Cricket 1890

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.” —Byrono Registered fOT^ansmissionSroad. THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1890. MR. HERBERT TREMENHEERE HEW ETT . T he marked advance in Somersetshire cricket during the last two or three years has been due to the enthusiasm with which those who have been responsible for its management have devoted themselves to strengthen the County eleven. Its development has been in a great measure the work of two keen sportsmen, Mr. H. E. Murray Anderdon, the Hon. Sec. of the County Club, and Mr. H. T. Hewett, the Captain of the Eleven, bothj unless we are mistaken, Somersetshire men thew and sinew. Mr. Hewett, at least, is a native of Zuramerzett. Born atNorton Court, near Taunton, on May 25, 1864, ;he has the strongest of the three quali­ fications required for county cricket. Educated first at Hillside, Godal- ming, he made his mark even as a | small boy in athletic sports, acting as captain nob only of the School cricket eleven, but also of the foot­ ball fifteen there. He consequently was not a novice at either game when he went to] Harrow in 1879. His early training, indeed, stood him in good stead there, and his third year fonnd him on his trial for the School cricket eleven, pro­ bably on the strength of a good bowling performance in a house match between E. B. Smith’s and A. G. Watson’s, in which he took all the ten wickets in the second innings at a cost of twenty- two runs. Still it was not until the following summer that he got his flannels, and then mainly by reason of his excellent all-round cricket against Harrow Town, in which match he scored 44, and took five wickets at a small cost. It was as a bowler, perhaps, as much as a batsman that he retained his place in the Harrow Elevens of 1882 and 1883. He did little, though, in either capacity at Lord’s against Eton for Harrow, and, indeed, it was not until the close of his career at Oxford that he began to prove his undoubted abilities as an all round cricketer. Though he matrioulated at Trinity College in October, 1883, he was not fortunate enough to get into the Oxford eleven till the summer of 1886. Some heavy sooring in the early part of that season gave him an undeniable olaim for a trial at the hands of the University Captain. A fine innings of 151 for Trinity against Christ Church was followed by even a better per­ formance in the shape of 164 not out for the Perambulators v. Etceteras, and the latter practically secured him his colours. Though unlucky enough, too, only to score seven runs in his two innings in the great fixture of the year at Lord’s, he did well against Lancashire in both matches, scoring 44 at Oxford, and 77 at Manchester. Owing to an injury to his hand his fourth year at Oxford was practically a blank. He had to be content with one match, against M.C.C.&G., for the University, though he was not aotually idle, as he showed by an innings of over a hundred, made with a broomstick, in an in college match. Mr. Hewett was too keen a cricketer to wait long for an opportunity of proving his aotive sympathy with Somersetshire orioket. His first match was against Kent at Tunbridge Wells in August, 1884, and on that occasion, though only moderately successful as a bat, he did good service for his side in bowling G. G. Hearne and Mr. W. H. Patterson with conseoutive balls. Since that time he has very rarely been absent from any important fixture undertaken by the executive of the Somersetshire Club. During the last five years, indeed, he has been the mainstay of the County eleven, and his' hitting has frequently formed the foundation of a victory for his side. In 1885 he was the first in the batting averages, a posi­ tion gained in a great measure by his scores of 85 against Surrey at the Oval, 66 against Gloucestershire at Taunton, and 52 not out against Hants. Warwickshiie bowlers had a taste of his quality as a run-getter in 1887, and his hitting on that occasion was quite out of the com­ mon, as the first 92 of his score of 98 were got within the hour. His best performances in 1888were 67 against Staffordshire and 51 against War­ wickshire, and last year, the first of his captaincy of the County eleven, his highest innings were reoorded against the same teams. The dose of the season of 1889 found him, too, first in the batting averages of Somersetshire. One in particular of his several good innings for the County, too, is worthy of special mention. In the match against Staffordshire he got runs at a tre­ mendous rate, and, indeed, he was only at the wiokets 58 minutes for his score of eighty. This summer, too, has added to rather than de­ tracted from his reputation as a batsman. His brilliant innings of 114 for the Gentlemen of England against Cambridge University will be remembered by all who follow the game closely. Besides this, though, he has scored largely in other matches, as his 71 for M.C.C. and G. v. Oxford, his 31 and 65 for Somerset v. Middlesex—two innings which contributed greatly to Somersetshire’s well-earned victory, and 64 against Leicester­ shire will attest. During the last five years, too, Mr. Hewett has been one of the leading figures in the Harrow Wanderers tours. He has taken part in every one of the thirty-two matches the Wanderers have played, and with the satisfaction of only being on the losing side on three occasions. Last year he