Cricket 1890

MAY 15, 1890, CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 121 as Messrs. W. G. Grace and Murdoch did at Sheffield Park last week, and there was something especially fitting in the two representative men of the old and new world respectively being taken together, as they were, during the luncheon hour on Thursday. In spite of the con­ tinuous rain on Friday the opening match of the Australian team was a great success from every point of view, and the cricket public have good reason to be grateful to the Earl of Sheffield not only for the welcome he extended to both English and Australian cricketers, but for the re-open­ ing of a ground which has not an equal, certainly no superior in the world. T h e following colloquy, which appeared in the Bird o' Freedom lately, is, I be­ lieve, a true bill. A correspondent of mine, at least, vouches for its accuracy. C r ic k e t . S c e n e : R u stic m atch in Sussex. T eam bein g photograph ed. C aptain (to orack village b o w le r): “ L ook ’ ere, m ate, if you w ants that there ball to oom e out in y ou r righ t hand, pu t it in your left, ’cos everyth in k’s reversed in a ph oto- gru e.” T u rn in g to p h o to g ra p h e r: “ A in ’t that so, M uster S h ootem ? ” him. Only yesterday fortnight, the first day on which they had had any cricket practice at Wittenham, my correspondent states that he saw one of the villagers, who'is accounted to be the worst performer of the three, throw a new ball over the hundred yards the first time of asking. I n last week’s “ Gossip,” on the strength of information from a thoroughly reliable correspondent and one who ought to know, I referred to certain athletic suc­ cesses achieved by W. G. Grace the younger last Saturday week at Clifton College. W. G. the elder, in pointing out that the account was not strictly accurate, has been good enough to give me a correct list of his son’s performances of late. He won the Short Penpole Cross Country run, a distance of eight miles, at Clifton College a month ago, in 53 min. 45 sec. I At the College Sports recently he landed the Half-mile Eace for Boys under Six­ teen in 2 min. 14 4-5ths sec. He was also second in the 220 yards Hurdle Eace under Sixteen, and third—not first— in the Open Half-mile. T h e su b -ed itor o f the Echo m u st, from a p p earan ces, h a ve b een a little m ix e d on T h u rsd a y ,if he is respon sible fo r th e fo llo w ­ in g extra ord in a ry rep ort w h ich appeared in th e sp ecial e d ition th a t even in g. A m o re rem a rk a b le “ dera n gem en t o f e p i­ taph s ” it w ou ld h a rd ly be possib le to find. W ith the total at 20 L y on s was caught at the w icket, h avin g m ade 15 in h alf-an -h ou r. M urdoch, w h o field ed th e vacan cy, was w arm ly applauded. F ou r runs later L o h ­ m an n took th e place o f B riggs. P la y was d ecid ed ly slow , th e on ly n oticeable item s being being a 4 to th e C olon ial captain off each end. R a in then com m en ced to fall. P eel fr o m Lohm ann w as th e order at 46, and, a fter sending d ow n five m aiden overs, Y ork ­ shire w as fin e ly caught an d bow led , B a rrett fa llin g in and secu ring the ball. T h e D octor h ad scored 12 in an h ou r and a-quarter. W ith 60 up L oh m ann superseded A ttew ell, but at lu n ch tim e— w h ich w as taken earlier, ow in g to th e team bein g ph otograph ed— th e score w as 55 fo r tw o w ickets. TH E AUSTRALIANS— F ir s t In n in g s. Barrett, c and b P e e l.................................. 12 M urdoch, not o u t .......................................... 23 Trott, not o u t.................................................. 6 Total (/or two wickets) 55 M u scle seems to be very much in evidence in the village of Wittenham, if the information given me by a resident in the neigbourhood, who signs himself “ Cottager,” is correct. They are keen enough in Wittenham on cricket, but the number of inhabitants is so small that they can only muster an eleven to play a few local matches. Still they have three members who between them can throw 300 yards, and a little over. M y informant ventures an opinion that this is a very exceptional instance of mus­ cularity, and I think most of those who understand such matters will agree with Mr. S. M. J. W oods ’ performance for the University at Cambridge this week, in taking all the wickets in the second innings of Mr. C. I. Thornton’s Eleven, is of such very rare occurrence, that it will be of interest to repeat the only instances of the kind recorded in really important matches :— No. of Name. Match. Date. Runs. E. H in k ly.........Kent v. England July 11 '48, n.a* O. Lawrence ... England v. XX II of Scotland M ay 7, ’49, 24 J. W isden..........North v. South July 15, ’50, n.a* Mr. V.E.W alker England v.Surrey July 21. '59, 74 Mr. E. M. Grace M.C.C. v. Kent Aug. 14, ’62, n.a* W. Slinn ...........XX II. of Scar- boro’ v. A.E.E. Sept. 23, '62, 23 Mr. V. E.W alker Middlesex v. Kent June 16, ’64, 37 G. W ootton ... A.E.E. v. Yorks July 19, ’65, n.a* Mr. V. E. Walker Middlesex v. Lancashire July 22, ’65, 104 Mr. W . B.Money XIX. of Godalm- ing v. U.S.E.E. Sept. 16, '67, 66 W . H ickton ... Lancashire v. Hants. July 21. ’70, 46 J. C. Shaw.......... Nottsv.England Sept. 15, ’70, 20 S. E. Butler ... Oxford v. Cam­ bridge June 26, '71, 38 J. Lillywhite ... South v. North Aug. 7, ’72, 129 Alfred Shaw ... M.C.C. v. North June 1, ’74, 73 E . Barratt........... Flayers v. Australians Sept. 2, '78, 43 G. Giffeu ........... Anglo-Australian Teamv.Combined Australian Team Feb. 16, ’84,66 Mr. W. G. G race M.C.C. v. Oxford June22, '86 49 G. B urton.......... Middlesex v. Surrey July 19, ’88, 59 * N o Analysis. T h e subject of exceptional achieve­ ments, reminds me of the very un­ usual feat performed by, Jesse Hide for Sussex in the first innings of M.C.C. and Ground, at Lord’s, on Monday. I cannot recall, myself, an instance of anyone taking four wickets with successive balls, in a fixture of any great importance of late years. I am writing purely from memory, and shall of course be much obliged to any correspondent who can furnish me with a record of the kind in what is termed first-class cricket. I t will interest Carthusians, past and present, to know that an old member of the School has arranged, with a view to publication in collective form, the scores of all the Public School matches in which the Charterhouse Eleven have taken part. As far as I know, Charter­ house and Westminster have met twenty- six, and Charterhouse and Wellington fifteen times, so that the issue of the forty-one scores should prove an interest­ ing addition to the records of Public School cricket. I u n d e r s t a n d , on the authority of one of the most influential members of the Leicestershire Club, that there is every probability of a useful addition to the County Eleven in the person o f the Old Bug, and Oxonian, Mr. T. S. Pearson, who did such good service for Middlesex for several years. Mr. Pearson is now qualified for Leicestershire, and I believe would have assisted it against Surrey at the Oval this week but for a previous engagement of importance. T h e Evening Netvs and Post of yes­ terday mentions as an interesting fact that Sir Bichard Webster may often be seen playing cricket at his country home, Cranleigh in Surrey. The Attorney General, as most of those who follow athletic sports at all closely are well aware, is an old athlete himself, and an active and liberal supporter of cricket. He takes great interest in the local club at Cranleigh, and is indeed directly responsible himself for the collection of some of the elevens which play there. I t is not often that the first Inter- County fixture of the year gives rise to two innings o f over a hundred, as was the case in the match between Gloucester­ shire and Yorkshire at Bristol this week. The most recent instance was a few years ago—I think in 1886—and there, too, Gloucestershire was in it. It was in the memorable match with Surrey, played on Easter Monday at the Oval, and on that occasion Abel and Mr. Townsend were the batsmen who got into three figures. P R IN C IP A L E V E N T S F O R N E X T W E E K . T h u r s d a y , M ay 15.—Lord's, Middlesex v. K en t; Kennington Oval, Surrey v. E ssex; N otting­ ham , Notts v. Sussex; Westbury (W ilts), Mr. W . H. L a v e r t o n ’s XI. v. A u s tra lia n s . S a tu r d a y . M ay 17.—Blackheath, M.C.C. and G. v. Blackheath. M onday, M ay 19.—Lord's, North v. South (Benefit of late John W est’s Family); Cambridge,Cam­ bridge University v. Gentlemen of England • Oxford, O x fo r d U n iv e r s ity v. A u s tra lia n s • Kennington Oval, Surrey Colts v. Clapham’ W anderers. T u e sd a y , M ay 20.— M itcham , Surrey C. & G. v. M itcham . W e d n e s d a y , M a y 21.—Battersea, Surrey C. & G. v. Battersea C lub; Kennington Oval, Surrey C. & G. v. Grange Institute. C r ic k e t e r s .— B e st G oods b e ar th is M a r k .— A d v t.