Cricket 1892

114 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY 12, 1892 “ Several, and certainly one of the very best players we met during our tour was T. Routledge, of the Cape Town Club. He hailed from Preston, I believe. A fine field, he can save runs as well as make them, being a rare punisher as a bat, especially on the off­ side. He bowls fast right, too, though not of a very high class. Another cricketer decidedly above the average is J. Halliwell. Some years ago, unless I am mistaken, he played for Middlesex. It savours of high praise, but if there is a better wicket-keeper anywhere I have not seen him.” S o uth A frican G rounds . “ The wickets in every case are on matting ? ” “ In every instance. The wickets them­ selves are mostly very true. Some of our team were thoroughly at home on mat­ ting, so much so that I believe we should have beaten Lord Sheffield’s team had there been an opportunity of playing them. Such a match was mooted by the Governor of Cape Colony, but unfortunately the idea never assumed a practical form. The best ground on which we played was that of the Western Province C.C. at Cape Town. Here if the wicket is matting the outer parts are grass, which is very refreshing to the eye. At Port Elizabeth the grass is rather rough for fielding. The wickets at Kimberley, Johan­ nesburg, and Pietermaritzburg are on matting stretched on gravel, and in the last instance the soil is rather sandy. The turf on the Oval at Durban is very spongy, and consequently the outfielding is slow. At King William’s Town and Grahamstown the turf is of a very different character.” T h e F inancial R esu lt . “ Recent announcements would lead to the belief that financially the tour was not a success ?” “Well, the experience of the earlier matches raised great expectations, which were, unfortunately, not realised. The match at Port Elizabeth was the turning-point; the results of later fixtures were very dis­ appointing.” “ And now about the unfortunate incident which occurred just as you were leaving Cape Town ? 9 “ The statements which have appeared in several papers are much to be regretted, espe­ cially after the tour, from a cricket point of view, as well as socially, had been such a great success. But pending the final settlement of the point at issue it may be as well not to refer further to this now, beyond saying that with regard to the facts which have appeared in the sporting papers I am in every way prepared to substantiate on the main issue. Moreover, Mr. E. Ash will tell you that as far as he is concerned all the communications respecting the financial difficulties on the other side were addressed to him as secretary, and not to me.” R ic h a r d H u m p h r e y , the old Surrey pro­ fessional, has been engaged as coach at Bedford Grammar School. B r ixto n N omads v . C a xto n .— Played at Raynes Park on May 7th. The Nomads won by an innings and 18 runs. Scores:— Nomads:, 84 (Phelp 26), Caxton, 21 and 45 (Cooper 2 and 17). S u r r e y C o un ty C l u b . — The annual meeting of the Surrey C.C.C. was held in the Pavilion, at Kennington. The report and balance-sheet, of which particulars have been given, were adopted. Viscount Oxenbridge was re-elected President, The Earl of Bess- borough'Vice-President, Mr.Wildman Cattley Treasurer, Messrs. F. Blake and H. E. Broad, M.P., Auditors. The retiring members of the Committee, Messrs. C. C. Blades, F. Bur- bidge, W. Burrup, J. Colman, D. R. Onslow, L. A. Shuter, W. S. Trollope, and Sir R. E. Webster, Q.C., M.P., were all re-electcd. COACHING THE COLT. “ Young man, you won’t never make no bowellcr, so I tell’ee.” “ Why not then ? ” “ Because you haven’t got pluck in ye to arsTc often enough.” THE LONDON CLUBS AT WORK. The B anstead C lub has arranged matches with Clapham Wanderers, Chipstead, Ewell, Brighton Railway, Epsom, Winchester House, Grasshoppers, Guards, Beddington, Wood- mansterne, Dr. Shaw’s XI., Battersea, Kenley, Mr. Colman’s XI., S.T.L.V., Suney Club and Ground, Pepigi (a Cambridge University XI.), Mr. G. Salmon’s XI., and Cheam. The cricket week will be from Monday, August 1st, to Saturday, August 6th, the same as fixed upon by the Beddington Club. Clapham Wanderers, Winchester House, Kenley, Guards, and Pepigi are the only new clubs, but acquaintance is renewed with Beddington and Dr. Shaw’s XI., which were not played last year. Kingswood dis­ appears from the list. The club has lost the services of G. Alston, unfortunately, who has gone abroad. The new captain is Mr. H. J. Salmon. Last year the club won 21 out of 25matches. E. C. Bambridge, the old International Association footballer, has taken up the Secretaryship of the S treatham Club, vacated by Mr. W. R. Higson. The new Hon. Sec. has arranged as usual an interesting card. The ball was set rolling on Saturday last with two matches against Clapton and Marlborough Blues respectively. Particulars have so far only reached us of the latter. The Streatham eleven, who were playing at home, had the advantage of the assistance of the Sussex amateur, G. L. Wilson. He proved of great service too, making 55 out of 157. A. C. Broadbent, an old captain of Sherborne, unless we are mistaken, contributed 47 of the balance of 102. The Marlborough men were in the blues, being dismissed for 90. W. J. Rowell, of last year’s Cambridge eleven, failed to score, and the bulk of the runs, 39,came from T. G. Buchanan. As a rule there will be a double fixture every Saturday until the end of July, as well as on Whit Monday and the August Bank Holiday. The opponents of the Streatham Club will for the rest of the season be' Guy’s Hospital, Beckenham, Gryphons, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, Caterham, Upper Tooting, Hornsey, Epsom, Reigate Hill, Nor­ bury Park, Marlborough College, Clapham Wanderers, Wimbledon, Surbiton, Kensington Park, Leatherhead, Bickley Park, and Bed­ dington. The Streatham week, which begins on July 11th, will consist of six matches, against Essex C. & G., Incogniti (two days), Crystal Palace, Surrey C. & G., and M.C.C. & G. There is no tour this year. The address of the new Hon. Sec. is Boveney, Thornlaw Road, West Norwood. The following notes refer to last Saturday’s matches. B u ckhurst H il l did some fair scoring against George Lane. G. Palmer (81) and W W. Tween (67) were the principal contributors in a total of 210. George Lane had little batting, and lost three wickets for 38 runs. The C roydon C l u b had three teams out on Saturday, and in each case with favourable results. The Erratics were easy victims, as the whole side only realised 24. Their dis­ missal was chiefly due to the effective bowling of L. J. Turner, who took six of their ten wickets. Croydon, themselves, had to be content with 57. Against the Irenic at Thornton Heath Croydon only managed to win by a run, scoring 95 to 94. Mitcham, always a difficult side to beat, especially at home, had the worst of the one innings played by 27 runs, though their team included T. Richardson, whom many regard asa coming bowler for Surrey. F orest H il l , closing their innings with a total of 128 for four wickets, had the satisfac­ tion of a win against Norbury Park, who were all dismissed for 44. H o rnsey had the best of Granville (Lee), to the extent of 20 runs. C. J. M. Godfrey, the Sussex Amateur, was on the side of the latter. His fast bowling, too, was mainly instrumental in getting rid of the Hornsey eleven for the small total of 66. He took seven of the ten wickets. The G ran ville C lub had also another match on with Wickham Park. Here they had the best of it by 63 runs. E. F. Lamb was their chief run-getter with 33. R ichm ond began their season well at Richmond, having all the best of their match against the Crystal Palace. C. J. M. Fox, the Kent amateur, was playing for the latter, as well as C. Mitchell, the left-handed bat, who has also represented the same County. The Palace bowling was not, however, good enough to prevent the home team making 228 for five wickets. Of this number F. W. Bush, of Surrey fame, was responsible for 108. Another eleven of the Palace fared equally badly at Kenley. C. Southey (not out 26) was the highest scorer in totals of 98 and 54. Blackheath scored 153 and 66 for three wickets, against 112 by Wimbledom. G. Hamilton 39, and J. R. Head 57, were the highest scorers for their respective clubs. The S toics were represented by two teams, one at Carshalton, another at Rochester, and with the same ill-success. The chief feature of the two matches was a good score of 51 by G. G. Lang in the second innings at Rochester. T ham es D itto n found Esher too strong for them. At all events the latter’s total of 152, to which E. C. Mordaunt, the Old Wellingtonian, contributed 55, gave them a victory by 86 runs. T h e old Rug, E. II. Nash, was the principal run-getter for Ealing, who beat Hampstead Nondescripts, scoring 124 against 71 and 84 for six wickets. The Clapham Wanderers had mainly to thank their captain, Stanley Colman (43) and H. Qrwick (35), for their total of 200 at Chiswick Park. Chiswick scored 157, of which J. R. Green made 57. The Wanderers’ total included 36 extras!! Among the other matches we may make brief mention of the following:—Pallingswick made 243 (A. H. Willson 65) against 95 of St. Thomas’s Hospital. Dulwich 51 with one- absentee against 28 of Willesden. Kensington 201 (C. E. Bloomer, the Hon. Sec., 54) to 65 of Barnes. Northbrook 120 (H. N. Smith 35) to 59 of Bromley. Northbrook 146 (C. W. Richards 48) to 49 of Bexley. Upper Clapton 166 (W. W. K. Robinson 65) to 19 for three wickets of Islington Albion. Every cricketer should send 7 stamps to the office of this paper for this year’s C rick e t C alen d ar (24th year of issue). It contains chief fixtures for the season arranged in chronological order, table for registration of players in matches to come, pages for the insertion of other engage­ ments, laws of cricket, etc., etc. Handy size for the pocket', bound in cloth; in leather wallets gilt lettering, Is. 6d.