Cricket 1889

14Toge ther joined in cricket ’s man l y toil B y ro n , Registered^for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1889. p r i c e 2d T H O M A S H E A R N E . The following sketch is from, the pen of Robert Thoms, the well-known umpire and personal friend of T. H. T om H eabne , of Middlesex and Lord’s Ground, and one of my oldest associates on the cricket field, is an example of how an extra good man, who has shown form in what is termed outside cricket, may, if he gets the chance, soon prove that he can hold his own in first- clasS company. And that chance eventually came, but not until he had. arrived at the mature age of thirty, having as I well know—and have oft seen—shown his prowess from sixteen years of age; for it may be truly said that there is hardly a green, common, heath, or cricket ground in the home counties on which he had not performed. In those days county contests had not been introduced to excite the emulation to which they now give rise, or it is very certain that Tom Hearne would not have been a roaming cricketer for all those years. As he was born in a county (Bucks) that did not aspire to greatness, and had no gate matches —for without this sterling feature, the gate, no county can or ever will succeed—it can well be imagined, in these times, the tempting offers that would have come in to either make a short cut to the Oval, or the equally lucrative county of the far north, Lancashire. But Tom was spotted after all by that most genial, kind-hearted, and liberal supporter of the game, the late Mr. John Walker of Southgate—would that we could recall him and the memor­ able Southgate days. To that gen­ tleman he owed the “ push-off ” which enabled him to get into the head-quarters of cricket at Lord’s, where he at once made his mark in the foremost rank and held it all through his active career, for no man has done more yeoman service for the M.C.C. than Tom Hearne. Although some years ago, in the articles entitled “ Cricket Notes and Notabilities ” which ap­ peared in the Sporting L ife , under the head of Middlesex I wrote the cricket character of old Tom, I again take this opportunity of repeating that he was one of the very best all-round cricketers that ever batted for Mid­ dlesex or any other county, and that with the exception ol “ the Dpctor, the Demon, or the B ig-un” (W. G. Grace), it would be difficult to name a cricketer who has surpassed him for consistency during the whole of his career. Although I had the pleasure of watching him in my official capacity from his start to finish in county contests, it would take me a long while to enumerate his doings; but writing as I now do from memory, I can recount that I have seen him on four different occasions top the century in great matches, and will now bring this sketch ,to a close by summing up the kind of cricketer he was. Tom was never a stylish or drawing-room batsman, but like unto the “ little D octor” (E. M. Grace) had a style of his own that could never be copied. He belonged to the order of batsmen who hit hard ana often, spank the leather to the boundaries, upset the scores, and win matches; the useful but not showy sort, and of whom it may be said Mr. W . W . Read is now a similar example. Even in the days of rough grounds Tom would always have a good look and a go at the very fastest bowlers. I recol­ lect how in his first great match at Lord’s, when playing for the United v. All England, . in the second innings—whefi the match looked a gone coon—he laid on to Jackson and Stephenson and won the game for the United with a sparkling fifty-four (not out). That he was a naturally gifted cricketer is proved by his turning from a fast underhand bowler into a rare good round arm trundler, which he ac­ quired by practice bowling at Lord’s. As a fieldsman, he could go all over the shop, and was' a tradesman in all the departments ; for he could keep wicket, lon g,stop to the very fastest of bowlers (Mr. Fellowes), take point, or go into the country as long field ; and that he could throw straight was proved during the match of Middlesex-v. Notts at Islington, which feat I will relate. Tom was on at my end, and just about to deliver the ball to George Parr — the celebrated batsman—when a pigeon, out for a morning constitutional, came fly­ ing across the wickets, about 15 yards high. Without hesitation, Tom let go the leather, and with a fine straight shot brought down the bird, which he now retains in a preserved state as a'heirloom to the family. Years have rolled by since he and I first met, and my best wishes will be that Old Tom, or “ Geneva ” as I familiarly call him, may for untold seasons still be found in health and happiness on the green sward to which he has been so devotedly attached. A few notes on chief (incidents in Tom Hearne’s career will serve as a suitable addition to Thoms’ personal reminiscences of tho veteran. It is not unfitting, wo hope, that the opening day of the season at Lord’s should have been chosen by C r ic k e t to com­ memorate the long services of a Cricketer who, by his long connection with the Maryle- bone Club, as well as by virtue of his office as Treasurer of the Cricketer’s Fund Friendly Society, can claipi to have done in nia way— not a little to promote the game,