Cricket 1888

A P R IL 12, 1888. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 59 T h e U n it e d S e r v ic e s ’ R e c r e a t io n G r o u n d at P o r t s m o u t h . first matcli, when only eleven years of age, he made 26, and a year later he was engaged by Messrs; H. and W. Boden as bowler on their ground near to the Arboretum, Derby. When he was thir­ teen he took 113 wickets during the season, and in the following year 127 against very fair teams. In 1860, when he was sixteen, he got altogether 1,017 runs, many of his scores made, too, be it added, on rough grounds. At this time he used to bowl medium round, but when he took to wicket-keeping he turned his attention to lobs, and with no small success. Afterwards he changed to slow round, and in this last capacity, playing against All England at Buxton in 1871, got a strong side out, taking himself seven wickets, among them those of Selby, Wild, McIntyre, Hayward and Emmett. Latterly business has prevented him from taking part in important matches, though that he still retains his form was shown last year when, playing for the Tradesmen against the Police at Derby, he gave up after making 67 runs. Mr Richardson’s record for Derbyshire cricket has been a long, as well as an honourable and a useful one. A thorough judge of the game in every way, his services have been invaluable to the County in all the vicissitudes of fortune it has had to undergo. Most popular, too, with every class, not only Derbyshire cricketers, but followers of County cricket everywhere, will readily bear witness to the example he has set of loyal and unremitting attachment to the game. E v e r y one interested in any way in cricket will be pleased to learn that, in spite of circumstances calculated rather to retard than to expedite his recovery, Bates has made a marked advance since his return to England a month or so ago. He was in London on Monday for the purpose of paying another visit to the eminent oculist, Mr. Critchett, and I had an opportunity of judging for myself of his condition. His sight has, according to all appearances, indeed, improved considerably, and he is altogether more confident about himself. Mr. Critchett, it is satisfactory to learn, is very hopeful now that he will be able to take his place again on the cricket field in July at least. T h e Clapton Club, one of the oldest of our Metropolitan institutions, which can claim to have been in existence fifty-six years ago, is at present, C r ic k e t readers, suffering from the encroachments of that arch fiend to cricketers, the modern builder. The fields on which the youths ot Clapton have been used to disport themselves of late years have recently all indeed been taken, with a view to utilise them for building purposes, and, as a con­ sequence, some five hundred ardent fol­ lowers of athletic sports suddenly find themselves without a home. Among the chief sufferers is the Clapton Club, which is without a local habitation, even if it has the satisfaction of a name. This sudden ejection of the Claptonians is the more to be regretted as last year they had an excel­ lent record in every way, and were quite in the front rank of Metropolitan Clubs, The disappointment is the greater as this spring had seen the addition of several likely all-round cricketers to the muster- roll, and everything in fact betokened a more than ordinarily successful season. T h e departure of Lent lias evidently not been unappreciated by some cricketers, to judge at least by the fact that two once jprominent all-round amateurs have during the last ten days signalised its retirement by entering on a new, to wit, the matrimonial state. On Wednesday, April 4, there was a large company at St. Michael’s Church, Winchester, to witness the marriage of Mr. A. H . Evans, the well-known Oxford fast bowler of 1878 and three following years. The official record of the ceremony, which was per­ formed by the Lord Bishop of Southwell, assisted by the Lord Bishop of Ely and by the Rev. H. E. Moberly, Vicar of the parish, describes the principal actors as Alfred Henry Evans, of Horris Hill, New­ bury, late Assistant Master of Winchester College, and Isabel Aimee, eldest daughter of the Rev. J. T. Housse- mayne du Boulay, of Southgate Hill, Winchester. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, after the ceremony, left for Horris Ilill, High- clere, where they are to reside. The old Oxonian has opened a school there for boys between 8 and 14, in preparation for the Public Schools. As I am informed, a cricket ground will not be one of the