Cricket 1889

SfePT. (5,1889. CElCKET; A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. 429 withal the valuable qualificationof living on the spot, and well within touch of the Old Deer Park. B. S. Cave, the new Secretary, is an oldMerchant Taylor, and bears the character of being one of the best wicket-keepers round London. He is also, as many cricketers will not require to be reminded, a prominent figure in theRugby footballworld. I am asked to state that all communications respecting next season’s fixtures of the Richmond Club, should be addressed to Mr. B. S. Cave, QueensberryHouse, Rich­ mond, Surrey. M e n tio n of cricket at Richmond has brought to my recollection a quaint ad­ vertisement extracted from an oldjournal of the last century, in which the Gentle­ men of Richmond were announced to play one of the leading parts. The an­ nouncement below is given in, as nearly as possible, its original form. C R I C K E T . T h i s Day the Gentlemen of Richmond and Ripley in Surrey play against the Gentlemen of London in the Artillery Ground, London. The Wickets to be pitch’d by Two o’clock. The Match to be play’d out. The Foot-Match of One Hundred Yards, between the Weybridge Shoemaker and another famous Runner, for Forty Guineas, will be run the same Afternoon, directly after the Cricket Match. And on Monday next the Grand Pick’d Match -will be play’d in the same Place, for One Hundred Guineas a Side. I must, I fancy, have had, at some time or other, the particulars of the date of publication of the paper fromwhich the above extract was taken, but, if I had, they have beenlost or mislaid. This is a pity, as there is nothing on the cutting which gives a clue to the year in which the match must have been played. A c c o r d in g to “ScoresandBiographies,” though the last recorded match on the Artillery Ground in Finsbury Square was that in which the Hambledon Club beat England on Sept. 17, 1777. It is, however, possible that it may have been played subsequent to this, as the existing records do not furnish the details of any match in London after the above until 1785. The first fixture in Finsbury Square of which any particulars are extant was the memorable contest between Kent and England in 1746, when Kent won by one wicket. Matches were played at the White Conduit Fields in Islington in 1785 and ’ 86 , and in 1787 Thomas Lord opened the ground where Dorset Square now stands, to which he gave His name, and which was still retained after another removal to North Bank, Regent’s Park, the present head­ quarters of cricket in St. John’s Wood, to which he migrated in the year 1813 or 1814. A c o r r e s p o n d e n t sends me the fo llo w ­ ing cricket yarn. The incident, I may add, happened to himself and a friend on the occasionof a match on a well-known Metropolitan cricket ground some years ago After the conclusion of an innings in which the great Spofforth had been bowling for a considerable time, my friend and I walked out to the ropes to view the pitch. One said to the other, “ Look at that tremendous hole; it is what Spofforth makes when bowling.’’ “ Get along with you,” quoth the policeman who was keeping guard, “ that hole always comes there; it is made by the ball constantly pitching in the same place.” This unexpected information was a little too much for the two critics, who had to make a hasty retreat to give their risible faculties free vent. M e t r o p o lit a n cricket, at least the better kind of it, came to an end for this year on Monday last with tho completion of the match between the Surrey Eleven and Fifteen of Richmond and District on the ground of the Richmond Athletic Association, in the Old Deer Park. Though the Surrey Eleven could well haveheldtheir ownagainst aconsiderable increase of odds, the game, the first con­ test of any real importance which has as yet been decided on the capacious en­ closure of theAssociation, attractedalarge number of spectators, and the interest taken in theplaywas more than sufficient, I should opine, towarrant theDirectorate in repeating an experiment, which, in spite of a biting wind and a game which proved a far from even handicap, was eminently successful. To t h o s e who may not have had an opportunity of paying it a visit, I may state that the ground of the Richmond Athletic Association is one of the largest, as it is one of the prettiest, in the neigh­ bourhood of London. The actual area under tho control of the Association must, unless I am mistaken, cover thir­ teen or fourteen acres, and an idea of its size can be understood when it is stated that two or more football matches can be decided simultaneously. As an adjunct to Surrey cricket, it ought to be of considerable value, and the support given to the fixture begun last Saturday should justify the management in attempting next year an even still more important match. I f all I hear be true, Cricketers will have an opportunity shortly of sitting at the feet of the Grand Old Man while he expounds his views on Cricket of the present day and its chief exponents. W. G., I am givento understand, has just been commissioned by a well-known firm to write a treatise of some length on the game and its surroundings, a subject which, it is needless to add, he is the best qualified todiscuss by long and active ex­ perience, not only in England but in its Colonies. If rumour be not afalsejade in this instance, W. G. bids fair to have a busy time ofit during the coming winter. A c o r r e s p o n d e n t, whose identity I am not able to disclose without his authority, though I may add he is one of the most liberal supporters the game has ever had, has kindly sent me the follow­ ing cricket riddle :— When was the longest hit made by the Pope ? The answer is : When he sent a leg eight (Legate) to Romo. C r ic k e t e r s will beparticularlygratified to learn that the Australian team to visit England next summer will have once more the opportunity of playing their first match in the beautiful park attached to the Earl of Sheffield’s estate atFletch- ing. Lord Sheffield will, as heretofore, admit the general public tothe ground on this occasionwith one important reserva­ tion, that the admissionwill not extendto any of the residents in Fletching or sur­ roundingparishes. I am sure, cricketers of all classes will be pleased to learn that Sheffield Park will again be the scene of an important cricket match. Lord Sheffieldwishes it to be understood that the fixture is only made under certain conditions to which I have already referred. I need not refer again to the gross attacks and annoyances to which he has been subjected, except to express the hope, whichwill be shared by real cricketers of every degree, that his liberality in inviting the Australians will be as fully appreciated as it deserves, and that the opening match of the Seventh Australian teamwill be at the same time the re-opening of public cricket in Shef­ field Park. A l l C r ic k e t readers I am sure will heartily echo the wish expressed by Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane, the treasurer of the Marylebone Club, in laying a founda­ tion stone of the new pavilion at Lord’s, on Tuesday week, that cricketers will have as much fun in the structure just begun, as they had in its immediate pre­ decessor. The history of Lord’s ground in;its three stages is the story of cricket for the last hundred years andmore, and every onewho has the best interest ofthe game at heart will cordially wish renewed and continued prosperity to M.C.C. and its officers. In alluding to a noteworthy p e rfo im - ance in the way of high scoring at Colombo in last week’s “ Gossip,” I in­ cidentally mentioned the names of some cricketers once well-known on English grounds, and now taking an active part in the game in Ceylon. The lastnumber of the Overland Times o f Ceylon, pub­ lished on Aug. 31, contains a full account of an interesting match between Kanda- polla and Kandy, played on the ground of the latter on the 27th and 28th of last month, which resulted, after a most ex­ citing finish, in favour of Kandapolla, by 7 runs. One of the brothers Hadow NEXT ISSUE, OCTOBEB 81.