Cricket 1885

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1885. p r i o e 2d MR. A L E X A N D E R JO S IAH W E B B E . C ricket , during the last decade, has had few more capable exponents, certainly no keener supporter, than the gentleman who at the present time directs the Middlesex eleven in the field. County cricket, in particular, has reason to be grateful to Amateurs who devote so much time to its im­ provement, as has Mr. Webbe. In him, indeed, Mr. I. D. Walker, who for many years bore the chief responsi­ bility of Middlesex cricket, found a trusty lieutenant, and, in the natural fitness of things, the Captainoy could not have been transferred to a more suitable successor. Like Mr. Walker, Mr. Webbe is an old Harrovian, and both Amateurs have the same unalien­ able right to represent Middlesex, that of birth. Mr. Webbe was born in London, on Jan. 16, 1855, so that he is now in his thirty-first year. Following the example of his elder brother, Mr, G. A. Webbe, who was only prevented by ill-health from getting his cricket colours at sohool, A. J. went to Harrow. More fortunate than his brother he was able to secure a place in the Harrow eleven, in 1872, though he was in his eighteenth year when he achieved this distinction. Eton had a strong eleven in 1872, and Mr. Webbe, who scored seven, for which he was half-an-hour at the wickets, and two, was so far unfortunate in his debut at Lord’s that he was one of a beaten side, Eton winning with six wickets to spare. In the following year he went in first against Eton, at Lord’s, and though his scores were only seven and ten, he had the satisfaction of assisting in a Harrow victory, a success mainly due to the fine second innings of Mr. P. P. Hadow. The summer of 1874 saw him Captain of the Sohool Eleven, and with good reason the Lord’s match deserves to be chronicled in the Harrow Calendar as Webbe’s year. His performance on that occasion, indeed, is, we should say, unique, in the history of this contest. In the first innings he scored 77 out 01 139, in th« second 80 of i 85, or, altogether. season he was at onoe included in the Univer­ sity eleven, on the strength of his excep­ tionally good batting for the Freshmen, and his first match against M.C.C. and Ground, at Oxford, was a success, the score sheets showing 33 and 12 to his credit. Altogether he thor­ oughly justified his inclusion in the Oxford team, and his previous experi­ ence of Lord’s ground was a great assistance to him in the Inter-Univer- sity match, wherein he contributed 53 and 21 to the Oxford totals of 200 and 137. He represented the Gentlemen against the Players both at the Oval and Lord’s, in 1875, and many will still remember his brilliant perform­ ance in conjunction with Mr. W. G. Grace. Though unlucky enough to be dismissed without a notch in the first innings, Mr. Grace and he defied all the professional bowling for nearly three hours, and Mr. Webbe, though his share was only 65, enjoys the dis­ tinction of helping to make the largest number of runs (203) scored by the Gentlemen for the fall of the first wicket in this match at Lord’s. His highest innings in an important fixture in 1875 was his 120 for Oxford against the Gentlemen of England at Oxford, though intrinsically his best perform­ ance was his 97 not out for Middlesex against Notts at Lord’s, on which occasion he carried his bat through the innings — an exceptionally fine achievement against such bowling as that of Notts. The same summer, too, witnessed his debut at Canterbury, and he took part in all three matches of the week, representing England against Kent and Gloucestershire in the open­ ing fixture. This contest formed the occasion of his best score in first-class cricket in 1876, and his second innings of 109 was the highest on the England side in a game productive of very high run-getting. He was unfortunate enough to be dismissed for an aggregate of seventeen runs in the two innings he had in the Inter-University match of 1876, and in the following year, when he was Captain of the Oxford eleven, too, was lest auooessful than might have been expected, 157 of 274 runs got from the bat by the Harro­ vians. In the first, though he only saw three wickets fall, he ran 142 of the 155 runs made, and in the second, going in sixth, scored 80 out of 109 runs, added while he was at the wickets. Nor was this his only noteworthy achievement in 1874. Nearly three weeks later he played fo: the Sohool against Prince’s Club, at Prinoe’s, and in the second innings he scored at an extraordinary rate, making in all 102, to 33 by the other ten batsmen, out of 126 whila he was in. Going up ta Oxford after this “ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”— Byron .