Cricket 1888

H Together jo ined in cricket’s m a n ly to il.”— Byron. THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1888. p r i c e 2d. M R . J O S E P H E C C L E S . F e w if any counties were able to place an eleven better armed at all points of the game than was Lancashire last summer. The defect whichhad, in the previous year,interfered with the success of the team, an uncertainty in the batting, was remedied by the introduc­ tion of more than one player who had not previously been able to assist at all, or, if engaged before, not been regularly identified with Lancashire cricket. The presence of two such capable batsmen as Mr. Joseph Eccles and F. H. Sugg—who enjoys the distinction of being one of the very few cricketers occupying at all a prominent position at the present time able to claim that he has repre­ sented tlire 6 of the principal counties in turn—did very much to strengthen Lancashire’sbatting, and thereby con­ tributed in no small measure to place the eleven in quite the forefront of county cricket last year. Of the pair, though, the amateur has far the stronger claim on the sympathies of the sport-loving folk of Lancashire, for he is one of them by birth, education, and residence ; in fact, by every possible tie. Born at Accrington on April 13, 1863, Mr. Eccles can boast an unbroken connection with West Lancashire of just on a quarter of a century. Educated at Pembroke House, Lytham, he was, as a boy, well within touch of some of the best cricket centres in the county, and before he had left school he htd already begun to show promise of developing into a batsman considerably above the average. In his last year (1879) at Pembroke House, indeed, he proved himself to be much above the ordinary run of boy cricketers, and he signalised the close of his school career with several large scores —notably, 113 not out and 102, cul­ minating in an exceptionally fine average of 64 for the season. Though Mr. Eccles had been, meanwhile, also assisting the Lytham Club, on leaving Pembroke House his connec­ tion with the cricket of Lytham ceased and since 1879 he has been associated entirely with the Preston Club. His first innings of any great account for Preston was oue of 152 against Whalley on Aug. 3, 1882, and this continued to be his only score of three figures or it until 1885, when he was credited with a thoroughly well-got 128 against the nomadic tribe yclept Emeriti. His reputation as a batsman, though, had been fairly established by this time, and the executive of the County Club did not allow the opportunity of testing his merits as a cricketer to escape. His intro­ duction to Lancashire cricket, too, was attended with fortunate results. The first match of the season of 1886 with Sussex, begun at Manchester, on June 24, gave him his baptism of fire, and he came through the ordeal very satisfactorily, going in to open the batting with Barlow and getting his score of 46 in very creditable style. The form he showed on that occasion evidently impressed those who had the selec tion of the Lancashire eleven very favourably so much so that he assisted the county more than once during the remainder of the season. His best show in what are known as first-class matches in 1886 was his first score of 46 against Sussex, but it was not his highest contribution for the County that summer. His most noteworthy achievement with the bat for Lancashire was his 93 at Stockport against Cheshire bowling, and Mr. Lancashire and he had a very long partnership, the total being raised to the tune of 174 runs while they were together. Mr. Eccles’ cricket in 1886 was sufficiently promising to warrant the belief that the Committee of the Lancashire C.ub would be only too ready to se­ cure if possible the full benefit of his services in the future. The opening match of 1*87, too, was against Sus­ sex, at Manchester, and Mr. Eccles, We expect, not unmindful of his suc­ cess against that shire on the occasion of his first appearance in the county eleven, utilised the chance of another trial against their bowling and with much the same success, his 38 prov­ ing to be the highest score on the side. In the following match, too, a few days later, against Oxford Univer­ sity, at Oxford, he was again the chief contributor in the Lancashire team, although Mr. H. B. Steel ran a dead heat with him for the first place, also scoring 48. One of the best of his many excellent performances with the bat for Lancashire during the early part of last summer, was in the first match against Derbyshire at Old Trafford. When play commenced on the third morning th« game was by no means a certainty for Lanca­ shire, and it was mainly to the bril­ liant hitting (79rot out) of Mr. Eccles, who contributed 60 of the last 86 runs, that Lancashire owed a well deserved success. Though unable to reach double figures in either innings against Surrey at Manchester, he got runs consistently against every kind of bowling, and indeed, in every one of the remaining matches in which he figured a double was credited to him in one innings or the other. Scores of 55 against Notts, 49 against G1 ucestersliire, 57 against Yorkshire, and 46 against Surrey at the Oval, in successive matches, proved his capacity to meet every variety of bowling. 'J hese, though, were preliminaries to his best display of the year, and, indeed, the best as well as the highest innings played for Lancashire last summer. This was against