Cricket 1883

“ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”— Byron. „ , No. 23. VOL. 2. Registered for Transmission Abroad. FRIDAY , MARCH 16, 1833. PRICE 2d. HON. IVO BLIGH. A t the present time it would bs difficult to name an English sportsman of any kind more de­ servedly popular than the Hon. Ivo Francis Walter Bligh. Just now indeed there :ould hardly be a more fitting subject for the inauguration of a gallery of ;ricket notables than the Captain of ■he team starting on their home­ ward journey after so worthily up- lolding the honour of the Old Country 11 the Australian Colonies. Mr. Bligh, from his descent and associa­ tions, could hardly have failed to take i keen interest in cricket. It may airly be said of him that he was born i cricketer. Three generations of the ,amily had in turn been actively identi- !ed with the game, and it would have >een contrary to the fitness of things lad he not been imbued with the same astes. The name of Bligh can be raced far back in the annals of the incket field. The fourth Earl f Vamley> was a great supporter the sport at the close of the last “er.tury, and one of the earliest records E “ Scores and Biographies ” is of a Jiatch at Lord’s between Kent, led by j ord Darnley, and Hampshire, com­ manded by the Earl of Winchelsea. Pis brother, the Hon. Edward sneral) Bligh, was considered one of oe best gentleman bats of that period, I some good scores were attached to s. History tells how on Sept. ' ■ik ’ P^aye<i H- Hopkins and J. I ert (two of the Nottingham cracks) |one at single wicket, and won easily, .rin<?85 to 45. Mr. Bligh’s uncle, Hon. ■ X” 4 High,also figured prominently I s. eric*let of the next generation. I a s one of the Oxford eleven of 1850, I „ ~ good service for Kent about ten I at T ter’ Mr' Bligh’s father- thepre- <1 Darnley, has always been nthusiastic supporter of cricket. 0 as President of the Marylebone Club in sit’jnan? on*y last year occupied the same J ib to-iu1 co.nnection with the Kent County 9 1 ’ «i which the family has been so long | 0108% identified. Mr. Bligh’s elder brother, Lord Clifton, was in the Eton elevens of 1868 and 1869, and it was at Eton that he himself first made his mark as a cricketer. Though Kentish in every way by associations, Mr. Bligh cannot claim that county by birth. He was born at Bruton Street, in London, on March 13, 1859, bnt it is with Kentish cricket that he has alone been associated. In 1875, when only sixteen years old, he showed his abilities as a cricketer by an excellent innings at Gravesend for Eighteen of North Kent against the United South Eleven. On that occasion he scored thirty-five against the bowling of Souther­ ton (who got three wickets with successive balls), W. G. Grace, G. F. Grace, and Lillywhite, and the excellence of his play then stamped him as a batsman of the highest promise. In the following year (1876) he was one of the victorious Eton eleven at Lord’s, and a year later also found him one of the Etonians opposed to Harrow. Leaving Eton for Cam- bridge his batting showed a great im­ provement, and his powers of hitting, in conjunction with his brilliant field­ ing, at once secured him a place in the University eleven—the eleven which under the command of the Hon. Edward Lyttleton had such an unin­ terrupted run of success, winning every one of its eight matches. The season of 1879 witnessed his debut for the Gentlemen Against the Players at the Oval, and in the following year he was selected to represent the Gentlemen in both matches at Lord’s and the Oval. Unfortunately illness considerably interfered with his cricket in 1881, when he occupied the important position of captain of the Cambridge Eleven, and, indeed, he only just recovered in time to take part in the Inter - University match. He was appointed one of a triumvirate to manage Kentish affairs in the following season, but the state of his health unfortunately again prevented his participation in the game, and he was unable to take part in one match for the county. During the summer of 1881 the idea occurred to him of taking a team, mainly composed of amateurs, to Australia during this winter, and the remarkable success which has at­ tended the party just returning has been in no small measure due tohis efforts. If he has not been ableto play as much as he would have wished, his tact in the general conduct of affairs has been most conspicuous; and the ability with which he has managed the team, marked. As a cricketer, Mr. Bligh has had, C f A f j T