Cricket 1888

July 12 , 1888 . CHlCEETs A tVEEKLY RECOED OF THE GAMBL 26S Monday the 29th Sept., and ended on Thursday the 2nd Oct. in favour of Dalton by six runs. Messrs. Henry Cooke and GeorgeF. Cooke, of the Manchester C. C., were the umpires, and, as you will see, I had the honour of playing in it. This at the present day would, I suppose, have constituted me a “ professional.” I regret that just now at the height of the season it is not possible to find space for the report of the game which Mr. Ellison has kindly sent. It will be inter­ esting, though, to some to know that, ac­ cording to the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent , the match was for .£'100, which, if true, would add considerably to the excitement of a very close finish. The twenty-two players included many of the most prominent Northern players of the day, among them in addition to Messrs. Ellison and B.Wake, Sampson, Wright, G. Chatterton, the two Berrys, the two Cross­ lands, Dakin, Hunt, and Coates. Owing to recent downpours the wicket was very heavy at the outset, and the game was several times nterrupted by rain. Dalton, after making 101 against 102, gained an advantage of seven runs on the second hands. The chief scorers were G. Berry (22 and 38), and J. Crossland (16 and 12), for Dalton, and Sampson (5 and 58), and Chatterton (31 and 13), for Sheffield. It is worthy of remark that the Sheffielders gave away fourteen wides in the first, and eight in the second innings, “ something very unusual,” the report adds, “ in Shef­ field bowling until the past season." At the fall of the eighth wicket in Sheffield’s second innings only seven runs were wanted to win, but the last two batsmen failed to get a notch, a failure not unlike that of the Players’ tail on Tuesday after­ noon at Lord’s. U nless the style as well as the initials attached are strangely misleading, the following lines, taken from the St. James's Gazette of Friday, are from the graceful pen of one of the most genial as well as erudite of Cricket Gossips, Mr. Andrew Lang. THE OLD CRICKETER’S LAMENT. Ah, known or unknown playfellows Whom still the old Pavilion hears Serenely critical of slows, And wise with all the weight of years— Men who perchance remember Mynn, (Of these there are not very many), And Powya’ pace and Butler’s spin, And Francis, Ottaway, and Kenney, Can you recall a year like t h is 1 A year of rain, a year of woe ? How many catches did we miss! Was cricket ever half so slow! Could that grey Bishop—he who played So gallantly in ’27— Have seen such dire fiascoes made In all his years, by o u r Eleven ? Nay, let the seasons come and fleet, Let us be missed from field and town, Let ancient cricketers who meet Hint that o u r wickets have gone down; They shall not see, they shall not weep Such weather and such strokes of fate, As we who sad and slowly creep From Lord’s this awful ’ 88 . A. L. M ajor W . H. C unliffe , of Dial House, Marlow, Bucks, sends me the following piece of “ country umpiring” which took plaee last Saturday in Essex, told to him by one of the players in the match:— The bowler, having delivered a ball, which was stopped by the wicket-keeper, appealed to the umpire for a catch at the wicket. “ Out!” was the reply. “ Out!” said the batsman, “ how could it be out ? The ball never hit the wicket, nor did I hit the ball.” “ No,” replied the umpire, “ but y o u m is s e d i t !” I have heard of some curious “ decisions ” by umpires, but I think this fairly “ takes the cake.” T he Melbourne Leader of June 2 is my authority for the statement that F. E. Spofforth, the great Australian cricketer, was to leave that city on the following Friday in the Orient Steamer “ Orizaba ” for England, The great bowler was, until his departure, manager of the National Bank in East Colling- wood, but he has decided to settle per­ manently with his family in the old country, and Australian cricket will know him, I suppose, no more. The “ Orizaba,” I may add, delivered her mails at Naples on Monday evening, and passengers coming overland should be due in London to-day. The Leader says that “ Spoff” had made up his mind to take as much exercise as possible on the voyage in case he should be wanted against England at Lord’s on Monday, so that he should be close at hand at the time these lines see the light of print. “ T he best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley, and leave us nought but grief and pain for promised joy.” So sang Burns, and certainly there was but grief and pain for those who had revelled in anticipation of the promised joy of witnessing the finish of the Inter-Univer­ sity match, which the captains had agreed to extend into the fourth day with a view to a definite issue. The rain—of which it may, in sad truth, be said lately, it raineth every day—though, prevented any play at all on Thursday, and the game had to be left as it was recorded in C ric k e t of last week. A correspondent of the Sportsman , by the way, points out a curious resemblance between the first day’s play in the last two Oxford and Cambridge matches. On both occasions Cambridge had com­ pleted an innings, and Oxford had lost three wickets at call of time. Last year Oxford left off 9 i behind, and this year they also left off 94 behind. To add to the similarity, Lord Scott was one of the not outs on each occasion, and on each occasion had the crack bat with him—last year Key and this year Rashleigh. Gresson also was third out last year (caught and bowled for 33), and third out this year (caught and bowled for 30). S til l another, and this time quite a new field for English cricketers of the touring class. It is proposed to take out an English team of amateur and profes­ sional cricketers to the Cape Colony about the end of September. South African cricketers have for some time been desirous of meeting a representative English eleven, and have even entertained the idea of sending a team of their own home. The present is a favourable opportunity for meeting them on their own ground, as there seems to be no intention of sending an English eleven to Australia or else­ where during the ensuing winter. The passage to the Cape takes about three weeks, and the whole tour will extend over about three and a half months. Eighteen matches will be played at various points on the line of railway between Cape Town, Kimberley, and Port Eliza­ beth. The management of the team is being undertaken by Major Warton, who recently served on the Staff in South Africa, from whom full particulars may be obtained on reference to him at the office of this paper. A n old writer described the law as a “ lot of hocus pocus science,” adding that “ the glorious uncertainty of it is of mair use to the professors than the justice of it.” Of the glorious uncertainty of cricket, the professors hadtheir fill atLord’son Tuesday in the unexpected and therefore the more thoroughly well deserved success of the Geutlemen, due, be it added, though, to a young cricketer of Colonial birth. “ But ’twas a famous victory,” indeed, and every-one will thoroughly congratulate the Gentlemen on a match pulled quite out of the fire. In making mention, though, of close finishes in this particular match, of recent years, the Sporting L ife of Tuesday forgets the most remarkable of all. Many will remember as vividly as myself the close of the contest at the Oval in 1883 when Peate, who had bowled in the match 64 overs without getting a wicket, went on to Mr. Hugh Botherham,the last of the Gentlemen, when the scores were equal, and bowled the batsman with his second ball, leaving the game a tie. T he eleven to represent England in the first of the three matches against the Australian team, to commence at Lord’s on Monday next, was chosen on Tues­ day, and unless anyone has to cry off, which is not very likely, the Aus­ tralians will be opposed by Messrs. W. G. Grace, A. G. Steel, J. Shuter, W. W. Bead, Barnes, Gunn, Attewell, Sherwin, Briggs, Peel and Lohmann. Abel’s absence from the list after the consistently fine form he has been showing has caused general and well founded surprise, and it would be difficult to explain satisfactorily his exclusion, when his claims as an all­ round cricketer are compared with those of more than one member of the selected eleven. He had, it must be remembered, a brilliant record against Australian teams last winter, and even this season his figures against McDonnell and his mates are better than some of those who have had the preference. T he results of the matches between the nine principal counties so far this summer are as fo llow :— Won. Lost. Dra- Surrey ................ . 6 . 0 ... 0 Lancashire......... 2 1 . 4 Kent *................! 3 !! 2 1 Yorkshire ......... . 2 . 2 .. 2 Gloucestershire ... 2 ... 2 . 2 Nottinghamshire 3 ... 3 ... 1 Middlesex .......... 2 ... 5 ... o D erbyshire......... . 0 2 ... o Sussex ................ . 0 ... 4 .. 2