Cricket 1893

438 CRICKET s A WEEKLY EECOED Citf THE GAME, OCT. 26, 1893 longed to rival him . P layin g about in different parts of the county, I soon got know n as a hard-w orking cricketer, who was handy w ith bat and ball, and good in the field. But m y first engagem ent cam e as a surprise ; it was this way. One night— in the dead o f night— there was loud knocking at our street door ; up jum p s m y brother, throw s up the w indow , pops his head in again, and said, 1T om , have you been doing anything, for there’s a couple o f peelers outside w ith a gentle­ m an who wants y ou .’ W ell, I knew I was innocent enough, only it m ade m e a bit uncom fortable at fir s t; but we soon found it was all right. I w asn’t ‘ w anted,’ it was the offer o f a cricket en gagem en t; the gent in the chaise cam e from T ow n M ailing and wanted m e to go o ff with h im then and there. I told him I couldn’t leave m y place where m y wages w ere twelve shillings. Said he, ‘ if y ou 'll com e with me, you shall have ± 5 a-w eek.’ So I went, and I never cam e back to m y old trade, for from that night I continued to play cricket until m y w orking days w ere over. A nd I never regretted the change.” I then suggested to the old m an that we m ight as w ell charge our pipes, at the sam e time handing him m y pouch. I had two reason s; one was, experience has taught m e that when strangers meet, conversation runs easier from behind tobacco fu m e s; the other was, I was anxious to k n ow why an old hat stood on the hearth with sundry clays in it. whilst there were tw o or three other sim ilar hats about the room . So w e sat and sm oked together, though m y old friend’s pipe w ould not keep in ; he seem ed to forget all about it in his review o f the years that were gone. The stepdaughter w ith w hom be lives, and who, a w idow, is devoted to the old cricketer— so are sundry sm all grandchildren o f hers who cam e in just to have a look at their great­ grandfather— she told m e that those hats w ere the old hats w orn by her father when he played cricket, that’s w hy he liked to have some o f them near him . “ H e was a b it o f a dandy in those days, and must have had tw o dozen altf'P'P'her when he gave up cricket.” T he; w ere hats, regular chim ney-pots ; hats n^i. to put on your head as is the fashion to-day, but to put y ou r head into, where you m ay be sure it would stick in any gale. F earful and w onderful contrivances, the like o f which have been seen on n o cricket ground since p oor B ob G rim ston left us. “ F ather sits in his arm chair all day long, even for his m eals. H e hardly ever goes out, as he cann ot w alk m uch, but last evening there w as a tea party up at the Church School, and our vicar, M r. B ligh, w h o often is in here and of w hom father is very fond, pursuaded him to go, and he w ent and enjoyed him self, and is no w orse for it to­ day. I asked the vicar whether you should see father, and I show ed him your note, telling us how m uch you w anted to call. Y ou see he gets so excited if an y­ th in g new happens, and he is sure to break down when he begins to talk o f the cricketers he used to play with, that I didn’t like to let you see him w ithout get­ ting the opinion o f Mr. B ligh. Som e days he is very weak, and will go to bed directly after dinner, but he’s never up after six o'clock .” T hen old T om got under w ay again, though the pipe stuck fa s t; o f course it was all about the past, though he had som ething to say about W .G .; but do what I would in the shape o f questions, he w ould have his own way7, and a delightful w ay it proved for m yself as w e ll:— “ W e had lots of cricket when I first started, not m any first-class matches, bui really good club matches. W e used to play at Cobham Park, B everley, Bear- stcd, Leeds Park, Sevenoaks V ine, T o n ­ bridge W ells, and T ow n M ailin g; these were all in K ent. Sussex was quite as well off, there were pow erful clubs at Storrinton, Medhurst, Petworth, Henfield, and Shillinglee. I rem em ber a very funny m atch at Shillinglee, L ord W in- terton’s place ; he had got up an eleven and they played against 56 labourers on his estate, and beat them easily. I did not plaj7, but I have been told there m igh t have been 100 instead o f 56, so poor a lot were they. “ W ell, in 1845 I thought I would stai t a ground of m y own in Gravesend. M any cricketers had grounds ; there was L illyw hite at B righton, and B o x too, P ilch at Canterbury, Parr at Leam ington, and Dan. D ay at Southampton— they all owned a cricket ground. So did I ; I laid it out and levelled it m yself, fenced it round with bushes tied together, and made it first-class in every w ay. I held it for tw o or three years ; then 1 gave it up to a man nam ed Sm ith. After a m atch we w ould have a fair at night often, and plenty o f fun going, m y wife looking after refreshments in a booth. That was the Bat and Ball ground, which is still used b y the C onnty Club and plays as w ell as ever. Y ou m ust go and have a look at it before you leave.” Another pause, and this further inform a­ tion about the veteran ; like old Clarke, he married a w idow with a large fam ily, she being several years A dam s’ senior; they had n o children, but never was a m an m ore devotedly served in every way than Adam s is by his stepdaughter, who, though none too prosperous, is ready to share everything w ith him . I gathered that his w ife was the w idow o f a Gravesend publican, and kept on the business after her first husband’s death. T hey were all neighbours and friends in their early days, though Adam s and his future stepson seem ed unable to “ hit it ’’ for some t im e ; “ it was no g ood ,” con­ tinued he to m e, “ m y father said we had better fight it ou t; which w e did, and ever after w e becam e fast friends. N ot that I ever entered the R in g ; that was a low business, lu t I could use m y fists when wanted, aud do a lot o f things besides cricket. I was above the average at skittles, and running and shoot­ ing and jum ping. One day I remember clearing a ditch as wide as a broad road ; m y stepson tried to do the same and flopped in instead. I used to get a lot of sporting with Mr. Collyer, and I hunted after with D r. Ferguson, the Queen’s doctor, w ho was very fond of cricket as , well. Once I breakfasted with the A rch­ bishop of Canterbury, bnt I ’ll tell you all about that som e other day. “ L et me see, you want to hear about old cricket and cricketers. W ell, I played m y first m atch at L ord 's in 1837, and then about 1851 I got engaged there for five seasons. Tw o years I bow led at Oxford, and had a good berth there ; whilst H illyer and m yself went to B ugby School; we w eie som etim es paid so much for the season. Old Clarke used to give us £ 5 or £ 6 for a m atch, though we w eren’t all paid the same am ount. I could bat and bow l fairly w ell, though perhaps I did best in the field, away from the wickets, and M ister F elix used to like to call to m o to throw at the wickets, because he said I w as such a dead sh o t; if I m issed it, he w as sure to be in his right place to save the overthrow . H e was a w onderful m an, Could do any­ thing, always brim ful o f fun, which he liked to let o ff in any match where L illy- white was playing, and he often made the old fellow speak his m ind. H e wrote a book, for w hich he drew and painted the pictures. Irem em b er when h eon ce came to Gravesend he had his fiddle w ith him as usual. Som ehow , all the strings but one got broken, but he played on that string just as if nothing had happened, and it's m y belief he w ould have got almost as m uch m usic out o f the fiddle if it had had no strings. And couldn’t he draw and paint ? H e gave m e this picture o f T om Barker, which liep ain tedh im self and it has his nam e on it. Y o u ’ve heard o f M i. W ilder, that’s his portrait, and we are so proud of it, he gave it to us. F or 20 years he used to send m y daughter here ±1 every m onth for the sick poor at Gravesend. H e used to say to her, ‘ L et m e know how they are getting o n ; take care o f that poor Irishm an, and if you want any m ore m oney let m e hear.’ H e lived at Stan- stead Park, which was left h im by his mother, and was very rich, though he lost nearly all his fortune in bank failures. H e was the best friend cricketers e\er had. and started the Cricketers' Fund. H e came here one day, and looking up to this picture, said, 1Adams, I ’m married, what will T om m y Barker think o f m e ? ’ “ W hat about the old Kent E le v e n ? I cannot tell you m uch. They are all gone but m e, and I fancy folks think I'm dead too, for nobody ever calls to see me. I used to go in first, M r. M ynn w ould have m e. D id y ou ever see him ? I wish you had know n h im ; every inch o f him a cricketer and a gentleman, first-rate with bat and ball, the only really good batsman I everknew that bow led so fast and so m uch. Y ou couldn't tire him . H e was very fond o f our Kentish nuts, and when­ ever he cam e to Gravesend, w ould call at our house, and say to m y daughter, ‘ here, hold out your apron, for your hands ain’t big enough for what I ’m going to give y ou .’ A gallon of nuts was his present to her, or very near a gallon, for his hands could hold any quantity. “ H e and H illyer were our bowlers. H illyer was m uch straighter, but M r. M ynn would frighten m ost batsmen, all indeed whenever we played up at