Cricket 1890

52 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. APRIL 17, 1890. MR. VERNON’S TEAM IN INDIA. (B y a C r ic k e t e r .) F rom the Calcutta Englishm an. N ow that Mr. V ernon’s team of English cricketers have concluded their tour, all lovers of cricket are sure to look forw ard for a summary of the m atches, with the averages. This is the first visit an English team has paid to India, and we hope now that Mr. Vernon, a true lover of cricket, has started it, that an E nglish team w ill visit us annually. Judging from the crow ds of Europeans and N atives that attended the matches, we hope their visit w ill go a long way to improve Indian cricket, and we trust that the next tim e an E nglish team com es out it will find us m uch improved. There is a great lack of interest in cricket in India, and this is the m ore surprising as we have among us some first-class cricketers who have gained reputations at home, both at the public schools and universities. If we take a few instances, Tabor, of Ceylon, was one of the best bats at Eton and Oxford, and played for the Gentlem en v. Players in 1874. F . D . Gaddum, Bombay, was one of the best public school bowlers in 3878, and played in the U niversity contest of 1882 for Cambridge. A . S. Pereira, also of Cam bridge University, played in some of their trial matches. C. E. Greenway, a splendid bat, was Captain of the Cheltenham Eleven in 1882, and was by far the best bats­ man in his college that year. E , E. Steel, a very good all-round man, and a brother of the great A . G., has on several occasions played for Lancashire. A . Newn- ham , o f the B om bay Staff Corps, has done excellent service for Gloucestershire, and played for the Gentlemen v. Players at the Oval in 1887. E . G. W ynyard, perhaps the best bat in India, and also a very fair bowler and wicket-keeper, plays for Hampshire, and has on several occasions done some tall scoring. W . Troup, of Gloucestershire, is a fine young bat, and has done verj' well against the E nglish team. C. M itchell, of the Crystal Palace, is a splendid left-hand batsman—the hero of the highest score on the Calcutta C.C. ground, 246. Besides these there are a host of other splendid batsmen. Of the m en in M r. Vernon’s team, the captain is perhaps in his present form the best batsman. H e is a fine dashing bat, and has on several occasions done service for the Gentlemen v. the Players. H e did a fine perform ance with T. C. O’Brien for Middlesex against Yorkshire this last season, adding 112 in the first innings and 83 in the second, in the latter both being not out. 'We may safely say that L ord Hawko and J. G. W alker are the tw o m ost scientific batsmen in the team. L ord Hawke, a fine bat, plays for Yorkshire, but did not play for the team till late in the tour. J. G. Walker was some years back the best bat at Oxford, but has unfortunately fallen off w ithin the last tw o years. Still, on his day, he is a sound and dangerous bat, and a magnificent field at point, often bringing rounds of applause from the spectators. H e plays for Middlesex, and has represented, the -Gentlemen against the Players. H . Philipson, the Oxford captain of last year, is the best amateur wicket-keeper in England. H e is besides a fine bat, often scoring when others fail to do so. A. E . Gibson, the best all-round man in the team, is a splendid bat, always m aking runs, and also a very good right-hand bowler. Did some good performances for his club, the Incogniti, last season, and has also played for Lancashire. E. R. DeLittle, of Cambridge U niversity, came out with the reputation of the best bowler in the team, but was not successful in the earlier fixtures. A very fair bat, J. H . J. H ornsby has proved him self to be the best bowler in the team, and has done some very good perform ances with the ball. A fair bat, but unfortunately hurt him self, and did not take part in the Agra and Lucknow matches. Plays for the Free Foresters and the M .C.C. F . L. Shand, of Ceylon, played for Mr. Vernon’s team in the earlier fixtures. A splendid fast left hand bowler. D id a fine performance last year for the Gentlemen of England against Oxford University, taking six wickets for 32 in the first innings of Oxford, and two for 32 in their second. Played for H arrow and Middlesex. A. E . Leatham, the slow left-hand bowler of the team, has not fulfilled expectations. A very fair bat, and plays for the Gentlemen of England against the Universities. E . M. Lawson-Sm ith, a very steady and reliable bat, was of great use to the team, scoring very consistently. Plays for the F ree Foresters. G. H Goldney, also of the Free Foresters Club, came out with the reputation of being an all-round man, but has only assisted the team in batting. T. K. Tapling and the H on. A . M. Curzon have played in a few matches for the Eleven. Mr. Vernon and his comrades deserve the highest praise for the w ay they have acquitted themselves, in spite of their m isfortune in having one or other of their best m en always absent from the team. Their first m atch against A ll Ceylon ended in an easy victory for the visitors by an innings and 77 runs. Of the 350 made b y the visitors, Mr. Vernon was responsible for a really splendid innings of 128, without a blemish. In the second innings of Ceylon, Gibson took six wickets for 29 runs. The second match, against the Colom bo team, proved an easy victory for the Englishm en by tw o innings to one, Mr. Vernon again playing a fine innings of 75. H ornsby in the first innings took six wickets for 27, and Gibson seven for 36 in the second. The third matoh, against the Calcutta Cricket Club, drew crowds and also ended in a victory for Mr. Vernon’s team by nine wickets. C. E. Greenway, the Bengal crack, played a m agni­ ficent innings of 130 not o u t ; going in first he carried his bat right through the innings, and at the end scored very fast. It is a m atter of regret that this fine batsman should have failed in his several attempts against Mr. V ernon’s team after this score. Gibson made a fine score of 100, and W alker one of 49. W e fancy in the days of G, L. Fagan, C. S. Hoare, and Sir G. Campbell, they would have found the Calcutta team a harder nut to crack. T he fourth match ended in a two innings defeat for the Bengal team, in spite of som e good cricket b y Messrs. Dickson and Collen in both innings, Heckle also playing well in the second innings. F or the E nglish­ men Vernon 66, Philipson 65, and Lawson Smith 54, did good service. Gibson secured five Bengal wickets fo r 25 runs. The fifth match, v. The Behar W anderers, ended in a draw, and it is hard to say how the match would have ended, as Pereira was in fine form with the ball. H is bowling, six wickets for 26 runs, against such form idable batsmen was very praiseworthy. The sixth match against the N orth-W est Provinces was won after a grand struggle by Mr. V ernon’s team, w ith three wickets to spare. The scoring in this m atch was very low , the ground being bum py and several batsmen being caught off bum py balls. W . Troup played very well for 20 not out and 26, H orne and Batem an- Champain for 51 and 36, respectively. Lawson- Sm ith, Gibson, and H ornsby did well, but got no assistance from the rest of the team . W aterfield, for the N .W .P., took nine wickets for 54, and H ornsby for Mr. V ernon’s team, 7 for 30 in the first innings. T he seventh m atch was won by the Englishm en, against North India, with six wickets to spare. For N orth India, K. Marsham played tw o dashing innings of 60 and 25, Mackenzie tw o of 22 and 32, Pereira two of 18 and 32, and W aterfield one of 58. F or the visitors Mr. Vernon batted w ell in both innings, making 38 and 39 ; Mr W alker played a perfect innings of 109, which included 22 fours. The eighth match, v. Bombay, ended in an easy victory for the Englishm en by an innings and some runs to spare. Messrs. W alker and Gibson scored 57 and 73 respectively, and H ornsby made 26 in addition to taking in all thirteen wickets for 76 runs. The ninth m atch, against the Parsee Eleven, resulted in a defeat for the E nglish team by four wickets. Great credit is due to the Parsees for their victory, but undoubtedly the stronger team did not win. T he visitors, w ith the exception of Mr. V ernon, played wretched cricket, and had the captain not been run out in the second innings the m atch m ay have ended differently. The tenth match, v. Lucknow and District, is noticeable for Lord Hawke’s first appear­ ance during the matches, and for Mr. H ornsby’s absence from the team. M r. Goldney was not well enough to play either. The English team made a wretched exhibition in their first innings, and were all out for 79, to which Lucknow replied w ith 125, thanks to some good cricket by Captains Beresford and Cockburn, who m ade 43 and 38 respectively. In their second attempt, however, the English­ men pulled themselves together, and made the very respectable score of 229 (Lord Hawke 45, W alker 68, Gibson 32, and Philipson 47 not out). D e Little and Gibson proved too much for their opponents in the second innings, and dismissed them for a poor score of 60, thus winning the m atch by 123 runs. The eleventh m atch, against Agra, resulted in an easy victory for Mr. V ernon’s Eleven by an innings and 66 runs. Lawson-Sm ith distinguished him self by playing sterling cricket, m aking the fine score of 117, Philipson made 65, Lord Hawke 34, and D e Little 31. Mr. Troup carried his bat right through the first innings of Agra for 59, a grand display. The tw elfth match, against an Eleven of N orthern India, resulted in a draw in favour of the English team in spite of some grand cricket by Messrs. W aterfield and Troup for North India. The form er hit in grand style for 98, and the latter played in his usual taking style for 42. Of the 304 m ade by the Englishm en, Hawke made 27, Lawson-Sm ith 54, Vernon 33, W alker 38, Philipson 39, and Vizard (an outsider) 44. The thirteenth and last match, against the Punjaub, ended in an easy victory for the English team by an innings and 46 runs. The Punjabis made 156 in their first innings, of which sum Captain C. J. Mackenzie was responsible for 62 not out, and F. Quinton for 39. The Englishm en, who were without Messrs. V ernon, D e Little, H ornsby, and Goldney, made 325. The chief contributors to this large score were Lord Hawke 65, Gibson 55, W alker 81, Bonham Carter, R.E ., 45, and J. Waterfield, 31st Punjaub Infantry, 43. Gibson took four wickets for 41 runs, and W aterfield four for 48. A scratch game was played against the Lancers at Meerut, and terminated in an easy victory for the Englishm en by 70 runs. Vernon’s X I. 169, the Lancers 99. From the averages it will b3 seen Lord Hawke is first by a decim al of a run, and also that in all six batsmen have averages of over 20 runs. Appended are the batting averages :— BATTING AVERAGES. Times Most in Inns.not out. Runs.an Inns.Aver. Lord Hawke............. 5 ... 0 ... 171 ... 65 ... 34.2 G. F. Vernon.............15 ... 1 ... 478 ...128 ... 34.14 J. G. Walker............. 18 ... 1 ... 515 ... 109 ... 30.29 A. E. Gibson..............18 ... 1 ... 393 ...100 ... 23.11 E.M.Lawson-Smithl6 ... 0... 304 ... 117 ... 22 75 H. Philip>on ...17 ... 2... 330 ... 65 ... 22.0 G. H. Goldney ...10 ... 2 ... 138 ... 47 ... 18.25 E. R. De Little ...14 ... 3 ... 174 ... 31 ... 15.81 F. L Shand............... 6 ... 3 ... 36 ... 13 ... 12.0 J. H. J. Fornsby...l3 ... 1 ... 139 ... 37 ... 11.58 A. K. Leatham ...16 ... 0 ... 149 ... 32 ... 9.31 T. K. Tapling ... 7 ... 0 ... 43 ... 20 ... 6.14 Hon. A. M. CurzonlO ... 4... SO... 9*... 5.0 The following also played forthe English team. Capt. RawlinsonO—7, Capt. Maxwell 10, Hughes 9*—4, R. D. Vizard 44, Hilliard 5, A. John 5, J. Waterfield 43, Bonham Carter 15, Bateman-Cham- pain 8. In bowling Hornsby has the largest number of wickets for the smallest amount of runs. Hornsby has taken in all 69 wickets, ♦Gibson 07, De Little 49, Leatham 26, Shand 12, Lawson-Smith 2, and Waterfield 4. * Gibson 68.