Cricket 1883

JCnsnE 21, 1883. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 389 The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— Hamlet. A co rresponden t has sent me the score of a novel match played on Bickling Green, on June 5, taken from the Herts and Essex Observer. Sensations follow each other so quickly in cricket, that I always feel a little diffidence in describing anything as the best of its kind. But, as far as I can remember, the match to which I am alluding is the first in which a century has been made by a female cricketer. The contest in question was between a team of female players led by a Miss Osborn against one commanded by a Miss Smith. There were only seven a side, and the former won in an innings and 46 runs, scoring 162 (Miss E . Osborn 101) to 53 and 63. It was intended, I presume, to play eleven a side, but the Observer says that “ the rest of the fair creatures did not turn up till after tea, when dancing commenced.” I t is not every batsman who can boast the good fortune to play on with­ out disturbing thewicket. Itwas a curious coincidence, therefore, that this should occur twice on Monday, and in important matches. At Lord’s, in the con­ test between M.C.C. and Ground and Cambridge University, the Hon. M. B. Hawke played a ball of Bylott’s into his wicket, without disturbing the ba il; and, at Brighton, Mr. Newham, for Sussex v. Kent, in playing Wootton, had a precisely similar slice of luck. A v a l u e d correspondent has sent me the following statistics, relative to the foremost batsmen of the season. The figures are taken from county and first- class matches, and calculated up to June 16, inclusive. No one who has played less than ten innings is inserted inthese tables. Completed Highest -r-j-r ~ , Innings. Runs. Score. Average. W .W . Read -----10 565 168 56.5 C. T. Studd........... 13 602 175 46.4 Ulyett ................... 11 401 79 36.5 A. N. Horaby -----12 429 96 35.9 M. Read................... 11 374 113 34 A. P. L u ca s ........... 11 369 97 33.6 W . G. Grace...........13 407 89 31.4 Hon. M. B. Hawke 10 267 141 26 7 Flowers....................15 362 131 24.2 I t will be of interest to many Southern cricketers to know that Mr. J. J. Sewell, the once famous Middlesex player, has again appeared on the scene of English cricket. Mr. Sewell, who was m the Marlborough Eleven of 1860, a few years later did good service for Middle­ sex, for which he was qualified by residence, and made some big scores, notably one of 166 against Surrey, on Aug. 20, 1866. He was a fine free hitter and very smart out field. In 1869 his name appeared in the Eleven of Pietermaritzburg, in Natal, and he has only just reappeared on an English cricket field after fifteen years absence in that Colony. A correspondent writes that in the match, Cirencester (his birth­ place) v. Stroud, a score of which will be found in another part of the paper, he displayed his usual free style, when he wag unfortunately run out. A mong cricket curiosities lately may be mentioned a match between the 2nd Stafford Begiment and the 5th Fusilers. The former totalled 87 in each innings, and as the 2nd Staffer d could only make 144 and 30, the match ended in a tie. A singular match, not unlike in some ofits details, was played recently at Sneinton, between the Sneinton Choir and Castle United. In thi 3 contest not only did the Sneinton team score thirty each time, but their opponents, after making 22 in the first, also totalled 30 in the second innings. There were nineteen cyphers in the match. A m a tc h likely to be very attractive, is to take place at the Oval, on Wednesday next. The committee of the Surrey County Club have granted the United Theatrical Club the free use of their ground in aid of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, and the match is to be Capt. Patton’s Eleven v. Twenty of the United Theatrical Club with two professionals (Maurice Bead and Henderson). The actors are to be opposed by a tremendous combination, and as Capt. Patton’s eleven will include Messrs. W . G. Grace, A. N. Hornby, A. G. Steel, A. P. Lucas, W. W. Bead, J. S. Bussel, W. E . Boiler, C. T. Studd, Hon. M. B . Hawke, and Hon. J. W . Mansfield (the last three if the Inter-University match is over in time); and the match, it is said, will be under the immediate patronage of Messrs. H. Irving, J. L. Toole, Wilson Barrett, and other celebrities of the theatrical world, a deserving charity should reap a sub­ stantial benefit. My paragraph last week to the con­ trary notwithstanding, Mr. I. D. Walker did take part in the match at Lord’s, on Thursday, between Middlesex and York­ shire. My information with regard to his strain was so far correct, although, in the inabihty to get a fitting substitute, he represented Middlesex on that occa­ sion, and I have his own assurance that he will not be thoroughly able to run or hit for some little time; B umour is by universal consent a lying jade, and, more than once this season, reports from the most reliable sources have proved to be incorrect. It was said that Mr. A. G: Steel would not partici­ pate in any of the chief fixtures of the season. His presence at Lord’s, on Monday, proves such an assertion to have been ill founded, and everyone will be glad to hear that there is every pros­ pect of his appearance in what I may term the classic contests of the year. T he hon. sec. of the Free Foresters’ Club desires me to intimate that he will be glad if the members will furnish him with their present addresses. Commu­ nications to this effect should be sent to Mr. E. Butter, Halliford. A f r i e n d from Beigate writes me of a somewhat amusing incident which oc­ curred in a match at Meadvale, on Saturday last. A ball was hit to square leg, which the umpire, in turning to avoid, unconsciously caught in his coat-tail pocket. I have a recollection of hearing of a peculiar incident in the days of the brave old Surrey eleven, in which, iu the case of a catch, the ball was, after a very anxious search for its whereabouts, found in the pocket of the fieldsman. S ydney S mith caustically remarked of the late Earl Bussell, “ His worst feature is that he was utterly ignorant of all moral fear; there is nothing he would not undertake.” Modesty is not, I fear, the chief virtue of a certain section of cricketers. I have had the intimate acquaintance of a good many who could do most things, but never to my know­ ledge one to claim that he could field point to his own bowling. In a recent Marylebone match, not very much more than six miles from London, a bowler, after placing his field, in reply to a remonstrance from his captain that he had no point, in solemn earnest replied that it was quite immaterial, he could cover that position himself. F a c t! In a match on June 9, for Fareham v. Swanmore Park, H. S. Darby took all the wickets in the Park’s first innings for eighteen runs, seven of them clean bowled. His analysis read :--13.4 overs, 5 maidens,18runs,and 10 wickets; he also performed the hat trick in the twelfth over. G. Underdown (the Hants County Amateur), playing for Petersfield v. the North End Club of Landport, on the