Cricket 1890

88 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAR. 27, 1890. THE CHIEF COUNTIES IN 1890. The Gloucestershire executive content them selves with engaging all the other seven leading counties, as with the a Idition of two Australian fixtures, the first at Clifton, the second at Cheltenham, they are of opinion that the programm e is of sufficient length. So far as we have heard, there does not appear at present any indication of any great amount of rising talent at the disposal of Mr. W . G. Grace t ’lis year. Gregg, who has been of use occasionally to Gloucestershire during the last few years, has, we under­ stand, secured the position of coach to the Clifton boys. The Kent season will be opened on May 8, with the annual trial at Lord’s, against M .C.C. and Ground. Tw o matches have been arranged w ith W arwickshire, but these are the only additions to the county programm e of 1889,which contained fixtures with the other seven leading shires. T he grounds for the hom e matches have been definitely settled. The Surrey eleven will for the first time appear at Canterbury for the second match of the week, which will, as usual in the case of ■visits of Colonial players, be opened with a match against the Australian team. Graves­ end has been selected for the hom e fixture against Notts, Town Mailing for Sussex, Tonbridge for Middlesex, Maidstone for York­ shire and Gloucestershire, while Beckenham will also have a double attraction in W ar­ wickshire and Lancashire. In addition to the fixture at Canterbury, the Australians will also oppose Kent at Blackheath. The Kent eleven will be captained by Mr. Marchant during the first three m onths of the season, and he will have fco support him , Messrs. W. H . Patterson, M. C. K em p, C. J. M. Fox, Leslie W ilson, W . Rashleigh, J. Le Flem ing, with George and Alec Hearne, Martin, Wright, Barton, W ootton and Pentecost. There will be a weeK o.1fortnight’s practice for Colts at Blackheath again this year, comm encing Monday, 2ist April, and it will probably con­ clude with a Colts’ match. The Canterbury ground was never in better condition than it is -this year, and now contains increased accomm odation in the shape of a new en­ trance, tw o fresh exits from the ground, and more seats. The centre of the Beckenham ground has been relaid by George Hearne during the winter, and he is confident that there will be nothing to com plain of in the state of the pitch t- ere this season. The Kent and Surrey n atch will be pla}’ed for George H earne’s benefit. In addition to the County fixtures arranged by the Hon. Sec. of the Lancashire Club, we understand it has been recently determined to play W arwickshire home and homo two-day matches. It is also intended that the Manchester Club and Ground shall take part in a series of matches in all the different parts of Lancashire. The Comm ittee hope by this means to find all the likely talent available, and that this system will be more efficacious than the Colts’ match, w7hich has never b en really a success. The ground at Old Trafford is in first-class condition. Some alterations, we understand, are in progress. The reporters’ stand will be m oved and the telegraph office placed underneath the new erection. Irving of Carlisle, who has been very successful for the Manchester Club during the last two seasons, will have qualified by residence in June. H,e is an exceedingly prom ising left-hand bowler, and there is every probability that he m ay be of use to the team. Much is expected, too, of H igson of Nelson, who is said to be a very good bat. There are also, we understand, one or two m ore youngsters worthy of a trial, and rumour has it that there is a dark horse in an amateur whose name, though, has not transpired as yet. Pilling, everyone will be sorry to hear, is still very ill. Should by any chance a substitute at the wicket be required, Mills of Oldham will take his place. The ground staff at Trafford for this? summer will consist of Pilling, Mold, Copeland, Yates, H olland, Higson, M ills, Lord, Paul, F . W ard and Irving. The Middlesex programme only shows one variation from that of last year in the matter of actual cou cty fixtures. Home and home matches have been arranged with Somerset­ shire, and there will also be the usual trial against the Australians at Lord’s. Otherwise the card is the same as last year, when the Middlesex eleven met Surrey, Notts, Lanca­ shire, Y orkshire Gloucestershire, and Kent each twice. W e are sorry to hear that Mr. Nepean, owing to absence in Ireland, will be unable to assist the county at all events in the early part of the season. Mr. A. J. W ebbe will lose until July, too, the services of his trusty lieutenant, Mr. J. G. Walker, who has gone from India in company with Mr. Philipson for a tour in China and Japan, and w ill not return until the season has well advanced. Phillips, the Australian who has been engaged at L ord’s for the last tw o seasons, w ill be available for M iddlesex this summer, and it remains to be seen to what extent he will be of use. Mr. Bacmeister, who placed in the earlier matches of 1889 and with some success, will in all probability have a good trial. He has in him the m aking of a good bowler, and w ith increasing strength may prove an acquisition to the team. W ith a view to prevent as much as.possible their likely youngsters m igrating elsewhere, the Comm ittee of the Notts County Club have instituted a fund with a view to augment to some 3 x te n t the weekly wage of these young professionals. The object is obviously a good one, and the only wonder is, that some such scheme has not been carried out before. Notts will as usual play all the seven leading Counties home and hom e, and the Australian team tw ice, on Trent Bridge. Two fixtures have also been arranged with Derbyshire. The m atch between the Colts of Notts and Yorkshire will not be played this year, but the County Eleven will as usual be out on Easter Monday, to put the rising talent through their paces. Last year showed that N otts has likely reserves in the two Butlers, Gutteridge and Bennett. Needham, who has been retained in the C ount", is also a bowler of some prom ise. Rum our has busied itself considerably, and to a great extent unnecessarily, it must be added, during the last fe^v weeks, w'ith the possibilities of a disruption of the Surrey team. Much capital has been needlessly made out of what was at the worst a small hitch, which never threatened any serious difficulty, and, as we have confidently asserted would be the result, what slight difference there was at any time has been am icably settled. So far as one can judge, there is every reason to believe that the County eleven will be quite up to its all-round strength of the last tw o or three seasons. A ll the old players w ill be available, and it is hoped that Mr. W . E. Roller will be able to play once m ore an important part in County Cricket. The experience of :ast season, too, showed that there was more than one likely youngster capible of being utilised if ocoasion required. Watts, B rock­ well, Mills and Harris, all it may be rem em ­ bered, did good service at the end of 1889, and there are also useful young amateurs in Messrs. Morgan and Jephson, the latter of whom has gone into residence at Cambridge. B rockw ell and Mills, who have been engaged in South Africa, have been very successful there, and the former in particular bids fair to develop into a good all round player. The programme for this year includes hom e and home engagements with the seven other lead­ ing Counties, as well as with Hampshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, the usual match at the Oval with Cambridge, besides the annual m eeting between Gentlemen and Players at the Oval. Owing to the Australian visit, it has been found necessary, wre regret to say, to give up the Oxford fixture for this year. The Australians will appear at the Oval four times, as they have to meet Surrey twice, and in addition to oppose the South, and a representative team of England. The ground, we may add, is in the best condition. The Committee of the Sussex County Club have been able to add a very attractive fixture to their usual list, in the shape of a match against Oxford University, to be played on the ground at Hove. The Australians are also as usual to visit Brighton once, as are the Cam­ bridge eleven, whose recent experiences of the wicket on the County ground have been very satisfactory, at least as far as run-getting is concerned. H om e and hom o fixtures, too, have been arranged with Yorkshire, Lancashire, Notts, Gloucestershire, Hants, Surrey and Kent. As far as we know, all last year’ s Eleven will be again to the fore and there is every sign of a likely recruit inTebay, who played well in the later matches of 1889. There is some hope, too, that Messrs. M. P. Lucas and F. Thomas m ay be found more frequently in the eleven this year. Report speaks highly of the state of the County ground, which bids fair to be quite up to its usually high pitch of excellence. It is also sincerely hoped that the rumour of Mr. C. A. Sm ith’s return m ay prove true. The bowling will be weakened by the loss of Arthur Hide, recently appointed “ coach ” at Marlborough College, and who, it is pre­ sumed, will not be available till the end of the season. Tate, too, will be an absentee. The m ost prom ising bowlers to take their places are Gibb and Grinstead, both fast left­ handers, the form er of whom was tried against Hampshire last year. Yorkshire has usually a heavy programme to carry out, and this year will certainly not see any decrease in the enterprise of the execu­ tive. The Australians are to play three matches under the auspices of the County Club. They are to meet the Yorkshire Eleven at Bradford and Sheffield respectively, and, besides, to oppose the Players of England at the latter town. In addition to the customary fixtures with the leading Counties, there will be, as usual, several others of lesser importance, the m ajority of which were fixed at the meeting of Secretaries at Lord’s. A recent addition has been made though, in the shape of a two days’ fixture with Staffordshire, to comm ence at Sheffield on Bank H oliday, August 4. The usual m atch be- tweenColts of Notts andColts of York has been postponed or abandoned at the request of the Notts Comm ittee. H arry H ayley (a good all­ round cricketer) and J. C. H irst (a fast round- arm bowler) are to have a good trial, and the Committee expect to be able to play one or two more. The.m atch between Surrey and Y ork­ shire, to comm ence at Sheffield on June 30, will be for the benefit of L. Hall, and every­ one will hope that it will prove the bum per he so thoroughly deserves. Hall, wre hear, has arranged for the Yorkshire X I. to play the following m atch es:—May 9, 10, v. Sixteen of Pudsey and D istrict, at P udsey; May 16, 17, v. Sixteen of H eavy W oollen District, at D ew sbury; May 22, 23, 24, v. Liverpool and D istrict, at Aigburth. Mr. W ostinholm , we are sorry to hear, has been a victim to the prevalent influenza, and has been laid up at hom e for the last eight days. E veryone will wish him a speedy recovery. H e is con­ fident, and cricketers generally will share his confidence, that there will be a great im ­ provement in the status of the Yorkshire Eleven when the statistics of this year have to be compiled. (To be Continued.) Mit. G . H. G o l d n e y , a member of Mr. V er­ non’s team, has returned hom e from India. M r . W . T r ou p carried his bat through the first innings of Agra v. Mr. Vernon’s team, on February 14. T h e test practice of Kent Colts will take place at Blackheath during the week com ­ mencing May 21. T h e annual general m eeting of the London and Suburbau Association will be held at A nderton’s H otel to-m orrow, at 7.30 p.m . NEXT ISSUE, APRIL 17.