Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 04 June 1904

A Battle Royal at Denaby.

There was a gathering of the clans at Denaby, on Saturday, when Mexbro’ travelled there, to meet the prospective champions of the League. Cricket enthusiasts past and present turned out by the score in anticipation of a hard, keen, and exciting game, and it must be admitted they got their money’s worth. I don’t agree with the poet that the play was duller than the weather, and that, therefore, the weather is the most serious subject to discuss. No doubt the wet of Friday and the bad light of Saturday had a big effect upon the game, but it had the effect of creating excitement. There might have been more prosaic cricket on a pitch like an iron shirt front and beneath a blazing sun.

I will, however, give in to my inspired colleague so far as to admit that Saturday was a day to give anybody the hump, even those without the finely-tuned soul of the uncrowned laureate. It was, moreover, a day eminently calculated to bring out the glorious uncertainties of cricket in all their glory—and that was what it did. The Denaby people had done their best to get a good wicket for the match, and, considering that the ground was under water on Friday night, they did wonders to prepare a playable pitch at all. But at its best it was a “wrong ’un,” it was dead against the batsmen, and all in favour of the bowlers, especially such trundlers as Luther Robinson, who was so unplayable that in the course of the twelve overs he had only eighteen runs scored off him. On such a wicket luck was bound to be a big element in the result, and so it proved. Denaby, it is true, gained a very fine victory, and had to play hard for it, but they had all the luck on their side. Indeed, their victory was mainly due to the fact that having the luck they knew how to make the most of it.

Mexbro’ won the toss, and started batting in a very bad light, Nicholson and Syddall opening the innings. The professionals scored a couple off the last ball of Barker’s over, and Nicholson got a single off Robinson. Then the first ball of Barker’s second over bowled Nicholson, who tried to drive it to the rails, and the second ball secured Albert Mitchell’s wicket. It was wide on the off, and Mitchell made the mistake of attempting to cut it, the result being a justification of the “off theory,” for P. Bury caught him easily at point.

Now came the incident which, to a large extent, spoiled the game of its perfect fairness. Turner joined Syddall, and the pair looked like making a stand, when Barker pitched a ball short, and Turner ducked out of the way of it when it bumped. To the general surprise Knowles, the wicket-keeper, when he caught the ball, appealed, and to the general astonishment, the umpire gave Turner—the Mexbro’ captain—out. The batsman had missed the ball (cricket measure), and the decision was an outrageously unfair one. The umpire, who is an expert from Monk Bretton, must either have been asleep, or else deliberately intended terminating the Mexbro’ captain’s innings. C. O. P., whose other name is Pepper, followed Turner. He did not distinguish himself by personal brilliancy at the wicket; indeed, he played far too carefully, and was content to block balls which wanted barging out of the field. But he kept his end up while Syddall got a few runs, and so far, at all events, justified his existence. He was caught out ultimately through attempting to punish an easy ball, and not hitting it quite hard enough.

Things now went awkwardly for Mexbro’ again, four more wickets falling for an addition of less than 20 runs, Syddall having the bad luck to be caught from a ball which he drove behind the sight-board. Still it was a fine catch. Then came Field and Thorpe, who, by means of unorthodox but plucky cricket, made some improvement in the score, and were mainly responsible for the fact that the closing score was, after all, not a bad one, considering the wicket and the light.

Denaby began their innings under circumstances almost as depressing as those which had attended the opening of the Mexboro’ venture. The light was just as bad, and the wicket helped the ball to do queer things. The start was not so unpromising, however, as that of Mexboro’ had been, for not above a score of runs had been made before the first wicket fell, and a change of bowling was necessary to secure the dismissal of the first batsman. Butler and A. Robinson opened the innings to the bowling of Syddall and Feirn. Play at the outset was terribly slow, Butler playing for safety, while Robinson only rarely hit at a ball. When ten were on the board Thorpe brought off a fine low catch off Feirn, which ought to have dismissed Butler, but the umpire, who had given Turner out unfairly, evidently thought to square things by refusing to give Butler out, and that stonewalling left-hander was allowed another life. He was eventually caught by Thorpe off Hakin shortly after that young man went on vice Feirn.

In his next over Syddall bowled Robinson, who had taken nearly an hour to make 19 runs, and following this things went queerly for Denaby. Three more wickets fell for an addition of twelve runs only, and half the Denaby batsmen had been sent back with but 34 runs on the board. Stott and P. Bury made something of a stand, and raised the score to 48, when Thorpe brought off a fine catch behind the wicket, this being his fourth victim, and Syddall being the bowler.

Knowles, the wicket-keeper, filled the vacancy, and almost immediately after his arrival Mexboro’ threw away a chance of winning the match. Bury skied a ball from Hakin almost straight into the air, and Thorpe got under it in the middle of the wicket. He seemed to be sitting half-an-hour for it to come down, yet when it fell he failed to hold it. Cheered by his life, Bury settled down to hit, and, despite two changes of bowling, Joe Hakin going on at one end and Nicholson at the other, the runs were hit off, Bury being credited with the winning hit. Scores—

Mexboro’ v. Denaby

Score at the fall of wickets

Bowling Analysis