Cricket 1893

892 CRICKET § R E M IN IS C E N C E S OF C R IC K E T . B y RICHARD DAFT. C urious E xperiences . Once when we were playing an All-England match at a small town in Cheshire, we ODly arrived on the ground on the day of play with ten men, Tarrant not being forthcoming. There was a town of the same name in Lincoln­ shire, it seems, and to that place Tarrant had gone instead of coming to Cheshire. He did not arrive at the place where we were playiog till the second day. When he told us of his curious mistake, George Parr remarked some­ what testily, “ Lincolnshire was quite near enough for you ; I wonder you managed to get as near the right place as you did ! ” When we played the 1886 Australian team at Skeg­ ness against 16 of Skegness and district, I captained the local team, and was requested to get several players from Notts, a wicket­ keeper amongst others. The Australians batted first, and when we turned out to field, we found we had no wicket-keeper. I had all along intended getting White, a Notts man— who was at that time the best man we had outside the ranks of the county—but had somehow forgotten to secure his services. For­ tunately, we had an understudy, Tom Butler, who at once donned the pads and gloves. Meanwhile White was telegraphed for, but did not arrive till the next day. Speaking of Tom Butler, reminds me of a good performance he did when playing for 18 of Radcliffe-on-Trent against the All-England Eleven in 1870. The All-England on this occasion, as I have before mentioned in a previous article, remained at the wickets till the middle of the third day of the match. By the time Carpenter had made 174 and Hayward 118, the local players were in a knot,*’ as may be supposed, their bowling being completely collared. At this pass Tom Butler suggested he should try one over of lobs as a last resource, and notwith­ standing tbe demoralised state the local team were in, Tom’ s suggestion was treated as a joke. “ You go on ! Well, we have come to something, and no mistake,” were the kind of remarks made by his companions. However, Tom was permitted to go on, and, strangely enough, in the first two overs he secured the wickets of both the great Cambridge batsmen who had been such a source of trouble to their opponents. “ There,” Tom Eutler remarked when he had achieved this wonderful feat. “ If I’d only gone on to bowl two days earlier what a lot of trouble I should have saved all you chaps in the field !” Another story of Tom—Some years ago we went to play our annual match at Welbeck Abbey against tfce Welbeck Tenants. On our journey there some one asked Tom if he felt in form. Tom laughed and said that he should get 40 runs i f they wire required , If they were not wanted, he should not trouble to get so many. By a remarkable coincidence, Tom was a long time at the wickets—being in fact the only man on our Bide who made a stand—and scored exactly 40 runs! Unfortunately, rather more than 40 were required from him, as we lc st the match by about half-a-dozen runs only. I here give th e score o f a cu riou s m atch w h ich w as played in H ertfordsh ire last year. O ne side m ade one run m ore than the other in th e first innings, w h ich term inated at lu n ch tim e. In th e second innings th e oth er Bide m ade one m ore run than th eir opponents, and this, of course, m ade the m atch a tie. S andon . Fi> st Innings. Second Innings. R. B. Jones, b D a ft......... 6 1b w, b W. B ea m iss.......... 1 W . Izaard, c D aft, b W. Beamiss ... ..................... 3 b D a ft.. ... ... 0 H. Clark b D a ft.................. 3b Daft ... ............10 B. B. Lees, c. and b D aft 1b D a ft.................... 3 K. Jackeon, c Rogers, b W. Beamias ............................. 2b W. Beamies ... 12 N. Cannon, b W. Beam iss 7b D a f t ................... 0 W. W right, run o u t ........... 2b D a fo .................... 0 J. Cannon, c H., b W . Beamiss ............................. 0c Ashby, b D aft 2 B. Strickland, b W. Bea­ miss .................................... 3 b D a ft......... ...1 A. Clark, b W . Beamiss ... U c Rowden, b W. Beamiss ... 4 C. Cannon, not out ........... 0 not out ............. 0 Extras ............... 1 Extras...................... 1 Total ................... 28 Total ... 31 COTTEEED. A WEEKLY EECORD OP THE First Innings. Sccond Innings. A. H. Rowden, run out ... 3 b Clark ........... 4 W . Beamiss, b L e e s ........... 4 c N. Cannon, b Lees ........... 3 R. P. D aft, b Clark ........... 14 b Clark ........... 2 A. Quilter, b Clark ........... 0 c N. Cannon, b C la r k ........... 0 B. Aphby, b Clark ........... H. Beamiss, c W right, b 0 b L e e s .................. 3 Lees .................................. 0 b L e es.................. 2 (Rev.) H. Rogers, b Clark 0 c N. Cannon, b Clark ........... 10 A. Beam iss,b C la rk ........... 0 run out ........... 3 H. B o afield, b Clark........... 4 b Clarfc.................. 0 E. Beamiss, b C la rk ......... 2 b Clark ........... 2 A. Beadle, not out ........... 1 not out ........... '2 Extras ........................... 1 Extras 2 Total ................... £9 Total ... 33 Played June 24, 1693. W h a t w ould have been Ihe w in n in g h it w as a splendid catch in th e outfield. I w ell rem em ­ ber playing in a fam ous tie m atch at T rent B ridge m any years ago for the C ou nty Eleven against the F ree F oresters. I believe w e had quite 30 runs or m ore to get w hen our last m en w ent in. M any of the spectators left the ground thinking the gam e w as as good as over. M any stood at th e gate before leaving ju st to see another ball bow led ; still the w icket did n ot fall, and, as runs kept com ing, m an y spectators turned back and resum ed th eir places on th e ground. B iddu lph , I re­ m em ber, was batting extrem ely w ell and kept occasion ally h ittin g, w hich gradually brought ou r total very near to that o f our opponents. T h e excitem en t as tim e w en t on and m ore runs w ere added becam e intense. A t length, w hen w e had m ade a tie o f it, “ B iddy ” left h is grou n d to drive a straight ball, w h ich he m issed, and th e ball h ittin g his leg, he was given out leg before wioket. I have h ad th e pleasure of seeing this w eek an old frien d w hom I had n ot seen for five and th irty years, w ho used to play a great deal o f loca l cricket w ith m e when I w as a young m an. A s m ay be w ell im agined, w e had a lon g talk w hen w e m et over old tim es and old players. O ld C harley Broivn, th e once N otts w icket keeper, w e spoke of. A ll old cricketers w ill readily call to m in d the w on derfu l accuracy w ith w hich C h arley could bow l behind his back, not on ly straight bu t w ith a good length. M y frien d once saw h im play six E n glish m en at single w icket at Calais, th e conditions being that Charley w as allow ed to bow l behind his back, and the m atch ended in an easy victory lo r him . T h ere is one feat w h ich Charley cou ld accom plish w h ich is so extraordinary that it is scarcely to be credited. It is said th at he was able to place an ordinary clay churchw arden pipe on a table in a room , to take part of the stem off, and the pipe to stand on th e further side of the room , jerk the piece of the stem of th e pipe from behind his back, and w ith th is kn ock off the sm all piece w hich projected from th e bottom o f the bow l of the churchw arden. I never saw C harley a ccom ­ plish this perform an ce, but there are hundreds o f people still livin g in N ottingham w ho have, on m an y occasions. W h at I have seen Charley do in this w ay w ith a cricket ball makes m e qu ite ready to believe anything he was able to Co w ith any other m issile. I firm ly believe th at Charley cou ld have m ade his fortun e on the stage as an acrobat. M y friend rem inded m e of a gentlem an n am ed N oyep, w h o resided in N ottingham years ago. M r. N oyes w as a great cricket en ­ thusiast, and praotised a good deal. H e had a bad habit of liftin g his right foot up w hen in th e act of playing, and in order to cure h im ­ self o f this h abit he had a lo g o f w ood attached to a chain, th e oth er end being fastened to his leg! I have often m yself seen h im practising “ tethered ” in th is m anner. W e n ext spoke o f another gentlem an w ho w as a regular player w ith th e N otts C om m ercial Club in th ose days. T h is gentlem an alw ays w ore a m agenta-colou red jacket, and as h e was of a very rubicund com plexion besides, he alw ays w en t b y the nam e of th e “ G eraniu m .” In GAME, SEP T. 7, 1898 those days S outhw ell w as one o f th e prin cipal centres in N ottingham of our national gam e. T h eie w as a first-rate ground there w hen good grounds w ere very rare. T h is was the birth-place of th e three T inleys, Cris, Frank and V in cen t. Jackson, th e great fast bow ler, resided close by, and w as for som e years en ­ gaged on the Southw ell ground. Southw ell was a delightful place to play a tw o days’ m atch at. T h ere is a fine old M in ster there, w h ich is w ell w orth a visit, close beside w hich are the ruins o f the old A rch bish op of Y o rk ’s palace. H ere, too, one can stay at the old “ Saracen’ s H e a d ” H otel, and dine in the sam e oak-panelled room in w h icn Charles the F irst dined previous to his surrendering h im ­ self to the Scottish A rm y. T h e scenery around the little m in ster tow n is very picturesque, and altogether it was as enjoyable a place for a cricket m atch as could, possibly be desired. O ld Clarke’s benefit m atch was played here. A gentlem an told m e n ot long ago that he once at Southw ell played against M r. J. P. Cooke, for w hose m urder in after years th e notoriou s D r. Palm er w as hanged. It is a curiou s fa ct th at M r. I. D . W alker never was ph otograph ed in crick et costum e until last year (except o f course in groups). H e kindly sent m e one of these w h ich I have had fram ed and h u n g up in a room in m y house. It is taken in attitude at th e w icket, and is an excellent likeness. O ne can see at a glance on entering the r o o m — although the photograph is n ot a large on e— that it is I. D . W alker, th e attitude being h is exactly. I w ish photographers w ou ld take m ore of th eir photograph s in position as th ey are at the w icket, for, in m y opinion, th ey give a far better idea o f the m en as they are, than w hen th ey are taken seated in a ch air or h oldin g a bat carelessly in th e hand. L o o k at those portraits w hish M essrs. H aw kins and C o. have taken of “ W .G .” at the w ickets. W h en D r. G race is no m ore, future generations m ust be show n these portraits, fo r it w ill be the next best thing to h avin g seen the p layer him self. It w ill be seen h ow he stood at guard, how he raised his bat, and h ow he cu t those balls betw een p oin t and th ird m an. T h e pictures taken of P ilch and M r. Charles T a y lor at the w icket have served and w ill serve as m odels to young players o f all tim es. W e are able to see that P ilch kept both legs p erfectly rigid, and that M r. W alk er did the sam e, bu t that the latter stood closer to his w ick et than the old K entish player. I have one o f Idaison too, w hose attitude is very like M r. W alk er’s, except that his left foot, instead o f being alm ost at rig h t angles to th e right, is n early parallel w ith it. T h en , too, one lik es to see a w ic k e t-k e e p e r taken behind th e stum ps, like an excellen t photograph I have seen of M r. M cG regor. T h e portraits o f the old w icket-keepers w ere often thus taken. W e are able to see that the old players such as Charlie B row n stood nearly upright, bu t that the w orld-renow ed T om L ock y er’s attitude w as m ore like that o f m any of our p resen t-day w icket-keepers. In the old portraits taken before the days of photograph y, the players are often m ore easily to be recog­ nised from th eir figures than from th eir faces. A n d those taken of them as th ou gh th ey w ere then taking part in a m atch are, to m y m in d, the m ost in terestin g as w ell as th e m ost life ­ like. W h o w ould n ot like to see photographs o f M r. W . L . M urdoch, M r. A . P . L u cas, or M r. A . G. Steel b a ttin g ? M r. W . W . R ead w e h ave seen in Vanity Fair , and this cartoon, I th in k, gives one a better idea of h ow th e great Surrey batsm an appears w hen in the field than any photograph w e have seen o f him . W e seeth e slight stoop and bend of the head as he earnestly w atches the bow ler. O ne can alm ost fancy that the next m om ent the bat w ill be u p ­ lifted. I hope the day w ill com e w hen good, large instantaneous photograph s m ay b eta k en of players in th e field, and actually taking part in a m atch. T h ese w ou ld do m ore to describe th e play of the m en them selves than pages of w ritin g w ou ld do. T h ose o f D r. G race, of w h ich I have spoken, m ay be said to do so. T h ere is no need to w rite half a page describin g th e attitude of the cham pion I at the w ic k e t; there is the photograph w h ich tells it all.