Cricket 1891

JUNE 25,1891 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME; 2C7 A va lu ed correspondent located in Brighton, and one of the keenest students of cricket lore, writes:— Doubtless several readers of C r t c k e t have ere this pointed out that Mr. Harold A. Tate, of St. Edmund’s College Old Hall, Ware, is incorrect in stating in your last issue that Mr. H. B. Steel scored a century innings in his initial match for Lancashire, as Mr. Steel played once or twice for Lancashire ere he scored 100 runs against Surrey at the Oval in 1884. Possibly it will be interesting to many readers of C r i c k e t if I give a few of the big scores that have as yet been hit on our famous run-getting ground at Brighton, a pitch known to many as a “ batsman’s paradise,” and the reproduction of the “ big innings” will be a fitting sequel to the splendidly con­ tested “ record match ’’—Sussex v. Cambridge University—which terminated last week. It was the ground whereon the prince of Aus­ tralian batsmen, Mr, W. L. Murdoch, scored 286 in 1882, the same whereon Dr. W . G. Grace scored 215 for Gloucestershire v. Sussex in 1888, and the selfsame green sward on which Arthur Shrewsbury scored 200 in 1884, and William Gunn 205 in 1887. The same ground where the famous left-hand batsman, the late Mr. F. Murray Lucas, hit 215 for Sussex v. Gloucestershire in 1885, and whereon the hero of the Cambridge and Sussex match last week, Mr. George Brann, hit an innings of 219 against Hants in 1885. It is the ground where, in 1871, the turf brought from the famous old Brighton Brunswick ground by the sea was relaid, aud the sub-soil being a stiff brick clay, the pitch dries very fast, even after continuous rain, so that it is not sur­ prising that, as a rule, the batsmen score heavily. Many cricketers, too, have even now a “ refreshing memory ” of the old Brighton ground known as “ Gausden’s,” which was opened in 1848, and where for twenty-three seasons the most celebrated players of the day batted, bowled, and fielded. The ground whereon W.G. scored 170 in 1864, when scarcely sixteen years of age, and the same whereon the Champion scored 217 in old John Lilly- white’s benefit match in 1871. The ground, too, where the veteran Tom Hearne hit 100 runs in 80 minutes for M.C.C. in 1862, aud where the smiter, Mr. O. I. Thornton, scored 156 (not out) for the Gentlemen of Kent in 18G9. T he latest intelligence shows that the arrangements for the second visit of English Amateurs to India are progressing quite as satisfactorily as those most interested could wish. The team—I learn on the best authority—will leave London in the P. and O. Steamer “ Peshawar ” on Sept. 10, and go straight to Bombay, where they are to play their first match on Oct. 12 and 13 against the Bombay Gymkana. Mr. Vernon informs me that Lord Hawke, Messrs. F. S. Jack­ son, W. D. Llewelyn, J. H. J. Hornsby, andC.D. Pennant have already promised to accompany him. There will, however, be no difficulty in completing the team, as I have the names of several other good players who, though not certainties, in all probability will join the party. The Times of Ceylon states that, in all like­ lihood, Mr. Vernon’s team will play three matches in that Island, two at Colombo against All Ceylon, the other against the local Club, and one at Kandy. Mr. S. M. J. W ood 3, I hear, is staying at Brighton, this week, to obtain all the benefits of the sea air as well as of a complex rest in anticipation of the Inter- University match. Mr. N. C. Cooper, who has batted with some success in recent matches, has, after all, missed his “ blue,” and Mr. McGregor’s choice has fallen on the following nine to assist him against Oxford on Monday : Messrs. S. M. J. Woods, F. S. Jackson, E. C. Streatfeild, D. L. A. Jephson, R. N. Douglas, A. J. L. Hill—all old choices, Messrs. W. J. Rowell, G. J. Y. Weigall, Seniors, and C. M. Wells, Freshman. The eleventh place will not be filled up till Monday morning, and will rest between O. P. Foley and W. Martin Scott, on the former if the wicket is dry, on the latter if the ground is soft, and likely to favour his bowling. T he Oxford eleven as far as I can hear has been definitely settled, and will consist of Messrs. M. R. Jardine (captain), Hon. F. J. N. Thesiger, W. D. Llewelvn, E. Smith, L. C. H. Palairet, G. L. Wilson, H. Bassett, and G. F. H. Berkeley, of last year’s team, and H. D. Watson, A. J. Boger, and W. H. Brain, new choices. Of the ten cer­ tainties on the Cambridge side, Marl­ borough and Dulwich can each claim two, Harrow, Charterhouse, Wellington, Brighton, and Uppingham each one. The tenth, Mr. Jephson, comes from a private school. Of the Oxford eleven, two are Old Wykehamists, the Captain comes from Fettes, two are Old Cliltonians, and of the others five come from Eton, Har­ row, Repton, Brighton, and Wellington respectively. Mr. Bassett does not hail from a public school. A comparison be­ tween the two elevens is all in favour of Cambridge, and although it must be added that Oxford have been singularly unlucky in never being able to get quite their full strength together, still on paper, they do not seem to have more than, at their best, a very outside chance, if the luck is at all fairly distributed. Although the eleven have not been remarkably suc­ cessful, still, Cambridge has a formidable side, and it will be a great surprise if they should disappoint their supporters next week. I t is a matter for regret that the Sussex County Ground at Brighton just failed on Saturday to secure what is termed a world’s record in the highest aggregate for a first-class match. As it was, though as many as 1402 runs were made in the four innings, the total fell 9 short of the number scored in the Inter­ national match between New South Wales and Victoria, at Sydney, in 1882, when W . L. Murdoch scored 321, falling short of W. G. Grace’s, the best individual score in a first-class match by 23 runs. Still, a strict analysis would be in favour of last week’s performance, as the 1402 runs were the outcome of three days’ cricket, while the Inter-Colonial extended into a fifth day. The most curious feature oi the game was the fact that each of the four innings showed a total averaging between 314 and 366, and that in three of them there was only a differ­ ence of 7 runs, from 359 the lowest, to 366 the highest. Not one of the least note­ worthy incidents, too, was that in a game of such exceptionally high scoring there should only have been one individual con­ tribution of three figures (Mr. G. Brann’s second score of 161), and that quite at the end of the match. Tears, years, long ago, In the ages gone by, Did men walk to and fro, When the summer was nigh 1 What to do ? where to go ? Did they pine, did they sigh For an undefined something called Cricket ? Man longs for some light In the midst of life’s fray, In his dreaming by night, In his dreaming by day ; And, methinks in their plight Our forefathers would pray For an undefined something culled Cricket. As the summer speeds on, All too quickly, alas ! When the sunlight has shone, And to winter we pass— Father Christmas, begone ! I will drink up my glass To the well-defined something called Cricket. Yet a sadness I feel, And a pity I know, As in dreaming I steal Back to days long ago ; As to you I reveal What I dream of their woo, Wnen they longed for a something called Cricket. G. W. H a u d y . A tten tion may not unfittingly be called, just now, to the recent fine bowling of Dr. W. G. Grace, who, in the last two first-class matches he has appeared in, has been performing in a style worthy of his very best days. Although just lately “ The Master” in three innings only scored four runs, he has made more than amends for his failure with the bat by his bowling, which, for tho two occasions in question, reads as follows :— For M.C.C. & G. v. O. M. B. W. Kent ......................... 47 4 15 80 9 For Gloucestershire v. Middlesex................... 42.2 10 124 9 In addition to these fine performances with the ball, W.G. played a good innings of 38 in the second innings of the match Middlesex v. Gloucestershire, at Lord’s, on Tuesday. T h e intelligence of George Parr’s death will come with a shock even to those to whom he was hardly, excepting in name, even a memory of the past. One of my earliest recollections of cricket was when, as a small boy, I saw George Parr, then engaged as a professional at Harrow, make one of those magnificent leg-hits— in which he was without a rival—clean out of the School ground. From 1845, when, as a youngster of eighteen, he first played for Njtts, until the middle of the sixties he was quite in the forefront of cricket, and, indeed, for a long time, he had no superior as a batsman. As a leg- hitter he will be particularly remembered, but was a strong powerful hitter all round,