Cricket 1884

“ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”— Byron. Registered (or Transmission Abroad. THUBSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1884. p r i c e ad. occupying a dangerous as well as higlily re­ sponsible position with the greatest credit. With such experts as Pilling and Sherwin in possession of higher claims on the authorities of the South, Hunter has not had the same chance of distinction as his two great rivals, otherwise Au revoir, Australia! “ I ’ve ’eard of Cricket on the Hearth,’’ said ’Arry, after reading of the victory of Australia over the South of England, “ bat I should call the gameo’ thei-e Australian coves, Cricket at the other end o’ the Hearth.” — Punch. JO SE PH H U N T E R . Y orksh ire has been very fortunate of late years in its “ stoompers.” Wicket-keeping is enjoy­ able enough in its way when the bowling comes along at au easy pace and is fairly straight Under such circumstances there is no great scarcity of candidates for the post—or, at least, there is no difficulty in securing volunteers ready on an emergency to take the wicket. It is quite a different thing, though, when the bowling to be taken is of such lightning speed as many of the deliveries to which Yorkshire keepers have had to stand up during the last twenty years. It requires no small pluck to keep up close to the sticks when such bowlers as Freeman, Emmett, Hill, Ulyett, or Harrison are pounding away at their very best, and the ball comes along with the rapidity of a cannon shot. No wonder that, with such training, and in such a hardy school, Yorkshire wicket-keepers have won a repu­ tation for courage as well as skill. Edward Stephenson, George Pinder, and now Joseph Hunter, have each in turn bravely upheld the honour of Yorkshire for pluck in this responsible position. Joseph Hunter was born at Scar­ borough, on October 21st, 1857, the year in which - three other members of this year’s Yorkshire Eleven— Grimshaw, Peel, and Bawlin—first saw the light. An accident to Pinder, early in 1878, was the means of introducing Hunter to County Cricket; and, unless we are mistaken, he made his first ap­ pearance in the Yorkshire Eleven against Surrey, at Sheffield, on July 15, 1878. Ulyett, Emmett, and Hill were the fast bowlers of Yorkshire in this match, and Hunter acquitted himself satisfactorily. Indeed, his form with the gloves was so promising, that he was retained to keep wicket in the remaining matches of the year, with the result that he stumped ■four and caught nine batsmen. Pinder’s return into the County team prevented Hunter’s reappearance for two year?, and he did not figure in any Yorkshire matches during the seasons of 1879 or 1880. The latter though saw thelast of GeorgePinder—oneof the best wicket­ keepers,be it added, to fast bowling we have ever seen—and in 1881 Hunter was reinstated in the Yorkshire eleven. Since that time he has had a regular retainer from the County committee, his excellent show during the season of 1883 would certainly have secured him a trial in some of the more important fixtures of this year. The way, indeed, in which he stood up to bowlers eo fast as Harrison, Emmett, and Ulyett, without a long stop, stamped him as a wicket-keeper of quite exceptional merit, and the form he showed behind the sticks was un­ doubtedly one of the features of York­ shire cricket last seaeon. This summer there has been no deterioration in his play. On the contrary, his keeping has been quite as effective as it was in 1883, and a fitting compliment was paid him by the executive of the Surrey County Cricket Club, when they selected him in the absence of Pilling and Sherwin, to represent the Players of England against the Australians at the Oval, The inability of either of those profes­ sionals to go to Australia this winter, induced Shaw and Shrewsbury to invite him to join their team, and at this time he is on his way to tbe Colonies with the rest of that party. As a batsman, Hunter has been very unsuccessful. He can hit well, but in County cricket he has had little chance of displaying his powers in this direction, and he has not shown the usual improvement of wicket-keepers in batting. In taking fast bowling, he has certainly no superiors. All round, in the opinion of the best judges, he has no cause to fear comparison with the more fashion­ able stumpers, though we hardly account him altogether as good as Pilling or Sherwin. The next number of C bick et , on October 30th, will contain a portrait and biography of R. P e el , of Yorkshire, Member of Shaw and Shrewsbury’s Australian Team.