Cricket 1893

482 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. DEC. 28, 1893 did just what Ned Wenman toldhim.” In this 1838 match he had eight wickets, Redgate’s last underhand accounting for most of the rest. In 1839 and henceforth (except on two unimportant occasions) the match was fought on level terms—a far more satis­ factory state of affairs, even when one side was much the stronger. The 1839matchwas drawn,thoughthe Players, for whom Wenman played a fine innings of 58 in a total of 235, were only debarred from a victory by rain. Alfred Mynn made 46 (out of 80) and 19 for the Ama­ teurs. The Players won by nine wickets in 1840, their opponents collapsing for 39 in their first innings, against Cobbett and Lillywhite. Mr. Tay­ lor’s second innings of 35 (not out) was the highest in the match. Again in 1841 did the pros win, though only by three wickets, after having had all the worst of the earlier stages of the game. Alfred Mynn took eleven of the seventeen wickets of theirs which fell; but plucky play by Joe Guy, of Notts, and Hawkins, the Brigh­ ton barber (whose hair was so curly that old Fuller Pilch used to say he must have changed heads with a poodle-dog), pulled them through. The Gentlemen won by 95 runs in 1842, mainly owing to Felix and Alfred Mynn. The former scored a splendid 88 in the second hands; the Kentish lion made 21 and 46, and took nine wickets. Sir F. Bathurst also bowled well; and Bartholo­ mew Good (32 and 14) alone made many runs for the Players. Siill more decisive was the manner in which the amateurs won in 1843—an innings and 20 runs. Alfred Mynn and Sir Frederick, helped this time by C. G. Taylor, were again the bowlers ; while t.ie same three were, curiously enough, top scorers. Mr. Taylor had very hard lines in not scoring the century ; he made 89, and then his hat tumbled on the wicket. Mynn scored 47, the Guardsman 28, Mr. Felix 22, andWalter Mynn 20, the total reaching 256. Pilch and Wen­ man made most of the runs for the Players; Fuller scoring 4 and 43, and the wicket-keeper 73 (not out) and 5. The Players won by 38 runs in 1844, Dorrinton (another member of the famous Kent eleven, to which the Mynns, Mr. Felix, Wenman, Pilch, and Hillyer all belonged) making a very favourable first appearance in these matches with a first innings of 30. Mr. Roger Kynaston, with 34 and 30, and Wenman, with 21 and 33, were the biggest scorers in the game, however ; and Alfred Mynn and C. G. Taylor on one side, Hillyer and Lilly- white on the other, took all the wickets. The Kent men were to the fore in the mb. w. WARD. 1845 match. Alfred Mynn made 55, Mr. Felix 43 and 6, and Fuller Pilch 44; while Mynn was, as usual, conspicuous in the bowling line. The Players won by 67 runs. In an extra match played at Brighton, only three Players’ wickets were down for 119 runs when rain stopped play. One of the greatest batsmen of any age —George Parr—appeared first for the Players in 1846. He was then only twenty years of age, His defence was never graceful, though good ; but he was a wonderful leg-hitter, and could cut and drive with the best. Old William Clarke also made his debut for the pros, in this match. He was more than twenty-seven years older than Parr, and was renowned for his lobs, which very few batsman could plaj with any confidence. The ball was delivered in some mysterious fashion from under his armpit, and got up from the pitch in a fashion very disconcerting to a nervous batsman. He played cricket right down to the year of his death (1856), and appeared for the Players as late as 1853, when he had turned fifty-four. This 1846 game was a very exciting one. The Players batted first, and only scored 85, Alfred Mynn once more playing havoc with their wickets. T h e G e n t l eme n topped this score by 20, Mr. R. P. Long, who had been top scorer in theUniversity match a few days be­ fore, making 34. Then the pros, scored 145 (Guy, who had made 25 in the first innings, 31). The Gentle­ men wanted 126 to win; and, thanks to the good play of C. G. Taylor (44) and Arthur Haygarth (26), and the coolness at a critical time of Long and Walter Mynn, pulled through by one wicket. An extra match at Canterbury (the Gentlemen being as­ sisted by Lillywhite and Martingell, Ful­ ler Pilch’s special pupil) ended in a draw. Mr. Harvey Fel- lowes, ahardhitter and extraordinarily fast bowler (he is said to have been the only bowler whom George Parr could not hit to leg), played his first game for the Gentle­ men in 1847, when the Players won by 147 runs, Joseph Guy ’ s 4 2 (in the second innings) being the top score for them; while no one reached 30 in either inniDgs |for the Gentlemen. In 1848 the Gentlemen won by 27 runs, although they were all out for 31 in the first innings. In the second, however, Alfred Mynn scored 66, and Harvey Fellowes carried his bat for 37 ; and these two between them had fourteen of the Players’ wickets, so that they may fairly be said to have been the means of win­ ning the match. JohnWiBden, the “ Little Wonder,” one of the very best all-round men of the day, though only 5 feet 44inches high, made his debut for the Players in this match.