Cricket 1884

No. 62. VOL.III. Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1884. PRICE 2d. H E R B E R T V IV IA N PAGE . N ot one of the least noteworthy features of the cricket of the present season has been the suc­ cess which has attended the Oxford University Eleven. In the early spring no one could have fancied that the Oxonians would be able to claim such an excellent record as they can now boast on the comple­ tion of their home matches of the year. Their victory over the Australians was a brilliant performance, but they can point to other triumphs as hardly earned, if not of quite the same merit. The excellence of the all-round cricket of the present Oxford Eleven is indeed gratifying after the ill luck which has followed them of late years. Among those who have done good service towards the recent improvement of Oxford cricket prominent mention should be made of Mr. H. V. Page, whose portrait we are able to give this week. Mr. Page, though he has been identified with Gloucestershire, was only reared within its borders. He was born at Lancaster, on October 30,1863, but most of his life has been spent in the County of the Graces, at Selsley, near Stroud, of which parish his father is the vicar. In 1875 he was entered at Cheltenham College, and one of his earliest exploits in connection with cricket was during his Captaincy of the second eleven of his House. On that occasion the opposite team were dis­ missed for seven runs, all of which were extras. The match was peculiar in more ways than one, as seven wickets of the team which Mr. Page opposed were bowled with successive balls, and the batsman who went in first carried his bat through. His first year in the Cheltenham College Eleven was a lucky one, the Cheltonians in 1881 won both their matches against Marlborough and Clifton, and altogether the season was suc­ cessful. Both against Marlborough and Clifton Mr. Page’s bowling was very effective, but it was against the latter that he showed to the most advantage, and in the second innings of the Cliftonians he took five wickets at a cost of only eleven runs. Even then he gave great promise with the bat as well as with the ball, and, in 1882, this promise was more than ful­ filled. In both the School matches he was successful, but his best performance was again against Clifton, and in the second innings of the Cliftonians, he got seven wickets fo- only six runs. In 1882 he bowled as many as 2,281 balls for Cheltenham, and his average for 79 wickets was just over eight runs, a very fine performance. He was second, too, in the bat­ ting averages, and, indeed, as an all-round cricketer, he was, perhaps, the best School player of the year. The end of 1882 saw him in residence at Wadham College, Oxford, and as the commencement of the following summer found him in capital all-round form, his place in the University Eleven was at once assured. On his School show his bowling ought to have been of great use to Oxford, but it was his batting which proved to be the more useful, and some of his in­ nings, during the year, were exceeding­ ly good. His second innings of 57, in the Inter-University match was a rare display of plucky cricket, when the game was altogether against his side, and, as many will still remember, Mr. J. G. Walker and he put on 112 while they were together. His batting, too, was of great service to Gloucestershire, and some of his performances in the later fixtures were very noteworthy. In the opening match of the Cheltenham Week, against Surrey, he was credited with 50 in the first innings of Glouces­ tershire, out of a total of 109, and in the second, against Notts, he was even more successful. It was, indeed, tho excellent cricket of Messrs. Vizard and Page, which saved the credit of Glouces­ tershire, and prevented a defeat. When they became partners 115 runs were still required to prevent a follow on, with only two wickets to fall, and their addition of 159 runs saved the match for Gloucestershire. Mr. Page’s 93 was a brilliant display of batting, and so gratified were the Old Chelto­ nians with his play in these two matches that they presented him with a travel­ ling timepiece in appreciation of his fine batting during the week. Mr. Page’s batting for Oxford, in the recent match with the Australians, will not be forgotten. Four wickets were down for 25, when he joined Mr. O’Brien, and their stand, which resulted in an addi­ tion of 93 runs to the total, played by no means an unimportant part in the attainment of the Oxford victory. The match between Middlesex and Gloucestershire, at Lord's, at the end of last week, showed that Mr. Page has not lost any of his command over the ball, and his analysis in