Cricket 1889

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. R e g S e r e d ^ f o r T r a n s m i s s t o n ^ A b r o a d . THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1889. P R I C E 2d M R . E D W A R D M O N T A G U B U T L E R . T he records of Public School athletics fur­ nished few more conspicuous instances of all-round excellence during the last few years than are furnished by the career of the Cambridge cricketer whose portrait illustrates this number. Coming, as he did, of a family whose members had displayed ability in one form or other of athletics, Mr. Butler was himself, beyond a doubt, an athlete by inheritance. He was a cricketer by descent, in fact, like the poet born not made. His father, Henry Montagu Butler, many years Head Master of Harrow School, and now Master of Trinity College, Cam­ bridge, was a member of the Harrow Eleven in 1851, a cricketer who would have developed into a good all-round player had he been able to devote nis attention seriously to the game. One of his uncles, the Bev. A. G. Butler, late Head Master of Haileybury, and now at Oxford, was above the average as an all­ round athlete, while another, the Bev. G. Butler, late Head Master of Liverpool, was, in his day, twelfth man at Harrow. Born at Harrow on Dec. 31,1866, during his father’s Headmastership, Mr. Butler not only had an innate love of the game but, in addition, every opportunity of gratifying his tastes at an early age. Educated first at Elstree he secured a place in the School eleven there in 1879. He acquitted him­ self, too, with marked credit, obtain­ ing the highest batting average, one of 22 runs, with a score of 72 as his best contribution His most notable performance, though, was in a School match, and singularly enough Mr. A. K. Watson, another Old Harrovian, who has been bat­ ting well for Oxford University this .iU summer, was his partner on the 3, ■ & occasion. The two youngsters, play- * ing for the First Form against the Rest of the School, not only put on 200 runs, but were both not out, Mr. Butler having contributed 114 of the number. Having gone into residence at Harrow in the summer of 1880, he was tried for the School in the beginning of the October Term against Mr. Eaton’s eleven, and with success, obtaining 40 runs, a creditable performance for a first appear­ ance. It was not, though, till the summer of 1883, that he got his colours for Harrow. He soon justified his place, too, with a useful he was second in the School batting tables, having an average of 28 for twelve completed innings. Both Eton and Harrow had elevens much above the average, and it is worthy of remark that of those who took part in the match between the two Schools in 1885 at Lord’s, eight have already received their Blues, while of two others, A. K. Watson and M - G. Dauglish, not unlikely to receive theirs before leaving Oxford, the former is well in the running for this year’s team. The Harrow Eleven in particular were a strong side, and two of their scores were records, their total of 324 at Lord’s being the highestmade against Eton, and their 412 for seven wickets against the Household Brigade the largest innings, so far, on the Harrow ground. The finish of the match against Eton was of the most sensational character, as many will remember, and the Harrow victory was in a great measure due to the pluck and coolness of their Captain at the close. Harrow had 61 runs to make to win in the last fifty-three minutes, but thanks to Mr. Butler, who finished the game with a boundary hit for four and carried out his bat for 48 out of 96, the match was won amidst the greatest excitement by three wickets one minute before time. That year Mr. Butler was, indeed, in a rare vein for run-getting, as in the six innings he played for the School in their town matches he had an average of 60 runs for six innings, made up of scores of 115,108 (notout), and lesser sums. In the middle of August he made his first appearance for Mid­ dlesex against Yorkshire at Sheffield, but the best of his two match 3s that year was later in the week against Notts at Nottingham, and his second innings was one of immense value. Middlesex on the third day had to S lay entirely for a draw, and Mr. utler, who was in two hours for his 17 (not out), helped chiefly with Mr, Paravicini to effect this result. In October, 1885, he went into resi­ dence at Trinity Coll., Cambridge, but was only able to play very little in 1886, although he began well, making 47 in the Trinity Freshmen match in addition to being second highest scorer for the Sixteen against the Eleven. Still he was in very good form in the few matches in which he was able to play in July and, indeed, his aggregate for six innings was 448, including 103 for the Old Harrovians against Harrow School, 111 for Quidnuncs v. score of 61 against Mr. E. E. Bowen’s eleven, and though only able to secure two runs in the one innings he had against Eton, did well on the whole, having an average of nineteen as the result of eight innings. Mr. H. E. being away through illness, the of the Harrow Eleven devolved on and though out of form in the earlier part of the summer, towards the last he came off well, his second innings of 31 against Eton being of special service to the side. The following year saw Mr. Butler Captain of the Harrow Eleven by right, and throughout his batting was of great use. His highest score was one of 63, but he rarely failed to get runs, and at the end of the season