Cricket 1890

“ T o g e t h e r j o i n e d in c r i c k e t ’ s m a n l y to i l . ”— Byron„ Registered f M ^ a n ^ r a i o n ^ r o a d . THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1890. PRICE 2d; JOHN W IL L IAM SHARPE. O f a good cricket stock, Sharpe, the young professional who has bowled so w ell in the m atches so fa r played th is season b y the S u rre y eleven, has been a cricketer from h is e a rly boyhood upw ards. B o rn at Ruddington, in N otts, on D ec. 9, 1866, he was cradled in one of the m ost successful of cricket nurseries. N or w ere precept or exam ple w an t­ ing to stim u late h is fan cy for the gam e, or to mould h is in clin atio n in the proper direction. H is fath er, h im se lf a good old p layer, had been lo n g and honourably connected w ith cricke t. Engaged for tw enty-tw o Beasons w ith the R o ck F e rry , and- subsequently at C h ig w ell G ram m ar School and Shrew sbury School, and la tte rly w ith M r. Seaton at Aston- on-Cum , he had in h is tim e passed through a ll the different gradations of a professional’s career. I t w as d u rin g h is fath er’s lengthy associa­ tio n w ith the R o ck F e r r y Club th at the younger Sharpe served h is first apprenticeship on the cricket-field . I t w as on the R o ck F e rry ground, in fact, th a t he first learned the ru d i­ m ents of the game, and there are m an y stories s till e xta n t in d icative of h is exceptional prom ise as a bow ler even in h is e arly yo u th . B efo re he w as eighteen, too, he had begun to earn h is liveliho od as a cricke te r. H is first engagem ent, w ith the Bedford T o w n C lu b in 1884, w as sufficient to prove h is cap acity as a prom ising all-round youngster, and both at Bedford and d uring the tw o follow ing sum m ers in w h ich he w as engaged by the S t. H elen ’s C lu b he w as of great use as a batsm an as w ell as a bow ler. M eanw hile (in 1886) he had had a tria l in the N otts C o lts’ m atch, and a reference to the records of th a t year show th at he obtained the b a ll fo r the best bow ling average, w ith a d elive ry of 26 overs, in clu d ­ ing 20 m aidens, for s ix ru n s and two w ick e ts. T h e follow ing E aste rtid e , too, he again figured in the an nual tria l of the youngsters of N otts, and w ith even better resu lts. In the second inning s of the E le ve n in the C o lts’ m atch of 1887, indeed, he got four w ickets in nine overs at a cost of on ly five ru n s, and w e find h im described in the report of th e game in C r ic k e t of the follow ing week as the m ost lik e ly (bowler of h is year. S in g u la rly enough, though, in spite of the prom ise he had shown in two succeed­ ing m atches, as fa r as we can judge, he received no imm ediate encouragem ent from the execu­ tive of the N otts Co unty C lu b . N a tu ra lly anxious to have a fa ir chance of proving h is a b ility , he had m eanw hile determ ined to seek other fields, and the Comm ittee of the Su rrey C o unty C .C . w ere not slow to a v a il them ­ selves of the opportunity offered them during the w in ter of 1886 of securing the services of a young p layer possessed of such excellent credentials. T h e comm encem ent of the summ er of 1887 found Sharpe engaged as one of the ground bow lers at the O val w ith every prospect of fu rth e r advancem ent. T h e S u rre y au th orities, too, w ere not slow to satisfy them ­ selves of h is prom ise as a bow ler, and fu lly impressed w ith h is opportunities Sharpe de­ term ined to tra n sfe r h is home perm anently to S u rre y in the hope of fin din g a place in the C o unty eleven at the e xp iry of the proba­ tio n ary period of two years. D u rin g th is tim e, too, he gave am ple proofs of h is cap acity as a bow ler. In 1888 in p a rticu la r he d id several re a lly good perform ances for the S u rre y C lu b . A g ain st C lifto n College at the O val he took eleven w ickets fo r tw en ty-fo u r ru n s, and he fin ished the season w’ith even a better record. T h is w as at N ortham pton against the N orthants Club and Ground, and od th at occasion he delivered 61 overs for 46 ru n s and 12 w ickets. B y the comm encem ent of last season Sharp e had duly qualified fo r S u rre y b y residence, and the firs t fixtu re of the ye ar found h im included in the County eleven. I t w as in its w ay, too, a rem arkab le first appearance. T h e S u rre y total w as only 158 w hen the n in th batsm an w as out, b ut Lo hm an n and Sh arp e furnished the stand of the in n in g s, and the last w icket added 149, of w h ich the latte r, the not out, contributed 38. N or did h is successes end th ere. On the co n trary, he was seen even to better advantage when E s s e x w ent in a second tim e, and he took seven of the ten w ickets, d elivering 42 overs at an expense of only 49 ru n s. T h e n ext m atch, w ith O xford U n iv e rsity , at O xford, the follow ing w eek, gave h im another chance of d istinctio n, and one of w h ich he fu lly availed h im se lf. H is an alysis in O xford ’s firs t in ning s w as quite exceptional. I n tw enty-one overs and one b all he got five batsm en, all of them clean bow led, and at a cost of only two ru n s. U n d e r any conditions th is w ould have been a great achieve­ m ent, but its value w as considerably enhanced b y the fact th a t the p itch d id not favour the b a ll in any w ay. Sharp e’s value as a batsm an, too, w as again proved u nm istakab ly in the D erbysh ire m atch at the O val. Beaum ont and Sharpe th is tim e w ere the tw o la st batsm en, and again the form er saw over a hundred added. T h e tenth w icke t, in fact, increased the score b y 118 ru n s, of w h ich Sh arp e’s contribution w as 56 not out. Th rou gh o u t the year he bowled w ith con­ sistent success, so m uch so th at at the end of the season he w as first in the S u rre y tables w ith an average of ju st under 12 ru n s for 61 w ick e ts. So fa r th is year h is bow ling has been of the greatest value to S u rre y. H e began the season w ith a sensational feat, takin g the last five w ickets in H am p sh ire’s