Cricket 1884

N o . 5 5 . V O L .I I I . Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1884. PRICE 2d. J. SH U T E R . T he growth of County Cricket has been greatly accelerated during the last few years by the personal influence and untiring energy of certain amateurs, conspicuous for their attachment to the game. Glouces­ tershire would probably never have taken a place amongst the first-class shires— it certainly would never have attained any rank in their company—but for the devotion of the brothers Grace. Lancashire was vainly trying to make a name when Mr. A. N. Hornby came to the front, and the exceeding popularity of good cricket in that county at the present time is very much owing to his unceasing efforts. No one needs to be told how hard the brothers Walker have worked for Middlesex, nor of the debt Kent owes to Lord Harris. The progress of Surrey, too, of late years has been in a great measure due to the interest shown, and the active part taken in its cricket by the present Captain of •the County eleven. Though for some years identified with club cricket in Kent by reason of residence at Bexley, Mr. John Shuter is Surrey by right of birth. He was born at Thornton Heath on Feb. 9, 1855, and is consequently now in his thirtieth year. He was educated at Winchester College, and his first appearance in a match of importance was as one of the Wyke­ hamist eleven v. Eton College in 1871. He was then only sixteen, and, though it would hardly have teen a surprise to find him credited yith small scores, he made 20 runs ul the two innings. In the following season he showed great improvement as abat, and although he failed to ob­ tain a notch in either of his attempts >n the great match of the year against Eton, he bad a very creditable average of over twenty-one runs for sixteen innings. Another year found him captain of the Winchester Eleven, and he was perhaps the best Public School bat of 1873. That year Eton had a’ very strong team, and Mr. Shuter was the only one who did very much against their bowling for the Wykehamists. His 52 out of 131 from the bat in the second innings was a fine display of cricket for a young player, and indeed. his form throughout the season was quite good enough to warrant the very high position accredited to him by good judges among the School batsmen of the year. It is not generally known that he has ever taken part in a county match for Kent. His name, though, appears as one of the Kentish eleven which beat Lancashire at Maidstone in 1874, and he was in when the winning hit was made. On that occasion he only scored 3 and 1 not out, but to those who saw his 18 for the County eleven in the Colts’ match of the following year at Cat- ford Bridge his disappearance from Kentish cricket from this time is not easy to understand. The iden­ tification of his brother, Mr. L. A. Shuter, in 1876, with Surrey was no doubt the primary cause of his con­ nection with the county of his birth, and in 1877 he made his first appearance in its eleven against Sussex, at Brighton. His initial match only resulted in an addition of 4 runs to the Surrey total in their one innings, and the three fixtures in which he took part that year were not productive of more than 25 runs. The following year, though, he identified himself thoroughly with Surrey cricket, and with the greatest success. He was, indeed, in brilliant batting form throughout that season, and it is said that his aggregate in all matches was 2070 runs for sixty ■ completed innings. His best per­ formance of the year was his 98 against Middlesex, but he was generally successful, and among his other good innings were his 45 (not out) in a total of 84 from the bat against Notts,- and 39 and 15 against the Australians. He represented the South against the North, in the match at the Oval in aid of the fund for the sufferers by the acci! dent to the Princess Alice, but like most of the amateurs on the South­ ern side, he was out of practice in September, when that fixture took place. His highest innings for Surrey in 1879 was his 110 out of 162 for three wickets against Sussex, at Brighton ; but this was by no means his only large score. His form that season was good enough to secure him a place for the first time in the annual match between