Cricket 1886

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No 130. VOL. V. Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1886. PR ICE 2d. GEORGE S P IL LM AN . T h o u g h for many years past well-known in the Metropolitan airea as an all-round player of no small ability, it was not until the present year that Spillman made any attempt to take a real part in tho better class of matches. It is not often, indeed, that a cricketer of admitted excellence makes his dabut in County cricket at so late a period. It must not be thought, though, that the sub­ ject of this week’s sketch, who will reach his twenty-ninth birthday on the twenty-fourth of next month, had no opportunities of identifying him­ self with Countv cricket prior to this summer. On the contrary, he had several ohances in this direction, though circumstances prevented his acceptance of any of the tiftl un l he commencement erf tne season just over. Though born in London, Spillman spent a great part of his early life at Brighton, where his father resided for some part of the year. In fact, it was with Sussex cricket that he was first identified, and some seven or eight summers since he enjoyed a high reputation among the cricketers of the South Coast. He played for several of the leading clubs in .the district, repre­ senting the OldBrighton Club, Lewes, Priory Park, Chichester, and Hastings among others, and with great success, rarely failing to score well. Robert Thoms, the well-known umpire, and the late Charles Ellis, of Sussex, both took great interest in his orickefc, and it was mainly by the advice of these two experienced judges that he turned his attention towicket-keeping. In this department of the game when in practice he was very much above the average of amateurs, and he kept wicket on several occasions fsr the Gentlemen of Sussex with distinct credit. Just about this time, too, he played frequently for the United South, and, indeed,was returning from one of their matches, in 1879, to play for Sussex against Leicestersnire at Leicester, when he was seized with a severe attack of fever, at the Queen’s Hotel, Birmingham, which kept him prostrate for a lengthened period. The death of his father compelled him to devote himself after this to business, and, during the last five or six years, his cricket has been mostly confined to the Metropolitan area. His earliest experience in the neighbourhood of London was with the Old Chiswick and Turnham Green Club, which numbered inits ranks severalotherwell-known Amateurs, among them Messrs. G. H. Jupp and G. Nixon, of Middlesex, and J. W. Noble, who did good service for Surrey for a short time. The Rickmansworth, Isleworth, Rich­ mond Town, Mitcham, and other suburban clubs also profited considerably by his excel­ lent all-round cricket, and for some years past there have,indeed,beenfewfiguresbetterknown in contests of this class. In 1878he had shown very promising batting for Eighteen of Huns­ let against the First Australian Team, and J. Conway,, the Manager, personally compli­ mented him on the promising form he showed on that occasion. Two years later, too, he figured with great success against the Third Australian Team, at Hastings, and his two scores of twenty-three and twenty-seven, for the Eighteen of Hastings, were very highly spoken of in the reports of the match. Though we understand more than one oppor­ tunity had been offered to him of representing Middlesex, as already stated, circumstances did not allow him to take advantage of the opening until the present year. When he did decide to take his chance in County cricket he resolved to join the professional ranks, following in this the example of two well-known Southern cricketers in the earliest fix­ ture of the County season. His first appearance, too, like theirs, was at the Oval, on May 27, when he represented Middlesex against Surrey. Though he failed to score his firstknock, his debut was very far fromunfavourable; onthe contrary, his second score of nineteen was a very satisfactory display of batting against some excellent bowl­ ing, one of the best, if not quite the best,in the short inningsof Middlesex. His play, too, in subsequent matches fully confirmed this early promise. Against Kent, in the next match at Lord’s, he got double figures each time, but his best performances were againstYorkshire and Gloucestershire just afterwards. His batting in the former match, in which he scored 86 and 14, was described as some of the most brilliant ever seen on the ground of the Marylebone Club, and certainly no better was seen there this summer. That this was not a fluke in any way, too, was shown by his two fine innings of 63 and 39 against Gloucestershire, there, on tho three following days, and it is worthy of remark that his record for these two matches showed an aggregate of 202 for four innings, or an average of over 50 runs. An injury to his knee prevented his assisting Middlesex against Notts at Lord’s, but he was able to play in the next match with Surrey, and, indeed, with the exception of the one occasion just mentioned he was not anabsentee from any of the county fixtures this summer. In the out matches which closed the season he was not so successful as he had been at home, but still his record for the year was a highly creditable one, and though seventh in the table of Middlesex averages, he came out well with an average of over twenty- one runs. His latest appearance in important fixtures was at the end of last week at JIast-