Cricket 1889

u Toge ther joined in cricket’s m an ly toil.”— B y r o n . THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1889. p r i c e m . Mr. E D W A R D J A M E S M cC O R M IC K . “ I sin g o f arms and the man ,” wrote V irg il, in days long before cricket had entered into the m ind of mortal to conceive, in an age far beyond the favoured period when K ing W illow was erst enthroned, when the wickets had ceased, or, rather, n ot commenced , to trouble, and the cricket ball was at rest. My theme now is o f arms o f a more peaceful kind, the implements for use in the harmless warfare wh ich is to be waged on the Central Cricket and Recreation Ground at Hastings during the ensuing week. My song now is o f the man whom the good folk o f Hastings delight to honour as a sportsman of local birth, an athlete of essentially local training, a cricketer whose whole career has been inseparably and almost wholly connected with the ch ief of the C inque Ports. To be still more exp licit, the subject o f this present sketch is the gentleman whose name heads these lines, an all­ round player who, in spite of the very lim ited opportunities he has had in comparison with some o f his more fortunate comrades, has, none the l ess, proved himself to be one of the best exponents o f the game among the amateur cricketers of the South . Born at 26, Wellington Square, in the centre o f Hastings, on November 6, 1862, Mr. McCor­ m ick ’s life has been spent in the very heart o f the town w ith which for close on twenty-seven years he has been intimately, a nd during a consideiable part, prom inently identified. Educated, too, in a loca l school, from boyhood up­ wards the bulk of his cricket prac­ tice has been en joyed on the Central B ecreation Ground at Hastings, a ground wh ich has formed the stage for many important matches during the last ten years,, a ground which w ill always be entitled to an honour­ able position in the h istory o f the game as the chosen trysting-place o f those who were responsible for the inauguration of the Hastings and ft . Leonards Cricket Week. The whole of his cricket tuition from the day on wh ich he first hand led a bat was from Hastings cricketers, and the prem ier club o f the town, the Has­ tings and St. Leonards Cricket Club, can boast to have had the first claim on, if not to have monopolised his services throughout the whole o f his cricket career. Bred and born satisfaction o f seeing him make ful for his failure against the Australia excellent cricket against the North E leven . He was, in fact, one o f t successful batsmen in this match, score of 31 not out against some o bow ling o f the North was a very c performance for so young a playe reasonable to suppose that it was th cricket he showed on that occ wh ich brought h im directly b the notice o f the Sussex Co Club. A t least, he was tried i Colts’ match at Brighton ear the follow ing summer, and fair success, making 25 in the innings. Continuing t o score in m inor matches, the Sussex mittee deemed it advisable to h im a higher trial. His first pearance, too, in County cri was on the Central Ground Hastings, and the three lo cricketers who represented S H . Phillips and Messrs. G. Grundy and McCorm ick, ha satisfaction o f contributing as as 160 o f the 267 made by the Mr. McCorm ick ’s all-round cr moreover, was much above average, for he made 68, the h score, and in addition, in Le tershire’s second innings, dis three batsmen for only 21 r The result of his first season s that Sussex was fortunate in sessing a young player o f exce prom ise, and he added to reputation considerably by a tremely well got second innin 35 at the end of 1880 for Has against the Second Austral Team . Unfortunately, at le for County cricket, Mr. M c m ick ’s position in one o f the tings banks has compelled hi stick hard to work, and h is opportunities o f assisting Su have been during his holiday on the very rare occasions wh ich he could get leave. As sequence, his appearances in Sussex eleven during the las ear6 have been comparatively few. e was not successful in the seven in had, and the next year found him less leisure, though in one of the tw in wh ich he took part—to wit, again at Brighton—he showed to great a scoring 42 not out w ithout a fault. out-matches of 1883 he was part successful, and both against Yor boy to make his first appear nce against a bowler with such a w orld-w ide reputation as F . R . Spofforth, and it was cert inly not a erious eflection that he should hav been bo\* led w ice by the Demon , and only scored one run in the two innings. Still you g M c­ Cor ick ’s abili y had been proved bey nd a doubt in local cricket, and late in the fo l­ low ing season his many admir r had the in their m idst, the good people o f Hastings I were not likely to overlook native t lent, es- f pecially when there was indication o f exc p ­ tional prom ise, and he underw nt the baptism of fire in n important fixture, i ndeed, an unusually ear y age. H e was, in fact, only fifteen when called upon to represent the D istrict against the F irst Aust alian Team in the season of 1878. It was a high test f r a