Cricket 1890

JAN. 27, 18S0. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 8 A SAGAC IOU S UM P IR E . B y A lliso n G. 0 . P a in . M y friend Ducksworth is very much offended with me for publishing the account of his “ extraordinary match ” in Criclcet (Sept. 19th). He says the story is told in sueli a way as to cast doubts upon his veracity, and he doesn’t seem altogether satisfied when I assure him that upon that point no one feels any doubt whatever. To pacify him I have promised to let him tell the following story in his own words, without comment of any kind. “ The game o f cricket, as you are pro- ably aware, is now being extensively played by members of the fair sex. Con­ sequently I was not altogether surprised when Miss Bradley (of Minerva Lodge, Campdon, S.W.) requested me to give her pupils some instruction in the noble art. I don’t fancy she half liked the game herself, and she was very angry with me for talking about ‘ leg hits,’ but still, as she said, it was such a splendid advertise­ ment for the school. A paragraph, headed ‘ Ladies at Cricket,’ actually found its way into an evening paper, and the D .T . had a leader on the subject next m orning! Three new pupils at half-term n consequence! (I ought to explain that I was only engaged to teach drawing as a visiting master, but I freely gave up my valuable time to the good cause.) “ Miss Bradley’s lead was soon followed at the H igh School, where one of the governesses was a sister of three ’Varsity Blues, and was quite competent to under­ take the coaching. After about two months’ practice we arranged a match to be played on our ground— admission by ticket only. Miss Bradley wouldn’t hear of playing on the Common—she feared the outspoken comments of the irres­ ponsible, irrepressible London cad. “ Punctually at ‘2 o ’clock the High School team arrived in a private bus. Proceedings commenced with an explana­ tion and a discussion. The H igh School girls (facetiously nicknamed ‘ Hittites’ ) explained that Miss Hardwicke, their chief bowler, was absent owing to ill- health, and had sent her cousin— also named Hardwicke— to represent her. I was appealed to in my capacity of umpire to decide if this was permissible. I replied in the affirmative, but reminded them that no substitute could be allowed to bowl. Whereupon the Hittites an­ nounced their intention of not playing, and there was a feminine row. Fortu­ nately, however, Miss Bradley appeared on the scene, and at once settled that the Marylebone rules didn’t know anything about it, and that of course Miss Hardwicke could bowl. “ Miss Bradley wouldn’t let us toss for first innings so we drew lots, and the lot fell on the Hittites. Their umpire was an amiable old clergyman who couldn't count five and gave everything ‘ not out ’ for both sides. The only batsman—or bats- woman— on either side worth anything was Hardwicke, who went in first, played with a splendidly straight bat, and made 46 out of a total o f 85. She was most palpably run out when she had made 8, but the benevolent divine, who wasn’t looking in the least,said placidly ‘ not out, m y dear, I think,’ and we never had a chance of getting her out again. “ Only three hours were allowed for the match, and as nearly half-an-hour had been wasted in preliminary discus­ sion, we were left with little more than an hour to get the runs. I directed the girls to slog and force the pace, but Hard- wicke’s bowling was too good for them, and five wickets fell for 20. Then we changed our tactics and began to play for a draw. But it was no good. Hard­ wicke caught the next comer (low down with the left hand) off her own ball, and collared the next two wickets with patent twisters—8 for 25 and nearly half an hour left. Minerva Lodge was in despair —with the sole exception of Miss Bradley, who could not be made to understand how the game was going, and was under the impression that you were always allowed to stay in till you felt tired. It was rather annoying for a girl who had just been bowled first ball, with all her family looking on, to be consoled with the en­ quiry, ‘ very soon tired, m y dear, weren’t you '?’ “ Suddenly an idea flashed across me — only just in time, for the last girl was coming in and the score was only 27. ‘ Play just as you like,’ I whispered, ‘ you can't lose.' She looked at me in astonish­ ment. ‘ What do you mean, Mr. Ducks­ worth ? ’ ‘ Never m ind,’ I said, ‘ it's all right.’ “ The last pair played up well and put on 18 runs. I thought they would have played out time, but Hardwicke managed to catch oneofthem , at about five minutes to five. Total, 45. “ The Hittites rushed into the tent in high glee, and all their fathers and mothers and sisters and brothers after them. I forced m y way through the crowd, touched Haxdwicke on the shoulder and said, loudly enough to be heard by every one in the tent, “ ‘ Are the fellow s in your school good players, Mr. Hardwicke ? ’ He looked at me in astonishment—he turned white and red—hecoaldn’t say a word. “ ‘ What’s the meaning of this ?’ asked half a dozen voices. ‘ “ No fair match,’ I replied, ‘ your sub­ stitute who calls himself Miss Hard- wicke’s cousin—’ “ ‘ I am her cousin,’ said Hardwicke, defiantly. “ ‘ Is a bo y ,’ I continued. ‘‘ There was a sensation, le a n tell you. Miss Ambrose—that was the lady in charge of the Hittites—positively shrieked and went into hysterics, and Miss Bradley was nearly as bad. All the Hittites stoutly protested that they hadn’t the least idea of any such thing, but none of our party believed them. However, it turned out afterwards that they were speaking the truth. When Miss Hard­ wicke recovered she confessed that when she felt ill she was very much disappointed that the High School should not win - you see she fully appreciated her own abilities— so slie promised to write to her cousin at the Abbey Sohool, Becklands, to play in her stead. She didn’t explain that this establishment happened to be a preparatory school for the sons of gentlemen, and that ‘ J. M. Hardwicke ’ was captain of the first eleven. As he had taken the girl’s part in the Christmas theatricals for several years past, she had no fear about his appearance, but judged it best not to communicate the secret to anyone. ‘ ‘ Many people asked me how I penetrated the boy’s disguise. I explained that there was something in his way of throwing up the ball that aroused m y suspicions. It was the action o f a player accustomed to loose sleeves and freedom. But still, I was not altogether certain until he took the last catch, a ball that came hard at him, straight at his face. Then I said to myself, ‘ No girl, I ’m certain,’ and went for h im then and there. In another minute he would have been driving off to the station in triumph. “ Of course, the Hittites apologised and gave us the match. But the trick would never have been discovered if it hadn’t been for me.” (I have much pleasure in certifying that so far from having any doubts about Ducksworth’s veracity, I believe this story to be every whit as true as the last.— A.Gr.O.P.) CR ICKET IN IND IA . C A L C U T T A v. ST. P A U L ’S SCHOOL. This match, comm enced on the Calouttft ground on Dec. 16, ended in their favour by ten wickets. Captain Greenway’s innings was a faultless one, w ithout a single chance, though he hit freely and gave the School as much leather hunting as they wanted. Major Owens also put together a well and carefully played ii, only giving slip one chance. C a l c u t t a . First Innings. R. Gamble, b Strong 16 R. Thomas, b Clarke 8 W. Grave, b Clarke 0 S. K. Douglas, not out .......... Extras... Capt. Greenway, c and b Strong...........118 B. Heaton, b Clarke... 0 Major Owens, c Kenny, b Clarke ... 44 R. Bignell, b Clarke 11 G. F. Alexander, e Strong, b Godfrey 29 Total ..........250 N. Leslie, b Godfree 4 C. B. Watkins, c Fox, b S tron g.................. 6 In the Second Innings Capt. Greenway scored (not out) 9, Major Owens, (not out 7 b 1— Total, 17 S t . P a u l ’ s S chool . First Innings. A. Ansell, b Leslie ......... 2 S. Fox, b L eslie....................12 C, Renny, b Leslie .......... 0 G. Smyth, c Greenway, b Leslie .............................. . 1 L. Fox, b Alexander..........44 1’. Vaughan, b Grave ... 30 H. Strong, c Leslie, b Grave............................... 2 C. Clarke, b Leslie .......... 1 H. Godfree, b Grave ... 10 A. Thomas, not o u t ......... 4 H.Middleton, c Alexander, b Grave ........................ 5 Second Innings. b Heaton ..........11 b Leslie ..........10 c and b Heaton 15 b Thomas..........39 b Alexander ... 0 c Grave, b Thomas..........32 lbw, b Heaton... 14 run oat ..........12 lbw, b H eaton... 0 Extras ... .......... G c Gamble, Grave pxtras... Total ..............,117 Tota ...149 NEXT ISSUE, FEBRUARY 27,