Cricket 1891

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1891 “ T o ge th e r jo ined in c r ick e t ’s m a n ly to il.”— Byron, No. 2 6 4 . VO L . X . Registered for Transmission Abroad. PRICE 2d. ROBERT MOORHOUSE. T hough they did not fully realise the hopes excited by their excellent all-round form in the early matches, the Yorkshire Eleven of 1890 finished the season in a way whioh gave indication of a much better show in the near future. County cricket, now-a-days, requires such perfect discipline, and the competition has of late become so fierce that to attain to any con­ tinuous eminence is essentially a question of the survival of the fittest. Consequently, lasting suc­ cess will depend in a great measure on the systematic introduction of young and active players to replace those of riper years immediately the muscles begin to grow stiff and the eye to lose its quickness. Just at present, though the County is fortunate in having two or three veterans who can always be relied upon when runs are most wanted or require to be kept down, the most hopeful sign in the outlook of York­ shire Cricket is the fact that the majority of the Eleven consist of youngsters, who are, most of them, capable of greater things with in­ creased judgment and experience, f;or amongthe more recent recruits would it be possible to find one of much greater promise than the professional (Moorhouse) wnom Huddersfield can claim as in every way its own. Born at Berry row, a suburb of that Borough, on September 7th, 1866, Robert Moor- ouse has spent the whole of his life J S u 1! to© township. His early ncket was learned, indeed, inside and he is still an active i, ®mker of the club which first -i1*111into note- The Armi- tro? . n °8e C.C. provides the local c ric k e tL ^ 0™ - f°r ~ the y0U-ng in such a style as to warrant a recommenda­ tion to the management of the Yorkshire County C.C. with a view to a trial in a higher class of cricket. That he came out of tne ordeal well goes without saying, considering that he was promoted to a place in the York­ shire Eleven for the first County match of 1888. His first appearance, on May 14th, at Sheffield, indeed, was a singularly successful Kroun<l for the „ ' ft lions of Berry Brow, and it -J n. *8 service that Moorhouse & ,ed' As early as his Sixteenth year he had began to anti i capacity above the average, ho aa a bowler, as well as a batsman, ? every sign of unusual promise. It chaiwo however, until 1887 that he had any or,I f °\ proving his undoubted ability. The tnat a«.n oaD?e tohini in the Cup Ties of in th« 80 wel1 did he utilise it that aeerfii>tt7e 1? es he waa oreditea with an E f t 0! °yer 200 runs. Two of his scores 58) ii) that competition, too, ^yere got one. He oould hardly have expeoted to have done much better, for his was not only the highest aggregate of the twenty-two Colts, but in addition he did a good performance with the ball, in taking four wiokets of the County Eleven at a oost of only 11 runs. His promise, too, as a batsman he upheld a fortnight later at Cambridge, for the Yorkshire Eleven against thp University, On this pooasion also he was the chief contributor in the first innings, and his score of 42 was of the higher merit, considering that Mr. S. M. J. Woods bowled in his most effective style. A succes­ sion of slow wickets, however, handicapped him heavily during the greater part of the season and his performances of any note were few. Far and away his best show was against Gloucestershire, at Clifton, one, indeed, of several good displays in a run- getting match. Mr. vV. G. Grace, for the third time in his career, made his name famous with two scores of over 100, and Hall, on the other side, was in a part of all three days, carrying his hat through the innings for 129, out of a total of 461. A more complete contrast oould hardly have been furnished than in the different styles of Hall and Moor­ house. While the former was at the wickets more than seven hours, the latter, who went in tenth, made his first 70 in a few minutes over the hour. His 86 was indeed as fine a display of all-round hitting as was seen during the season. The summer of 1889 failed to realise the expectations formed on Moor- house’s generally good show of the previous year. Only twice was he really seen to any great advantage. The first was in the match against Sussex at Bradford, in the second innings of which Wainwright and he knocked up 93 runs in fifty-five minutes, the second against Surrey at the Oval, atthe end of the season, on the memorable occasion when the game was finished almost by gaslight. This time Wade was his companion during some excep­ tionally lively scoring, and his score of 47 not out was justly des­ cribed in “ Wisden’s Almanack ” as one of the very best he had ever played for the Countyi Last year Moorhouse took part in, with a few exceptions, all the matches on the Yorkshire card, and with fair suc­ cess. Though in the more impor­ tant County matches his best score in nineteen innings was one of 34, ho made amends in some of the other fixtures. At Lord’ s, against M.C.C. and Ground, Yorkshire had made a very unfavourable oommencement, so much so that when the fifth wioket fell the total was only 28. Mr. P . S. Jaokson, of the Cambridge Eleven, however, found in Moorhouse a partner quite to his taste, and the two young orioketer made full amends for the failures of the mor Gc. Gr. H E A E N E , (MEMBER OF THE KENT COUNTY XI.) M A N U F A C T U R E R O B 1 C R I C K E T B A T Cricket, Football, and Lawn Tennis Outfitter (Wholesale, Retp.il, and for Exportation), 140, LEWISHAM HIGH ROAD, LONDON, S.E.