Cricket 1890

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 243. VOL. IX. Registered forJTransmission Abroad. THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1890. PRICE 2d; FRANK WARD . I t is not the good fortune of every County Club to have a plentiful supply of useful all­ round cricketers always available to take the places of the regular members of the eleven in the event of accidents or disability from one cause or another. It falls only to the lot of a favoured few,whose resources are large enough to make them free from anxiety as to ways and means to have a capable understudy for each of the principal performers. It has been the wise policy of the Committee of the Lancashire County Club to have in reserve a number of youngsters of promise ready in an emergency to fill any vacanoies that may arise. The unexpected is always happen­ ing in cricket, and oocasions arise not infrequently, too, at times to give young players on the fringe of the eleven an opportunity of bring­ ing themselves permanently to the front. They are generally the ex­ ceptions though, and an occasional trial does not, as a rule, afford a fair test of a cricketer’s capabilities. Still in time real merit is sure to secure recognition. Chances must present themselves where there is a genuine love of the game and a natural desire to excel. Profes­ sionals generally, though, have not the same advantages in their youth as amateurs, and many of them are only beginning to develop at an age when amateurs already, as a rule, are at their best. Frank Ward, of Lancashire, is perhaps a suitable subject to illustrate our argument. Though a Cumberland man by birth, as a cricketer he has been best known in connection with Lancashire. Born on January 9th, 1865, he was only twenty years of age when he had his first trial at the hands of the executive of the Lancashire County Club. It was not, though, until two summers later, in 1887 to wit, that he became really identified with the County. An engagement as a ground bowler at Old Trafford had placed him directly under the control of the Lancashire authorities. He took part in the opening match of the Lan­ cashire season of 1887, and with a fair amount of success, getting three wickets in the first innings of Sussex at a cost of only twenty runs. Since that time, if he has not been a full member of the County eleven, Ward has been one of tbe first to be called upon when any of the regular company have fallen out of the ranks. His cricket in 1888 was not altogether a success, but still he had a fair average both in batting and bowling, although it was more, perhaps, as a bowler that he showed to advantage. His form that year was c rtainly not good enough to impress anyone with a great belief in his capacity as a all-round cricketer, and as a consequence he was absent from the earlier of the Lan­ cashir fixtures of the following season. The Colts match at Manchester in the second week of June, however, brought him again prominently before the notice of the Lanca­ shire ^Committee. A score of 102 against Twenty-two, though that Twenty-two be com­ posed of Colts, must always be accounted a performance of merit, and this success ensured him another and a early trial. The Surrey match at Old Trafford at the end of June g ve him an opportunity of which he availed himself thoroughly. Going in first he made 60 runs before he was out, and the excellent start he made with Mr. Hornby did much to giv his side the lead on the first innings, which practically won them the match. Against Yorkshire, too, at Manchester, he batted well, and on the whole his play showed a decided improvement on that of the previous season. Briggs, Watson, and Mold, with Barlow in reserve, formed such a formidable quartette of bowlers last year for Lancashire, that there was really no need of much change. Altogether, indeed, only twenty- three overs were delivered by other bowlers, and of these Ward sent down fifteen for twenty-one runs and one wicket. Though Ward’s appearances in the Lancashire eleven this summer have not been many in number, he has acquitted himself with credit on more than one oocasion. CRiCKET-readers who follow the game at all closely, do not need to be reminded of his brilliant performance against Kent at Old Trafford at the end of May. When he joined Sugg three of the best wickets of Lancashire were down for 37, and things were look­ ing far from hopeful for the side. Sugg and he, however, gave a veiy different tone to the game by their free hitting, and Ward himself was not dismissed until he had been three hours and a half at the wicket. His score of 145, too, represented just one half of the total made by Lancashire from the bat, and with the exception of a chance at short slip when he had made 60, there was no other mistake till just before he was out. Ward has had and still has in him the making of a really good all-round cricketer. He bats in good form with plenty of hitting power on occasion. His medium pace bowling has also frequently been of use as a change. In the field he is moderately good. Our portrait is from a photograph by E. Hawkins &Co., 108, King’s Road, Brighton. D u r s l e y dismissed Frampton, at Frampton on June 14, for eleven, of which one batsmau made ten. Dauney did the hat trick.