 80, he captured five for 23, and 



in the Yorkshire match he took ten for 248, 

 making 141, with Mr. R. E. More adding 

 128 inside fifty minutes. In each match 

 with Somerset, Mr. G. W. Beldam 

 played a sound century, while Mr. Warner 

 contributed 163 at Nottingham and 106 at 

 the Oval. J. T. Hearne bowled quite in his 

 old style. A lamentable decline was shown 

 in 1905, and blunders in the field prevented 

 the victories of the county from amounting to 

 more than four as against seven defeats. 

 Very occasional success by Mr. Bosanquet 

 alone assisted J. T. Hearne in the attack, 

 while that steady batsman Tarrant enjoyed 

 moderate success. Mr. Bosanquet achieved a 

 double century against Sussex, following it up 

 with eight for 53, but the general form was 

 lifeless. The pertinacious imperturbable skill 

 of Tarrant in every department was the main- 

 stay of the county in the next few years, and 

 in 1907 he proved the best all-round profes- 

 sional in England. Mr. Macgregor kept 

 wicket as finely as ever until he resigned the 

 captaincy to Mr. P. F. Warner. 



THE MARYLEBONE CRICKET 

 CLUB 



The space at our disposal does not permit 

 of more than a very inadequate mention of 

 this famous club, which is indeed more a na- 

 tional than a county institution. The club 

 virtually was the offshoot of the White 

 Conduit Club dissolved in 1787. Thomas 

 Lord established the first ground that bore 

 his name in Dorset Square. After a tem- 

 porary residence at North Bank, he opened 

 the present ground in St. John's Wood, 

 the first match played there being M.C.C. 

 against Hertfordshire in 1814. The old 

 pavilion was burnt in 1820. From time to 

 time many alterations and additions have 

 been made. 



There are now nearly five thousand mem- 

 bers of M.C.C. The administration is in the 

 hands of a president, nominated annually by 

 his predecessor, a treasurer, a committee of 

 sixteen, four of whom retire annually, and 

 a secretary with a subordinate staff. Any 

 alterations in the laws of the game must be 

 approved at a general meeting ; and while 

 these laws are implicitly obeyed in England, 

 they form, with some modifications, the rule 

 for cricket in all other parts of the world. 

 Formerly the matches between M.C.C. and 

 Ground and certain counties were of an im- 

 portance far greater than is at present the 

 case, but the minor matches of the great club 

 are invaluable for popularizing the game. 



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