Mexborough & Swinton Times, July 19
Stubborn stand saves the game.
Denaby 209 Collegiate 104 for 8
Sheffield Collegiate, who gave Denaby and Cadeby a fright when the teams met on July 5th, at Dore, came to Denaby last Saturday for the returns, which was played in blazing heat on a perfect wicket, before an excellent attendance. The game had some interesting fluctuations, but at length resolved itself into a dour struggle by the visitors to save the game, and they succeeded by almost as close a margin as separated them from victory at the previous meeting.
Denaby, who were captained by Mr. G. L. Robinson in the absence of Mr. H. C. Harrison, had the good luck to bat first, and to field in the cool of the evening. Collegiate had a couple of early successes in the field, dismissing Tibbles and Narraway cheaply. Tibbles fell to a breakback that he was not looking for on a pitch so plumb, and Narraway was taken at third man. Two wickets were down for 21, but Greenwood and Worthington rapidly effected and improvement.
The fielding was very keen, and the bowling steady, but the score was pushed on at a normal pace, and Mr. Willey resorted to frequent bowling changes. At 46 he took off the opening pair, Walker and Bedford, and substituted Varley and Hoult, but quickly changed Varley round to the football end and went on himself with his lobs, bowling to a skilfully placed field. He had Greenwood guessing, and both batsmen had to be content with driven singles. However, Greenwood completed his fifty with a healthy pull for four from Varley, and four runs later was smartly taken at second slip. With a separation effected, Willey went off, and brought back Hoult, helping him to Worthington’s wicket by another excellent slip catch, with the score at 90. Luther Robinson and Shoosmith were not long associated, for at 99 Walker, who had gone at the football end, got the Denaby captain with a swinger which be edged to Bedford in the slips, the third successive victim to that form of dismissal. Shoosmith sent up the hundred, but a run later he lost young Wainwright, bowled by Walker, who at the same time score got Foster cleverly caught at second slip by Hoult. The ball glanced off Foster’s thumb and split it across a wound received in the Thorncliffe match. Foster was later substituted in the field by Lapidge.
With seven wickets down for 101, the outlook for Denaby was not very promising. Since Walker came on for his second spell, he had taken four wickets with only eleven added to the score. Considering the heat, he was bowling at a splendid pace, and the batsmen were for a time stuck up at the end. However, Shoosmith at length mastered the bowling, driving splendidly in front of the wicket. He was well seconded for a time by ‘Bob’ Pattison, who had just got going on his own account when he was unluckily run out. The score stood at 138 when Jim Crossley joined Shoosmith, and the pair provided the best cricket of the day, the young Frickley farmer’s unorthodox methods coming off beautifully. Again and again he delighted the crowd be sweeping the ball to the leg boundary almost with his knee to the ground. At 151 he lost Shoosmith, bowled by Varley, with a valiant 35 to his credit, but Crossley went to complete his first fifty in Yorkshire Council cricket, and to play as pretty an innings as could be desired, Tom Poole holding the other end fast. Crossley was at length bowled by Bedford with his score at 51, and the total at 209, a much better figure than seemed possible at the fall of the seventh wicket. Walker alone of the seven Collegiate bowlers tried had any notable success, and he took 5 wickets for 56.
Collegiate, with a little more than two hours batting, started out for the runs, but early reverses gave them pause, and they altered their policy on the fall of the fourth wicket, doing very well in the end to save the game. The opening bowlers were Poole and Worthington (football end). George Worthington bowled splendidly, and took the first six wickets. Barber was caught at the wicket with the score at 10, and Chapman an Doncaster then added 30 by bright cricket, when Chapman was bowled by Worthington. Willey fell almost immediately to a brilliant catch by Shoosmith, and from this point Collegiate relapsed into holding on.
This, however, was not very easy, for Branson fell to a brilliant catch at the wicket with the score at 52, and a run later Sergent was bowled by Worthington. Meanwhile, Crossley had been introduced at Poole’s end, and quickly secured a victim, Walker falling at 60 to a clever bit of stumping, though it was a ‘fine thing.’ Doncaster, one of the opening batsmen, was at length got rid of by Worthington for a well played 32, and seven wickets were down for 63.
With an hour and ten minutes to go, an easy victory appeared to be prospect for Denaby, but L. P. Hoult came in at that point, and could not be dislodged, while Varley defended stubbornly at the other end. Worthington was relieved by his captain after a spell of an hour and a quarter. He had bowled gallantly, with scarcely and faltering of length or pace. Poole had returned to Crossley’s end, but the batsmen played him comfortably, and it was Robinson who broke up the partnership, getting Varley in front with the score at 73. The patient Hoult was joined by Bedford, who had difficulty in combining the necessity for caution with the instinct for adventure, but nevertheless batted soundly and soon settled down.
With ten minutes to go he gave an easy return to Robinson which was not accepted, and this solitary mistake decided the issue, for Bedford offered nothing else, and Hoult was impregnable. Worthington came back at the tennis end, but bowled tiredly, and the Collegiate pair safely batted out time – a very good performance, though the crowd found Hoult’s stone – walling a little trying. To the educated cricketer it was a beautiful piece of work. Worthington came out with excellent figures, 6 for 40, and Narraway’s three victims behind the wicket were very dexterously killed off.