Cricket 1891

i d m c figure as captain of a minor local team. The season of 1884 saw him drafted into the Ham Club, and from that year dates the commence­ ment of his public career as a cricketer. So well did he comport himself, too, in his first year in the village eleven, that he had the second average both in batting and bowling. Still it was perhaps more in the latter depart­ ment that his chief successes were obtained. (M EM B E R OP T H E K E N T COUN TY X I.) m a n u f a c t u r e r o f c r i c k e t r a t s a n d b a l l s Cricket, Football, and Lawn Tennis Outfitter (Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation), 140, LEWISHAM HIGH ROAD, LONDON, S.E. To ge th e r jo ined in c r ick e t ’s m a n ly toil.”— Byron. N o. 3 6 6 . VOL. X . Registered for Transmission Abroad. THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1891. PR ICE 2d. One of his performances in 1884 with the ball was indeed out of the common, as it was on the Common (Ham). The occasion was a match against the Melbourne C.C., and Brockwell’s record was a noteworthy one, as he took all ten wickets of Melbourne in the second innings, and at a ' dorft' o f om yo runs, besides securing for himself the distinction of the hat trick. The [advantage of a little better practice was soon manifested in a cor­ responding improvement in his batting, and the following summer of 1885 saw him at the head of the local batsmen with a very respec­ table average of 23. An invitation to the test practice of young players of Surrey brought Brockwell to the Oval before the actual com­ mencement of the season of 1886. A fair amount of success in this, his first trial, secured him a place among the Eighteen Colts chosen to oppose the County Eleven, and here again he justified his selection with a very creditable score of 24 in the second innings. The promise of these early performances, too, was fully upheld in the three matches in which he represented the Surrey Colts in the following week. The opposing teams, the ClaphamWan- derers, Guy’ s Hospital, and Honor Oak, furnished some very fair bowl­ ing, and Brockwell came out well, scoring 39, 36, and 27 in each case in the order given. Nor did his successes end there. On the con­ trary, having meanwhile accepted an engagement at the Oval, he in­ creased his reputation in May and June with some good scores, chief amongst them being 88 against 18 of Cranleigh and 72 (not out) against Merchant Taylor’ s School. The consistently good cricket he had been showing, both with bat and ball, was a sufficient warranty for a trial in the Surrey Eleven, and he made his first appearance for the County in July, 1886, against Derbyshire, at Derby. The wicket was, however, altogether against the batsmen, and if he was only moderately successful his failure was shared by more than one of the older players on the side. Against Leicestershire at Leicester a few days later, he gained the unenviable distinction of a “ pair.” Here too, however, he erred in good company, as it was on the memorable occasion when Pougher and Rylott dismissed the Surrey Eleven for the small total of 26, and the highest score in either innings was one of 29. Though he only found a place on some few occasions in the County eleven in 1887, and two following years, and then with no great result, he was still doing,good,service* for the Surrey Club in m inor;matches igaining experience as well as confidence. A good innings of 42 against Hampshire, at Southampton in 1889, called new attention to W IL L IAM BROCKWELL . T he name of Brockwell has always been associated, and that most honourably too, with Surrey cricket. George of that name was one of the first ground bowlers attached to the Oval, and his connection with the Surrey Club remained unbroken from its foundation to the time of his death. He was employed, in fact, on the Surrey ground when it was first used for the purpose of cricket in 1845, and when his career as an active player came to a close the authorities had sufficient confidence in him to retain his services as caretaker of the Oval. More than that, when his time came to give up hard work of any kind, the respect in which he was held was shown in the most practical form by the Executive of the County Club by a pension, whjch he enjoyed till his death. William Brockwell, the young pro­ fessional who has recently been drafted into the Surrey Eleven, therefore, comes of a good cricket stock. Ih e Brockwells have been long identified with Mid-Surrey, and William, like the good o'd cricketer whose service to the County Club we have already of, was born in the heart of the division. He first saw the light 0n £?nTlary 21st, 1866, at Kingston- on-Thames, the birthplace of the excellent all-round already men­ tioned player George, who was a contemporary of John Bayley, Martingell, Tom Sewell the elder, Messrs. Pickering, Garth, and the ^on. Spencer Ponsonby, now Sir ^Pencer Ponsonby-Fane, in the aurrey Eleven in the forties, and nf tv, We ma7 a(^> was a relation ttle promising young cricketer i to-day. Kingston cannot, how- ver, lay any claim to the founda- on or development of the cricket education of William Brock- /• His home from a very Z*1** ag® has been at Ham, ‘ . on the Common there that he nhi61+ x instruction which he has been w. De to such good account. When he ^ een he had already shown con- abi©capacity, though there was little or faof ^ P ^ jn ity for good practice. He had, in frorn to oi ^ mostly on his natural ability, and to ^is chances were confined tew occasions in which he was able to