Cricket 1885

“ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”— Byron. Jtegisten^to Transmission Abroad* TH U R SD A Y , SEPTEMBER 3, 1885. P R IC E 3 d In 1881 he kept wicket in fine form, not only for the county but alsofor the Marylebone Club, ia several of its important fixtures. In every one of the twelve matches on the Nottingham pro­ gramme of 1881 he stood up unflinchingly, and the summary of the year showed that he had stumped seven and caught fourteen batsmen. By this time his position as one of the best wicket-keepers of the day was thoroughly as­ sured, and the summer of 1882 saw his partici­ pation in all the fifteen matches arranged by the Committee of the Notts Club, with eleven s batsmen stumped and eighteen caught to hi credit. So high, too, was the confidence felt in his ability by the leading authorities of cricket, that he was selected to represent the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord’s that year, ^the highest distinction open to a cricketer. His performances at the wicket for Notts in 1883 were con­ sistently brilliant, and the summer was his best so far for the county, for which he took thirty-four wickets, ten stumped,and twenty-four caught. Pilling kept for the Players in 1882, but in 1883 Sherwin was selected to oppose the Gentlemen both there and at Lord’s, and on the latter ground in particular he did good service, having a hand in the downfall of three of the thirteen wickets of the Gentlemen. Ill-health reduced Pilling’s cricket materially last summerj and Sherwin had consequently more opportunities in representative matches. Pilling “ kept ” with brilliant success at the Oval for the Plays rs, but Sherwin again officiated at Lord’s in the same fixture, which as many wilt remember was productive of very high scoring. Throughout last summer he kept wicket in consistently brilliant style, and in fact no one could be con­ sidered his superior on public form. In the two innings of the Australians, in the match against Marylebone Club and Ground at Lord’s, he took five wickets, and in several of the other leading fixtures of the Australian pro­ gramme of 1884 he also performed very creditably, notably for the North at Manchester and Nottingham, and for the Players at Sheffield. For the County, too, he was even more succesf- ful than ever, and the records showid that he had been instrumental in the dismissal of thirty-six batsmen in thir­ teen matches—twenty-six from catches and ten from leaving their crease. This year Sherwin’s claim to be considered the best wicket-keeper of the day has hardly beeD challenged, and both at Lord’s and the Oval he was of freat use to the Players in the chief match of the season. Against Surrey, in the return match at the Oval, his wicket-keeping M O RD E C A I S H E R W IN . To become a really good wicket-keeper neces­ sitates the possession of special qualifications. To take to every class of bowling almost day after day during the summer, and especially on grounds so hard as they have been generally during the present season, really requires an amount of pluck, endu­ rance, and manual strength which not every one is fortunate enough to own. Nor is it too much to say that no cricketer of late has shown greater aptitude for the very difficult position of wicket-keeper than the burly pro­ fessional who has officiated behind the sticks with such credit for Notts during the last few seasons. Born at Kim­ berley, in Notts, on Feb. 26, 1851, Sherwin is consequently in his thirty- fifty year. The death of S. Biddulph, most plucky of stumpers, in 1876,leftthe Nottingham eleven in need of a wicket­ keeper ; and, as far as we can trace, Sherwin had his first trial in the County team towards the close of that summer. His opening match 'V K against Gloucestershire, at Clifton, on Aug. 14, 1876, and he had his fair fill of wicket- keeping, as the Gloucestershire eleven were not dismissed until they had reached a total of 400, to which Mr, W. G. Grace contributed 177. Wild had “ kept ” earlier in the year, but his place was taken by Sherwin during the remaining matches of the season, and with fair success. The following sum­ mer saw Sherwin engaged as one of the ground bowlers at Lord’s, and again he took part in several of the later fixtures of Notts with credit. Wild acted as wioket-keeper for the County during 1878 and 1879, so that Sherwin’s cricket was confined during those two years mostly to the matches of the Marylebone Club, for which, on several occasions, he did good service. It was really not until the summer of 1880 that he was regularly drafted with the Notts County eleven, and, in that year, he proved his ability unmis­ takably, stumping four and catching ten bats­ men in the eight matches in which he took part.