Cricket 1891

88 C R IC K E T : A W E E K L Y RECORD OP T H E GAME} APBIL 80, 1891 THE OLD-TIME CRICKET MATCH. How exquisitely droll is the description given by Dickens of the great cricket match, Dingley Dell versus All Muggleton, as witnessed by the members of the Pick­ wick Club! His delightful description of the “ ancient and loyal borough of Mug­ gleton,” the Mayor, Corporation, and other inhabitants whereof had “ presented at divers times no fewer than one thousand four hundred and twenty petitions against the continuance of negro slavery abroad, and an equal number against any interference with the factory system at home.” We see in our mind’s eye the Dingley Dellers and All Muggle- tonians, clad in the orthodox straw hats, flannel jackets, and white trousers of their order (wherein, says the great novelist, “ theylookedverymuch like amateur stone­ masons”), welcoming the Pickwickians as friends and brothers, if not votaries of the noble art. We see the inimitable Alfred Jingle, Esquire, with his “ capital game— smart sport—fine exercise—very,” and who later poses as a judge of the game by reason of his intensely withering ejaculations of “ stupid—butterfingers— muff—humbug.” And what intense excitement reigns as the renowned Muggletonians, Podder and Dumkins, walk to the wickets to oppose the deliveries of the famous Luffey and Struggles I How, so soon as the umpires are stationed behind the wickets, Mr. Luffey “ applies the ball to his right eye for several seconds,” then delivers it straight and swift towards the wicket of Dumkins—and the shouts and cheers that arise (by the way, how vociferously these old-time cricketers used to applaud the success of their own side ; a practice that obtains, though, I fear, in local matches at any rate, at the present day) when it is seen that Dumkins is distinctly “ worth his salt.” Nor is Mr. Podder inferior to his confrere at the point of contact: with what praiseworthy skill does he “ miss the bad ones, take the good ones, block the doubtful ones! ” Fifty-four notches are scored before the first wicket falls; which gives AU-Muggleton an advantage that they hold to the finish, when they retire to the marquee amidst the plaudits o f everybody, the strident tones of the well informed Jingle announcing it to have been a “ capital game—well played —some strokes admirable.” And how finely Dickens—who could not have been so extraordinarily well versed in cricket lore and legend— describes the “ plain dinner ” which fol­ lowed at the Eed Lion Inn, Muggleton, and which both teams (“ and friends,” vide Mr. Jingle) enjoyed at the expense of the losers. That memorable speech, wherein Mr. Staple besought his auditors to “ surround with a rich halo of enthu­ siastic cheering; the united names of ‘ Dumkins and Podder,’ ” must have been a great effort of histrionic talent. All, we can well imagine, went as merry as the proverbial marriage bell until the midnight hour, when we are given to understand that the Dingley Dellers and All Muggletonians carried eaoh other downstairs amid a scarcely intelligible murmur of '•We won’ t go hom* till morning, ’Till daylight doth appear.” Perhaps this particular chapter of Dickens has not been so much appre­ ciated as it might have been. * * * Yes, those were the “ good old times ” of cricket—the game was a game then, in truth. We remember reading and re­ reading this particular chapter of Pick­ wick, until at length we sought to instil into our dear mother some of our own enthusiasm, by reading to her lengthy extracts therefrom, quite oblivious of the fact that the unfortunate lady had probably been surfeited with Dickens long since. She did, indeed, laugh heartily several times during our recital: but judge of our horror and in­ dignation on discovering that it was a case of “ love’s labour iost ”—that she had been enjoying, not the description of the match itself (of which she said she hardly understood a word!), but the amusing utterances of Messrs. Pickwick and Jingle. After this, we gave up endeavouring to convert the female mind to cricket. But in all good faith, a re­ perusal of this chapter from Pickwick makes one turn to the days of TheHambledon era, when Nyren and Small, Those famed pioneers with the bat and the ball, Were historymakingonoldWindmill Down. Had those who participated in the Piok- wickian match been playing on one of the then great grounds of England, doubtless they would have donned the tall hats that formed so indispensable an article of the orthodox cricketer’s attire. We remember hearing about an old gentleman, playing in a County match on Lord’s Old Ground, who in “ making a spurt ” to avoid being run out, sat down on his tall and shiny hat, to the great entertainment of the spectators! We may observe, era passant, that the cricketers whom the illustrious President of the Pickwick Club travelled several miles to see perform, bowled in the style that obtained before Mr. Willes and the Walkers of Hambledon had the hardi­ hood to introduce a style of round arm bowling. It was in 1790 that the com­ mittee of the Hambledon Club ordained that round arm bowling be not allowed, and not until 1822 that Mr. John Willes, playing for Kent v. M.C.C., endeavoured to introduce this style. He was immedi­ ately no-balled, and is said to have left the ground declaring that he would never play again—a resolution to which he adhered. About the year 1700, it seems to have been the practice to dig a hole in the ground close to one of the wickets, into which the batsman, in running, must put the tip of his ba t; so that the way to run him out was to get the ball into this hole before he could reach it. Truly a bar­ barous practice, involving as it did, fail­ ing the presence of pads or gloves, the most severe injuries to the wicket­ keeper’s hands, in the rush that was natu­ rally made for this “ hole.” So that it at length dawned upon the intelligence of our forefathers that this might be obviated by omitting the hole, and making the wicket-keeper put down the wicket instead. From this period, doubt­ less, the “ stumper ” began to be recognised as a more important personage on the field than heretofore; and he gradually increased in importance until the advent of John M ’Carthy Blackham induced our Lytteltons, Pillings, and Sherwins to try the experiment of sending their longstops to do useful work in front of the wicket—with what result, all the world knows. But one respect, at least, wherein these halcyon days of the game were behind us, was that to which “ E.B.V.C. ’ has referred in the article “ Cricket in the Law Courts,” published in our last issue. Gambling, or to put it more delicately, the making of large bets on what should clearly be regarded only as a noble sport, is the drawback to which we allude, and one which the prevalence of single wicket matches tended to encourage. “ E.B.V.C.” is perfectly accurate when ho says that the law-suit arising out of betting transactions in the matches Kent v. England, came well within the meaning of the Act of 1711 for the “ better preventing of excessive and deceitful gaming.” Happily, the game has long since been freed from this scourge of betting. It has unfortunately done some slight injury to cricket in the Colonies ; many of our readers will call to mind the unsportsmanlike attitude taken up by the Sydney crowd in their disappointment at the victory of Lord Harris’s team in '79, when Tom Emmett (who in this match performed the feat of capturing fourteen wickets for 68 runs) stood on the defensive, and invited the mob to let him give them the “ upper cut ” (Emmett called it, in Yorkshire par­ lance, “ th’ opper coot ” ) with his bat. We started to speak, though, about those doughty champions of old time who astonished the natives of Hambledon and Windmill Downs—is there not a spice of Mr. Andrew Lang’s “ daisied graves ” in the very names ?—by their superlative prowess with bat and ball. All honour to the name of “ Silver Billy,” who so strengthened the ranks of Surrey that, in order to make a fair match of the fix­ ture between that County and the Best of England, he had to be “ lent ” to the latter. Few men, indeed, have done so much to popularise cricket, and to bring it to its present position as the premier outdoor sport, as William Beldham, who even when “ verging towards his climacterio ” was the observed of all observers as a batsman. And however much we may feel inclined to laugh at the feat of that truly great cricketer F u lle r P il c h , in scoring ten centuries, and ten only, in the course of a life-time, we can­ not but feel a deep respect for his memory. Considering that Pilch was CRICKETERS— B est G oods City Agents — b e a r th is M a iik . —Advt. P a r to n & L e s t e r , 94, Q'J een St., C h e a p m d e .