Cricket 1895

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. THURSDAY, A UGUST 1, 1895. p r i c e aa. PAUL: THE APOSTLE OF PROFESSIONAL CRICKET. It is doubtless a sign of the times which those who are wise in such indications will invest with no small significance that the subject of this notice, a professional cricketer who has become a paid player of the game after some well-earned fame as an unpaid amateur of the sport, is the son of a colonel in Her Majesty’s army, who occupied the position of chief constable of the Isle of Man. In a conventional sense, Paul is no longer an amateur, and what­ ever loss is included in the omission of his initials and a prefixed “ Mr.” from his name in the score-sheets has been incurred by him, but in the true and best sense of the word, no man can be more purely an amateur of the game than one who lays aside professional prospects, and accepts the erstwhile equivocal status of a player for the love of sport. The evolution of the newer type of paid cricketer is hastened by the natural- very natural—selection of the game, by men of a higher social class than was wont to become gtoundmen fifty years ago, as a means of livelihood, and with examples such as Paul’s, and those of others whose names will occur to everyone, there may yet be one other small field opened to the anxious enquirers of “ what to do with our boys,” videlicet the field of cricket. Paul was born at Belfast on July 24th, 1864, and even in very early youth developed some proficiency in out-door sports, being a very well grown youth for his age. This last characteristic he has well maintained, having ex­ ceeded the fathom in height, and being fourteen stone in weight. At the time of ColonelPaul’ s retirement from the army and his appointment to the Isle of Man, the young­ ster was thirteen years of age, and, on taking up his abode at Douglas, manifested promise of such ability, that the Douglas club selected him to piny for the local eighteen against Mr. Hornby’s Lancashire eleven. Although in this, his first appearance against first-class bowling, he scored only 3 and 2 (not out), yet for a boy of thirteen to appear at all in such a match must be a very unusual occurrence, and to make even a few runs must have inspired him with considerable confidence in his own powers. For the next five years JFrom a Photograph by E. HutoJcin^d'fOc ., Brighton, Paul was improving his play with the Douglas Club, and for the major part of the time was admitted to be the best player in the island. In 1881, being then in his seventeenth year, he was elected captain, and both in batting and in bowling eclipsed all competitors. In that year he scored 690 runs in twenty-eight innings, five times not out, an average of 30, and his bowling figures were seventy-two wickets for 9 runs each. In the same year he was also captain of the Victoria College team, at which place of education he left a capital all-round record, both for cricket and other sports, and for scholastic successes. In 1882 he left Douglas, and for one year lived in Leeds, where he be­ came an active member of the Leeds Clarence Club, for which he obtained an average of 21 runs, scoring very con­ sistently against somewhat better bowling than that to which he had been accustomed in Manxland, his highest score being 42 made against Huddersfield. 1883 saw another removal, Paul this time going to Nottingham, where he took up his residence with his elder brother, the Rev. F. W . Paul, himself a capital sportsman, and now a \icar in Cornwall, but at that time at Emmanuel Church, Nottingham. Here, in 1884, he made his first century, a ^capital 114 for Trinity C.C. v. Castlegate, and then joined the^ranks of Notts Castle, for which famous club he con­ tributed some excellent scores, also doing good service for the Notts Commercial Club. His average for that season was 50*21, the result of twenty- nine completed innings for 1,471 runs. His best indi­ vidual score was, perhaps, £G, v. M.C.C. and Ground, in which he was opposed by Woof, Flowers, and Rylott. In 1885 he was even more successful, his displays in­ cluding 156 against Heanor, the well-known Derbyshire club, and 100 (not out) for Gentlemen of Notts v. Gentle­ men of Surrey. Against M.C.C. and Ground for hi*