Cricket 1890

SEPT. 25,1890. CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECORD OP THE GAME. 427 FORTY YEARS OF CRICKET. “ The veteran lags superfluous on the stage ” is an axiom which certainly does not apply to the grand old cricketer, Dr. E. M. Grace, who, though now close on the completion of his forty-ninth year, showed in the later matches of the Gloucestershire eleven that he could hit blooming hard, and blooming high too, at times, with the best of them. W. G., in one of the early numbers of his series of interesting sketches under the above heading, gives a graphic account of “ the Coroner ” as he was thirty years ago, which we think will be read with general interest. The M.C.C. v. Gentlemen of Kent match saw him at his best. Kent scored 141 first innings. E. M. went in first for M.C.C. at one o’clock on Friday, and after seeing four wickets go down for 65 runs, he began to hit. H e hit all that day, and was 105 not out at the end of it. A good deal of rain fell during the afternoon, and the wicket was heavy, but he made the ball travel at a great rate. Next morning he was in the same vein, and finished up with 192 not ou t; total, 344. His score was made up of 26 fours, 7 threes, 9 twos, and singles. He broke one bat in Compiling i t ; but L ord Sefton, on behalf of the M.C.C., presented him w ith another. The story of his being out first ball, and Fuller Pilch giving him “ not out*' on the ground that he “ wanted to see the young gentleman bat,” is a myth. In the early part of the innings the bowler appealed for a catch at the wicket, but Pilch unhesitatingly said “ N ot out.” H e was chaffed for his decision afterwards, but said he had no doubt about it. Then laughingly added, “ Perhaps I should not have given him out if I had. I wanted to see Mr. Grace do a bit of hitting.” The second innings of the Kent Gentlemen lasted a little over three hours, E.M . capturing all ten wickets. H e bowled both roundarm and lobs, but was most successful with the latter. I can picture E. M. in his twenty-first year. H e is now on the verge of his fiftieth, with m ore than the average share of energy and activity le ft; at twenty-one he was as restless as a caged hysena, and could field his lobs as well as any player I have met. A very good judge said of him once : “ The only thing that man cannot do in the cricket field i 3 keep wicket to his own bow ling.” ! The fame of E. M .’s doings spread every­ where, and his style of batting was freely criticised. The critics found fault with his cross hitting, and said he was not above hitting a straight b a ll; but all agreed that his hitting was something wonderful. It has always been a mystery to me how he timed the ball so accurately. Good-lengths, half­ volleys, and long-hops were all the same to him . H e got them on the right part of the bat, and neither bowler nor fieldsman could tell the part of the field he would hit to. One hit they m ight expect. Give him a ball a little bit up, about a foot to the off, and they could depend upon it travelling to long- on. Many a fieldsman was placed there for a catch, but very rarely was the ground large enough for that particular hit of E. M.’s, and a rough wicket made little difference to him. Do not imagine he could not play with a straight bat, or a defensive innings if he wanted. I have seen him defend his wicket as correctly and patiently as anyone. From his 20th to his 30th year his eyesight and quickness were exceptional, entirely owing to his temperate and active habits. In 1862, and for a good m any years after­ wards, his scores and averages were certainly rem arkable; and, when we compare them with the doings of the great players of the past and of his own tim e, we can understand the sensation he created between 1862 and 1865. The chapter of “ Forty Years ” in which this appears.too, gives some reminiscences of the father of the Graces and Henry, the eldest of the brotherhood, whose fame is world-wide. Cricketers are never tired of reading of the doings of the Grace family, so that no excuse need be offered for reproducing the following. My father, uncle, and H enry had a unique experience in a m atch of a different kind. Mr. W illiams, a player of U niversity dis­ tinction, who was living at Thornbury, was busy coaching an eleven, but had a very uphill fight. Strive as he m ight, he could not lick his team into match form , and almost gave up in despair. He did not like to cry “ Beaten,” and thought he m ight as well have a try against some of the clubs, about the end of the season, when one or two of their best men were away holiday-keeping. Bristol was the club ch osen; but, unfortu­ nately for Mr. W illiams, H enry and Uncle Alfred had been asked to play, and they were on the ground waiting when the Thornbury contingent appeared. The chances were about 99 to 1 against Thornbury, and the certainty came off on this occasion; for Mr. W illiams and his hopeful lot were ignom ini- ously defeated. W ith more pluck than judgm ent, and doubtless to encourage his disheartened eleven, Mr. W illiam s said at the conclusion of the match : “ The result was a piece cf luck. M y lot could play the same team any day, and I should not mind putting twenty-five pounds on the result.” His lot grinned their appreciation. “ Do you mean it ?” said the captain of the Bristol. “ I d o!” said Mr. W illiam s ; and the match was fixed for a fortnight later, the first week in October, Mr. W illiam s turned up at the appointed date; but, a las! his battalions had deserted him , and a very m ixed lot came in their place. My father had been told of the match, and blamed both Henry and uncle for allowing it to be made, and considered it was nothing short of robbery. They said they had nothing to do with the making of it, and had not a sixpence on the result. My father did not like the look of matters, however, and said he would play for Thornbury and pay part of the money, and had a good m ind to keep it out of Henry’s allowance. “ Understand now and for good, you boys, ” said he, “ I shall not allow you in future to take part in any match which is played for money, as it is introducing a form of gambling into the game, whioh is wrong and must do harm to it.” The Bristol team was even stronger than on the first ocoasion, and could not' keep from laughing at the team opposed to them. Mr. W illiams and my father chatted together, and there was not the slightest sign of dismay on their faces. The remainder of the Thornbury lot kept in a corner by them selves; for they were nearly all strangers, and hardly one of them had been seen in a good match before. Some of the Bristol eJeven suggested to their captain that the m oney should be posted be­ fore the match commenced. H e had no inten­ tion of proceeding to that extrem ity; but the spirit of m ischief prevailing was too m uch for him, and he was compelled to approach Mr. Williams and make the request. Mr. W illiam s put his hand in his pocket and produced notes to the amount, much to the surprise of the Bristol captain, who had to make the hum ili­ ating confession that he had om itted to bring his share. Such a scene as followed has not often been witnessed at the beginning of a match. Mr. Williams and m y father waxed indignatit; and did not hesitate to tell the Bristol captain that his conduct was far from gentlemanly, and unworthy of so m anly a gam e; and they declined to go on w ith the m atch until the amount was produced. The whole team could not raise the sum among th em ; but a few watches and what m oney they had in their pockets were accepted as an equivalent, and deposited in safe hands. Thornbury won the toss. “ W hat shall we do, doctor ? ” asked Mr. W illiams. “ W e may as well bat,” said m y fa th er; “ it is a one-innings match, and I don’t believe they w ill get us out.” The Bristolians did not put m uch value up­ on that assertion. Mr. W illiam s could bat they k n ew ; m y father had excellent defence ; but the others were not worth a dozen runs among them. A nd so it turned out. Mr. W illiams and m y father went in first, and uncle and H enry bowled. - There was no tempting m y father to h it; he had made up his mind to keep up his wicket, and he could have stayed all day if the others had supported him . A t the end of an hour and a half, when Mr. W illiam s was bowled, the score was 60, of which he made 45 in brilliant fashion. My father was not out 12 , and they had run three byes. H alf an hour later the innings was at an e n d ; the total 75, m y father not out 17. The m atch comm enced rather late in the day, and, with the time taken for lunch, it was 3.30 when B ristol began to bat. The light, they knew, would go about 5.30 at that time of the year, but it was possible to play until 6 . H owever, with the exception of m y father, there was not one of the Thornbury lot had ever been known to bowl, and it was thought the match would be over by 5 o’clock. It was over earlier than that. My fattier bowled the first over, and a good one it w a s; not a run scored off it. Laughing was general when Mr. W illiam s commenced at the other end. It was the first m atch he ever bowled in, and I believe the last. He fell back on the old, old resource when everything else has failed—underhand grubs ! There was not quite so much laughing at the end of the over, when he had clean bowled one m an, and the scoring-sheet was still blank. Snow had fallen during the day, and the wicket cut up badly. My father bowled as steadily and patiently as he had batted ; and Mr. W illiam s slung in his grubs, and got a wicket nearly every other over. The match was all over by 4.45, and Bristol had scored something less than 50 runs. To say that the Bristol X I. were laughed at, is to express very faintly what took place. After the fifth wicket had fallen for a total of 30 runs, laughing and chaffing began ; and when the tail of the team walked to the wicket in a state cf sheer funk, and walked back again looking sheepish and m ightily ashamed, no language could do justice to the scene. Mr. W illiam s and m y father preserved a dignified calm, quietly pocketing the watches, etc-, and allowed the rest of the team and the crowd to do the chaffing. No eleven ever left a cricket field with hearts so sad and pockets so em pty as the Bristol X I. did on that occasion. It took them a little time to redeem the watches and hold up their heads again amongst the neighbouring clubs; and to m ention Thornbury and Mr. W illiams to them was considered a gentle invitation to try a contest of another kind. Uncle Pocock and Henry, when they got back to Downend, had a royal reception ; and it was many a long day before they heard the last of that match. If m y father or m other caught any of us boasting, out would com e the story of Bristol v. Thornbury, with its moral of “ pride goes before a fall.” C b ic k e t C h a t f o r 1830.— (Seventh Year of Issue), enlarged and improved edition, post free 1/2. Containing in addition to Fifteen Portraits and Biographies, a Special Cabinet Portrait of M r . J o h n S h u tb b , the Surrey captain, together with groups of the following counties; Notts, Lanca­ shire and Gloucestershire. To be had at the Office of this paper, of all Booksellers, or W, H. Smith &Sons’ stalls.— A d vt. NESTnISSUE, 'OCTGBEK ’ -80.