Cricket 1888

“ Together jo ined in cricket’s m a n ly to il.”— Byron. Registered to TrJ ^ o ^ I'b r o a d . T H U R S D A Y , J U N E 1 4 , 1 8 8 8 PR ICE2d. MR. HARRY BUTLER DAFT. T h e name of Daft is familiar as a household word among oricketers, not only in the old country, but everywhere where the game is played or spoken of. Richard Daft, the father of the excellent all-round player whose features will be readily recognised in the portrait below, made a reputation for himself as the most accomplished batsman of his time. For perfection of style he was without a peer in his day, and even now, though increasing years have as is inevitable, removed the freshness of youth and stiffened the muscles too much for him to bear the strain of heavy cricket, he re­ mains still, in point of grace and finish, a model on which any young batsman might strh e to shape him­ self with advantage. Under the influence and with the example of his father constantly before him, Mr. H. B. Daft was bound in the eternal fitness of things to become a cricketer. Born at Radcliffe-on- Trent on April 6, 1866, he was reared in a rare school for cricketers. He began, too, to give unmistake- able evidence of his inheritance of the paternal skill at a very early age. Sent to school at Trent College, his promise as a youngster was quickly appreciated, ana he was only twelve vears of age when he played his nrst match for the School eleven. His record at Trent College was one of unbroken success, and it is worthy of remark that during the four years in which he played he was never left out of the team. More than one good score will be found attached to his name in the records of Trent Col­ lege cricket during the summer of lb80, and two of his best innings of that year, 56 against Long Eaton, and 68 against the Notts Amateurs, will serve to show that as a boy of fourteen there was reason for con­ fident hopes of his development into a really good batsman. On leaving School he continued to improve, and since 1883, when, by-the-way, he made his first century (135 for Tiidents against Burton-on-Trent), he has played an important part in Nottingham cricket. In 1884 he obtained over twelve hundred runs in local matches, and the consistent success with which he batted that summer fully warranted the trial in store for him in the County eleven at the commencement of the following season. Fortunately, too, for him, he made his mark at the first attempt, scoring 33 and 12 not out in capital style for the Colts of Notts against the Colts of Yorkshire on Trent Bridge. Mr. Daft’s debut in the County eleven was in the third fixture of the season of 1885, the memorable match at Lord’s in which, thanks mainly to the brilliant all-round cricket of Mr. W . G. Grace, Nctts were beaten by M.C.C. and Ground by no less than an innings and 59 runs. Mr. Grace, not content with being the highest scorer on the side, took sixteen of the twenty wickets of Notts for 60 runs, and Mr. Daft was really the only batsman who offered any resistance to his bowling, gaining the distinction of the most successful run- getter with 23 and 10 not out. His intro­ duction to county cricket at Trent Bridge took place a fortnight later, and here again he showed to the greatest advantage. The match was Notts against England, and Mr. Daft, whose 52 was the second score on the side, showed cricket hardly inferior to any in the match, high praise, it will be admitted. This was his best contribution of the year, though he also made 40 against Gloucestershire at Clifton, the highest score of the match, and one of real merit on a bowler’swicket. The season of 1885 was altogether a successful one for him. In local matches he was even more fortunate than in the previous year, and his aggregate of thirteen hundred included three innings of over a hundred for Rad- cliffe-on-Trent. The Nottingham­ shire eleven, though they had nine drawn games, did not lose one of the sixteen matches in which they took part in 1886, and Mr, Daft’s batting was, on several occasions, by no means an uninfluential factor in their success. Against the Mel­ bourne Club Australian team he was credited with 41, but his best performance of the year was against Sussex on Trent Bridge. His record on that occasion was a peculiar one. He went in to bat at five o’clock on the first night, and rain having meanwhile stopped play at luncheon time on the second day, carried out his bat at the end of the innings on the third morning, having thus been in a part of each of the three days. Last summer Mr. Daft played in every match for his County, and his scoring was throughout much above the ordi­ nary standard. His highest innings in first class cricket was his 87 against Sussex at Brighton, but he was in a rare vein for run-getting from first to last, and his aggre­ gate, which amounted to 1,635 runs, contained three scores of over a hundred—175 not out for Radcliffe v. R. J. Mee’s Eleven, 150 for an Eleven of Notts v. North Riding at Trent Bridge, and 100 for an Eleven of Notts against Darlington, at Dar­ lington. So far this summer Mr. Daft is fully upholding his reputation as one of the best amateur batsmen of the day. Open­ ing the season with a score of 40 against Sussex, he followed this up with an exceed­ ingly good second innings of 68 not out against Surrey. On his present form he is fairly to be regarded as one of the most, if not the moat