Cricket 1885

DEC. 24,1885. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 4?3 look forward to their reappearance on English grounds next summer with the greatest interest. T h o u g h I shall be able to give the earliest details with regard to the com­ position of the. eleven, at present no­ thing is known for certain, at least on this side, as to the players who will constitute the Fifth Australian Team. Of those who came in 1884,1 believe tlie authorities on the other side will rely principally on Spofforth, Blackham, and Palmer, though it is of course possible that others may be included. In a recent letter from a well-informed correspondent in Mel­ bourne, Horan and Jarvis, who have been here before, the former in 1878 and 1882, the latter in 1880, aremen­ tioned as likely comers, as well as P. G. McShane, who has not as yet figured on English cricket grounds. T h o u g h ina short time I hope tobe able to give the probable team, the only actual intelligence that I have on the subject of the trip is that theywill leave Melbourne on March 19, for England. According to the tables of the Australian Mails issued from the London office of the Melbourne Argus, the steamer to carry them should be one of the Orient line, and the mails leaving Melbourne on the date named are due in London on April 27. This should give them a fair amount of practice before their opening match at Sheffield Park on May 18, against Lord Sheffield’s XI, which is likely to be a strong one if it be true, as I hear, that Messrs.W. G. Grace and W. W. Bead are already mentioned as among the probable starters. T h e recent elections have played great havoc with the cricket element in the Lower House, and several of Her Majesty’s faithful commons in tho last Parliament have been given out on an appeal. The Committee of the Surrey County Club alone has seen two ofits representatives, Messrs. D.11.OnslowandJ. S. Balfour, rejected, and another member of the club, Mr. B. K. Causton, doomed to seclusion ii only lor a time. Among the other cricketers unsuccessful I may mention a few, Messrs. V. K. Armitage, J. T. Dillwyn-Llewellyn, Lord E. Gordon, E. D. Gosling, Hon. S. Herbert, S. Hoare, Lieut.-Col. Kenyon Slaney, Col. the Hon 0. Montagu, B. T. Beid, and T. K. Tapling. C r ic k e t , though, will be well repre­ sented in theNewHouse, asthe follow­ ing list, which I may say does not claim to be in any way complete, will show:—Messrs. A. Akers-Douglas, E. Baggallay, H. Bass, Hon. II. B. Brand,T.L.Bristowe, Lord Burghley, E. N. Buxton, H. P. Cobb, J. Colman, H. B. Earquharson, H. Gladstone, "W. Grantham, W. II. Grenfell, Lord E. Hamilton, Lord G. Hamilton, Sir H. James, E. Hardcastle, H. Knatchbull- Hugessen, Lord Lewisham, W. H. Long,W.E. Maitland, C. T.Murdoch, Sir B. Peel, J. Bound, W. S. Shirley, Hon. E. Stanhope, A. B. Winter- botham, H. J. Tollemache, Sir W. Hart-Dyke, E. S. Howard, Col. Hon. L. Dawnay, Hon. St. John Brodrick, A. Grey and A. Heneage. All the above are interested in cricket even if some of them have not been actively identified with the game. A c o r r e spo n d e n t in Demerara has been good enough to send me the report of the Georgetown Club, in that Island, just published. The book gives a full, true and particular account of the doings of the club during the past year, with full scores of all the matches played and accom­ panying analyses—altogetheradisplay of secretarial energy wbieh might well be imitated by the secretaries of some of our most important clubs. I am glad to see that cricket is pursued with such zest in the West Indies and particularly at the pros­ pect of the visit of a West Indian Team to Canada and the United States. Trips of this character do immense good to the game in every sense, and everyone who has had experience of American and Canadian cricketers will know that the tour of the West Indian Players in those countries will be a pleasant one. I have read the report of tho George­ town Club with great interest and wish itsmembers a successful future. I t will be interesting to those C r ic k e t readers—and there aremany of them—who visit the South Coast during the summer, to learn that the South Saxons—the leading club of St. Leonards—are having a new ground made for them at Bo-Peep, close by the West Marina Station of the L.B. &S.C.B., which they hope to have ready for use next season. Mr. W. H. Benthall, well-known in his time in connection with Cam­ bridge University and Middlesex cricket, takes a lively interest in the welfare of the club, and under his watchful eye the new ground is sure to be made worthy of the character of the club. A m on g recent successes of cricketers at golf I notice one of Mr. Alfred Lub­ bock,who lastmonthprovedthewinner in the first competition for the Fairlie gold scratch medal of the Cla;ham Golf Club. It would not be difficult to make out a long list of prominent golfers who have also wonhonours on the cricket-field, and, indeed, the links at Wimbledon, Blacklieath, Westward Ho, and elsewhere can bear testimony to the efficiency of many a well-known cricketer at the royal game of golf. Ir I mistake not, indeed, the gentle­ man who has lately won such extra­ ordinarysuccessamong Scotch golfers, Mr. J. E. Laidlay, theo'd Lorettonian, is identical with the cricketer whowas up at St, Peters College, Cambridge, some years ago, and whom many thought ought to have got into the University eleven by reason of his slow bowling. Mr. Laidlay won four medals in succession, Carnoustie, St. Andrew’s, Fettesian-Lorettonian, and tlie Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers—a splendid re­ cord. Among cricketers competing in the meeting last mentioned I noticed Messrs. T. B. Marshall, Leslie M. Balfour (who won the medal in 1884), and B. Craig, jun. W h il e commenting on the distinc­ tions of cricketers in other branches of sport I might also make mention of the excellent performances of Mr. C. E. Nesham, well - known to cricketers of Surrey, as for some time lion. sec. of the Surbiton Club, at the recent meetings of the Boyal Toxo- pholite Society in Begent’s Park. On two successive Thursdays Mr. Nesham, shooting the York Bound each day, viz., six dozen arrows at 100 yards, four dozen at 80 yards, and two dozen at 60 yards made 216 hits, or 1,130 score on the double round on targets four feet in diameter —a gold counting 9, a red 7, a blue 5, a black 3, and a white L On the first day at all distances he mado 118 hits out of 14-1 shots, total 592 score ; on tho second day 1C8 hits out of 144 shots, total 538 score. I may add that three arrows are shot one way, the next three back again, each tlireo Next Issue January 28.