Cricket 1886

JUStE io, 1886 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 187 I h a v e to thank the Hon. Sec. o f the Teddington Club for the particulars of a succession of excellent bowling perform­ ances by a member of that club. The following table will show that Mr. A. B. Fernie on five successive Saturdays took thirty-two wickets for the Teddington Club at a cost of only 59 runs, or an average of 1.84 runs per wicket— Overs. Runs. Witts. May 8 v. Roehampton........ 11 ... 9 ... G May 15 v. Hampton Wick ... 12 ... 15 ... 5 May 22 y. Univ. Coll. Hos. ... 12 ... 11 ... 8 May 29 v. Guy’s Hospital ... 15 ... 9 ... 6 June 5 v. St. Thomas’s Hos... 13 ...15 ... 7 How oddly history repeats itself in Cricket! I have seen few instances of this repetition more noteworthy than have recently been recorded this season in con­ nection with the Cambridge University eleven. On May 20 and two following days, the Cantabs, playing Mr. C. I. Thornton’s Eleven, followed on in a minority of exactly eighty runs—-just failing to avert the follow by one run. In spite of this disadvantage they were able, chiefly through a very fine score of 174 by Mr. J. A. Turner, to win the match by 108 runs. E x a c t l y a fortnight later, in their contest with Yorkshire, the course of the previous match was repeated almost to a nicety. Yorkshire went in first, and their score, 154 (another coincidence), was identical with the second total of Mr. Thornton’s Eleven. Again the University were exactly eighty runs behind, as be­ fore, just failing to save the follow by a single run. And as in the previous match it was mainly to a score of three figures in the second innings by one batsman, this time Mr. G. Kemp’s 125, that they were indebted for a creditable victory. M b . P. D o b e l l , who made such a promising first appearance for Lancashire at the Oval this week, it may interest C r ic k e t readers to know, is a member of the Huyton Club. He was, I believe, educated at the Birkenhead School, and only came down from Cam­ bridge, where he was in residence three years, in 1885. Considering the excellent form he showed at the Oval it is a little difficult to believe that he never played on “ Fenner’s,”—I mean the University ground—during the three summers he spent at Cambridge. I n the list already published of candi­ dates eager for Parliamentary honours in the event of a dissolution, I notice the names of not a few cricketers. Messrs. Cowley Lambert and T. K. Tapling will again, it is said, contest one of the Islington divisions and South Leicester­ shire respectively, both in the Conservative interest. Mr. Alters Douglas, the senior Conservative whip, who is on the Com­ mittee of the Kent County Club, is to be unopposed in the St. Augustine’s Division of Kent. Among the new candidates, I may mention Mr. A. B. Rowley, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Lancashire County Club, who has been selected by the Liberals of Ashton-under-Lyne as their representative at the next election. Mr. A. N. Hornby, who was invited to contest the Crewe Division of Cheshire in the Conservative interest, has declined the honour. Mr. Mark Beaufoy, a mem­ ber of the Surrey County Cricket Club of many years’ standing, and in his day an active member of the famous football Club yclept the Wanderers, is the chosen Liberal candidate for Kennington. A f o r t n i g h t ago I called attention to a succession of not out innings recorded this season to the credit of Mr. J. E. Shaw, of the Law Club. A correspondent has been good enough to send me par­ ticulars of an achievement of very much the same kind by an old member of the Croydon Club, Mr. W. A. Aria. This gentleman, who has for several years past lived in Australia, has just returned on a visit to the Old Country. In four succes­ sive matches he has been not out. The details will be, I hope, of interest. In each case, except the first, when he was sixth in the order of going in, Mr. Aris went in first, and in the last three matches he carried his bat through the innings :— May 22 for Croydon v. Whitgift School, 31 runs. May 24 for Plaxtol v. Sevenoaks Town, 79 runs. May 26 for Croydon v. Clapton, S9 runs. June 2 for Plaxtol v. Hadlow, 39 runs. I n “ Gossip ” of last week I noticed the weddings of two well-known amateurs, both celebrated on June 1. To those of Messrs. A. G. Steel and L. E. Bligh I find I might have added that of another cricketer, though of lesser reputation. The Standard of June 2 contains an announcement of the marriage on the previous day of the Hon. Charles Trefusis, eldest son of Lord Clinton, with the Lady Jane Grey McDonnell, fourth daughter of the late Earl of Antrim and sister of the present peer. Mr. Trefusis was in the Eton Eleven of 1881, and has, I believe, kept up his cricket, though his name has not come prominently t e;fore the public of late. The notion that May is an unlucky month for weddings would appear to prevail among cricketers, who are not usually superstitious. Som e time ago I mentioned that nego­ tiations were on foot for the visit of a team of West Indian cricketers to the United States and Canada during the latter part of the cricket season of 1885. I gather now from the American Cricketer that the trip, originated by Mr. Guy Wyatt, the Captain of the Georgetown Club of Demerara, is now virtually a certainty. As several of the players announced to join the team have been well-known on English grounds the details of the tour will be of interest to C r ic k e t readers generally. Among those likely to go are Messrs. E. E. Wright, who played for Gloucestershire against the Australians in 1878; P. J. T. Henery, of the Harrow Eleven of 1877 and 1878, who subse­ quently played for Cambridge University in 1882 and 1883, and for Middlesex; G. B. Garnett, a member of the Marl­ borough College eleven of 1882 ; F. Kemble, of Kingston, who played for Cheltenham College in 1871 and 1872. The matches announced aie :— Aug. 16,17, at Montreal; Aug. 18,19, Montreal, v. Eastern Association of Canada; Aug. 20,21, Ottawa; Aug. 23,24, Toronto; Aug. 25,26, Toronto, v. Ontario Association; Aug. 27, 28, Hamilton; Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, Ardmore (Philadelphia), v. Merion Club; Sept.2, West Philadelphia, v. Belmont Club; Sept. 4, 6, Nicetown, v. Germantown Club; Sept. 8, Shen­ ton, v. Young America Club; Sept. 10,11, Boston, v. Longwood Club; Sept. 13, 14, New Brighton, v. Staten Island. Now that the grounds are at last be­ ginning *o favour the batsman, it is not surprising to find that the chronicler of big scores is commencing to assert his position. During the week more than one phenomenal innings has been re­ corded, and should the weather only con­ descend to maintain the pleasant attitude it has taken up during the last few days there will, it is safe to predict, be no lack of exceptional achievements in the way of rim-getting. T he sporting papers of Friday last con­ tained the details of two notable perform­ ances with the bat, both of which took place on the previous day. In a match between Bryn-y-neuadd and the -Car­ narvon Clubs, played at Mr. Sydney Platts’ ground at Llanfairfechan, Mr. A. S. Gripps, of Bhyl, was in rare form for Bryn-y-neuadd, going in first and car­ rying out his bat for 281 out of a total of 362. On the same day at Cambridge in a match against Clare, Trinity College completed their innings begun on the previous day for a huge total of 593, the highest as yet recorded this season. Four batsmen got over ninety runs, one of them —Mr. F. Thomas, the Eton Captain of 1885 —over 100. The last three wickets, it is worthy of remark, put on 193 runs. The Sporting Life in commenting on the match, I notice, says, “ This is the largest number ever recorded in a match for the last three wickets.” This is clearly a mistake. I can recall one occasion in which more were recorded for the last wicket alone. M r . J. B u r g is s B r o w n , of Maidstone, has kindly forwarded me a copy of the fourth number of his amiual publication “ The Kentish Cricketer’s Guide,” a handy little calendar compiled for the .use and benefit of the cricketers of Kent. The Guide just issued will be more than usually popular, I am sure, if only for the reason that it contains some excellent counsel by Lord Harris. “ A Few Warn­ ing Notes for Young Cricketers,” by the Kentish Captain, might be read with advantage by old players as well as those who are still in their novitiate and have yet to qualify at our national game. A p e c u lia r incident occurred in a match played on Saturday last at Wool-