Cricket 1891

48G CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECORD OP THE GAME. DEC. 31, 1891 CRICKET A T HARROW SCHOOL. [ R e p r i n t e d e t P e r m i s s io n p r o m t h e English Illustrated Magazine f o r A p r i l . ] B y P h il i p H . M a r t in e a u . T h e first authentic mention of oricket amongst the Harrow School archives was in 1771, though as, according to Horace Walpole, the game was played at Eton some forty years earlier, it was probably played at Harrow at the same time. Opinions differ as to when the first bona fide contest botween the two schools took place. According to a pencil note in an old Etonian book presented lately to the Vaughan Library, a match was played in 1800. It is also said that in 1805 Eton gained an easy victory over Harrow on the old Dorset Square ground; but un­ fortunately no authorised account of the match has ever been found. Further doubt, too, is thrown upon the matter by the fact that according to Mr. John Lloyd, the Harrow captain, Byron was never in the School Eleven, while he certainly played in the 1805 match. When Lord Eessborough, better known as Fred. Ponsonby, mentioned the matter to Lord Palmerston, who was at Harrow at the time, he replied, “ Yes, it is true they beat us, but we beat them another time.” As the Pavilion at Lord’s was burnt in 1832, with all its records of cricket, there will always be a controversy, until, per­ haps, some private papers throw light on the subject. Anyhow there were several irregular contests about that time. Until 1803, cricket at Harrow was played on the brow of the Hill, on the side leading from Harrow to Sudbury and London. In that year an Act of Parliament was passed allowing the enclosure of Roxeth Common, where the school cricket has since been played. It was not, however, till 1832 that the sole privilege to play cricket on the common was conceded by the inhabitants to Harrow School. Between 1803 and 1818 there is no record of cricket at Harrow attaining a high standard; but we know from the evidence of those under Dr. Drury, that prior to 1803, “ amusements were not attended to, and that the cricket-ground was bad.”* With the exception of P. J. Vigae, who will be remembered for his wicket-keeping in 1818, no Harrovians attained any special fame during that period. It scarcely seems possible, how­ ever, that the game could have acquired t'lat popularity which Dr. Merivale, Dean of Ely, claims for it in 1823-24, without some years of careful practice. In that year the late Dr. Trench, Archbishop of Dublin, Charles Wordsworth, Bishop of St. Andrew’s, Perry, late Bishop of Mel­ bourne, Oxenden, Primate of Canada, and Cardinal Manning, played in the sixth- form game. Charles Wordsworth, the Harrow captain, who went to Harrow in 1820, writing to a correspondent this year, says :— “ The old ground whioh we played upon was too much upon a slope, and when I was * An Old Harrorian of 1800. Harrow Gazette, Dec. 3,1863. one of the ‘ Club Keepers ’ and head of the eleven, a considerable sum was spent in endeavouring to improve it, and we succeeded in levelling a sufficient space for a tolerably good wioket. Soon after our regular matoh with Eton had begun (in 1822) we were provided with our first ‘ professional, ’ from ‘ Lord’s, ’ through the kindness of Mr. Andersoo, an elder brother-in-law of Manning (now Cardinal) who was one of my last eleven. (I played in four against Eton, 1822-1825) Mr. A. undertaking to pay all expenses. ” Between 1822 and 1832, Harrow could not keep on anything like even terms with her opponents. Lord Bessborough, who has watched every impovement or deterioration in Harrow cricket since 1828, and has taught good play amongst the boys for more than half a century, remembers perfectly all the different players at Harrow, both in his boyhood and in our own time, and their respective merits; and, while acknowledging that the condi­ tion of the ground, and the style of bowl­ ing sixty years ago render all comparison impossible, yet contends that the scientific principles of batting were known, and put in practice, before he left Harrow. Lord Bessborough attributes a good deal of the knowledge he has since imparted to others to his association, when at Harrow and Cambridge, with Mr. Bence-Jones, afterwards the famous physician. Mr. Bence-Jones gave up cricket for work at the University, but has influenced the game for all time both at Harrow and elsewhere. During the University career of Lord Bessborough and the late Mr. Robert Grimston, better known as “ Bob Grimston,” correct style and patient play were imparted to Harrovians by Mr. Henry Anderson, and it was in his time, in the year 1843, when the school only contained eighty-seven boys, that the Harrow eleven beat both Eton and Winchester. These victories were mainly owing to the left-hand bowling of Gathorne, and William Nicholson’s wicket-keeping. Mr. Anderson’s mantle descended upon the shoulders of Lord Bessborough and “ Bob Grimston,” to whom much of the success of Harrow cricket is due. Every Harrovian, past and present, thanks them for the great sevices they have rendered the old school, and for the care and patience with which they have watched the cricket career of the smallest Shell boy, to the most promising of the sixth-form game. As to Mr. Grimston’s services, I cannot do better than give Lord Bessborough’s tribute to the memory of his old friend :— “ There have been times when most men would have thought it hopeless to try and keep up a high standard of play. At one time there were under one hundred boys in the school, and very few of the age and size to make anything like a school eleven. But he always kept up the boys’ spirits and inculcated steady play and good cricket, and indulged himself in the hopes of what players they would make another year. ” * It will be remembered that “ Bob ” Grimston never played at Lord’s for Harrow. His omission from the eleven is thus accounted for by Mr. R. Broughton1 who, being the only boy left of the 1833 eleven, had to select a new team :— “ Grimston at that time was a very fair bat but a bad field, and I had my doubts whether * Life of B. Orimston, by F. Gale, p. 172. NEXT ISSUE JANUARY 28 he ought to be in the eleven. He was a friend of mine and I did not like to hurt his feelings, so I asked him to help me in making up an eleven. Coinciding in opinion with his oaptain Mr. Grimston left himself out. To the last he always contended that he had not been good enough. ” * While Lord Bessborough, and I. D. Walker, also an Old Harrovian, and Mr. M. C. Kemp (one of the Assistant Masters at the school) continue to watch over Harrow cricket, the game is scarcely likely to decline or the old spirit to die out. Before proceeding to give a detailed account of Harrow games, the following story of an old Harrovian shows the blind reverence with which a boy, who excels in cricket, is looked upon at Harrow. Among the best fast bowlers ever at Harrow, was F. C. Cobden, who, when at Cambridge, bowled the last three wickets of the Oxford eleven in three consecutive balls, and thus won the match. A smaller Harrow boy being asked by his father, whether he was any relation to the great Cobden replied indignantly, “ He is the great Cobden.” There is no doubt about the popularity of cricket at all public schools, but at Harrow it is at the present time un­ precedented. Out of a school of six hundred boys nearly all wish to play. Unfortunately there is not sufficient room on the cricket fields known as the Upper and Lower Grounds, to permit of this being done, in spite of the addition a few years ago of a large piece of ground to the Lower Field, the munificent gift of the late Mr. Grimston. Any one, however, visiting Harrow on a half holiday in the summer term, will see every corner of the Lower Ground occupied by boys playing in their various games. A valuable piece o f ground in the north side of the Upper Field has quite recently been purchased by Mr. W. Nicholson, who kept wicket for the school in 1843, and by him let to the school at a small rent, for the purpose of providing a practice ground for boys unable to find room elsewhere. On half-holidays (Tues­ days, Thursdays and Saturdays) in the summer term, between the hours of two aud six, there are seven school games going on. The “ Sixth Form ” game, composed of the best twenty-two boys in the school, from whom the School Eleven which is to play at Lord’s is selected. The “ First Fifth ” game, comprising the second best twenty-two boys in the school, all of whom are in tbeir House Eleven. The “ Second Fifth ” game, made up of the third best twenty-two boys in the School. The “ Third Fifth ” game, and this year owing to the increasing demand to play cricket an additional “ Third Fifth ” game has been introduced. The “ Remove ” game, and the “ Shell ” game. The School Eleven at Harrow are alone entitled to wear white flannels and the school colours, and the next eleven, which together with the Eleven, make up the “ Sixth Form ” game, are given their Sixth Form coats (dark blue, trimmed with white braid). The rest of the school wear grey flannel trousers, plain blue * Ibid, p. 168.