Cricket 1889

" T o g e t h e r joined in cricket ’s man l y toil.”— B y ro n . No. 206. v o l . v i i i . T H U R S D A Y M A Y Q IflSQ Registered for Transmission Abroad. I X l U I l u i / i i X j J x lix X o , 1 OOu. PRICE 2d M R .F R A N C I S A U G U S T U S B IS H O P A mong the counties of younger growth, Essex is fairly entitled to occupy a conspicuous place. The acquisition of a ground well within touch of the City, and with no small advantages of situation as well as capacity, even if the financial position of the club does not appear just at the present time to be of the most hopeful, has during the last few years done much to bring Essex much more prominently before the cricket world. Much of this improvement is in a great measure attributable to the active and unceasing help rendered by some of the principal amateurs , foremost among them the excellent cricketer whose por­ trait we give this week. Born at Wanstead on June 11, 1862, Mr. Bishop is the sixth of seven sons, more than one of whom, in addition to the bowler who has done such good service for Essex, have shown all-round ability on the cricket field. Though an Essex man by birth, he gave no sign of any particular fancy for the game while on Essex soil, and, in fact, gave it no serious thought. It was not, in­ deed, until his parents removed to North London that he took to it, at least with any great zeal. Though his name has for many years been so actively and prominently associated with the Bees, it was not to them that he owes his initiation in cricket. His earliest attachment was to the Gor­ don C.C., a club mostly recruited from the legal profession, and hav­ ing as its patrons, amongst others, Mr. Justice Chitty, Mr. Justice Denman, and Sir Richard Garth. Still it was with the Bees that he first acquired any reputation, and that club has the best of reasons to be grateful for the services of the Bishop brotherhood, numbering as it has in its ranks three others of its members—Tom, Alfred Ernest, and Arthur Theodore, the last of whom when only nineteen years old played for Middlesex against Surrey at the Oval in 1883, and subsequently represented Essex on some few occasions. Though strictly his first introduction to the Bees was on Sept. 21,1878, when as a sub­ stitute be took four wickets of Dalston Albert, at a cost of only 3 runs, it was not until two summers later that he became one of its active members. Commencing really his con­ nection with the Bees in 1880, Mr. Bishop’s all-round cricket has contributed very largely to the many successes of that club, one of the strongest in North London, as is well known. By the season of 1881 he had already begun to prove his ability as a bowler, and that year the records show that he took fifty-five wickets for the Bees, at an average cost of a little over eight runs. The following year, though, was one of much greater success. In a great measure the result of the effective bowling of Mr. F. A. Bishop and his younger brother, the Bees had a remarkable record. Under the .judicious management of their captain,'Mr. W. J. C. Goodall, they had until almost the close of the season an unbroken list of vic­ tories. Twenty matches were won off the and it was in only the last two fixtures they were defeated. The performances two brothers Bishop that year were out of the common. F. A. was able to 109 wickets for an aggregate of 579 — an average of under runs — but the junior (A. T. B.) was even more successful, his summary showing 123 wickets for 617 runs, or an aver­ age of a small fraction over 5 runs. Though he did some good bowling in 1883 and 1884, Mr. Bishop’s average did not reach the standard of 1882, a failure hardly to be wondered at remembering his exceptionally brilliant record. In the latter of these years, too, he did not do as much work for the Bees. Still his forty-three wickets did not cost eight runs a-piece, and the best of more than one notable achieve­ ment was in the match with the Finsbury Club, whose eleven he helped to dismiss for a small total of nineteen, taking five wickets for the same number of runs. His in­ troduction into the Essex eleven for 1885 proved at once of the greatest use to the county, although in his first match, against Surrey at the Oval, on May 11, he was only moderately successful. His second appearance, however, was sufficiently promising to secure for him a reasonable certainty of a permanent place in the Essex team. The match in ques­ tion, against the Incogniti, at Brentwood, was productive of a memorable finish. The first day (May 25) was marked by almost continuous rain, and as on the second the County eleven were bat­ ting until nearly five o’clock, there seemed very small chance,especially as there were twelve a-side, that the match would *b e :played out. The two brothers Bishop, though, as it proved, were quite equal to the task of dismissing their opponents twice, and, after all, Essex was able to claim a well-deserved victory, five minutes before time. The Incogs, on that occasion, only scored 36 and 45, and had to put up with a de­ cisive defeat by an innings and 160 runs. Of the two A. T. Bishop, who was credited with fourteen wickets in all, at an expense of 37 runs, was the more successful, but his brother had in its way a more noteworthy record, getting three wickets in the first