Cricket 1895

“ Together joined in Cricket’ s m an ly to il.” — Byron. No. 4 0 8 . VOI.. X IV . THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1895. PRICE 2d. DAVID DENTON. Some years ago the little village of Thornes, near Wakefield, in Yorkshire, to parody the Dickensesque description of the habitat o f M r. Squeers, o f unpleasant m em ory, suddenly found itself famous. The football team taking its name from the village, w hich had hitherto been content to p lod alon g in village fashion, suddenly came to the front w ith a rush, and to everyone’s astonishment, ac­ tually knocked out all its pow erful rivals and w on the Y orkshire Cup. D u rin g the last three years Thornes has again becom e famous by su pplying to the coun ty cricket team one of the most likely recruits it has obtained in recent times. D avid D enton has so entirely becom e a popular favourite in Y orkshire, and is generally throughout the country so confidently expected to obtain the highest honours of profes­ sional cricket, that I was very pleased to obtain an interview with him , and feel certain that no ap ology is necessary for introducing him to the readers o f Cricket, and entertaining them w ith the inform ation he was so w illin g to give in res­ pect o f his career as far as it has gone. H e is an intelligent, well-m annered, and educated man, and quite a contrast in m any w ays to some o f the p ro­ fessionals one remembers a quarter o f a century ago. But this w ill b e clear from the follow in g fu ll true and par­ ticular account o f our conver­ sation. “ I think y ou have bu t recently at­ tained your m a jo r ity ? ” “ That is so. I was b o m at Thornes (do y o u k n ow that is close to W akefield ?) on the 4th o f Ju ly, a red-letter day for me, as w ell as for Am erica, in the year 1874.” “ A n d I am told that you were quite a leading local light as a cricketer when still a lad ? ” “ I had to start for m yself early in life, and entered the em ploym ent o f H od gson and Simpson. F or the club connected w ith the firm I began to play when fou r­ teen years old, and I was constantly w ith them until tw o years a g o .” “ H ad you when as y ou n g as you DAVID DENTON (YORKSHIRE). From a Photograph by It. IV. Thomas, 41, Cheapside, London, m ention any success ? ” “ M y first match was against H udders­ field, and I scored on ly 5. But in m y second gam e, which was against T o d - m orden, I made 38, and our opponents were a g oo d team, and included men like Creighton. This was not a flash in the pan, for m y third gam e, against Hunslet, saw me score 26.” “ Y o u seem to have carefully preserved a record o f your play. It w ould b e in­ teresting if you could give me your annual averages fo r you r club ? ” “ Y es, I can do that. In 1889 it was 14’6 ; in 1890, rather better, 19-85; in 1891, increased to 22 '3 6 ; in 1892, slightly im proved, 23 ; and in 1893, m uch higher, 36'20. Thus, y ou see, I have made some advance each year.” “ Y o u have, o f course, had the top average on several occasions F ” “ Quite so, bu t in 1892 and 18931 was head of both batting and b ow lin g averages. In 1892 m y bow lin g average was 10-7, but in 1893 m y wickets cost 12-2 runs each.” “ “When did y ou first have a trial in view o f coun ty matches ? ” “ M y first colts’ m atch was on A ugust 21st and 22nd, 1891. This was fo r tw en ty-tw o colts against the county. I had no great success, fo r I scored but 5. E arly in the next season, or rather before the regular season began, I played for eleven o f Y orkshire Colts against eleven o f N otts Colts, at Trent B ridge, and did much better, fo r I made 53 in the first innings, though at the second tim e o f asking I was out for 5.” “ B ut this was sufficient, I think, to obtain you a place in the second eleven o f the county ? ” “ I played in m ost o f Y o rk ­ shire’s second team matches after that time. I made m y first innings o f 100 on August r-C- 6th, 1892. It was for H od gson and Sim pson’s against Pudsey Britannia. The exact figures were 102 not ou t.” “ That was your on ly century that season ? ” “ Y es, bu t fo r m y old club, in 1893, I made 101 against M orley and 115 not out against Barnsley. That was m y last year w ith H od gson and Simpson,