Cricket 1895

“ Together joined in Cricket’s man ly to il.” — Byron. ^ M o ? 5 I i o a d . THUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1895. Since then his progress to the front rank of bowlers has been sure and by no means slow. He is on the ground staff of Lord’s, and one of the best and most trustworthy of that most respect- demanding body. The highest honours of his calling seem now well within his reach, for there is no doubt that the decline of Martin has left him the best medium-paced bowler in the country. Perhaps the indi­ vidual performance which has most distinctly called attention to his merits was his display against the Australians, when he was credited with 17 wickets in one match. This was recog­ nised at the time as a wonderful feat, and one does not recall any other bowler equalling this record against an Australian eleven. This year at South­ ampton, in the match Essex v. Hampshire, he also took 17 wickets, while in the innings which finished the exciting contest between Essex and Leicestershire this year, when Essex were deprived of a cer­ tain victory through want of time, he took the whole of the nine wickets which fell, and was perhaps unlucky in not having the tenth man given out to him leg-before-wicket. But his record for the season is in itself the uncontestable proof of his excellence. He has bowled a total of 6,030 balls for 2,605 runs and 179 wickets. This gives him an average of a wicket for just over L4j runs, and of nearly 34 balls for a wicket. Thus from both tests of a bowler’s ability he comes out very well, running Richardson very close in the proportion of fatal balls sent down in a given number. He is an improving batsman, though he does not very often make many runs. His average for the year is nearly 13, which is quite high enough to show that he may improve upon previous displays. Many professionals, of whom Abel is a prominent example, have developed great WALTER MEAD. The past season has been noteworthy, not alone from the batsman’s, but also from the bowler’s point of view. And there are three bowler’s who stand prac­ tically at the head of the averages, for Captain Hedley, though bowling remark­ ably well, had but 48 wickets, whilst Lohmann’s fragment of a season brought him only 64, and these two may be put on one side in comparing results, with slight injustice. The three are Mr. C. L. Townsend, the champion Eichardson, and the subject of this sketch, ~W. Mead. It is curious that each style of bowling— slow, fast, and medium— should be repre­ sented in these three, that one should be an established favourite with the public, another an almost entirely new man, and the third one who has for some years been steadily progressing in effici­ ency and in recognition. Mead is almost the same age as Eichardson, having three or four months advantage of the Surrey man, as he was bom on Lady-day, 1870, a very suit­ able year for the birth of two renowned hurlers of the ball, the year of the Franco-Prussian struggle. His earliest cricket was played in North-East London, and it is on record that when a lad of fifteen he was singled out by the knowing eye of Bob Thoms, the umpire, and invited to come up to Lord’s for trial as a Middlesex colt. But whether he lived on the Essex side of the boundary line, or had not at that time made up his mind to follow cricket as a means of livelihood, he did not take ad­ vantage of the offer, and so a very promising recruit was lost to that county, and one whose services in the season just S assed would have proved just the help liddlesex needed to take a very high place in the county competition. He played next season for the Clapton club, and his bowling attracted the notice of several members of the Essex club, notably Messrs. Green, Tebbutt, and Betts. Through the influence of these gentlemen he obtained opportunities of improving his play, and did not fail to show form worthy of higher honour than local matches can give. Finally, he ob- WALTER MEAD. From a photograph by E. W. Thomas , o heapside . tained an engagement at the county ground at Leyton, and was chosen to represent Essex against Surrey. His first appearance was very satisfactory, for he obtained five wickets for 80 runs, a very good performance for a novice in county cricket, pitted against so strong a batting side-