Cricket 1890

MT 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 toi l . ”— Byron, Registered fralSan^ssio^Afcroad. THURSDAY, JUNE 5,1890. P R I C E M ordaunt w ent into residence at th a t U n iv e r­ sity in the w in te r follow ing. Though he took p art in the Freshm en ’ s m atch of 1887, how ­ ever, he was only m oderately successful, and as no other opportunity w as afforded h im of proving h is cap acity as an all-round cricketer he had to w ait for tw elve m onths before he got h is “ b lu e.” S till he had other chances of show ing h is undoubted a b ility , w hile playing fo r H am psh ire under the residential q ualification. H am psh ire cricket, in fact, derived m uch benefit from h is assistance, and among h is scores lo r the C o unty in 1887 m ay be m en­ tioned 101 and 42 v . N orfo lk, two in n in g s of 25 as w ell as one of 65 v. E s s e x , and 34 and 18 v . Sussex. H is cap ital all-round cricke t for H an ts, no doubt, helped h im m ateri­ a lly the follow ing spring w ith the Cam bridge au th orities, and an e x ­ cellent score of 81 for the E le ve n against the Sixteen of the U n iv e r­ sity gave h im a chance w hich he did not allow to escape. H is batting for the Cam bridge eleven in 1888, too, w as d istin ctly above the average. Conspicuous m ention m ay be made of h is b rillia n t inning s of 78 against the A u stralian s, as w ell as one of alm ost equal m erit of 60 against Y o rk sh ire . In the In te r-U n iv e rsity m atch he had to be content wTith 21 ru n s in the tw o inning s, but, as m an y w ill rem em ber, the scoring ow ing to the w et was generally low. L a s t year he did splendid service fo r Cam bridge w ith the bat, and w as in addition ve ry useful w ith the b all. H is highest score in the early fixtu re s w as 78 against Sussex, but h is best record, as everyone knows, w as in the great m atch at L o rd ’s. H is 127 against O xford at Lo rd ’s w as one of th e sensations of the year. Though he gave, it is stated, a chance at the w icket som ewhat e arly in the innings, th is w as the only semblance of a m istake in an otherw isefaultless display of cricket. No better batting h as, it m a y safely be said, ever been seen in the In te r-U n iv e rsity m atch. W ith two exceptions, too, h is score has the m erit of being the highest so fa r recorded in these contests. Sin ce the commencem ent of the present term M r. M ordaunt has been a m aster at W elling to n College, w here h is younger brother is cricket cap tain, though he hopes to be excused h is scholastic duties if required to p lay in the In te r-U n iv e rsity m atch. A good batsm an w ith sound defence, and w ith a l no M R . H E N R Y J O H N M O R D A U N T . T h e M ordaunts have played a by no m eans u nim p ortant p art in am ateur cricket during the la st th irty years. O ld E to n ian s who flourished early in the fifties w ill s till, no doubt, retain a v ivid recollection of the excel­ len t all-round player who did good service in th eir School eleven in 1854 and two follow ing summ ers, M r.J.M .M o rd au n t, father of the gen­ tlem an whose p o rtrait we give th is w eek. A few seasons la te r, to w it, in 1860 and 1861, M r. O sbert M or­ daunt, an uncle, w as one of the most p rom inent players at E to n , a con­ tem porary of Lo rd W alsin g h am , L o ra Cobham , and M essrs. R . A . H . M itch ell and Jam es Round. J . M . w as subsequently w ell-know n at C h rist C h u rch , O xford, as w ell as w ith I Z . and F re e F o reste rs, as was h is brother, Osbert, who was fre ­ q uently found in the W arw icksh ire eleven, and also did good w ork in cricke t organisation in h is cap acity of H on. Sec. of the F re e Foresters Club. B o rn on J u ly 12, 1867, in London, at a tim e when h is father and uncles were a ctively associated w ith the gam e, M r. H . J . M ordaunt w as not only a cricketer by in h e rit­ ance, but w as reared in an atm os­ phere congenial to the grow th of a love of the game. Though M iddlesex b y b irth , S u rrey had the privilege of shaping h is cricket. Sent to a p rivate school at E a s t Sheen con­ ducted by M r. O . C . W aterfield (now the R e v . J . H . E d g a r’s), in 1876, he stayed there u n til 1880. D u rin g one of the four years he rem ained a t E a s t Sheen he w as in the cricket eleven as w e ll as in the football fifteen, b ut no opportunity was offered of proving h is a b ility in outside cricket, as ow ing to illness in the School no m atches were arranged for th a t season. T h e at­ tainm ent of a classical Scholarship at E to n College took h im to th at School in 1880, and four years later, ju st th irty summ ers after h is father had gained h is colours, found h im in the eleven. E to n ju s t at that tim e w as p articu la rly strong in cricketers. Am ong those who represented it in 1885 or 1886 were several who subsequently took high honours on the cricket-field, F . Th om as, H . W . F o rste r, H . Ph ilip so n , and R . O. G osling, were a ll ve ry m uch in evidence in the form er year, m em orable for one of the most ex­ citin g finishes ever recorded in the annals of E to n and H arro w m atches. Thoug h in such good com pany M r. M ordaunt did not show to disadvantage. On the co n trary, h is 36 against H arro w in the first in n in g s at L o rd ’s w as one of the best d isplays on the E to n side. C ap tain in 1886 of a team w h ich included among others R . C . G osling, C . P . F o le y, W . D . Lle w e lyn , he had the satisfaction of d irect­ ing the E to n eleven on the occasion of the first victo ry they had been able to claim over H arro w fo r ten years. H is best show th at season, though, w as w ith the b all. I t w as m ain ly, indeed, through h is bow ling th at E to n were able to beat .W in chester so deci­ sive ly in 1886, and h is perform ance of taking th irteen w ickets at a cost of on ly sixty-five ru n s w as one of unusual m e rit on a hard and run-getting w icket. Ele cte d a C lassical Scholar of K in g ’s College, Cam bridge, in 1886, M r.