Cricket 1886

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. Registered°lo/T?a*nsmission Abroad. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1886. PRICE2d. had two bowlers, each at the time aformidable opponent, Messrs. C. P. Lewis and T. B. Jones, both of whom figured in the Oxford Eleven, he was successful, scoring 41 and 13 in very promising style. It was not untill881, though, that he attracted the notice of the cricket authorities of Kent. His introduction to them, too, was a practical one, represented by two scores of 14 and 55, respectively the R E V . R ICH ARD TH ORN TON TH O RN TON . I t would be difficult to point to a more cheery or withal keener cricketer than “ Parson Thornton,” as the American reporters, who interviewed him in his capacity as Captain of the team of English Amateurs which visited the United States and Canada in the fall of 1885, under the management of Mr. E. J. Sanders, in their usual vein of pleasantry designated the worthy little cleric herein presented. The Parson’s figure is well-known on most of our principal grounds. He is one, be it known, too, of a family of cricketers. His father, the late Mr. Richard Thornton, was for many ears a member of both the Maryle- one and Surrey Clubs, and rarely absent on the occasion of an important match at Lord’s or the Oval. He was still better known in the West of Eng­ land as a generous supporter of the game, and the Sidmouth Club not only found in him a liberal patron, but visitors to Sidmouth on cricket bent a hospitable entertainer. His two brothers, A. J. and W. A., have also made their names on the cricket field, the former for Kent, the latter— the youngest of the trio—recently for Winchester and Oxford. Though all his early associations were with Devonshire cricket, Devonia cannot claim Parson Thornton as one of her sons. Born at Folkestone on March 28,1853, he has the double qualifica­ tion for Kent of birth and residence. Educated privately, he went into residence at Oxford in 1873, but com­ paratively unknown, had no oppor­ tunity of playing for the Freshmen. He had no trial at all, indeed, at the University until 1876, and then when he was selected to take part in the Seniors’ Match, he was unsuccess­ ful. Before he had matriculated at Oxford, though, he had already made his mark among Devonshire cricketers, and, in fact, his quali­ fications as an all-round player in the west were so thoroughly recognised that he occupied a place in the County Eleven regularly during a period of nine years extending from 1871 to 1880. It was during his career at Oxford that he made his first appearance at Lord’s for the Marylebone Club. The match was against South Wales, on July 1, 1875, and though the Welshmen latter one of great merit, for Marylebone Club and Ground against the County eleven at Lord’s, on June 3, 1881. The batting he showed on that occasion evidently made a favourable impression on those who had the selection of the Kent teams. A month later (on July 7), he made his first appearance against Somersetshire at Weston, near Bath, and with success, contributing 13 and 35 not out, of 41 for one wicket. Though unfor­ tunate at Maidstone against Surrey, he showed to betteradvantagetherethe sameweek against Sussex, and his score of 39 was the best in the six innings he had for Kent in 1881. The following season was a blank for him as far as Kent was concerned, and his only appearance in important cricket was in one match for M.C.C., wherein he had to be content with ten runs as the result of his double innings. One match, too, was the sum of his cricket for the Marylebone Club in 1883, and he only assisted Kent four times that season. At the same time his batting was of great use in the County matches in which he did participate, and though his highest score in eight innings was his 32 against Surrey, at the Oval, he played so consistently that his average amounted to 29£ runs. The summer of 1884 was much more eventful for him in County cricket. In all he had seventeen innings during that year for Kent, and though his best scores were against comparatively weak bowling, to wit his 57 against Hamp­ shire at Southampton, and 38 and 75 against Somersetshire at Tunbridge Wells, he was on the whole decidedly successful. His best perfonnance in point of actual merit was in the last match of the season against Surrey at the Oval. Kent in their second innings had to play with one object alone, to avert defeat. The wicket, too, was all against them, but thanks to the fine cricket of Mr. W. H. Patterson, and in a lesser degree of Mr. Thornton, they succeeded. These two amateurs were together an hour and three-quarters for only 40 runs, and Mr. Thornton’s unwearying de­ fence at a critical time helped in a great measure to save the game. His best season, though, so far, has been that of 1885, and on his form of late years he had not very many superiors in county cricket. Throughout the summer he rarely failed to score well, and with the exception of Mr. W. H. Patterson, whose figures were materially assisted by one long innings of 143, his average of 34 was the best in Kent matches. His most conspiouous success was at the Oval against Surrey, and here ajjain his second innings of 79, as in the previous year, helped very materially to turn what at one time seemed likely to be an easy victory for Surrey into a creditable draw. At Lord's Next Issue January 27