Cricket 1891

MARCH 26, 1891 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 85 altogether be five second eleven matches, one with Hertfordshire at the Oval, and two each with Notts and Bedfordshire. Those with Notts will occupy the Bank Holidays, and this will involve a new departure in the shape of a Whit Monday fixture at the Oval. The Sussex programme will consist of home and home matches with Kent, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Lan­ cashire, Yorkshire, Notts, and Hampshire. In addition to these, M.C.C. and Ground will be met at Lord’s, and the two Uni­ versities will play at Brighton, Cambridge on June 18, 19, 20, and Oxford on June 22, 23, 24. The Gloucestershire match on June 8, 9, 10, at Brighton, has been set apart for the benefit of Walter Humphreys, whose all-round cricket, it goes without saying, has been of material service to the County for many years. All the old members of the team will be available, and every effort will be made to introduce new blood into the eleven. Warwickshire’s programme for this year comprises home and home matches with Kent, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Essex, Leicestershire, Cheshire, and Durham, and, failing a visit from the Americans, Surrey. The strength of the eleven will be about the same as last year, as W. A. J. West is the only well-known addition to the ranks. He plays under the birth qualification and is expected to strengthen the “ tail ” considerably. All the old hands are available, except that Mr. H. W. Bainbridge, who is temporarily re­ siding in London, will not be able to play quite so frequently this year. Arrange­ ments have beenmade bywhich Pallett will take part in all matches. Mr. J. E. Hill and Mr. J. B. Wood should be more useful this year, having ripened in ex­ perience, though both are still young. As far as can be seen at present the County will rely upon the following for most of the matches:—Messrs. H. W. Bainbridge, L. C. Docker, H. C. Maul, C. C. Mott, J. E. Hill, H. G. Hill, and J. B. Wood, with Shilton, Pallett, Law, Richards, Lilley, Cresswell, Collishaw, and A. Bird. If these fail to maintain the County's re­ putation in 1891, there will be one or two good new men to fall back upon in 1£92, and others in 1893. The ground is in good condition. A large portion of the centre has been raised and re-laid so that there is every chance of some satisfactory wickets in reserve. The members’ roll of the club exceeds 1,000, and fine weather and a successful season in the field are alone required to make the financial posi­ tion of the club sound. The electric trams, we may add, now serve the County ground, and a new entrance near Cal- thorpe Park has brought it within com­ fortable walking distance of the centre of the town, the whole journey being less than a mile and a half from New Street Station. The Yorkshire Committee have always shown themselves ready enough to add any fixture likely to be of interest to their programme. And certainly the card they have issued for 1891 shows no deterioration either in quality or quantity with those of recent years. Home and home matches have been arranged with the other seven leading counties, as well as with Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Somersetshire. The eleven will also try conclusions once with Cam­ bridge University at Cambridge, and with Durham at Sunderland. In ad­ dition there will be the annual trial of Yorkshire Colts and Notts Colts at Sheffield, and a Colts’ match this year at the end instead of at the commence­ ment of the season. Hall has arranged a match for a Yorkshire eleven to play Liverpool and District at Liverpool on June 19 and two following days. The Scarborough Festival, though not under the direct management of the County Club, is oneofthe most interesting functions in which the Yorkshire cricketers take part. It commences this year on August 27. The Surrey match at Sheffield on June 22 is set apart for L. Hall,who, it will be remembered, was very unfortunate on the same occasion last June in having three days of continuous wet. Mr. Wostinholm in­ forms us that he is trying to get in a home and home match with M.C.C. and G., but nothing definite is as yet arranged. We hear that the eleven will be the same as last year, with Lord Hawke, Messrs. F. S. Jackson and E. Smith, as soon as their several duties will permit. No news has reached us with regard to the probabilities of the coming season from Cheshire, Durham, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, North­ umberland or Staffordshire, though we have received a list of fixtures in the cases of Lincolnshire and Northants. Lincolnshire plays Northumberland, Durham, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire, out and home, a card of ten matches. Northants has precisely the same number of engagements, having to meet Staffordshire, Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, and Hertfordshire each twice. The Marylebone Club, as usual, issues a heavy card, and those interested in the dates of the principal matches will find all information in the list which appears in another part of this paper. Oxford and Cambridge will meet at Lord’s on 29th June and two following days, and Eton v. Harrow at St. John’s Wood on 10th and 11th July. The matches between Gentlemen and Players are fixed for 2nd, 3rd and 4th July at Oval, and 6th, 7th, and 8th July at Lord’s. As already siated, the Scarboro’ Festival, which will consist of matches between I Zingari andGentlemenof England,M.C.C. & G. v. Yorkshire, and North v. South, will commence on August 27. An interesting fixture between Old Etonians and Old Harrovians has also been fixed to take place at the Lyric Club, at Barnes, where two elevens of Surrey Colts will also meet earlier in the season. The public, we understand, will be admitted to these two matches. The ground has been carefully tended during the winter, and those who have the best means for knowing are confident that it will be in good condition. The programme for the Hastings Week, commencing on 10th September, will consist of two matches, North v. South, and Gentlemen v. Players. KENT. F ix t c b e s fo r 1891. M ay 18—B ristol, v. G loucestershire M ay 21—Lord’s, v. M iddlesex June 1—B irm ingham , v. W arw ickshire June 4—L iverp ool, v. L ancashire June 15—L o rd ’s, v. M.C.C June 2-2—G ravesend, v. W arw ickshire June 25—B eckenham , v. M iddlesex July 2—T onbridge, v. Sussex J uly 13—M aidstone, v. Som erset J u ly 23—T onbridge, v. N otts J uly 30, A u g 1—T aunton, v. Som erset Aug. 3—Canterbury, v. G loucestershire Aug. 6—C anterbury, v. Surrey A ug. 10—B rig h ton , v. Sussex Aug. 13—M aidstone, v. Y orkshire A u g. 17—G ravesend, v. L an cash ire Aug. 20—N ottingham , v. N otts A u g. 2 4 -L e e d s, v. Y orkshire Aug. 27—K ennin gton Oval, v. Surrey. All three day m atches. T he second reading of the Bill for the ex­ tension of the Manchester, Sheffield, _and Lincolnshire Railway to London, which is to go through a corner of Lord’s, was carried by a considerable majority of the House of Commons on the 17th inst. A N ew ' Y ork telegram to Reuter yesterday saya;—“ The projected visit of an American cricket team to England has been abandoned, as all efforts to bring together a high-class eleven have failed.” J am es L il l v w h it e ’ s C r ic k e t e r s ’ A nn u al for f891.—1Though later than usual, the twentieth issue of the Annual will be as interesting as ever to cricketers. The Kent Eleven of 1890 furnish the frontispiece, and as the photograph has been well reproduced, the picture is sure to be appreciated. The contents as usual are divided into two parts. The first consists of three articlesdealing with last year’s cricket, a sketch of the season gene­ rally by Incog, a review of the Public School season by an old Oxonian, and an analysis of the Seventh Australian Team by P.C.Standing, with full scores and average. The second part is mainly statistical, and includes the doings of all the principal Counties and Clubs, the Universities and Schools, with the first-class averages, Notes on the Chief Amateurs and Professionals, particulars of the Chief Clubs, and an elaborate summary of the curiosities of he year. M r. C. W . E d w ar d s , 499, Old Kent Road, S.E., has been appointed Hon. Sec. o£ the One and All C.C. in succession to Mr. R. Russell, who has retired after twenty y»ars’ service owing to ill health. S p le n d id P o r t r a it s o f D r . W . G . G ra te , M u. 'V . w. B e a d (the Surrey am ateurl, and M b. A . N , H o r n b y (the L ancashire C aptainl, P rice 6d. each, Size9in . b y 6in. A lso fac simile o f Signatures Sent securely pack ed on receip t o f Seven S tam ps. The T h r ':e fo r Is., p ost free. W right and Co., 41. St. Andrew 's H ill, D octors C om m ons, E.G. Special ph otograph o f <7 G , H earne, carte size, 8d., iabinet, 6d. CR ICKETERS-B est G oods City Agents — b sa r th is Mark.—Advt. P akton &L ester , 94, Q ueen S t ., C heapside . NEXT ISSUE, APRIL 1C.