Cricket 1887

“ Toge ther joined in cricket’s m an ly toil.”— Byron. Regiiteml fo^Jr’aoamUatoiiYbioad. THURSDAY, MAY 1 2 , 1 8 8 7 . PR ICE 2 d. during the season of 1883-84. Though it was his first show in matches of any account Trott did it good service, and when the annual statistics were published he was found to be second in the batting averages of his club. He continued to play with the Capulets during the first part of the following season (1884-85), and was even more successful than on his opening campaign, having the dis- MR. HARRY TROTT, I n the last number o f this paper we were fortunate in being able to publish the portrait and biography of a cricketer who occupies an exceptionally prominent position among Aus­ tralian players just at the present time. New South Wales last season was lucky, indeed, in bringing to the front more than one youngster likely to maintain the re­ putations of such champions as W. L. Murdoch, F. R. Spofforth, T. W. Garrett, and men of their calibre. Victorian cricket has not been quite so happy, and Arthur Shrewsbury does not seem to be very confident of any such advance as that which has recently greeted the efforts of the leaders of the game in Sydney, at least, in the immediate future. “ Gossip” readers of Thursday last will have noticed that, in his opinion, the public interest in the game in Victoria “ will not be re-awakened until the colony sends out a fresh lot of men.” According to his views the junior players are not as carefully watched as they might be, and he is strongly convinced that they should be better utilised by being earlier brought out and tried on the best wickets. Whether there is ground for this complaint of inattention to the rising players against those who have the management of the game in Melbourne is a matter on which we ourselves of course are not able to offer an opinion. The high position occupied by the young cricketer whose portrait we are, through the kindness of the worthy Secretary of the Mel­ bourne Club, able to give this week, does not certainly seem to justify the charge that the Victorian authorities are altogether neglectful of their rising talent. Harry Trott, who stands out prominently as one of the best all­ round cricketers of to-day in Victoria, has, in fact, not reached his twentieth year. He was born in Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, on the 5th of August, 1866, so that he has a little under three months left before he reaches his majority. His career as a cricketer practically began on his connection with the Capulets, one of the foremost junior clubs of Melbourne. The Capulets took a prominent art in the competition for the Challenge Cup iven to the junior clubs by Messrs. Boyle, the well-known cricket outfitters of Melbourne, tinction of the best batting average for them. Meanwhile the excellence of his all-round play had not been overlooked by some of the leading cricketers of Victoria. The help of so promising a youngster was on the contrary likely to be highly esteemed by some of the more influential clubs, and before the season of 1884-85 had reached its close Trott had transferred his services to the South Melbourne Club. The better opportunities rovided under his new connection enabled im to improve his cricket materially, and as he was credited with the best batting as well as bowling averages for South Melbourne in 1884-85, it will be understood that he had won a high position in Victorian cricket before he had completed his nineteenth year. The sea­ son of 1885-86 added still more to his reputation, and some of his perform­ ances with ball as well as bat were particularly noteworthy. For South Melbourne he again rendered efficient service, and in addition to the dis­ tinction of the best bowling average he had only one superior in the batting tables published at the end of the season. He was one of the Victorian eleven selected to oppose the Mel­ bourne Club Australian Team in the trial match on Jan. 1, 1886, and in the second innings showed very pro­ mising form, taking out his bat for a soundly got score of eighteen not out. His best show of the year, though, was in the match between South Melbourne and St. Kilda Clubs, and here he proved his capacity as a batsman effectually by a brilliant innings of 200 not out. In bowling, of many good records his most notable was in a match against the Fitzroy Club, on which occasion he took seven wickets for twenty-two runs. In the Inter-Colonial match betweenVictoria and South Australia towards the close of the season he showed capital all­ round form. In the two innings of South Australia he bowled 342 balls for 121 runs and seven wickets, but in addition his batting was decidedly the best on the Victorian side, and he was two hours at the wickets for his score of 54 not out, without anything like a chance. This was his debut in an Inter-Colonial match, and the Melbourne Leader , in commenting on his excellent cricket, describes his per­ formance as a “ double first,” adding that such a success had never before, as far as the writer could remember, fallen to any Australian player. Trott began the Australian season just over in capital form, and perhaps his best record was Jki the first match between Victoria and the English Professionals. On that occasion, going in second wicket down, he got twenty runs in capitalform, besidestaking fourwickets, three—thoseof Read, Bates, and Briggs—being clean3bowled in six balls. The Executive of