Cricket 1889

FEB. 21, 1889. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Parsees had all the test of the game and won easily with more than an innings in hand. It will be interesting to English cricketers to learn that Mr. E. E. Steel, of the Lancashire eleven, is at the present time in Bombay. He has been playing for the Bombay Gymkana, and it is superfluous to add with no small success. A corresponden t in South Africa has been good enough to send me an instance of fast scoring which is well worthy of the distinction of a special notice in the columns of “ Gossip.” In a match between the Port Elizabeth Club and a local club, played in the middle of last month, the former made 405 runs in three hours and live minutes. The boundaries, too, were long, so that there was no incidental help to facilitate the pace of the run-getting. C ric k e te r s have been distinguishing themselves during the last few weeks, in landing several of the principal golf prizes in various parts of the Kingdom. The Hon. B. H. Lyttelton won the bronze medal presented for monthly competition by the Warwickshire Golf Club, and Mr. C. E. Nesham, the champion bowman, who seems likely to attain almost as high a reputation as a golfer, the medal given in the first monthly competition of the newly formed Tooting Bee Club, a society which has already proved a great success. The chief performer, too, in the competi­ tion between Woolwich and Chatham, on the 2nd inst., was Captain Dumbleton, of the Royal Engineers, a cricketer who has done sterling service for the Sappers during the last few years. G olf sesa is, in d eed , to offer increasing attractions to cricketers, and I notice another likely recruit, or at least a name new to me in connection with the links, in the person of Mr. E. H. Buckland, who was second in the monthly Handicap of the Winchester Club on the 5th inst. Mr. K. A. H. Mitchell was second in the monthly competition of the Royal Ascot Club on the ‘2nd Feb., and Mr. C. Toppin occupied the same position in the monthly Handicap of the Worcestershire Club four days later. Mr. C. A. Teape, the old cricketer, was also second in the monthly competition of the Royal Jersey on Feb. 2, and Mr. C. E. Nesham for the Berens Gold Medal of the Eastbourne Club, in which latter Hon. Ivo Bligh and Mr. R. Howell figured. Among those who took part in the monthly competition of the United Services Club at Portsmouth on Feb. 2, were Capt. Cooper Key and Mr. P. J. T. Henery. I notice, too, the names of Major Anstruther, Capt. King, and Mr. J. Haggard among the partici­ pators in the monthly Handicap of the Royal Artillery Golf Club on Feb. 7. T h e announcement made some time ago that a mutual agreement had been come to between the governing bodies of crieket in the Australian colonies to pre­ vent an interchange of visits between teams representative of England and Aus­ tralasia for a period of four years does not seem, to judge by results, to have had any great effect in checking the regularity of the biennial visits of Australian cricketers to the old country. Some of the Colonial papers, at least, make mention of the col­ lection of another team for England next year as if it were not only within the bounds of probability but already fairly on the way to settlement. Some time since “ Point,” the cricket critic of the Adelaide Observer, hinted at the extreme proba­ bility of another visit in 1890, and though no official intimation has been received, as far as I know, on this side, it is reason­ able to suppose that the recent statements bymore than one Australian correspondent have substantial foundation. Chester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin and Belfast, an d p ro b a b ly a few oth er tow n s. I t has been suggested that a committee consisting of influential sportsmen should be formed, to give a welcome of some kind to the Baseballers, and among those who have already promised to assist are the Duke of Buccleuch, President of Maryle- bone Cricket Club, Viscount Oxenbridge, President of Surrey County Cricket Club, the Earl of Londesborough, and Sir Reginald Hanson, Bart. It is hoped that the majority of those whose assistance has been solicited will be able to accept, so that the committee may be representative of English sport of every sort. The Lord Mayor of London, I hear too, has kindly consented to co-operate in any way he can. T hough not, perhaps, strictly within the scope of cricket intelligence, the approach- img visit of American Baseballers to Eng­ land represents such an important feature in the history of sport that it can hardly be over-looked by one whose sole mission is the circulation of Cricket Gossip. In away, too, it may be said to affect cricketers, as fielding is one of the most attractive points of base-ball, and the visit of these champions of America’s national game may probably do much good in showing, as did the first visit of an Australian team eleven years ago, to what perfection out- fielding can be brought, and to what a pitch of accuracy expert Baseballers have re­ duced ground fielding and throwing. B ase - ball and cricket are so dissimilar that to my mind there does not seem to be the smallest fear of the former doing the slightest damage to cricket in the old country, or of cricket interfering with base­ ball in the States. Cricketers are good enough sportsmen, though, to recognise merit where merit is to be found, and personally I think from the most narrow point of view they will learn something from seeing base-ball at its best, as it will be with eighteen of its picked players in the field. To take twenty men round the world, too, with the necessary following, is a venture I may add quite unique in the records of sport, and Mr. A. G. Spalding, the promoter of the tour, is entitled to all the distinction ot an unparalleled enter­ prise. T he Baseballers, who have on their way from Australia given exhibitions at Colombo and under the pyramids, will, after similar displays in Rome, Vienna, Berlin and Paris, come on to London, where they are due on the fifth or sixth of next month. As they are bound to leave for America at the end of March or in the first week of April, their stay will be very short, though in addition to three or four games in London they will visit Bristol, Birmingham, Bradford, Sheffield, Man. I t is instructive at all times to “ see our- sel’ as ithers see us.” Briggs’ many friends will, no doubt, be interested with the following sketch of the little man taken from a South African paper. A characteristic feature of Briggs in the field is his happy-go-lucky style. He is un­ doubtedly one of the most popular professional cricketers iu England, and the reason is ob­ vious. He is a clever dissembler. Up to all kinds of antics and tricks he raises many a laugb in trying to get rid of a batsman. If a ball is hit towards him he will sometimes let it pass and run alongside it in hopes of seeing the men at the wickets go out of their ground. Should they do so the ball is picked up and thrown in with lightning-like rapidity. At other times he allows the ball to go through his hands when there is another man behind him so as to tempt one of the inside to start on a run. While batting he jumps in and out of his ground, strikes comical attitudes, and generally acts as if he were one-fouith part of a clown. These antics, of course, would not be tolerated in a cricketer of mediocre ability; bnt Briggs can take liberties which wouldnot be permitted if attempted by another man. Besides, when cricket is reduced to an absolute science, it is apt to become monotonous to all but enthusiast s, and at such times the comi­ calities which the crack professional indulges in are much appreciated by the crowd. As the announcement that Briggs has accepted an engagement with the Kim­ berley Club may possibly give rise to misunderstanding, I may state that the arrangement, as I hear from a well-known South African, who ought to be well-in­ formed, is that he is to receive asum ofthree hundred pounds for coaching the mem­ bers of the Kimberley Club from Sept. of this year to March, 1890. Fothergill, who, I believe, had hopes of remaining in South Africa when he joined Major Warton’s team, has been, I believe, per­ manently engaged by the De Beers Club. S om e months since I mentioned that Mr. Percy McDonnell, the captain of the Australian team of 1888, had made up his mind to retire from the cricket field. I made the announcement on the best possible authority, that of Percy Me him­ self, and it is with very great regret that NEXT ISSUE, MARCH 21.