Cricket 1886

FEB. 2S, 188 a. CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME* 23 COM ING CR ICKET . F rom the Standard. Tiegardles alike of political crises and Social-D em ocratic Riots, the managers of C ricket Clubs all over the country are busy com pleting their arrangements for the com ing season. The task this year is one of the greatest difficulty, and there have been some obstacles which could scarcely be looked for. In the first place, the Australians, or those w h o are arranging their affairs in Melbourne, did not let us know their definite intentions until after the annual m eeting of secretaries which settles the year’s programme. It seems with regard to this, however, that the Mel­ bourne Club were not to blame. They merely fell into a very natural error in taking the personal opinion expressed by the Secretary of the Marylebone Club in a telegram to the E xecutive of the Melbourne Club as an official, and not merely a private statement of views. It was a great pity that any impediment should have appeared to stand in the wray of ^he Melbourne Club when it was known that hey desired to send over a Cricket Eleven to ;this country. The Melbourne Club have enter­ tained and piloted through Australia tw o teams ,of English Cricketers—those which made the ■yoyage under the captaincy of Lord Harris and Mr. Ivo Bligh respectively—and it was certain, therefore, that English Amateurs would cor­ dially welcome any Australian team that visited us under their auspices. Happily, the m is­ understanding has now been cleared up, and everything is proceeding favourably. The chief practical difficulty created by the late announcem ent of the Australians’ intentions was the great alteration that had to be made in the purely E nglish fixtures. E ach county had to revise its programme, and something of the old difficulty that used to be felt when the year’s fixtures were made by correspondence lias once m ore been experienced. Now, how ­ ever, with some few exceptions, the dates are fixed for the chief contests next summer, and one startling result is that we are going to have a County Match in London on Easter Monday. H itherto this day has been devoted, as far as Cricket is concerned, to the annual Colts’ Match, at N ottingham , and some few other holiday games am ong adventurous players in different parts of the country. There is a general notion that E aster is a great deal too soon for C ricket; and, indeed, before now the N ottingham con­ test has actually had to be postponed through a snowstorm. On the present occasion, how ­ ever, the fixture of a County Match for Easter Monday is not so revolutionary as it at first appears. Easter falls unusually late this year, and the Monday in Easter week is A pril 26. E ven this is a good fortnight earlier than is usual for serious Cricket, and in these days of high pressure a couple of weeks added to the work of some of our m ost prom inent cricketers is no inconsiderable matter. But Londoners will reap the benefit, for, in addition to seeing the N orth play the South at L ord’s, on W hit- Monday, and Notts play Surrey at the Oval on the August Bank H oliday, they will now have an opportunity of witnessing the full Glouces­ tershire E leven on the Surrey ground on the occasion which is generally regarded as the first open air fe te -day of the year. W ith the beginning of M ay we shall have the Australians in full practice for their open­ ing m atch at Lord Sheffield’s Park, in Sussex, against an English E leven ; and from that tim e fixtures crowd upon us in a way that must be surprising to the old-fashioned lovers of the game, and would have simply astounded some of those heroes of the past, whose excel­ lences and achievements form the pleasant theme of many an old-world article. There can be no doubt that Cricket is at present very much of a business; but it is a business that is honestly and keenly pursued,, and one which affords wholesome amusement to countless thousands of people. No doubt, the big clubs look after the gate-m oney, and appeal to their patrons as clearly and unmistakeably as do the lessees of theatres, the proprietors of picture galleries, or the directors of companies. B ut they pro­ vide a capital entertainment at a very cheap rate; they arrange liberally for the accomm o­ dation of the public, and they do everything in their power to m aintain at the highest standard the efficiency of the players and the integrity of the game. E ven the m ost inveterate admirer of bygone manners and customs will admit that this is a better state of things than existed when, among scores of sim ilar matches for a like stake, and about the same period, “ a grand matoh of Cricket was playea on W ed­ nesday, June 11, 1800, and two following days in L ord’s Ground, Marylebone, between Eleven Gentlemen of England against E leven of the County of Surrey, for a thousand guineas.” It is better, too, than the condition of affairs in those much later times when travelling elevens of professionals under all sorts of titles, from “ The All-England E leven ” downwards, gave gate-money exhibitions all over the country against local twenty-twos. These itinerant teams certainly did some good educational work, but the games they played were in no way to be compared with the keen contests of to-day, and the quality of the play was often below what we should now consider second-class form. Cricket m aybe a business, as we have said, but it is a business in which to an enormous extent the population of the country is interested, and the connection that it has with m oney is in no way a gambling connection. Gate-money is a necessity to Cricket, but when the game is played as it is now played in England, the charge for admission to the grounds is m ore than justified, and whatever benefit clubs and players may receive is far outweighed by the existence amo'ng us of a great and popular game, free from the taint of betting, and productive of an immense amount of genuine interest and enthusiasm. That Cricket has taken a firm hold upon the affections of the people is abundantly proved by the continual formation of new clubs and the increased importance of old ones ; while the eagerness with which the game is pursued in public and private schools and in our Universities is almost one of the signs of the times. The industry, skill, and high character of our professionals add, furthermore, to the reputation of C ricket; and now, as we are em erging from the W inter and looking forward to the Summer campaign, it is pleasant to know that with these substantial advantages there is an absence of the ill-feeling which has at times disturbed the peace of the Cricket world. The strength of public opinion on the question of unfair bowling may or may not have been the precise cause of the present am ity; but it is a fact that the disagreement between certain counties no longer exists, and that we shall welcome our Australian visitors as a united and happy Cricket fam ily. The only discouraging feature in English Cricket is the weakness of amateur bowling. Since Mr. A. G. Steel went up to Cambridge in 1878, there has scarcely been a first-class bowler discovered among the Gentlemen. T o­ day, probably, the only amateur who would, on account of his bowling alone, be considered worthy a place in a representative E leven is Mr. Stanley Christopherson, of Uppingham School and the Kent County Eleven. Mr. Hugh Rotherham , who, like Mr. Christopher­ son, bowls at a great pace, is hardly now to be reckoned u p on ; and there seem to be a very few young men who are at all likely to obtain real celebrity. Batsmen we have in plenty; indeed, last season produced an extraordinary number of schoolboys whose run-getting capa­ bilities were of a very high class. In wicket- keeping and fielding, too, there is not so much fault to be found; but facts and figures go to prove that the young men of to-day do not cultivate bowling to anything like the neces­ sary extent. Every school of note has its pro­ fessional instructor ; while many of the best bowlers in the country annually go to Oxford and Cambridge to train the undergraduates and freshmen. But the system o f young amateurs E ractising at nets has been carried too far. long-stopping has becom e almost one of the lost a rts; com bined fielding in amateur teams, except under a captain of exceptional ability, is not often seen, and—what is by far the most serious— bowling is neglected. Young pro­ fessionals learn bowling because there is ft certain living for a bowler of a b ility: youug amateurs practise batting because it is the m ost enjoyable part of Cricket. The result is that year after year the number of gentlemen who are good batsmen increases, while tliu number who are capable bowlers diminishes so fast that in a few seasons we m ay reach the vanishing point. This, as we have said, is the one danger which threatens the future of E n g­ lish Cricket, and that it is a real danger is known and acknowledged by all who study the fortunes of the game. School-masters and school-captains, Club committees and County executives, should do everything in their power to encourage and develop bowling among the rising generation of Cricketers. It is chiefly through their superior bowling that the Australians have acquired their great oelebrity, as, except for the skill of Spofforth, Palmer, Giffen, Garrett, Boyle, and the rest, the batting powers of the cricketers from our Colonies would have been enormously discounted. Australia has sent us four first- class teams, and no doubt is now preparing a fifth Eleven whose combined merits will make them worthy to rank with those wrho have been here before. E ver since that memorable 27th of May, 1878, when Australia beat the Marylebone Club in a single day, it has been in the bowling that the chief strength of our visitors has lain, and it is upon bowling that they plaoe their chief reliance. It is to be hoped that in the oom ing summer wre shall see evidences of a serious attempt to increase the bowling strength of our amateurs. It is too early yet to speak with advantage upon the details of the season’s prospects; but it is abundantly clear that we shall have one as lively as that of 1884, for not only are our form idable rivals from Australia com ing again, but we shall witness the play— some­ what grotesque it m ay be, but still interesting — of a native Indian Eleven from the Presi­ dency of Bombay. B IC K L E Y P A R K CLUB. F ix t u r e s f o r 1886. April 26—Opening match (Club) May 1—Bickley, v. Leslie Wilson’s XI. May 1—Erith, v. Erith May 5—Bickley, v. Bromley May 8—Bickley, v. Upper Tooting May 15—Blackheath, v. Blackheath Morden May 15—Bickley, v. Old Eastbournians(2.30) May 19—Bickley, v. Kensington Park May 22—Beckenham, v. Beckenham May 22—Plaistow, v. Plaistow May 29—Bickley, v. Rochester June 5—Bickley, v. Ne’er-do-Weels June 5—West Wickham, v. West Wickham June 9—Bickley, v. Guy’s Hospital June 12—Bexley, v. Bexley June 12—Bickley, v. Chislehurst (2.30) June 14—Bickley, v. Crystal Palace June 18,19—Richmond, v. Richmond June 19—Bickley, v. Plaistow June 24—Bickley, v. Pallingswick June 26—Bickley, v. Esher June 26—Bromley, v. Bromley (2.30) T h e B ic k l e y P a r k W e e k . June 28, 29—Bickley, v. Incogniti June 30, July 1—Bickley, v. Band of Brothers July 2, 3—Bickley, v. Beckenham July 9,10—Bickley, v. Richmond July 17—Farningham, v. Farningham July 17—Bickley, v. Blackheath Morden July 20—Bickley, v. Law Club July 24—Bickley, v. Gore Court July 24—Chislenurst, v. Chislehurst (2.30) July 31— Tooting, v. Upper Tooting July 31—Bickley, v. West Wickham Aug. 2—Bickley, v. Chatham House Wanderers Aug. 5—Bickley, v. Bradfield Waifs Aug. 7—Crystal Palace, v. Crystal Palace Aug. 14—Bickley, v. Tonbridge Rovers Aug. 18—Bickley, v. Farningham Aug. 21—Notting Hill, v. Kensington Park Aug. 28-Bickley, v. Bexley Sept. 4—Bickley, Club-match NeKt Issue March 25.