Cricket 1891

a . a . H E A H N E , (MEMBER OE THE KENT COUNTY XI.) M A I S U E A C T U R E R O I 1 C R I C K E T B A T S A N D B A C rick e t, Football, and Lawn Tennis O utfitter (Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation), 140, LEWISHAM HIGH ROAD. LONDON, S.E. “ T o g e th e r jo in e d in c r ic k e t ’s m a n ly t o il . 5’— Byron . Re’i^er'ed^or^rranared3Hio?Abroaa. THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1891. PRICE 2d. HARRY PICKETT. R e p r e s e n t e d by its best eleven, Essex has, of late years, proved its ability to take aplace in the forefront of County cricket. Not the least satisfactory feature, too, in its develop­ ment lies in the fact that it has been in a great measure the work of native players. Among those who have borne their fair share of the labour in bringing Essex to the fore, since, through the enter­ prise of Mr. C. E. Green, the County ground was secured at Leyton, is the burly player whose bowling has contributed so much to the success of the Essex eleven, Harry Pickett to wit. Born at Stratford on March 16,1862, he has been associated, too, with Essex cricket throughout his career. At the early age of sixteen he was, indeed, already in evidence as a bowler as a member of the Forest Gate Alliance, for which in one seasonhe took eightywickets. The next summer he was connected with the Victoria Club, and here, too, he was successful, particularly in the match against Barking, seven of whose wickets he secured at a cost of only 15 runs. It was, however, his engagement at the Beckton Gas Works, a little later, which gave him the first real facilities for improving his cricket. The Beckton Club had, at the time, a strong team, which subsequently furnished fourplayers totheCounty eleven in Kirkman, Curtis, Regan, and Pickett, and it was under its auspices that the last named prac­ tically learned the game. He was in his nineteenth year when an exceptionally good performance for the Beckton Club brought him directly before the notice of some of the leaders of Essex cricket. It was in a match against the Brent­ wood Club, and his bowling, which resulted in the dismissal of seven batsmen for one run, made such an impression that he was selected to represent Essex in its next match against the Incogniti. Tenwickets represented the result of this first trial, and his formwas so satisfactory that he took part in all the County matches of 1881. His early success, too, was very marked, and indeed this summer not only saw him credited with forty-eight wickets for Essex, at an average of fourteen runs, but with no less than 110 wickets for the Beckton Club, at a cost of three runs a-piece. Though engaged with the Liverpool Club in 1882 Pickett continued to do good service in Es ex matches, and his summary for the year showed 56wickets, at an average cost of eight runs. Returning to the Beckton Club in 1883 even greater success awaited him in County crioket. Though his best performance was again t Suffolk, when he took fourteen wickets for 83 uns, he generally came off, so much so that his sixty-eight wickets only cost ten runs a-piece. An engagement with theMarylebone Club at Lord’s, where he still remains, in 1884, brought him srill more prominently before the p blic. Though not so fortunate for the County he did good service with the bat more than o ce, and in both departments was of use to M.C.C., for whomhe bowled 86 wickets and scor d 612 runs for an average of forty. In 1885, too, his best performances were for M.C.C. That summer produced his first hundred, a score of 107 against the London Int rna ional College, and also credited him with one of his best bowling achievements, in clea bowling all ten wickets of Forest School. G nerally in better luck for Essex in 1886, three of his bowlingrecords deserveprominent notice. Against M.C.C. and Ground he got seven wickets for 33 runs, but this was outdone by his success against Hertfordshire and Staffordshire, in which he took six and five wickets respectively, in each case at a cost of seventeen runs. His summary for M.C.C. that season, too, showed no less than 121 wickets. Though again rather expensive in 1887 for his county, some of his records were out of the common. Perhaps his best was early in the seasonwhen he took nine wiokets of Mr. C. E. Green’s Eleven for 67 runs, a good show against a side which included Mr. W.W. Read, Mr. C. I. Thornton, and other dangerous batsmen. A great falling off in his bowling re­ duced Pickett’s County cricket in 1888 very considerably, in fact, he was left out of all the Essexmatches except two, in which he bowled twelve wickets for an aggregate of 132 runs. Even then the Maryle­ bone Club singularly enough found him as useful as ever, and the sum of his work that summer amounted to ninety wickets. A gratifying re­ covery of bowling formwas the out­ come of Pickett’s cricket in 1889 for Essex. The Leicestershire bats­ men found him a terror, indeed, for while in the first innings he took four wickets for twenty, in the second seven of the ten batsmen fell to him at a cost of only fifteen runs. By far his most noteworthy per­ formance, however, was against Surrey, at Leycon, in the middle of August. The result of that match will still be well remembered by many C r ic k e t readers. Essex gained a highly creditable victory by 135 runs, a success mainly due o the exceptionally good bowling of Pickett. Altogether in the match he took twelve wickets for 78 runs, and sopleasedwere the spectators with his brilliant achievement tha a collection amounting to thirty-two pounds was made for him on the ground. Last year his right hand was of even greater use to Essex, and among many excellent ecords, “perhaps, the most noteworthy was