Cricket 1884

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— B y ro n . No. 71. VOL. III. Registered for Transmission Abroad. THUKSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1884. PRICE 2d JESSE HIDE. Trife quality of professional cricket in the South of England has been steadily improving of late. Whereas- a .decade ago the supply seemed to have been ahnost exhausted, during the last fevf yearS'hardly a county but has pro­ duced one or more cricketers who have made a name among the paid players of the day. Among the professionals who have done really good service in recent times, in the Southern shires, Jesse Hide js entitled to a conspicuous place. Though he has been now eight seasons before the public he is only in his twenty-eighth year. ’ He was born at Eastbourne, on March 12, 1857, and, with the exception of his absence in the Colonies, has been solely identified with Sussex cricket. He soon began to show proficiency as a cricketer, and he had just completed his nineteenth year when he made his first appearance in connection with the County. His play in the Sussex Colts’ match of 1876 was good enough to impress the authorities with a favourable idea of his merits, and he was selected to represent the County, at Brighton, against Gloucester­ shire, in its opening fixture of the year. He was not particularly fortunate on the occasion of his first trial, but despite that he failed to score in either innings —in one of them he ’was not out—and that he only took one wicket at a cost of thirty-one runs, his form all-round was by no means unpromising. At least the Sussex executive were disposed to rate his abilities much more-liighly than his opening show warranted, and their judgment proved to be quite cor­ rect. In his second match against Kent, at Tunbridge Wells, his bowling of great use to his side, and, though he had little chance of batting, he was credited with six wickets at a cost of only 54 runs: At Manchester, too, he acquitted himself creditably with the ball, and in the second innings of Lancashire his three wickets were got at an expense of thirty-five runs. Altogether his first season was full of promise, an i t ’lough he only m ade four runs iu five completed innings he was of great use as a change bowler to the County team. Ten wickets fell to him at a cost of 165 runs, and this, in conjunction with his excellent fielding, fully justified the belief that he would be of great use to Sussex in the future. In the following sea­ son of 1877 he was hardly so successful. He showed good all-round cricket against Kent, at Brighton, early in the summer, but, while he im­ proved as a batsman, his bowling was not at­ tended with the same amount of success that was expected. As iu 1876 ten wiQkets fell (, q his arm, but they were much more expensive than in the previous year, and'they were ob­ tained at an average cost of nearly 24 runs. As already stated, though, his comparative ill success with the ball was compensated for by an im­ provement in batting, and more than once he scored fairly well, notably; at the Oval, when he played the Surrey bowling with great confidence to the extent of thirty-four runs. The season of 1878 was a very.urifavburable one for Sussex, and Hide did not.do" particu­ larly well. In fourteen ■innings, with four not outs, he was : only able to secure an aggregate of 43 runs, and his .towling was again ratber heavily punished, his seventeen wickets show­ ing an average cost of over eighteen runs. The offer of a lucrative engage­ ment in South Australia induced him to leave England after this season, and for the next four years he was located at Adelaide. During his stay there his cricket showed a decided improvement, and some of his performances in con­ nection with South Australian cricket were excellent. His average for the Kent Club at Adelaide during the season of 1882-83 was over 46 runs per innings, and he also rendered sterling service for the South Adelaide. Club. He bowled with great success against the Australian Eleven, and against the Ade­ laide and Suburban Association he did a capital bowling perfoi-mance, taking seven wickets for only twenty-six runs. The news of his intention to re­ turn to England in the spring of 1883 was received with great gratification in Sussex, and he reached home just in time to help the county against Bi i^hton. The value of hi? a:s.stance was soon proved unmistakably, and his bowling was very effective, resuiting in the dis­ missal of ten Kentish wickets for an aggregate of 109 rails. Throughout last season he was of very great service both with bat and ball. His best feat of bowling was against Derbyshire,at Derby, where hetook sevenwickets at a cost of only twenty-seven runs, but he was generally very effective, and in all he took thirty-seven wickets faring the season for