Cricket 1892

86 CRICKET: D o r k in g , a little far afield perhaps for the majority of cricketers engagea in business in London, confines its attention mostly to clubs in Surrey and within easy distance. Epsom, Guildford, Leatherhead, and Horsham furnish the chief teams Dorking will have to meet from the surrounding district. The Burling­ ton Wanderers and Clapham Wanderers, too, enjoy a visit to Dorking, and in addition the Surrey Club will send an eleven there on August 9 to oppose a Fifteen of the District. F o r e st H il l has a card of great length, equalling in dimensions, perhaps, the most extensive of any in the Metropolitan District. Though the first fixture is not until May 7 and the last on Sept. 10, there is space for fifty-one fixtures, some of which though are for the second eleven. The Forest H ill Week will commence with a match against Rick- mansworth on June 4. Owing to a disappoint- men at the last moment, however, there is a blank on the second day of the week. The Hon. Sec., Mr. C . Spencer West, Perry Rise, Forest Hill, will be glad to fill the vacancy by the insertion of a good club. The G r a n v ill e C lu b opened its season on Saturday last, as a reference to Our Score-book will show, with a trial of Captain’s Eleven v. Vice-Captain’s Eighteen. The first actual match, though, is to take place at the Crystal Palace on Saturday next, while another eleven will be at home opposing Sidcup. Besides these, there are fifty-nine engagements, ex­ clusive of the annual tour. The tourists will be away nine days (from August 11) in Sussex, where they will meet Horsham, Eastbourne, Devonshire Park, Willingdon, and South Saxons in succession. In the first week of August the club eleven will be engaged on six consecutive days, though as the fourth match is at Croydon it can not be called strictly a home week. Among the chief opponents of the Granville Club are Charlton Park, Dulwich, Beckley Park, Greenhithe, Beckenham, Hampstead, Tunbridge Wells, Croydon, M.C.C., the Stoics, Bexley Wanderers, and Bradfield Waifs. Though the H o n o r O a k Club neither arranges a tour nor goes in for a home week, the card is none the less a heavy one. Local clubs furnish the bulk of the opposition. Still, on occasions the team will go further afield, though the longest of their journeys does not extend beyond Guildford. Among home matches the most important are those with Surrey Club and Ground, and Birkenhead Victoria, who are paying a visit to London in the first week of August. The Club is in a very satisfactory condition, both as regards funds and membership, and as the wickets at Honor Oak are known to be excellent there is every reason for predicting a successful season. W ith the exception of the fixtures against St. Mary’s Hospital, Crystal Palace, the Erratics and Causeway (Penshurst), the programme of the K e n l e y C lu b is restricted solely to matches with Surrey Clubs. Most too are in easy distance of Kenley, among them Bedding- ton, Reigate Priory, Reigate Hill; Addiscombe, Carshalton, Caterham, Red Hill, Norwood, Croydon, Cane Hill, and Warlingham. The Kenley week, which commences on July 4th, is made up of matches against Caterham, Oakleigh Wanderers, Banstead, Surrey Club and Ground, Croydon, and another Club to be hereafter fixed. Lack of energy certainly cannot be charged against the K en sin g to n Club, of which Mr. C. E. Bloomer is Hon. Sec. A perusal of the report of last year’s doings, which has been sent to us, is sufficient to show, not only that the resources of the club are sufficient for the purpose, but that the interests of the members are well cared for. A list of the engagements for 1892 does not include the tour, which, unless we are mistaken, has been a feature of some, at least, of the programmes of late years. Still with thirty-five fixtures, mostly against clubs within the Metropolitan radius, there will be ample work for those who have to get up the elevens. The Kensington professional for 1892 is J. Salmon. A WEEKLY EE COED OP K en sin gton P ark has recently made arrangements to admit members for short terms, so as to enable many to get practice who would otherwise be unable owing to the difficulty in getting in at Lord’s. Three fixtures a week represent on an average the extent of the cricket played under the auspices of the Club. Of practice too there is no lack, and for this purpose there are three bowlers, M. Hawksworth, T.Nicholson of Lincolnshire, and another. Mr. O. D ’Oyly Brooks, most energetic of Hon. Secs., has arranged twenty-five fixtures for the first eleven in addition to fifteen half-day matches on Saturday. The actual season in the former case is only a short one, as it does not commence till May 11 and closes on August 5. The chief opponents of Kensington Park will be Bickley Park, Westminster School, Windsor Home Park, Haileybury College, The Incog- niti, Kenley, Reigate Hill, M.O.C. and G., and Crystal Palace. The N o r w o o d C lu b issues a lengthy list of fixtures extending from May 7 to Sept. 3. Every Saturday from the 1st of June to the end of August has one match, in some cases two, with, as a rule, one on Wednesdays as well. The Erratics open the Norwood Week on July 4, and Epsom, Willesden, M.O.C. &G., Mr. S. Ellis’ XI., and Grecian are each down for one of the five succeeding days. Mr. A. Oonan Doyle’s name appears in the list of those who are responsible for the collection of the Norwood teams. The P a l lin g sw ic k C l u b , in addition to its ordinary fixtures, arranges both for a home week and a tour. In the card there seems to be a blank for the fifth day (July 22), and, presumably, the vacancy has yet to be filled. The other five engagements are with M.C.C and Ground, Stoics, Chiswick Park, Mitcham, and Mr. F. Clemence’s Eleven respectively. Mr. E. A. Collins will have charge of the Sussex tour, commencing on August 15th. Two matches against Eastbourne and one against Lewes Priory constitute the extent of the outing. J. Marlow retains the position of ground man, which he has held for the last six seasons. The P l \ isto w C lu b will have Dulwich as its first opponent on Saturday next at Plaistow. Though Norwood, Barnes, the Erratics, Mr. Gibson’s Eleven, the Sun Insurance Office, and the Gryphons all figure on the list,otherwise it is made up exclusively of Kent clubs, among whom Bickley, Brom­ ley, Blackheath, and Granville are the best known. The ground of the P r iv a t e B a n k s C lu b at Catford Bridge has been chosen, after an interval of many years, by the Committee of the Kent Club as the scene of one of the County matches—that with Somerset. Of the fixtures to be undertaken by the Private Banks Club itself there are only eleven, and of these the best are those against M.C.C. and Ground, Marlborough Blues, Joint Stock Bank, Richmond, and Wimbledon. George Hearne, senior, has for many years had charge of the ground, than which there is no better in the neighbourhood of London. The ground bowlers are A. E. Birch, a useful all­ round. cricketer, and W. H. Jenner, a fast bowler. The S o u th g ate C lu b gets to work on Saturday next on its own ground, when it will meet the Stoics. With the exception of two mid-week engagtments, the matches have been arranged for Saturdays and bank-holi- days. M .C .C . and Grouud, the Free Foresters, the Stoics, the Marlborough Blues, and Horn­ sey are perhaps the best known of the clubs which will visit Southgate. Matches against Thanet College at Margate, and South Eastern College at Ramsgate represent the only out­ ings Southgate will take this year. Of the thirty-five fixtures on the card no less than twenty-five are down for decision at home. The S pe n c e r C l u b , which has its ground at Upper Tooting, does not go in for an exten­ sive list of matches. Its card numbers twenty- three, irrespective of those for the second GAME. APRIL 28, 1892 eleven. Of the twenty-three only three extend over the whole day, the two fixtures with Heathfield and the last engagement of the season at the Crystal Palace on September 10th. Cricket weeks or tours apparently offer no attraction to the executive of the S utton C l u b . They are content with sixteen fixtures, in addition to half-day matches, of which there are s'xteen. The team, too, keep mostly within hail of home, as Norwood, Hackbridge House, Reigate Hill, Whitgift Wanderers, Leatherhead, and Mitcham, their chief oppo­ nents, are all within easy distauce. The membership amounts to 140, which is a very creditable number for a local club. The ground, we may add, is in the Cheam Road, about half a mile distant from the Sutton station on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway. The wickets on the Angel Ground are always of such a high standard of excellence that the T o n b r id g e C l u b has no difficulty in arranging fixtures with the most powerful teams. Mr. Tom Pawley continues to be the presiding genius of Tonbridge cricket, as he has been for many years, and under his care it is always sure to be of high quality. Among the teams which will visit Tonbridge are Bickley, Reigate Priory, Tunbridge Wells, Eastbourne, the West Kent Regiment, Shorn- cliffe Camp, Brighton, and Marlborough Blues. The run-getting wickets at Tonbridge have brought them, too, into high favour with the executive of the Kent Club, and two county matches are down for decision there during the six days ending on July 16th. The Tonbridge week, with the Lancashire and Surrey matches as its attractions, is bound to be a success. There is a third match, too, under the auspices of the Kent County Club, to wit, Gentlemen v. Players of Kent, on May 30 and two following days. H. G. Day and W. Draper are the professionals engaged by the club. The T o t te n h a m C lu b , which has its ground in Philip Lane, near West Green Station, on the Great Eastern Railway, is one of the strongest on the north side of London. It numbers 160 members, and can put a fairly strong side in the field. The card is mostly made up of matches with clubs in Essex and North Middlesex. Of these, Upper Clapton, Upton Park, Clapton, Hendon, Edmon­ ton, and Enfield are the best known. Mr. E. B. Wells has succeeded to the post of Hon. Sec. to the U p p e r C la pto n Club, on the retirement of Mr. J. K. City. In his hands the programme was not likely to Eutfer, and altogether it is quite up to the best efforts of his predecessor. Whit- Monday will see Leicester at Upper Clapton, a match which should be the attraction of the season. The Essex County, Hornsey, and the Clapham Wanderers are the clubs Upper Clapton will have to meet other than those in their own immediate district. The pro­ fessionals are G. Osborn and E. K , Neville. The U p p e r T o o t in g wickets are under the experienced eye of William Shepherd, who has been on the ground for thirty years. In his charge, and with the assistance of R. Bell and W.B. Sides, the latter of whom hails from Nottingham, the ground staff ought to be sufficient to supply all the wants of the members. As most of the principal clubs round London find their way to Tooting, the list is generally an attractive one. Messrs. F. G. 'lhorne, R. M. Harvey, the Honorary Secretaries, with Mr. G. F. Bonner have the charge of the club teams in the various matches. Surbiton, Richmond, Incogniti, Westminster Sohool, Haileybury College, Kensington Park, M.C.C. & G., Bickley Park, Beckenham, Bickley Park, and Surbiton are the best known clubs on the card. “ The Tooting Cricket W eek” is perhaps something of a misnomer. It is nearer a fortnight, in fact, as there will CRICKETERS-Best <CQfr3 G oods City Agents — b e a r t h is M a r k . —Advt. P a r to n & L e s t e r , 94, Q ueen S t ., C h e a p sid e .