Cricket 1891

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron . Begi^terea2fo^TraTsm^88iraAbroaa. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER, 10, 1891. PRICE 2d. F R E D E R IC K W I L L I A M T A T E . Now that county cricket has become such an institution [writes a well-known student of cricket literature], readers of C r icket must, indeed, have been delighted during the season which has now just ended, so far as first-class inter-county cricket is concerned, to have observed that the once famous old county of Sussex has at last reached the turn­ ing {point in its long lane of ad­ versity, and that the county which had the barren honour and unenvi­ able distinction last year of the “ wooden spoon,” has during the present summer by a combination of talent successfully atoned for those very disheartening achieve­ ments of the past two or three years, this too although not a few of the supporters of Sussex last year feared that Sussex would soon have to be pitted against the leading second-class county to test its claim to be retained amongst the counties of the first water. It is true the County Cricket Council is non est , and its schemes abandoned for a time. Yet it is, indeed, gratifying to realise that Sussex has forced its claims ahead, and has finished the county programme of 1891 in ad­ vance of Yorkshire and Gloucester­ shire. For much of this success Sussex owes a great deal to the batting abilities of George Bean and Mr. W. Newham, the fielding of that incomparable mid-off Mr. W . H. Andrews, the excellent all­ round play of Marlow, Walter Humphreys, Mr. C. A. Smith, Mr. George Brann, H. Butt, and last, but a most important factor in the improvement of Sussex cricket, the most excellent trundling of the sub­ ject of our sketch, Frederick William Tate. Born in Brighton, under the very shade of the parish church of St. Peter, on the 24th of July, 1867, F. W. Tate, like many of the very best professional cricketers of the day, commenced his early cricket when a chorister. It was mainly his ex­ cellent work both with bat and ball for the St. Peter's Club, Brighton, which brought him under the watchful eye of A. Shaw, and subse­ quently before the notice of the Executive of the County Club. Tate made his first appear­ ance for the Colts of Sussex in May, 1885, at the County Ground, Hove, in the fixture Nineteen Young Players of the County with for once out, he made his debut for Sussex v. Hants, at Southampton, in June. In his initial match for Sussex Tate was one of the chief run-getters, his innings of 20 on a diffi­ cult wicket being a weloome contribution. Ten days later he had an experience of the Yorkshire Eleven, and here again his batting in the second innings against the Tykes was fairly good for a youngster, being credited with 26 before he was sent back by Peel. In 1887 Tate played three innings only for his county, his batting average being 15.2 while he was altogether unsuccessful with the ball. In local matches, however, especially for the St. Peter’s Club, at Brighton, he was especially busy, his club average with the bat being 35 runs per innings, while with the ball he was at the head of the average tables with 4.67 for 68 wickets. The following year, 1888, found Tate a regular member of the Sussex County team. His most noteworthy achievement was at Tonbridge against Kent, wherein he did a most marvellous, and certainly one of the most extraordinary bits of bowling in a first-class match. Tate, it will be remembered, was put on to bowl when Kent with only four wickets down had but four runs to get to win. In sixteen balls he actually captured five wickets, all clean bowled, for one run only, Kent winning a most exciting finish by one wicket. Tate’s performance of five wickets for one run is one of the very best on record in first-class cricket, and to find a parallel we must go back to 1875, when in the Gentlemen v. Players match, at the Oval, Mr. George Strachan captured the last five wickets of the Players on the morning of the second day without a run being scored from him. This bowling feat fairly esta­ blished Tate’ s reputation, and gave him, too, a position in Sussex County cricket, and although at the end of the season Arthur Hide came out a long way ahead of the Sussex bowl­ ing with 106 wickets at a cost of 12-103, Tate’s figures were good showing 30 wickets for 19 20. In 1889 Sussex had a very dispiriting season, and naturally the ill-success of the county thoroughly disheartened the members of the team. Moreover in 1890, Tate, owing to business engagements did not participate in a single match. The present season, however, found Tate again a regular member of the Alfred Shaw as captain v. Sussex* and suc­ cessfully too, capturing four wickets for twelve runs. A week prior to this trial, however, Tate, who was only seventeen years of age, by the kind permission of Lord Sheffield, the most noble patron Sussex cricket has ever had, did a splendid performance at Sheffield Park, when, playing for Mr.R.T. Ellis’s Eleven v. Alfred Shaw’s team, he dismissed five bats­ men for 21 runs. In 1886 he again found a place in the Young Players of Sussex match, one of his companions in the Colts of that year being the Gloucestershire bowler F. Roberts. Tate’s form, however, was not con­ sidered good enough for the Sussex Executive to draft him into the County Eleven until the following year. Then after another trial for the Young Players wherein he scored 40