Cricket 1888

“ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”— Byron. RegisUreil^a&oTAbroad. THURSDAY, JCJLY 2G, 1888- P R IC E 2 d . have been, could play have been prolonged, an easy victory. Mr. Newton’s all-round cricket in 1885, at Oxford, was good enough to warrant his inclusion in the team of amateurs taken by Mr. E. J. Sanders to America later in the year. Throughout the tour, too, he was of the greatest assistance in front of as well as behind the stumps. In the opening match against Staten Island he proved to be the best scorer with eighty for once out, and to him also fell the double distinc­ tion of the highest aggregate as well as the largest individual inn­ ings, the latter a brilliant score of 129 against All New York. During the last three seasons his appear­ ances in English cricket have been mostly in county matches for Somersetshire. Last year on more than one occasion when runs were wanted he came to the relief of his side, and his score of 47 not out at Leyton against Essex had a very great effect in determining the victory for Somersetwith only three wickets to spare. When Mr. G. F. Vernon received a commission from the Melbourne Club to collect an English team to tour in Australia last winter, Mr. Newton was chosen to fill the responsible position of wicket-keeper. Though a compara­ tive failure behind the stumps, he still fairly proved his right to a place by his plucky batting several times when nerve and judgment were needed, as well as by his excellent fielding throughout the trip. One of the best displays, in­ deed, of the whole tour was his 77 in the first match against the Com­ bined Teams of Australia at Mel­ bourne, and the reports of that game made very conspicuous men­ tion of his innings, which was alto­ gether free from a mistake. An engagement in a land agent’s office in Ireland has prevented him from taking part in any cricket this year, although he hopes to be able to represent Somersetshire in some of its later fixtures next month. Watching the ball well and having also plenty of hit, Mr. Newton is always a useful batsman. Moreover, his nerve never fails and he often makes runs when they are wanted and others fail. As a wicket-keeper he has no lack of pluck, indeed he stands up to the fastest bowling without fear. Away from the wicket, too, he is never out of place, being a safe and smart field any­ where. M R .A R T H U R E D W A R D N E W T O N . H o w e v e r unsuccessful to their promoters, from a financial point of view, the visits of the two teams of English cricketers to the colonies last winter may have been, those who were responsible for the management of the rival combinations had every reason to be proud of the results of the tour as far as the game itself was concerned. Each, in fact, thoroughly upheld the reputation of the cricket and cricketers of the old country. Strangely, too, though on paper they did not seem to be anything like as dangerous an opposition as the members of Shrewsbury’stwelve,the teamwhich Mr. G. F. Vernon took out under the auspices of the Melbourne Club proved to have as good, if not a better, recordthan that of the other and more highly-fancied show. The successes of Mr. Vernon’s com­ bination, too, were the more note­ worthy from the fact that early in the tour they were unfortunate enough to lose the services of their captain, Lord Hawke, and secondly, of one of their most useful all-round players, W . Bates. And among those who contributed to their triumphal march through the colonies, Mr. A. E. Newton playfd no mean part. Born at Barton Grange, Taunton, on Sept. 12,1802, he has been identified with the County of his birth all his life. Educated first at the Rev. (J. R. CarrV, in Exmouth, he was promoted in due course to Eton, entering there in September, 1875, when just thirteen years of age. His stay at Eton extended over six summers, in the last three of which lie was a member of the School eleven. His forte, though, was wicket-keeping more than batting, and, indeed, his highest score during the seasons of 1879, ’80 and ’81 in the great contest of the Eton year was 17 in 1881 at Lord’s. At the same time, as a wicket-keeper he was distinctly above the average of Public School cricketers, and a convincing proof of the high estimate of his powers was shown in his selection to represent Somerset­ shire against M.C.C. and Ground at Taunton, at the close of his Eton career late in the summer of 1881. Having matriculated at Oxford, he went into residence at Pembroke College in October of that year. Unfortu­ nately for him, Oxford had at the time a stumper of more than ordinary ability in Mr. M. C. Kemp, and though Mr. Newton naturally had a trial in the Freshmen’s matches of 1882, it was not. until his last year at Oxford, when Mr. Kemp’s University careerwas over, that ho had an opportunity of gaining the distinction most coveted of Oxford and Cambridge athletes, his blue. The sum­ mer of 1835, too, was in all respects a fortunate one for him. Not only as a wicket-keeper, but also on several important occasions as a bats­ man he did excellent service. Against Surrey, in particular, he was seen to great advantage as a run-getter, and, indeed, his two fine innings of 57 and 42 at Oxford, against the bowling of Lohmann, Beaumont, Barratt, Mr. Horner, and Mr. Roller, were chiefly instru­ mental in depriving Surrey of what would