Page:Cricket (Steel, Lyttelton).djvu/361

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THE UNIVERSITY CRICKET MATCH.
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and the highest individual aggregates in any one match are 92 in 1849 by Mr. T. King, 95 by Mr. Makinson in 1856, 90 by Mr. Mitchell in 1862, and 92 by the same gentleman in 1865. One of Mr. King's innings was not completed. So Mr. Yardley in 1870 beat the record of any two aggregates by his one innings. Since 1870 the individual scores of 100 have come fast and furious, and altogether thirteen hundreds have been played, seven by Cambridge to six by Oxford. Mr. Yardley is still in the proud position of being the only batsman who has twice got into three figures, and nobody who saw either of his great performances will ever forget it. Unless, however, there is a change for the better in bowling or an alteration in the laws, it is certain that hundreds will come with comparative frequency, and we cannot help pining for a return to the old state of things when 200 Was reckoned a very large total. The highest aggregate in any one match is Lord George Scott's 166 in 1887, and the highest individual score is Mr. Key's 143 in 1886. No performances, however, are entitled to more credit than Mr. Makinson's aggregate of 95 in 1856, and Mr. Mitchell's 90 in 1862, and the fewer long scores made in former days made a far larger proportion of the total runs obtained by the whole side. Mr. Makinson's runs in 1855 were obtained against perhaps the best bowling eleven that Oxford ever possessed, containing Messrs. C. D. Marsham, A. Payne, W. Fellowes, and W. Fiennes, while Mr. Mitchell's score in 1862 was not much less than half of the total score of his side. Against him are to be found the names of Plowden, Lang, Salter, and Lyttelton, and never in any match, except in the previous year when they had the same quartet, has Cambridge been so strong in bowling as they were in 1862. The highest average has been secured by Mr. Key of Oxford, and this amounts to no less than 49. Close behind him comes Mr. Wright of Cambridge, with an average of 48·4; then Mr. Mitchell with 42·4, and Mr. Yardley with 39·5. Mr. Mitchell's average is remarkable, as his highest score 'was 57, though he was once not out. Mr. Wright was twice not out, Mr. Key and