Cricket 1885

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Brjron. THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1885. p e i o e 2d MR. CHARLES EGBERT HORNER. I t is a little strange that several of the amateurs who have done such good service for Surrey, of late years, should have been, by a long term of residence, closely identified with the neighbour­ ing shire of Kent. Like the brothers Shuter and Mr. Bowden, Mr. Horner has mostly been associated with Kentish cricket. The subject of the present sketch, though, comes of a good old Surrey stock. His uncle, unless we are mistaken, was a prominent member of the old Dulwich Club, some forty years ago, and it was in Dulwich that he him­ self was bom on April 9, 1857. Mr. Horner was educated at Cheltenham College, but it was only at the finish of his career there that he came into any prominence as a cricketer. He was, indeed, in his twentieth year when he obtained a place in the School eleven, that of 1876, under the Captaincy of T. Moore. Though beaten decisively by Marlborough, mainly through the brilliant all-round cricket of the Captain, A . G. Steel, the Chel- tonians were successful in their other School match against Clifton. Their victory on this occasion was a very creditable one, considering that the Cliftonians that year had a strong eleven, including, among others, A. H. Evans, A. D. Greene, H. Fowler and B- L. Knight, and that the game was won by Cheltenham after they had had very much the worst of the first innings. In each of these matches Mr. Horner’s howling was very effective, although hy far his best show was in that against Clifton, in which he was credited with seven of the fourteen wickets secured. At the end of the year he went into residence at Brase- nose College, Oxford, and the com­ mencement of the following summer, as was only to have been expected from his School form, found him in the Freshmen’s match, one ?f Mr. H, Fowler’s side. His first appearance >n Oxford cricket was attended with singularly good fortune, and his howling was indeed one of the best features of the game. Eleven wickets who was the Captain of the University eleven had good reason for not giving him any further trial in the eleven. Though his services were not called into requisition in 1878, he,was chosen to captain one eleven of the Seniors at the commencement of the following summer. Here, too, he was successful enough to fecure once more a place in the University eleven, though he failed to bowl in any­ thing like up to his best form in either of the two matches in which ho took part. Though singularly unlucky in his trials for the eleven, he was bowling with great success just about this time, and it was during the season of 1879 that he obtained the distinction of elec­ tion into the Harlequins Club, the highest honour open to a cricketer out­ side the University team. Unless we are in error Mr. Horner was asked to identify himself with Surrey cricket during this season, and if we remem­ ber rightly was asked to play against Kent at Maidstone in the first match of 1879 between these counties. Though a native of Surrey, his associa­ tions had been for many years chiefly with Kentish cricket, and it was not until 1882 that he identified himself actively with the county of his birth. The revival of the match with Oxford University in 1882, after an absence of twelve years from the Surrey pro­ gramme, was a fitting occasion for Mr. Horner’s first appearance in the County Eleven. Jones’ break-down, just pre­ viously, had left Surrey more than usually weak in bowling, and Mr. Horner’s introduction to the team came at a very opportune moment. Indeed he at once justified his selection by an excellent performance, and his analy­ s i s at the end of the first innings of Oxford showed thirty-three overs for 26 runs and five wickets In the next match, against Sussex, he also proved very effective, but his best records of the year were achieved against Lancashire and Kent, and he was singularly successful in the second in­ nings against Kent, at the Oval, where he took eight wickets at a cost of 35 runs, contributing greatly to the victory of Surrey on that occasion. of Mr. E. T. Hirst’s side fell to him at a cost of only thirty runs, and this performance was rightly considered to be so satisfactory that he was selected to represent the University against Marylebone Club and Ground, in the opening contest of the year. A memorable match it was, too, as many will remember when we reeal the fact that the Oxford team were dismissed for only twelve runs, and that the, game was actually completed in a day. On that occasion Mr. Horner had little chance of distinction, and presumably, Mr. A. J. Webbe, Next issue of Cricket April 16*