Cricket 1890

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. Begistoe'd for5Transmission Abroad. T H U R S D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 1 8 ,1 8 9 0 .PRICE E D W IN JAM E S TY LE R . No name has come more prominently before the public which affects crickefc during the last two seasons than that of the young pro­ fessional who has played such an important E art in the movement which has recently rought Somersetshire at a bound into a leading position in the world of County cricket. Tyler, too, is one of the youngest professionals occupying at all a conspicuous place as an all­ round player. Born at Kidder­ minster on Oct. 13, 1866, nearly a month will haxe to pass before he completes his twenty-fourth year. It ^as at Kidderminster, too, that he learned the rudiments of the game, so that to Worcestershire belongs, at least, all the credit of his early training as a cricketer. Though he had long before proved to be of more than ordinary pro­ mise as a boy player, it was not until the season of 1884 that he had a chance of showing his real capacity. The first severe test of his abilities, in fact, was during that year for the Kidderminster Club. His best show, too, was against a strong team composed mostly of Warwickshire players, and how much his bowling puzzled them may be gathered from the fact that he took seven wickets for fifteen runs, and that every one of these seven batsmen was stumped. Lo­ cated as he was at Kidderminster, directly under the eye of one of the Honorary Secretaries of the Wor­ cestershire Club, his claims were not likely to be overlooked by the County authorities. In the follow­ ing year he was drafted into the Worcestershire eleven and with ex­ cellent results. His most note­ worthy achievement, though, that season was as a batsman. In the match against Herefordshire, Wor­ cestershire at the finish were left with 81 to win with an hour and a half in which to get the runs, and only three wickets to fall. It is not often that the last three batsmen of a side are good for 80 runs, particularly at the end of a game, but Tyler’s hitting was so free, that he contributed 61 while his partner was making 5, and the match was eventually won. As a bowler, too, he showed to consider­ able advantage in 1885, and one of the best of his many good records with the ball was in the match against Warwickshire, wherein he in fact, all but one got from the bat. By the commencement of 1888 he had, of course, completed the probationary period requisite to qualify by residence. He represented Somer­ setshire in the first match of the season, at Whitsuntide, but with only moderate success, taking four Warwickshire wickets at a cost of 80 runs. Still the record of his first year for Somersetshire was quite good enough to establish his position as one of the most useful members of the eleven. Against Essex, at Taunton, he took eight wickets for 23 runs, but this was only one of many instances of effective bowling, and his record at the end of the season, of 74 wickets for an average of ten runs, will show how consistently successful he was with the ball. The marked advance of Somersetshire last year as a cricketing county was in a very great measure due to the success of its three principal bowlers—Mr. S. M. J. Woods, Tyler and Nichols. Of the trio, though, Tyler was by far the most effective. Altogether he delivered over four hundred and seventy overs, and his seventy-four wickets only cost a little over ten runs a-piece. This was one of the best performances outside first-class cricket. It fully established Tyler’s reputation as one of the very best of the new bowlers, a reputation which he has enhanced materially by his exceptional and uninter­ rupted success this year. His record during the summer was so brilliant as to lead to the belief that he has a greater future before him. A heavy season it was, too, for in all the fixtures undertaken by the Somersetshire eleven he sent down just under five hundred overs at a cost of 936 runs, giving a very fine average of a little under eleven runs. In the first match of the year against Staffordshire Nichols and he bowled unchanged through both innings, and they repeated the per­ formance against Hampshire, at Taunton late in August. The fol­ lowing, though, will show Tyler’s best performances at a glance— v. Middlesex, at Lord’s ..........9 wkta. for 181 runs V>Hampshire, at S’hampton... 7 „ 103 „ v. Staffordshire, at Stoke ... 8 „ 31 „ v. Warwickshire, at B’gham...l3 „ 124 ,, v. Leicestershire,at L’cester .. 6 „ 96 „ v. Staffordshire, Pt Taunton... 9 „ 86 „ v. Hants, at Taunton ..........8 „ 86 „ v.Warwickshire, at Taunton...11 ,,50„ v. Middlesex, at Taunton 8 >> 107 „ took nine wickets for 96 runs. His promise as an all-round player by this time had made a good impression even on good judges outside Worcestershire, and an invitation from the Somersetshire authorities at the end of 1885, to qualify for that County by residence, was good enough for him to transfer his allegiance. The season of 1886 found him engaged at Taunton, but illness prevented him from play­ ing much cricket that year. The next summer, however, proved effectually that the estimate of those who were responsible for his engage­ ment on the Somersetshire Ground was fully justified. One innings of his that summer, indeed, was of such an uncommon character as to call for special notice. It was for Taunton against Bridgwater, and of a total of 68, 8 of which were extras, he contributed 59 not out,