Cricket 1888

JUNE 14, 1888. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 201 sented Dublin University in the House of Commons, and is at present the First Commissioner of Works, acquitted himself as ably for his University on the cricket- field as in Parliament. He was one of the best bowlers Irish cricket has had, and Mr. Arthur says that he has still a painful recollection of Mr. Plunket’s swift bowling. TO DR. W . G. GRACE. (G e n t l e m e n o f E n g l a n d v . A u s t r a l ia n s , M a y 28th, 1888). Of triumphs such as thine, no less renowned Than those which victors from war’s con­ quests bring, Did England’ s epic bard enraptur’d sing. ’Midst peaceful haunts we see thy battle ground, We hear the bell, the only reveille found ; Join in the cheers, which round the barriers ring, Cheering our champion, whose well-timed swing Aye baulks the skill that casts with wily bound Tne spinning ball—Up, up, still runs the score, Ana baffl’d still each keen assailant’s pow’r ; They ply all wiles that live in cricket lore, While he the onslaught meets from hour to hour Till the century’s gain’d : and yet ho scores apace, And adds fresh lustre to the name of Grace. C. D. W illia m A nderson , who performed on the Sussex eleven in such a sensational fashion at Sunderland a week ago, has been stated erroneously in some of the London papers to be the professional of the Gateshead Club. From information I have received, and from a reliable source, I have reason to believe that though he belongs to Gateshead, he is better known in the Metropolitan district. He is in fact the guardsman, William Anderson, who has done good service for the Household Brigade, and early this season bowled with great success for the Brigade against Eton College. He is a fast left-handed bowler, in delivery very like the late Fred Morley, and the Sussex batsmen, I believe, attribute their sum­ mary dismissal to a certain curl in the air which beat them altogether. Anderson’s feat in the first innings of Sussex is so rare in important matches that it deserves a conspicuous record. Of the ten wickets, eight were got from his bowling, and the other two were caught by him, so that he assisted in the dismissal of the whole side. He is, I understand, about 27 years of age. T h e Australian team will have the hearty sympathy of all cricketers in the severe loss they have sustained by the illness of Mr. S. P. Jones, one of their most useful all-round men. Mr. Jones had complained of not feeling well for some time, and indeed, in the first match at Norbury seemed to be out of sorts. A fortnight ago he expressed himself to me as unable to get rid of the feeling of cold, but as everyone knows it was not until the early part of last week, at the commencement of the match with Notts, that he broke down. Since that time he has been carefully nursed in lodgings at Nottingham, but the ailment from which he has been suffering has taken a serious form, and at the present time cricketers of all conditions will be grieved to hear he is very ill. Everyone will earnestly hope to hear soon that he has passed the stage of uncertainty and is on the high road to recovery again. T he Cambridge eleven who made such a good show against the Australians in the last of the trial matches at Cambridge are to make their first appearance in London to-day, at the Oval. There will be considerable interest to see how they fare against Surrey bowling on the one hand, and on the other, what impression their fast bowler, Mr. S. J. M. Woods, will make on the batsmen of the county, among whom, by the way will be included Mr. C. A. Trouncer, the left-hander who has been scoring so well at Cambridge this season. The mention of Mr. Woods, who is a Colonial by birth, reminds me that that gentleman will in all probability assist the Australians in some of their fixtures after the Inter-University match has been decided. Mr. C. W. Beal is, I may add, my authority for this statement. T he following are the results of the matches played between the nine leading Counties up to date. Won. Lost. Drawn. Surrey ................. 5 ... 0 ... 0 Lancashire.......... 1 ... 1 ... 2 Gloucestershire... 2 ... 1 ... 2 Kent ................. 2 ... 2 ... 0 D erbyshire.......... 0 ... 2 ... 0 Middlesex .......... 2 ... 3 ... 0 Nottingham.......... 2 ... 2 ... 0 Yorkshire .......... 2 ... 2 ... 0 Sussex ................. 0 ... 3 ... 2 I t will interest C r ic k e t readers gener­ ally to know that a visit of a team of English Amateurs to India is quite within the range of practical politics. Lord Hawke and Mr. G. F. Vernon have both expressed their willingness to assist in such an undertaking, and correspondence has already commenced with a view to make the necessary arrangements for such a tour. A trip of this kind would in all probability be of immense benefit to the game in the East, and I hope to hear soon that the negotiations have assumed a definite shape. As yet India is an un­ known quantity as far as cricket tours go, and Mr. Vernon will, I am sure, be grate­ ful to Anglo-Indians or others for any hints which are likely to be of use to him in preparing for the proposed trip. T h e reports of the second day’s play in the match between the Australians and Past and Present Oxonians, at Leyton, mention that Mr. A. C. M. Croome hit a ball bowled by Bonnor to square-leg out of the ground. Mr. C. E. Green informs me that, as far as he knows, the n’v other occasion on which a batsman has rt (the ball out of the Leyton ground was when the late Mr. F. M. Lucas smote one of Spofforth's over the wall to leg, in the match between the Australians and Cambridge Past and Present two years ago. It is certainly something of a coincidence that the only two records of the kind should have both been made by University men, and both too against Australian bowlers. I h ave to thank Messrs. Brumfitt and Kirby, of Ukley, the compilers of that valuable statistical work, “ England v. Australia at the Wicket,” for the following interesting comparison of Australian teams. Messrs. B. and K. write me thusly :— The Sixth Australian Team having, with the completion of their engagement at Cam­ bridge, concluded the first ten matches on their programme, it will doubtless be of interest to compare their performances with those of previous teams for the same stage of their respective tours. For this purpose the immediate predecessors of the present team have been selected, also the team which came here in 1882 (Murdoch’s Second), the latter producing unquestionably the best standard of Australian cricket in England. The results arrived at are as follows 6th Team 5th Team 3rd Team 1888 1886 1882 McDonnell’s Scott’s Mrdch’s Matches w on............. 5 4 6 Matches lost............. 3 2 1 Matches drawn 2 4 3 Australian wickets l o s t ........................ 137 153 ... 153 Australian runs scored ............. 2301 23C6 ... 3471 Australian average per w icket............. 21.1 ... 15.6 ... 221 English wickets lost 170 158 ... 168 English runs scored £831 1989 ... 2747 English average per wicket .... 16.6 ... 12.5 ... 16.3 T he news of the sudden death of Henry Charlwood yesterday week will be receivedwith general regret by those who, like myself, remember him as one of the foremost cricketers of the southern counties. For several years Charlwood was one of the most reliable run-getters for his native county, Sussex, and for a time was one of the best professional batsmen in the South of England, hitting all round with great freedom. He was a member of Lillywhite’s teamwhich visited Australia at the end of 1876, but was only moderately successful, at least in the more important matches. Always cheery and good-natured, he was a general favourite on as well as offthe cricket field. After his marriage he settled down permanently at Scarborough and was landlord of the Bell Hotel there. He took a great interest in local cricket and was, if I mistake not, on the committee of the Scarborough Club at the time of his death. He leaves a widow and young family. T he Parsee cricketers, who opened their campaign at Leyton on Thursday last, have, as far as they have gone, it is satisfactory to know, been enjoying them­ selves thoroughly in London. They were present on Saturday week at the ground of the Richmond Athletic Association, on the occasion of the University College School Sports, and the kindly thought of Mr. Edwin Ash improvised for them a special sprint race, which was won by Mr. P. D. Kanga. On Wednesday of last week, through the courtesy of the Hon. Chandos Leigh, several of them were present at the House of Commons, and Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane having interested himself in their behalf, they are to have the opportunity of visit­ ing Windsor Castle on Saturday next. The team are to commcnce their third match to-day at Bichmond against the Gentlemen of the District, and to­ morrow evening the grounds of the Rich-