Cricket 1894

MAY 31, 1894 ©RICKETS k WEEKLY HECORD OF THE GAMB, 169 class cricket this summer, it is to be hoped will turn out to be incorrect in the result. A batsman of his remarkable talents only comes in a generation, and his loss is a national one. Fate could hardly be more cruel that in depriving the cricket world of two such bright particular stars as Shrewsbury and Lohmann at the same time. M ore fast scoring! In this instance the artists were both Essex cricketers, C. McGahey and G. Druce to wit. After dis­ missing Edmonton on Saturday at Edmonton for 179, the two amateurs went in for Leyton on the off-chance, with only an hour and twenty minutes left for play, of making the runs. As it was, the Edmonton bowlers had a ver.f bad time of it, for when stumps were drawn 190 had been got with both batsmen still in. McGabey, who is equally well-known as an Association footballer, was responsible for 105, in which were five hits out of the ground, and Druce for 62. T h a t the Marylebone Committee have acted in accordance with their guiding principle of careful legislation in the via media they have chosen in the matter of an alteration of the “ follow on,” will, I think, be the general opinion of cricketers. Personally it is grati­ fying to think that the compromise they have agreed upon is that which I have steadily ad­ vocated in Gossip. The admission of the option is too great a change to be made in a moment. It would be a case of “ ’E dunno where ’e are,” I am afraid, at all events such an alteration foreshadows certain possible complications which it would be well to seriously consider, and not face without due deliberation. The special meeting of M.C.C. to deal with the proposal of the committee, that the limit for the follow on should be 120 instead of as at present 80 runs, is to be held at Lord’s on July 10. N o t h in g which concerns the development of the game, especially in far-away regions where its pursuit is attended with serious diffi­ culties, as I know,well fails to interest C r ic k e t readers. “ The one touoh of nature whioh makes the whole world akin” will in any case oommand their attention for the following etter just reoeived from the hon. sec. of the Santos Athletic Club, Mr. A. Richards:— Thinking it might interest you to hear how oricket is carried on in these warm regions by the “ balance ” of the English and Americans left over from the ravages of the “ Yellow Jack,” I take the liberty of sending you here­ with our cricket fixture card for the coming season. As you will see, we have to arrange or rather manufacture matches between the members on account of the distance to any other cricket playing community, the only outside matches we are able to play being against Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Cam­ pinas. Our club was only started in August, 1890, so is not a very old institution, but there is plenty of enthusiasm, cricket being looked forward to as only Englishmen can look forward to it, even with the great difficulties we have to overcome, the greatest being that we are obliged to play on the sea beach, which is luckily very hard and makes a really good and true pitoh with cocoa-nut matting laid down. T he news of Mr. R . Lydgate’s removal from Hastings will be received with general regret by everyone who knows the good work he has done in the cause of cricket in that town. As one of the founders as well as the chief organisers of the Hastings Week, he has had a large share in the success which has attended the pleasant function which forms the wind-up of the cricket season. To his practical experience and business capacity the administration has been greatly indebted, and as one who knows well the value of his counsel on cricket matters, I can say in all sincerity that his retirement will be a very great loss to the best interests of cricket on the South Coast. Mention of the Hastings Week reminds me of one interesting fact referred to by the hon. sec. at the meeting of the Guarantors last Thursday. Mr. Carless, and rightly, feels pride in the fact that during the seven years since its institution, nearly 70 of the leading cricketers of the day have taken part in the Hastings Week. F r a n k E r n e s t S m it h , the young pro­ fessional whose portrait furnishes the frontis­ piece of this number, like Baldwin, his mate in the Surrey eleven, comes from Bury St. Edmunds. Born there on May 13, 1872, he has consequently just completed his twenty- second year. His early cricket training was with the Guildhall Middle School, Bury, for which he had the best records with bat as well as ball from 1881 to 1887. Sub­ sequently he played for the Bury United C.C. "with great success, and it was on the strength of the good all-round form he showed with it that be came up upon Bald­ win’s recommendation for trial at the Oval in October, 1890. His all-round cricket, too, on that occasion was good enough for the exeoutive of the Surrey County C.C. to offer him an engagement for 1891, which he duly accepted. M e e t in g with a fair amount of success for the Surrey Club and Ground during the two years of his probation, he took his place in the seoond eleven of the County last summer, having, of course, meanwhile duly qualified by residence. Of his promise the Surrey execu­ tive had little or no doubt, though at the same time it was hardly expected that his promo­ tion was so close at hand. It was principally his all round cricket against the second eleven of Kent at Tunbridge Wells, at the end of July, that brought him to the front. On that occa­ sion, with a wicket to help him, he bowled forty overs in the match for sixty-three runs and thirteen wickets. But this was not all, for in addition he carried out his bat for a useful score of 39, the highest on the side. O n the strength, mainly, of this perform­ ance he secured a place in Surrey’s first eleven for the last few matches of the season. Here, too, he acquitted himself with success, partic­ ularly against Essex and Warwickshire, in which altogether he got seventeen wickets at a cost of ninety-six runs. This year he has had a regular place in the Surrey eleven. So far he has justified his selection, for up to date, as the averages will show, he has taken twenty four wickets at a cost of just under thirteen runs a piece. Still he is something more than a bowler. He bats as he bowls, left handed, and, as he showed against Middlesex last Friday, he can keep his wicket up when required, having plenty of defence. More than all, he is certain to do his best to keep the runs down. In the field he is smart, and withal a thorough tryer. He bowls. I may add, slow left hand, and on certain wickets gets a fair amount of work on. T h e old man eloquent has been at it again If I were to say the Grand Old Man you would of oourse assume that I meant W. G. If only for the purpose of distinction, therefore,it will be perhaps better to describe the Veteran Mr. Charles Absolon as above. The O.M.E. too has been discoursing just lately to some tune as a cricketer. Yesterday, Mr. Absolon completed his seventy-seventh year, and C r ic k e t readers one and all will congratulate him on a good score, or nearly four scores. It is a pretty big performance for a cricketer who has long passed the allotted span, to be still a power on the cricket field in any class of match. That his pitoh has not even now materially suffered, in accuracy at all events, can be shown by his latest recorded perform­ ance with the ball. On Monday last for the Smithfield Kovers against Mr. Mayne’s eleven f he took nine of ohe latter’s ten wickets, and at a cost of only 38 runs. Grandest of all Grand Old Men, I doff my hat. More power to your elbow. A d a in t y little volume containing twenty- eight cricket songs, written by Mr. Norman Gale, has come into my hands just as C r ic k e t was going to press. Lack of time prevents anything like a detailed notice. A sample, therefore, will have to suffice for the present; UP AT LORD 'S! When Stoddart makes her hum Up at Lord's, Till the bowler bites his thumb Up at Lord's. How the Middlesex supporters Turn vociferous exhorters, As he j umps on Lockwood’s snorters Up at Lord's ! When Stoddart makes her hum Up at Lord's! And my country cousins come Up at L ord's! W ith their looks as sweet as honey, And their exc'amations funny, I am prodigal of money Up at Lord's ! When Stoddart makes her hum Up at Lord's , And the Surrey skipper’s glum Up at Lord's , Oh ! All my odds are even, And (I hope to be forgiven) ’Tis a truly Cricket Heaven Up at Lord’s, P R IN C IP A L M A TC H E S F O R N E X T W E E K . M ay 31—L o rd ’s, M iddlesex v. Y orkshire May 31—G loucester, G loucestershire v. N otts M ay 81—Oval, S m rey v. South A fricans M ay 31—M anchester, L ancashire v. Sussex J u n e 4— L ord ’s, M.C.C. & G . v. South A fricans June 4—O val, Surrey v C am bridge U niversity June 4—Oxford, U niversity v. L ancashire June 4— B radford, Y orkshire v. Kent June 4—B irm ingham , W .rw ickshire v. L eicester­ shire June 4—N ottingham , N otts v. Sussex