Cricket 1886

10 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. JAN. 28, 1886 the game. Mr.William Nicholson had what may fairly be called bad luck in the contest for the new Division of Hampshire East (Petersfield). In fact, unless I am in error, he suffered from one of the very few if not the only Conservative split in the late electoral struggle, losing the seat b y 161 votes, while only 179 were given to the Second Tory candidate. M r. N ich o lson played for Harrow first in 1841, and was Captain o f the School Eleven in 1843. He and his brother were also actively identified with the Clapton Club, one of the most celebrated clubs round London, and o f which Mr. Graven and the "Walker fam ily were great supporters. Mr. Nicholson was a thorough cricketer, so utterly fearless as a wicket keeper that when the Marylebone Club made up an England Eleven oftener than not they preferred Mr. Nicholson to Box and Wenman, when Mr. Nicholson was two or three and twenty years old, as he had the pull of youth on his side and the rare quality of an old man’s head on a young man’s shoulders, besides being a real good bat, particularly against Alfred Mynn, and always in splendid training. H e was very popular with Gentlemen and Players, as he was very fair, and never “ snapped ” for umpire’s decisions. W h en the fate of Lord’s was almost in the balance, before the sudden increase of wealth from Eton and Harrow and University matches, Mr. Nicholson stood in the gap, and after all England had been drawn for subscriptions to save the ground— for few escaped Mr. Boger Kynaston and his red book—he advanced the money on mortgage on a security which the outside public would not take. Little was said about it, as men who do such things do not talk about them, but there is no doubt but that he saved Lord’s from the builders. The celebrated Mr. William Ward did a similar thing very many years before. H e drew a cheque for £5,000 and gave it to Lord for the lease, and as it happened this turned out a good investm ent; as indeed did Mr. Nicholson’s mortgage also, though he ran the risk for the love of cricket, and the sum ho advanced was a large one— a very long way into five figures. O u r right good friends the cricketers o f America are likely, according to all ac­ counts, to have abusy time ofitnext season. Some time ago I mentioned that a visit of a West Indian team to Canada and the United States was in contemplation under the auspices of the Georgetown Club. Since then the negotiations have pro­ gressed satisfactorily, and it is now an­ nounced on the best authority that the arrangements are so far completed. The team, it is said, will play twelve matches, six in Canada, and six in the United States during their visit, which will take place in August or September. I n addition—which is more important to us— I am able to state on the authority of Mr. E. J. Sanders, to whose manage­ ment the Bev. B. T. Thornton and his comrades were so greatly indebted for an enjoyable trip last fall, that another party of English amateurs will tour in America at the end of the coming season. A general wish has been expressed from the other side in favour o f another visit this autumn, and Mr. Sanders has consented to accept the invitation. “ Parson ” Thornton will not be able to “ boss ” the team, but Mr. Sanders has been fortunate enough to secure a capable substitute in Col. Walrond, M.P. for North East Devon, who is an excellent captain. The Colonel, who, unless I am mistaken, is one of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, played for Eton against Harrow in 1866. He is a member, too, of the famous fraternity of I Zingari, and the annual week at his seat, New Court, near Topsham, is one of the most pleasant of the many social gatherings in which the Wanderers participate. Col. Walrond’s name was accidentally omitted from the list I gave last month of cricketers in the new House of Commons. M ost o f the daily papers of Monday last contained the announcement of the departure on the previous Saturday of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig- Holstein, the eldest son o f Prince and Princess Christian, from Windsor for Oxford, whither ho goes with a view to graduate prior to entering the army. Some months ago I stated that Prince Christian Victor, who, by the way, can take his own part well in other sports, was leaving Wellington College, where he did good service last summer as Captain of the eleven, to go into residence at Magdalen College, Oxford. The young Prince is a thoroughly keen cricketer, and in addition to being a very promising bat is consider­ ably above the average of school wicket­ keepers. Indeed, as Mr. A. E. Newton is no longer available, there is every likeli­ hood that the Wellington Captain of 1885 will have a chance o f proving his skill behind the sticks. R a e e ly a winter now passes without our having to record the doings of English cricketers at the Antipodes. This season Colonial cricket grounds have been visited by several prominent English players. Mr. A. P. Lucas, who, as every one will be glad to hear has derived the greatest benefit from the trip, has figured as a spectator at more than one impor­ tant match in Victoria, where the Hon. Ivo Bligh was just arriving on the depar­ ture of the last Australian mail. Mr. D. G. S pip . o , the Old Harrovian and Cantab, who was in the Colonies last winter, too, has again been busy over there. The records of a match played at Melbourne early in November between the Bohemians (the I Zingari of Aus­ tralia) and a team representing the Uni­ versities and Public Schools also show two other amateurs known to English cricketers on the side of the Bohemians. The Universities and Schools wero only able to score 63, owing to the good bowling of Messrs. P. H . Morton and J. Lorrimer, the latter o f whom was tried for the Oxford Eleven in 1883. Mr. Morton, who, as many will remember, proved so destructive for Cambridge University against the Australians at Lord’s in 1878, was in excellent form, scoring 30 and taking six wickets for 26 runs. For the Bohemians, who scored 211 against G3, Mr. Spiro made 53, Mr. Lorrimer 22. I n o tice among the names of the sports­ men wbo shot six o f their twelve birds in the first round of the competition for the big prize (the Grand Prix du Casino) of the Grand International Meeting at Monaco, that of a once very prominent cricketer—Mr. William Yardley, o f Bugby and Cambridge fame. Mr. Yardley, it is satisfactory to note, is able to find time from his dramatic labours, the latest of which, “ the three-act burlesque operatic dramp,” of L ittle Jack JSheppwrd at the Gaiety, seems to be a decided success, to try his skill on another stage. M r . W . S a pte , jun., whose amusing skit, “ Cricketers’ Guyed,” I noticed in “ Gossip ” some three months ago, has been seeking fresh woods and pastures new. He has been trying his ’prentice hand in the dramatic line, and the result has been a play with the title of Spec­ ulation (recalling memories of Charles Mathews as Affable Hawk), produced at a Prince’s matinee on Saturday last. Just at the present time not a few cricketers are strutting and fretting their hour upon the stage. Indeed, I could name many prominent exponents of our national game to whom dramatic art has been in no small degree indebted of late. I n the November number of this paper there appeared a sketch of olden cricket written by a keen old sportsman, Mr. William Woolgar, father of the cele­ brated actress Miss Woolgar (Mrs. Alfred Mellon), and himself a well-known actor of the past. “ An Old Cricketer’s Tale ” was particularly interesting as the per­ sonal experience of one who m ingled with the heroes of the old Hambledon Club, and could speak from actual knowledge of the game and its followers even before Broadlialfpenny Downs came to be the scene of so many historic contests. I had looked forward myself to a chat with Mr. Woolgar on the subject of the cricket of the Hambledonian era with no small amount of pleasure. I have, too, before me as I irate a letter of this cheery old gentleman under the date of December the 18th, full of kindly sentiments to the paper and to the writer of these notes. Before a week had passed, though) Next Issue February 25.