Cricket 1894

124 CRICKET? A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY 10, 1894 REMINISCENCES OF CRICKET B y RICHARD DAFT. S o m e S t o u t C r ic k e t e r s . Stoutness is generally considered as a sure preventative to a man’s playing cricket. During my time I have seen many a man have to give up the game owing to his getting too stout, but then again I have known instances where men thus heavily handicapped have put to shame many slim young players, by the extraordinary agility they have shown in the cricket-field. When thinking of stout cricketers, the mighty form of the great Alfred Mynn naturally presents itself to my mind’s eye. Mynn, however, until quite the extreme end of his career never lost his activity. He was always in good condition and had the advantage of having his weight equally distributed all over him as it wer . He was “ massive ” rather than stout, and always carried himself as erect as a dart. For so large a man, too, he was exceedingly light in his movements. Sir Henry B omley, one of the greatest sup­ porters Notts cricket ever had and a player himself of no mean order, had in the cricket field both in his appearance and movements a great resemblance to the old “ Lion of Kent.” Old Tom Bignall, who rendered such excellent service for Notts in years gone by, was very stout during the last years of his career, stouter then than he is now I believe. Tom how­ ever carried his weight well for a consider­ able time. Eventually it was his fielding that was affected sooner than his batting. Old Joe Rowbottom of Yorkshire, too, was a “ heavy weight,” as was also his fellow county player, Roger Iddison. For a stout cricketer, however, my old friend Mr. A. Shuker, who at one time repre­ sented Derbyshire, was by far and away the most active man I ever saw in my life. Mr. Shuker was below medium height, and must have weighed fully 16 stone. But I have seen few ten stone men who were as active in the field as he. He was an exceptionally brilliant fielder, could get down to the b ill with extraor­ dinary quickness, and was also a very good fast bowler and a really splendid bat. Ho scored very heavily iu local matches for a great many years, and if he had been able to devote more time to County cricket could not have failed to have made a prominent name in it. He was also a very good football player, generally playing full back, and was a very fine kick. He was equally good too at the games of lawn tennis and fives. When I think of the way Mr. Shuker used to play in these games, and then see the way some men of his weight of any acquaintance move about, the contrast is rather startling. I remember once playing against an enor­ mously stout gentleman, who, when he came in to bat, evidently felt very nervous about one of cur bowlers, a very fast one, who was opposed to him. The fat gentle­ man seemed to think that when standing at guard it was safest to stand as wide of the wicket as possible, indeed he carried out this idea so far that to the fielders and spectators he seemed to be standing almost as near to short leg as he was to his own wicket, and when he lifted his bat up it left the three stumps vacant for the fast bowler to knock down. This, after two or three balls had whizzed past the wicket in dangerous proximity to the corpulent batsman’s body, he succeeded in doine. The wicket was “ spreadeagled,” and I never saw a man so pleased at getting bowled out as the batsman was on this occasion. One cricketer of note was so heavy that it is reported that a four post bed gave way under him at an hotel where he slept, causing such an awful crash that the people in the adjoining rooms thought the house was falling down. Old Hickling, who for many years kept the Trent Bridge Inn and Ground after old Clarke's time, was an immensely fat man. He accompanied the team which Sir Robert Clifton took to Pans some 30 years ago as umpire, and greatly astonished the Frenchmen by his corpu­ lence and size. They always spoke of him as “ de John Bu ll” and could not but believe that he was padded all over, and used to walk round him like a farmer inspecting cattle at a show. Hickling during his Parisian visit was, I have been told, much disgusted with the French living, and his being utterly unacquainted with the language made him still more irritable. He missed the large joints of beef and mutton which hewas accustomed to see on his own table at home. “ Come over to England, confound you ! ” he is said to have exclaimed to an unfortunate waiter on one occasion, “ and we'll show you how to live, and how to die, too,” he concluded, thinking probably of Waterloo. Another colossal cricketer was Mr. Thomas Butler, the brother-in-law of George Parr. He however was more of the Alfred Mynn type. He was quite as tall and almost as heavy as Alfred. Like most big men, he was exceedingly kind- mannered and good tempered. He was very fond of boxing, and used to be very fond of sparring at his own shadow on the wall. A friend would often assist him in this eccentric performance by playing the violin. He would generally begin to play very slowly, and Mr, Butler would “ feint” and manceuvre cautiously with his shadow for a time, then the time would go quicker, and the fighting began, quicker and quicker went the fiddle, and quicker and quicker Mr. Butler would hit, dodge and guard. So excited did he used to get towards the end of the performance that 1 believe on some occasions he thought he had a real antagonist to deal with. Old Bendigo, the ex-champion, who was almost always at Trent Bridge, and who possessed a skull of adamantine hardness, would allow any man to give him a hit on the back of the head with his fist as hard as he liked. The striker who took him at his word was always a good deal more hurt than the struck. I have seen Tom Butler give Bendy a few smacks in this way, but I think he never quite put the full force into his blow, as Bendy was known to be a queer tempered fellow,and who whenever he got accidentally hurt in a friendly en­ counter generally turned it into an un­ frien d ly one, which was by no means pie >sant for the amateur who was opposed to him. B U O K H U R S T H IL L |2) v. L O U G H T O N P A R K — P layed at L ou gh ton on M ay 5. L o d g h t o n P a k k . Heney, b H arding ... 1 B ennett, c and b A. Barwell ....................11 R. Sharp, b A. Bar- w ell ... .. ... 21 w . Sharp, b F rost . 1 0 G. H itch, b G. F. R o p e r ............................ 8 M ollett, b H a rd in g... 4 L loyd, b G . F. R op er 10 M ayor, c Harding, G. F. R oper ... Sm yth, b Froat .. 0 . Morria, b G. R op er B arker, n ot ou t B ..................... T otal F. B u c k h u r s t H il l . T. Barwell, b M ayor 39 J. Sm i h. b Hitch ... II A. B arw ell. o Morris, b o . H itch ............ 0 F. M. H arding, c B arker, b R . Sharp 22 G. Leverson, c Pen- net, b R . Sharp ... o H. S. M usgrave, b M ayor .................... 2 R . J. F. R oper, b R. Sharp ..................... L . Froat, n ot out P. H. Davies', b Sharp ..................... Substitute,b R.Sharp B . R . 8torey, a vsenc B 6, w i ............ T o t .l ............ ILFO R D V. F O R E S T G A T E .—P layed at I lo r d on May 5. F okest G a t e . Arthur B eecroft, c W . C. Carter, b and b C a rte r........... 18 Spencer ..................... 18 G. H osLings, b CarC. Hawkins, b H. ter ............................. 1 P orter ..................... 7 R. Stephenson, b C. E. H iggins, b S p fn cer .................... 0 S p e n c e r ..................... 1 J. Berry, b Spencer... 0 A. G ray, r o t ou t ... 1 J. B roughton, c L in 8. Chalk, b S pencer 0 coln, b C a rter.......... 5 E x tra s..................... 7 W . H arley, b Carter 0 — T otal ............ £8 I l f o r d , W . T . Spencer, b CarP. C. P otter-Irw in. c ter ............................. 13 Hawkins, b S te­ F. Lfltt, b B erry 1 phenson .................... 51 H. P orter, c and b H . W. L in co'n , c H iggins .................... 58 B eecrofo, b S te­ A. P orter, b Berry ... 35 ph enson ................... 0 F. H. Clark, b Berry 9 G W ynn, c H «r’ey, Q. H. G adsdon, lbw, b G ray ..................... 0 b B eecroft ............ 68 R . «T. Carter, n o t ou t 8 G. Turner, c and b E x trtS ... ............ 26 S tephenson ............ 56 — T otal ...........3 1 5 H ON OR OAK v. S U R R E Y C O L T S .—P layed at the O val on M ay 2. H onob O a k . First Innings. S econd Innings E. G. H ayes, n ot out... 27 n ot out .. .. G. l arrison, b Craw ford 7 c Braund, b C raw ford F. H arrison, c Plai&tow, b K eene ............................. 8 c B raund, b C raw ford T. D ickason, b Cr iw ford 0 b N ice ..................... C. Skipw ith, c L ees, b Craw ford .................... 9 b N ice... ............ T. G racey, b Craw ford 0 c and b N ice E . H olford, b N ice ... 11 c Purkes, b L o h ­ m ann ............ J. Johnson,c and b B raund 0 b Keene ............ C. B arton, b Braund... 0 b L e e s ..................... A. Jones, b N ice........... 4 not ou t ............ C. M ayo, c M arthall, b N ice ............................. 0 c Baker, b Craw ­ ford .................... E x t r a s ................... 2 E xtra s............ T otal ... 68 T o ta l ... SORREX COLT3. V. F. C raw ford, b D ickat o n ..................... 6 B raund, low , b D ick- a9on ... ........... 5 M arshall, b G . H arri­ son ............................. 6 H. R. Farkes, run out 32 W. T. G raburn, b F. H a rriso n .................... 6 N ice, c Johnson, b D ick a so n .......................11 Baker, c and b Bar­ ton ..............................32 Lees, lbw , b B arton 0 L ohm ann, run out... i l Plaistow , c G ra ce j, b w ayo .................... 1 Keene, n ot o u t .......... 0 B I, l b l ............ 2 T otal ..122