Cricket 1887

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— By ron . n o 152. vol. vi. , THURSDAY JUNE 16 1887 price 2 d Registered for Transm ission Abroad. u i ’ l j J -O O I • r n MR. EDWARD GEORGE WYNYARD. T iie attainm ent of a place in the forefron t of cricketers is often, as w e have had occasion to p oin t ou t m ore than on ce in our biographies o f em in ent players, in a great m easure, a question of opportunities. A s a rule, a high reputation is on ly gained after a long appren­ ticesh ip, and years of experience are, as a general rule, required before any­ th in g like p erfection of skill as a bats­ m an or a bow leg can be reached. It is n ot every cricketer, th ough, w ho is sufficiently favoured by circum stances as to be able to devote th e tim e that is required to bring ou t to the full th e cricket ability that he has in him . T h e exigencies of th e m ilitary pro­ fession, in particular, h ave checked th e career o f m any a y ou n g cricketer o f prom ise. It w ould n ot be difficult to nam e m an y a rising player w hose crick et future has been m aterially affected b y h is selection of the A rm y as a profession. T h ose w h o rem em ­ ber M r. W y n y a rd ’s exception al pro­ m ise as a bat w hen he m ade his first appearance for H am pshire as a b o y som e nin e years ago, w ill, w e are inclined to think, agree w ith us that, w ith th e opportunities offered to som e oth er cricketers, b y this tim e he w ould, in all probability, have been in th e fron t rank o f batsm en. B orn in In dia in A p ril, 1861, Mr. W y n y a rd received his early educa­ tion at W ood cote H ouse,W indlesh am . H e w as in th e E leven there in 1873, as, b y the w ay, w ere tw o other cricketers afterw ards w ell know n in P u blic S ch ool cricket— M essrs. T . R . H in e-H a ycock and J. L . K aye, the C aptain o f the W inchester College E leven in 1880. T h ou g h subse­ quen tly he gained a h igh reputation as an athlete at Charterhouse School, it w as chiefly as a football-player. H e le ft Charterhouse in 1877, bu t before th e cricket season had beguD, and, singularly enough, h ad n ot then advanced beyon d the secon d eleven o f the school. T h at he w as, though, at th e tim e a prom ising cricketer is show n b y the estim ate form ed o f h is pow ers b y the execu tive o f the H am pshire C lub, w ho selected h im to represent th at C ounty against th e M arylebone Club an d G round, at the com m en cem en t of the sum m er o f 1878, w hen he had on ly ju st com pleted his seventeenth year. F ive years later M r. W yn yard m ade his first appearance as a cricketer at the O val, w h ich had previou sly know n h im only as an A ssociation footb all player o f d istin c­ tion . H is dSbut on th e Surrey ground was on a very m em orable occasion , w hen the Surrey eleven claim ed th e h ighest total ever recorded in an In ter-C ou n ty m a tc h — 650 runs. T h ou gh dw arfed b y th e huge score o f Surrey, the H am pshire eleven none the less m ade a very good fight, and after a h igh ly creditable first score of 229 had scored 98 runs for the loss of only one batsm an in th e second innings. T h e stand m ade by M essrs. A . H . W ood, the captain, and W y n ­ yard, in th e first innings o f H am pshire, was one of the best features of a rem arkable m atch, and in p oin t o f style th e latter’s 61 w as secon d to no display on either side. In the return, too, he show ed to great advantage in both innings on a treacherous w icket, and, indeed, at one tim e it looked as if he w ould w in the m atch fo r H ants, w h o w ere only beaten in the end b y th irty runs. M r. W y n ­ yard, w h o had join ed the 8th (T he K in g’s) .Regim ent in Ju ly, 1883, had no chance of im p rov in g his p la y in E ngland, and, indeed, on ly five m on th s elapsed before he h ad to leave for In d ia w ith his regim en t. D uring the last few years h is crick et has been confined to Indian grounds. U n fortu n ately it has n ot been possible to procure a list o f h is m an y good perform ances during h is stay in India, and there­ fore a few o f th e m ost notable m ust suffice. In 1885, in particular, he w as in a w onderful vein for run- gettin g, although, it m ay be added, he w as, too, as a rule, successful as a bow ler. A t N aini Tal, in th e N orth- W est P rov in ce o f In dia, for the V isitors against the R esidents, in 1885, he w as credited w ith a very rare perform an ce, m aking a hundred in each in n in gs— 123 (not out) in the first and 106 (bowled) in th e second. A ltogeth er he m ade there during that season seven hundreds in seventeen innings fo r an average o f 67, besides several good scores on other grounds, in clu d in g one of .123 n ot ou t at A llahabad fo r his R egim en t, on w hich occasion h e carried his bat through th e innings. C om ing h om e on sick leave this year he w as able to take part in H am pshire’s first m atch o f the season at the Oval, begun on M ay 16. H ere again he show ed to great advantage against Surrey’s bow lin g, and his first score o f 75, out o f a total o f 132, w as an exceptionally good display of sound batting, an innings, indeed, o f the h ighest m erit. Since that m atch he has been in Italy recru itin g h is health, and as he has derived great benefit from the trip he hopes to be in E n gland and playin g again n ext m onth. M r. W yn y a rd has every ph ysical advan­ tage as a cricketer. Q uite six feet h igh and strong w ithal, he has n ot on ly reach to help h im bu t pow ers o f hitting, w h ich he utilises fu lly w hen opportunity occurs. H e plays in good style w ith a very straigh t bat, and, as he show ed against Surrey at th e O val last m on th , has excellent defence. On th at occasion, indeed, he batted w ith great ju dgm en t, and w ith m ore practice in good