Cricket 1895

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1895. P R IC E 2d. EASBY. The time-worn towers of Canterbury, its old-world streets, and its almost mediaeval quietude, at ordinary times seem to transport one back into the days when modem science as yet was not, when the shriek of the loco­ motive whistle, and the appalling cry of the deviline vexed not the sad ear, neither the rushing wheel of the cyclist, and the meteor outblazing flight of the sky-rocket the sight; when the All-Muggletonians and the Dingley dellites wended their way on foot or in wagon, spring- carfc or stage-coach to the city, and when cricket had not yet a week, nor Cricket a subscriber amongst those who dwelt around the chair of St. Augustine. Long before even those far past days Canterbury did not lack pilgrims. With peas in their shoes when they possessed the latter, or without (in the case of the the more prudent and le?s pious) those painful predecessors of the beans which so frequently com­ pose a latter-day donation, all dotting the via sacra which stretched so far from the shrine of the bishop-martyr Becket, companies of devotees struggled along, intent on visiting those very towers which still keep guard over the ecclesiastical metropolis of England. The bells of Canterbury greeted them afar off, but not for them the displays of bunting, of coloured lamps and lights, of fireworks, and of the Old Stagers dramatic club which welcome the pilgrim of the end of the nineteenth century, who for the most part com^ in comfort and decorum, not ih pain and in rags, by the railway train which would be deemed by his ancestors, could they for once revisit the old city, to be manifestly a diabolic energy. Nor for them did the Canterbury belles make greeting with their brightest smiles and frocks on the field of St. Laurence as for us of modern times on this Thursday. But my pilgrimage was not for the sake of Becket, but of Easby, not to the soldier who turned priest, but to the soldier who turned player. Him whom I sought I found on the St. Laurence Ground, preparing to take the field, on Tuesday morning, for the continua­ tion of Warwickshire’s innings. He is a stoutly-built and not over tall young man, and bears strongly upon him the stamp of the military training which he has undergone. But it will be better to let him tell his history in his own words. “ I was bom on the 12th of August, 1867, at Appleton-upon-Wiske, in the North EABBY. From a Photograph by A . F. Colborne , o f Canterbury . Riding of Yorkshire, and passed my boyhood in that neighbourhood. I had no oppor­ tunities of playing cricket at all until after I enlisted as a lad in the King’s Own York and Lancaster Infantry.” ‘ ‘ And you found the Army a good school for cricket ? ’ ’ “ Yes, no one could wish for a better. Every possible facility is given to the men to play, and practically I learnt all my cricket in the army. Officers who play, and they are many, are anxious to encourage any men in whom there is the promise of good form.” “ The grounds provided are good and well kept ?” “ Yes, it is considered a privilege to be employed about the recreation grounds which are provided in all garrison towns, and the various stations vie with one another in the possession of good pitches. Those at Gosport, where I was stationed before I went to Guernsey, are very good indeed, and fit to play any match upon.” “ You served under officers who were cricketers? ” “ My captain was Capt. L. A. Hamilton, who, you remember, has played many good innings for Kent, including one of over a century here, in the week, a year or two back. He and I made a good many long stands for the regiment, and the result was that I was persuaded to leave the Army and take up a position as ground man to the St. Laurence club, with the view of qualifying for Kent.” “ You played a good deal of local cricket before you were qualified for the Eleven ? ” “ Oh, yes. I played a lot for the St. Laurence ana other local clubs and made a good many runs. It was, therefore, a dis­ appointment to me if not to others that I did so badly last year, when I did get a chance of playing for the county.” “ I think your first appearance resulted in your ‘ bagging a brace?’ ” “ That was so. Perhaps there was some little excuse for me on that particular occasion. I was playing in a match at Dover, when I received a wire from Mr. Marchant, desiring me to come at once to Maidstone to play for the county. Starting off at once, I reached Maidstone after three hours’ railway journeying, just in time to get into my flan­ nels before my turn came to bat. In these circumstances the first ball I got proved too much for me. I was quite as unlucky in the second innings, and thus a pair of spectacles was the outcome of my first match.” “ You got very few runs at all last year for K ent?”