Cricket 1888

“ Together joined in cricket ’s m an ly toil.”— Byron „ No. 193. VOL. V II. Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1888. P R IC E 2d. M R . W IL L IA M W A D E FITZ- H E R B E R T P U L L E N . T h e history of Gloucestershire cricket since th e C ounty C lub first saw the lig h t eighteen years ago has, as everyone know s, been in a very great m easure a record of the extra­ ordinary perform ances of one cricketer of re­ m arkable all-round a b ility . A ny sketch of the developm ent of the C ounty of Gloucester C lub, a rise on w hich on w hioh its m anagers have h a d good reason to congratu­ late themselves, considering the com paratively lim ite d nature of their resources, w ith o u t the a llo t­ m ent of a very conspicuous space to the in d iv id u a l achievem ents of M r. W . G . Grace w ould be, to use a trite sim ile, as absurd as a repre­ sentation of H a m le t o m ittin g the part of the Prince of D enm ark. Y e t w hile allow ing th a t W .G ., w ith, be it added, the loyal assistance of h is tw o brothers, la id the fou nd a­ tion of the success w hich Gloucester­ shire has been able to claim for several years, it m u st not be for­ gotten th a t the m aintenance of its place in the forefront of C ounty cricket w ould not have been possible b u t for the hearty support the captain has received, w ith hardly an exception, from everyone of the am ateurs w hom he has been fortu­ nate enough to gather round him . As it is, ow ing in a great degree to circum stances of position, Gloucestershire has not been able to get, as some other m ore favoured shires, a school for the developm ent of the professional tale nt w hich experience has show n to be essential to the perm anent well-being of a C ounty eleven. T hat it has fared so w ell, dependent, as it has been, m a in ly on am ateur players, u n ­ certain at the best by reason of th e ir avocations, testifies n o t only to the p o pu la rity of the captain, b u t also to the energy and esprit do corps of his trusty lieutenants. A m on g those w ho have lent M r. W . G. Grace yeom an service d u rin g the last few years, n o tw ithstan din g other and im p o rta nt claim s on his tim e , a prom ine nt place m ust be aw arded to M r. W . W . F . P ullen. W h e n we state th a t this is M r. P u lle n ’s seventh season for Gloucestershire, it w ill surprise some CiucKET-readers to learn th a t he is now not long advanced in to his tw enty-third yearr B o rn at the Laurels, Itchin gto n, near Alves- ton, in Gloucestershire, M r, P ullen, in fact, only reached his twenty-second b irth d ay on the 24th of June last. E du cate d at Long A shton School, near B ristol, he was captain of the eleven d u rin g the summ ers of 1880 and 1881, in both of w hich he had the best averages w ith ba t atid b a ll—in th e latter year one of 47 in b a ttin g for seventeen m atches. W he n still a schoolboy, he m ade his debut in a C oun ty m atch, and, indeed, there have been few instances of a cricket career begun at such an early age. H e w as, indeed, only fifteen w hen .he represented Somersetshire, b y residence, against H am pshire at S outh­ am pton, in A ugust, 1881, and it w ould be interesting to have any records of an in tro ­ duction to C ounty cricket at w earlier period. M r. P u lle n ’s connection, though, w ith S om er­ setshire was only of brief duration. The follow ing A p ril saw h im representing the Colts of Gloucestershire against the C ounty eleven, and, as it proved, the sum m er of 1882 was bo th a busy a nd eventful one for h im . A c apital in n in g s of 59 for Twenty-tw o of From e against an E n g la n d eleven early in the season proved his a bility as a batsm an beyond a doubt. C om m encing, w ith • the M iddlesex m a tc h at L o rd ’s,in Jun e w hen n ot yet sixteen, he d id good service for Gloucestershire du rin g the year w ith several very useful innings, the best of w hich w as his score of 71 against Y orkshire at C helte n h a m — a display of extra­ ordinary m erit for a cricketer of such inexperience. In addition, in 1882, he played frequently for the U n ite d S o uth of E n g la n d E leven, a nd w ith equally good results, hav ing a n average of 24 runs, a very creditable sum m ary w ith twenty-twos in the field. O n leaving school in 1881, M r. P ullen was articled to the Taff V ale R a il­ w ay, a nd for five years was en­ gaged in the engineering depart­ m en t of th a t com pany. I n consequence, he was not able to devote m u c h tim e to cricket, altho ugh he participated in the later county fixtures of 1883 a nd 1884, and w ith success. T he records of 1884 left h im a t the head of the ba ttin g averages of Gloucestershire w ith 39.50 for eight com pleted in nin gs, his aggregate of 316 in ­ cluding a b rillia n t score of 161 i against M iddlesex at C heltenham , besides 23 and 74 against Lancashire, and also 68 n ot out against th e A ustralians, bo th the last m atches at C lifton. T hough he got 70 n o t out against Sussex at B rig h to n in 1885, lie was, alto ­ gether, n ot so successful th a t year, and it was n ot u n til 1887 w hen, h a v in g obtained a scholarship, ho w ent to study at the N orm al School of Science and the R oy al School of M ines of S o u th K ensington, th a t ho was able to help Gloucestershire again. L a st year M r. P ulle n took part in eleven of the fourteen m atches arranged on behalf of the Gloucestershire C oun ty C lub, a n d w ith considerable success, h a v in g an aggregate of 472 runs for twenty-tw o com pleted innings, the best of w hich was his 78 against Yorkshire at D ew sbury. T his year his best scores have been his 70 and 45 (uot out) against Sussex at