Cricket 1893

AUG. 17, 1898 CRICKET % A WEEKLY BECORD OF THE GAME; 347 REMINISCENCES OF CRICKET. B y RICHAED DAFT. E x t r a c t s from an O ld S cr ap B ook . The next match recorded in the old volume to which I referred last week is one between the All England Eleven and Fifteen of Shef­ field in 1851. Clarke it states brought a strong team to the old Hyde Park ground of the cutlery town. And the betting before the game began was 5 and in some cases 6 to 4 on England, The ground was in good condition and a large new marquee was erected. “ Young Littiwhite,” it says,“ has requested us to state that he was not allowed to have his printing press on the ground, and therefore the disap­ pointment experienced by those who had sub­ scribed for all the matches cannot be attributed to any neglect on his p art/’ Clarke bowled admirably through the first innings, “ every ball being in the right place.” The fifteen batting first scored 134. The England Eleven totalled 263, George Parr being top scorer with 78. Guy was next with 27; Julius Cffisar next with 2G. Pilch was run out for 16 when well set, just having hit one ball “ to the ‘ off ’ for three, and the next to the ‘ on ’ for five,” says the report. Tom Box and Parr could not be separated for over two hours. “ Their hits were brilliant, and to describe them to the reader would be weari­ some; suffice it therefore to say that Parr was ‘ at home ’ with his leg hits, and Box with his ‘ cutting.’ The latter was at last disposed of, by striking the ball into the long stop’ s hands.” Parr, it says, at one time made 2’ s from almost every ball, when he ran himself out, entirely owing to his own bad judgment. When Sheffield went in for their second innings the betting was that England would win at an innings. And this they succeeded in doing, the fifteen being disposed of for 105. Ander­ son fielded for Parr owing to illness. The next match recorded is England v. Eighteen of the Trentham Club (with Armit- age, Comben, Andrew Crossland, and Paget given). This match, too, was played in 1851. “ Trentham Park, the seat of the Duke of Sutherland,” says the newspaper, “ exhibited a scene of animation, from its being an­ nounced that the far-famed eleven would contend against 22 of Staffordshire. Many hundreds availed themselves of the special train, for by 2 o’clock between 3,000 and 4,000 people were admitted in the park, no charge being made, as the match was entirely got up by private subscription. The ground is situated opposite the Duke’s hall, and the wickets were in beautiful condition.” The Eleven batted first, and began their innings with Caffyn and Wisden. The former scored 16 and the latter 43. When Guy and Martingell became associated after lunch they “ became great ‘ puzzlers ’ ” the report says. Guy remained unconquered, and scored 45. Mr. Alfred Mynn played for the eleven, going in last but one and making 13. The Eleven made altogether 215. The Northern team only totalled 43, Clarke taking most of the wickets. The match was drawn owing to rain. The second day there was no play at all. E. C. Tinley played for Trentham in this match. Trentham was one of the most en­ joyable places in the country at which to play a match, the privilege of inspecting the magnificent gardens being in itself a great treat. The next match in the book is the Gentlemen v. Players of 1851. The Players scored 229, and the Gentlemen 100 and 107. Grundy was run out for 57, “ obtained in beautiful style.” Guy made 49, in which was a hit for six. T. Box 37 “ got in his usual splendid manner.” George Parr was bowled by Alfred Mynn for ten. For the Gentlemen, Mr. S. Cecil made 36 and 2 ; Mr. E. Napper 15 and 29; Mr. C. Bidding 5 and 21 ; S. F. Bathurst 11 and 0 ; Mr. W. Nicholson, 5 and 28. Mr. H. Fellowes played, too, in this match, but took no wickets. George Parr used to describe him as the fastest bowler he ever played against, and the only one whom he was unable to hit to leg. Next we have the All England at Ilkeston playing against 22 of the district. I now play a match at Ilkeston every year myself, and find in this old match many names in the 22 which still figure in the cricket of Ilkeston to-day. The scores of both teams were small: the 22 making 71 and 65, and the Eleven 67 and 71 for four wickets In the second innings of the 22 not one reached double figures. In the account of the match, we are told that “ the whole of them have a capital idea of the game, nervousness being the principal fault.” We next have an account of tbe Eleven v. Twenty-two of Worcester and District. Where, says the paper, “ they had to contend against a pretty good ‘ team.’ ” The ground it says was in bad condition. “ It is a meadow of about six acres, of which to the extent of about thirty yards square has been newly turfed ; the remaining part being ridges.’’ The Eleven scored 43 and 89, the Twenty- two 47 and 46. Parr was bowled by a ball which “ pitched a foot wide to the off ” by Bickley in the first innings for 11, and was bowled by the same bowler in the second for six. The next match is one between Eleven of All England and Fourteen of Nottingham, for,£200 a-side. “ This match,” says the newspaper, “ was commenced yesterday at Clarke’s.” This was the Trent Bridge Ground of which Clarke was the landlord. ‘‘Intense interest having been created, a large company flocked to the ground amongst whom were C. M. Mundy, Ksq., M.P., C. Colville, Esq., M.P., J. B. Story, Esq., several magistrates, and many highly respectable inhabitants from the town and neighbourhood.” The ground was liter­ ally crowded. England won the toss and sent in Sewell and Dean, Clarke and Eedgate shar­ ing the bowling for Nottingham. Clarke bowled Sewell first ball and Dorrington suc­ ceeded him, when the play became very slow. “ In the second, fourth, seventh, eleventh, fifteenth, and sixteenth overs, seven single notches were obtained, the remaining overs to the sixteenth being maiden.” Throughout the account of this match, which occupied four columns, the hits are put down as being “ written ” by the batsmen. “ Pilch wrote a three and a two, Martingale writing two ones.” The word notch is always used instead of run, too. In the score of the match the runs are put down as scored, e g., Dean, 1 1 1 1 1 1 , b Clarke, 6, and so on. England scored 95 and 125, Nott­ ingham 88 and 133 for seven wickets, Guy and Samuel Parr getting off the runs, the former being not out 28 and the latter not out 40. Towards the close of the match the ex- (i;ement'of re pastafors was intense. At the commencement of the second innings of the local team the odds had been 6 to 4 against them in the betting, but when the stand between Parr and Guy was made the odds veered round in their favour. Sam Parr, like his more famous brother George, was a noted leg hitter and made many of these hits on this occasion. One of them, says the news­ paper, “ called forth three distinct rounds of applause,” being the best hit of the day. Both Parr and Guy it is recorded hit several balls to the point for ones and twos. This reads rather curious to us now. Loud applause greeted a three, made by Guy, which made the match a tie. “ The first ball of the next over passed the wicket-keeper, but Cornwall seized it at the long-stop, and called out to the batters to run the bye. This ‘ move ’ created much merriment, but he was not successful in his artifice to get possession of the ball. The next over was maiden, also but in the next, Guy struck the ball to the off and ran the notch ; and thus Nottingham had beaten All England with six wickets to go down. Boyston got the ball, with which he ran off, amidst loud applause and laughter. The two batsmen were triumphantly carried off the ground.” It is amusing to read of the longstop’s anxiety to get possession of the ball in order to keep it. The report concludes by stating the match to be one of the most extraordinary ever remembered. At the commencement 6 to 4 were laid on Nottingham ; at the com ­ mencement of the last innings it was 6 to 4 on England; and when G. Parr was run out even 3 to 1 were offered and taken. “ Guy,” it says, quite re-established himself in the good’ races of the ‘ old ’uns’ who began to whisper that he sacrificed too much to his science.” The fielding of Nottingham is said to have been poor and they did not cut as good a figure in the field with fourteen men as did their opponents with eleven. “ Redgate bowled remarkably well, but Clarke was considered not to have been quite himself. He is much blamed for not giving up the ball sooner at the beginning of the 2nd innings. We have been informed that a similar match for £1,000 will be played next year.” At the foot of the account of this match is written in faded ink, “ Saw this match played on the Trent Bridge Ground, W. Yates,” This match is still talked of by old men in Notts. I was conversing with a gentleman a short time ago who saw it, and who is still a constant visitor to Trent Bridge. He told me that on the evening of the second day he heard Mr. J. B. Story say to Pilch, “ Pilch, you’ll win easily to-morrow,” and Pilch replied, “ We shall if we can get rid of the two Parrs, but there’ s no knowing what they will do.” This match made a hero of Sam Parr, and his performance was always men­ tioned in the biographies which were after­ wards written of him. Sam was greatly admired by the people of Badcliffe, his native village, some of whom I have heard declare that he was as good a bat as his brother George. Such of course was not the case, but Sam being a great hitter, was the idol of the country people. He was older than George, and was not so tall by a couple of inches or more, but was both strong and athletic. LON D O N SC O TTISH v. H EN D O N .—P layed at B ron desbu ry on A ugust 12. L ondon S cottish . E. A .B ennett, c Page, b T re w e ll.................... 44 C. K . M cD on ald, b T rew ell .................... 0 R . F. E a sterb rook , b Trew ell .....................10 W . E . M cLagan, b P le w s ............................10 H .M axw ell,,c T rim an, b D rew ell.................... 1 W . G ander, b D iew ell 6 H en d on . E . G . M oon, run out... 2 H. E. L angton, b Eas­ terbrook .................... 1 D rew el1, c E aster­ brook, b P o p e .......... 3 A. R . T rim en , b E a sterbrook ............ 2 C. H. Page, b Easter­ brook ............................. 2 S. T h om pson , b E a s­ terbrook ..................... 8 F. G. A nderson, c L angton, b P lew s 4 H. J. K. P ope, c and b T rim an ............15 J. A. H. M cN air, b K irton .....................15 J. F lem ing, n ot ou t 4 J. L aing, b K irton ... 3 B 5, lb 1 ............ G T otal ...105 R . C. Plew s, b P op e 10 J. A. H ylae, b M c­ L agan .....................21 A. W . K irton, c M c­ Nair, b M cL agan 4 W . M. T rim en, n ot ou t ............................. 5 A . C. Plew s, b Pope 1 B 2, lb 1 ............ 3 T otal ... 65 U P P E R T O O T IN G v. S T R E A T H A M .—P layed at Streatham on A ugust 7. U ppe r T ootin g . F irst Innings. S econd Innings. J. A. L yon , b P ow ell ... 7 Rev. H. S. B. G ill, run ou t 42 E . T. P ow ell, b P ike............14 R . C. Franks, b Snow den 18 P. C. P rob yn , b W ilson ... 5 H. 8. U rw ick, lbw, b W il­ son ..................... .., ... 0 c R ath bon e, b P ow ell ............ 2 P. S. M orphew , b W ilson 3 b D a w so n ............ 0 F. Cogill, b P ow ell ............ 6 n ot ou t ............ 2 M ajor C hristie, run o u t ... 5 b D a w so n ............12 E . O. Cum m ing, n o t cu t... 9 st K err, b D aw ­ son .................... 15 E. J. F raser, b W ilson ... 1 n ot ou t ............ 0 E . C. K now les, absent ... 0 b Dawson ............ l B 7, lb 3, w 2 ............12 B 1, lb 1 ... 2 T otal ..122 T o ta l ... 31 S t r e a t h a m . R . II. Fike, b P robyn 8 P. G. K a th ton e, c C hristie, b P robyn 21 A. F oster, b U rw ick... 28 A. B ailey, lbw, b P ro­ b yn ... .. ............ 6 W . G . L . P ow ell, c Franks, b U rw ick... 23 E . P. R ath bon e, c F ranks, b C ogill ... 10 W . G ibbs, st Christie, b C ogi’ l .....................41 D . O. K err, Ibw , b U r w ic k ..................... C. E . Snow den, b G i l l ................................ H. L . D aw son ,c and b C o g ill..................... W . H. W ilson, c Franks, b P robyn 9 H . R athbon e, not ou t .............................14 B 7, lb 6, w 2 ... 15 0 9 Total ...187