Cricket 1888

R e g !8M r 2T r a sf f i b r o a d , THURSDAY, MARCH 2 9 , 1 8 8 8 . P R I C E 2 d . to il.”— Byron. M R . J O S E P H A L L IS O N S C O T T . D id not the wheel of time hurry round with such startling rapidity, it would be difficult to realise that it is four years since the Gen­ tlemen of Philadelphia 'were here with us, demonstrating to the unmixed gratification of English cricketers how well they had profited by the lessons they had received at various times from Eng­ lish teams who had crossed the Atlantic. This visit of American Amateurs was none the less, though, one of the most agreeable incidents of a busy season. Among the members of this same Philadelphian team, too, there was no more pro­ mising exponent of the game, as there was no more popular in social relations, than Mr. J. A. Scott, who occupies a distinguished position among the American cricketers of to-day as the Captain of the Bel­ mont Club, the winner of the Halifax Cup, which carries with it the championship of 1887. A1 Scott, as he is familiarly called, a son of the Honorable John Scott, ex- United States Senator from the State of Pennsylvania, was born in Huntingdon, Penna., on May 20, 1865. As a boy he was fond of all kinds of athletic sports, but more particularly of baseball. For some time, though, he had no opportu­ nity of indulging in cricket, and, indeed, he never saw a bat until his family moved to Philadelphia in the spring of 1878. Joining the Belmont Club, as a junior member he practised with great assiduity. At first,however,hetook more kindly to bowling, and it was really to the effective way in which he handled the ball that he secured at once a place in the junior eleven of his club. In his earliest match, played in July, 1878, against the Philadel­ phian Juniors at Newtown, he showed, too, no small promise, getting fourteen runs, and also bowling with considerable success. Though steadily improving in his all-round play, he was still best known as a fast round- arm bowler, and his bowling materially assisted his team in winning the Junior Championship of 1879. In the following year he captained the juniors, but just about this time he fell off so much in his bowling that he Sftve it up, and instead, turned his attention to the study of wicket-keeping. Meanwhile his batting had improved considerably, and his score of 80 made during 1880 against a strong team of juniors from the German­ town Club, was at the time considered quite a phenomenal performance for a Colt. Still continuing to advance as a batsman, he was promoted to a place in the senior second eleven of the Belmonts, and in 1880, too, he made his debut in first-class matches, getting the very creditable average^ for a boy of his years, of 12.25 for the season. This prowess as a batsman was more than maintained by the good cricket he showed in 1881, while he was of great use in addition as the wicket-keeper of the team, a position he held with marked credit for six successive seasons, having a high reputation for quick and reliable work, particularly on the leg side. In 1882 the Belmont Club for the first time won the Halifax Cup, the championship emblem of Philadelphia, a success to which the fine all­ round play of Mr. Scott contributed in a marked degree Meanwhile, during the pre­ vious winter, Mr. Scott had entered the University of Pennsylvania, and was at once placed in the team. His first appearance for his college was in June, 1882, against Haver- ford College, and a successful one it proved, as he carried out his bat for an excellent score of 65. His consistently good cricket in 1883, though he was then only eighteen years of age, stamped him as one of the most scientific and finished batsmen in the country. He was considered capable enough, at least, to represent the United States in the annual match against Canada, as well as to form one of the American eleven in the great match of July 3 and 4, in which he scored a fine innings of 66 against a strong team of professional bowling. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Scott represented his city in two matches, scoring double figures in each of the two innings against New York, and 145 in one innings against Pittsburgh. As is well known, he was one of the Philadelphia Gen­ tlemen who visited England in the summer of 188i, and his display of scientific batting throughout the entire series of matches, not only in England, but in Ireland and Scot­ land as well, will not soon be for­ gotten by those who had an oppor­ tunity of seeing the Philadelphians at work. He won the prize cup for the best batting average of the tour, and his record for the series was 30 innings, 2 not outs, 851 runs, highest in an innings 93, and average 30.39. In the spring of 1885 he was appointed Captain of the Belmont team, a position which he still retains. His cup average for the year was 18.14, but he was more successful in the matches outside of the Cup Competition, getting 18 and 40 for University of Pennsylvania v. Haverford College, 45 and 58 for Belmont against Oxford and Baltimore respectively, 26 and 66 for Gentlemen v. Profes­ sionals, as well as 0 and 18 in the first match, and 56 (not out) and 42 in the second match, for Philadelphia against the English Gentle­ men who visited the United States and Canada that year. In 1886, as in the previous year, his best scoring was in the extra games,