Cricket 1884

MAY 22, 1884. CRICKET; A WEEKLY EECORD OF THE GAME. 137 were the result of as good cricket as any in the match, and he took in ad­ dition three wickets at a cost of only eleven runs. Then again there were his two catches at short slip in the first innings of the Australians, and altogether Surrey was considerably beholden to him in this match. I know of no cricketer who has made such rapid improvement during the last two years as has “ the Guv’nor ” since he was regularly drafted into the Surrey Eleven. I n o tic e ill the Sydney Mail of March 29, that H. Moses, who made such a fine score against the Fourth Austra­ lian Team, had up to that date made 1,100 runs duringthe season. This, it is said, is a feat hitherto unapproached by a Colonial batsman. Moses, whom many think ought to have had a place in the Australian team now over here, did a good performance on March 22 for the Albert against the Warwick Club at Sydney. He went in first and carried out his bat for 161 out of a total of 295. C r ic k e te r s of the old school will hear with sorrow of the death of the celebrated amateur who was believed to have been one of the very best “ points ” ever known. The Eev. Eobert Turner King, who died last week in his 60th year, made his debut at Lord’s, when an undergraduate, in the Cambridge Eleven v. M.C.C., in 1845, at the same time as Mr. John Walker and his late brother Alfred, and played for M.C.C., England, and the Gentlemen v. Players, on several occasions, until he went into the Church and disappeared from public c r i c k e t . ---------- H e was also a very good bat and a splendid boxer ; in fact, one of the professors of the noble art of self- defence at Cambridge said of him, “ Ah ! if Mr. King would only go into the Ring instead of going to be a parson he couldn’t be off being a middle-weight champion.” He was considered as good a point as Felix, which is saying a great deal, as Felix played “ point” for the Gentlemen for a period extending over twenty years. Mi-. Kingwas a clergyman in the neigh­ bourhood of Liverpool, and the old fire burned in him to the last, as if anyone started cricket as a subject after dinner he was off on his hobby for the rest of the evening, unless some one opened the question of box­ ing, and he changed the venue at once. Mr. King was a staunch supporter of manly sports, an admirable thing in a parson. Two peculiar occurrences have been reported to me during the past week. In a match between Aston Club and Ground and Denton Club and Ground at Asliton-under-Lyne on Saturday, Bembridge, the profes­ sional of the home club, opened the bowling to the captain of the Denton team, Mr. E. Howe, who has played in the Lancashire team. The ball passed through the middle and off stumps without removing the bails. Bembridge, it will be remembered, recently bowled Barlow for a “ pair of specs.” T h e other incident is very curious. In a match between the Leeds Clarendon and Leeds Leaming­ ton Clubs on Saturday H. E. O’Dwyer bowled a ball which was played by the batsman on to his wicket, and remained firmly fixed between the middle and off-stumps about half-way down. Perhaps some C r ic k e t readers will kindly let me have particulars of any similar case. W h at a funny game cricket is ! I am aware the remark is not original, but the batting of W. L. Murdoch, the Australian captain—or the prince of men, as I saw him described recently in a daily paper—in the last matches he has played is such a striking exemplification of the delightful uncer­ tainty of cricket that I cannot refrain from repeating a trite saying. Since his arrival here Murdoch’s four in­ nings have realised twenty runs. But his last two attempts in Australia were even more sensational. In each case he was out the first ball he received. Can there be a parallel to this in the case of a really first- class batsman ? W h il e on the subject of small scoring mention may be made of Mr. John Shuter’s two ciphers for Surrey v. Essex at the Oval last week. I believe I am correct in saying that the Surrey captain has not twice failed to score in a match since he was credited with two “ ducks” for Winchester against Eton in 1872, his second year in the Wykehamist Eleven. W ho would have ventured to sug­ gest a week ago that the Australian team would have been so easily beaten in the second match of their tour ? And after their decisive de­ feat of Lord Sheffield’s Eleven what would have been the odds against Oxford University lowering their colours ? Yet one of the best judges of the game who saw the whole of the match tells me that the Colonists were fairly beaten at every point, out- bowied, out-batted, out-fielded, and out-generalled. I know no one on whose opinion I would place greater reliance, and my informant states that Mr. Kemp’s generalship had much to do with the successful issuo of the match. Too much reliance is of course not to be placed on the form of the Australians in this match. They had not the best of the luck in any way, but at the same time the greatest praise is due to the University for the very fine all-round cricket shown throughout the game, and their victory was one of which they have thoroughly good reason to be proud. Without in any way disparaging other good performances Nicliolls’ feat was the sensation of the match. To get five wickets at short slip in the first, and two in the second, innings is a record in its way unique. The Aus­ tralians, I hear, are desirous of having a return match with Oxford if it can possibly be arranged. T h e match between the First Twelve and the Next Sixteen of Cambridge University finished at Cambridge on Saturday, was, in a way, remarkable. The thirty-eight wickets in all realised 757 runs, and of these extras furnished as many as 103. In all byes contributed 87 to the aggregate. No comment is needed. I h a v e , at different times, had to re­ cord many an expensive over. The Australasian, of April 5, furnishes another instance of thekiu I. Playing for the New South Wales Parliament against Albury, Mr. H. McQuade scored 22 runs off one over. The batsman, it is said, weighs 20 stone, so he may fairly be called a heavy hitter. F r a n k A l l a n , “ the bowler oi a century,” a member of the first Australian team in 1880, does not seem to have lost his cricket. Playing recently for Warrnambool against Hamilton, he scored 137 out of a total of 280. This, it is said, is the first “ century” ever made in Warrnam­ bool. In addition he took seven wickets for 20 runs-