Cricket 1884

i El'e l& s ^fir —Nwmiinmfi ' Z z y y . y flc— | jri»n»nnfi|i^i J^| ' C. v»; —=====^ywyv j \ --------- v-——-—' “ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”—. ---— Byron. Registered (or Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1884. p r i c b 2d. HON . A L F R E D L Y T T E L T O N . No more remarkable illustration could be given of the way in which cricket runs at times in families than in the exceptional performances of the brotherhood of which the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton is the youngest and the present Lord, better known under his first title of the Hon. 0. G. Lyttelton, the oldest member. Of the eight sons of the late Lord, all of them cricketers, seven have at different times played for Eton against Harrow, and four subse­ quently done good service in the Cam­ bridge Eleven. Last, but not by any means the least, of a great cricketing family is the subject of the present sketch, Born in London [on the 7th of February, 1857, he was sent to Eton at an early age, and in 1872 his name is to be found in the eleven which opposed Harrow at Lord’s. He was then just over fifteen years of age, but his cricket had already shown consider­ able promise and he had the satisfaction in his first match at head-quarters of being in when the winning hit was made. In the following season of 1873, he was not very successful, but in 1874 he made his mark decisively with a fine score of 104 against Winchester, and in this match both H. E. Whitmore and he got into three figures. The summer of 1875 found him Captain of the Kton College Eleven, aDd he set his side a brilliant example in the two great matches of the year, scoring 102 against Winchester, and 59 out of 202 against Harrow, at Lord’s, On his School form of 1875 he had no superior either as a batsman or a wicket-keeper, and the first innings he played for Cambridge (a score of 78 against an Eleven of Eng­ land) was good enough to secure him a place in the University Eleven. Throughout the season he played ex­ cellent cricket, and in the Inter-University match he was twice successful with scores of 43 and 47, being unlucky enough in his seoond innings to be run out as a tie was reached, after making 72 with Mr. Lucas without the loss of a •wicket. HU form for Cambridge in this his first year was good enough to war­ rant his inclusion in the eleven selected to represent the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord’s, but he failed to contribute a notch to the huge total of 449 made by the Amateurs on this occasion. His two innings in the.Inter- University match of 1877 only realised ten runs, but he played some fine cricket for Cambridge, and Mr. A. P. Lucas and he made 142 forthe first wicket against the Gentlemen. He was, too, very successful for the Gentlemen against the Players on the occasion of his debut in this match at tho Oval, and his score of G6 was one of the best in the Gentlemen’s long innings of 427. His first season for Middlesex was also productive of some brilliant cricket, and, in addition to two fine scores of 47 and 21, against Yorkshire, he played a grand innings of 100 against Notts in the last fix­ ture of the year. The summer of 1878 was, it will be remembered, one of un­ broken success for the Cambridge eleven, and Mr. Lyttelton’s batting was one of the most notable fea­ tures of their cricket. He rarely failed to make a creditable score, but his best performances were his 04 in the second innings against Oxford, and his 72 out of a total of 285 in tho memorable match between the Uni­ versity and the Australians at Lord’s. On his form during that season he was one of the best amateurs of 1878, and he fully justified his selection to repre­ sent the Gentlemen with a well-got first score of 53 against the Players at Lord’s. Though not quite so success­ ful in the Captaincy of the Cambridge eleven in 1879 as was his elder brother Edward in the previous year, he personally was in brilliant form, and his average for seven completed inn­ ings was 44, considerably the best of the Cambridge batsmen. The same season also found him again of great service to Middlesex, and his two scores of 68 against Yorkshire at Lord’s, and 102 v. Notts at Nottingham, were excellent displays of cricket. During the last few years, though the exigencies of his profession as a barrister have prevented his appearance in first-class cricket, except on very rare occa­ sions, until August, Mr. Lyttelton has fully substantiated his claims to be considered one of the very best cricketers of the day. He was ono of the Eleven selected to represent England against Australia, at the Oval, in 1880, and he also took part in the same msitch two' years later. Last season he was again, witH the exception of one early match at Cam­ bridge, an absentee from first-class cricket till August. Despite the little practice he