Cricket 1884

“ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”— Byron. No. 59. VOL.III. Registered lor Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1884. PRICE 2d. H E N R Y SCOTT . T he young Victorian, who made such a prom­ ising first appearance in London last week, in the match against Surrey, at the Oval, is one of the best all-round cricketers at the present time in the Colonies. He was horn at Toorak, near Melbourne, on Dec. 26, 1858, and to Victoria be­ longs all the credit of his success on the cricket-field. Indeed it is withVic- torian ericket that he has been wholly and solely identified. He was edu­ cated at the Wesley College, in Mel­ bourne, under the Head Mastership of Professor Irving, and it is evident that he soon began to show profici­ ency in the game. His first asso­ ciation was with the St. Kilda Club, and his success in 1877, in con­ nection witli that Club, was so marked that he was deemed worthy of Inter-Colonial honours. Con­ way's Australian Cricketers' Annual of 1878, describes him as “ probably the best Colt in Melbourne,” and his form must have been very promising to secure him a place in the Victorian Team against New South Wales, in the Inter-Colonial, played at Sydney, in February, 187S. Though he was only able to score a couple of runs in his two innings, he was very successful with the ball, and, indeed, his bowling very nearly won the match for Vic­ toria, who were only beaten, after an exciting finish, by one wicket. In the second innings of New South Wales he delivered a hundred and twenty balls for thirty-three runs and six wickets, and it was certainly a very creditable performance for a young cricketer to win, as he did, the Cup given for the best bowling in the most important match of the year. A professional engagement, on the railways up country, prevented liis par­ ticipation in any of the principal fixtures for some time after this, and it was not until 1881 that he again came very prominently before the public. During this season he was evidently in capital form, and the records of firet-class j matches in Australia showed him to be fifth in the batting averages, with an aggregate of two hundred and eighty-nine for nine completed innings. His best score was ninety-one, but in the following summer of 1882-83 he was far more successful, and his run-getting was occasionally very high. By this time he had severed his con­ nection with St. Kilda to identify himself with East Melbourne, and he at once made hi3 repu­ tation 'by securing the batting trophy of that club with a fine average of 51. Twice during the season he scored over a hundred in an in­ nings for East Melbourne, and he was, in addi­ tion, awarded the prize given to the best all­ round player in the Club. In the Inter - Colonial with New South Wales, at Melbourne, at the end of 1882, he scored eleven and fift and, in addition, took four wickets for fifty-seven runs. In the return, at Sydney, in February, 1883, he played a capital innings of twenty- eight, and in the final match of the Hon. IvoBligh’s Team, in Australia, still further improved his name by a thoroughly, well played score of twenty-nine. By far his best per­ formance, though, was in the Inter­ colonial match between Victoria and New South Wales, on the ground of the Melbourne Club, in Dec., 1883. On that occasion, in­ deed, his play was exceptionally brilliant. He went in when four wickets had fallen for 146, and was not out when the innings finished for 420. He only gave one difficult chance when he had made over a hundred, and his play in this match placed him high in the roll of Aus­ tralian batsmen. When it was first announced that another Australian Team would visit England, the Colonial press warmly advocated Scott’s claims for a place, and news of his inclusion was received with general satisfaction. In the first match, against Lord Sheffield’s Eleven, he failed to make a run, but against Oxford University he showed good cricket each time, and his two innings, of ten and twenty-one, were of great use to the side. His first appearance in London was a very creditable one, and his score of seventy-one, at the Oval, against Surrey, was worthy of the highest praise. He ought to have been run out when he had only got a single, but he gave no chance from the bat, and his inning3, at a critical point of tho game, had a great deal to do with the victory of