Cricket 1895

Dec. 26 , 1895.. CR ICKET : A W E E K L Y RECORD OP THE GAME. I t w ill be o f interest to Cricket readers to learn that that greatest o f tappers— J. J .— whose hind name is L yons, is still able to keep the ba ll m ovin g in the same sweet w ay as in England. The latest perform ance up to his old and best form was recorded in a m atch betw een N orw ood and P ort A delaide Clubs on the O val at Adelaide on N ovem ber 2nd. Comm encing N orw ood’s innings he let out at once, sending four balls to the bou ndary in N ewham ’ s first over. The first tw enty minutes brough t him 50 runs, in an h ou r he had reached his hundred, and at the end o f an h ou r-an d -a -h a lf when the requisite number o f runs had been g ot, was still in w ith 136 out o f 217 fo r tw o wickets, to his credit. H is record in this match brings vividly to one’ s m ind that marvellous display o f batting o f his at L o rd ’s in 1893, when he knocked up 149 in ninety-five m inutes. N o doubt someone w ill urge that there was a difference in the quality o f the tw o performances. “ W h y , cert’n ly .” Still. 136 in an hou r-an d-a -h a lf is p retty tall. S eventy- six o f them were g o t in fourers. T h e follow in g announcement taken from the first colum n o f the Daily Tele­ graph o f Saturday, contains news that will interest a large number o f cricket readers:— MARTYN—MU IR.—On the 18th inst., at St. Mary’s, Wimhledon, William Edward, son of W . Martyn, M .D., F.R .G .S., W est­ moreland Lodge, Wimbledon Park, to Eleanor Elizabeth (Nellie), daughter of Robert Muir, Heathlands, Wimbledon Common. The bridegroom can hardly be any other than the In co g w h o has also p layed for the W im bledon C .C ., and is, at the present time, its H on . Sec. The bride’ s father, unless I am in error, has also been an active m ember o f the W im bledon Club for some years, and if I am n ot m istaken in m y identity, he has even a better record in hockey, for the developm ent o f which he has worked hard and w ell. E n g l i s h cricketers w ill be grieved to hear that the career of that greatest of all wicket keepers, J. M . B lackham , has been brought to an unfortunate close. Last season some w ill remember, ju st when everyone was saying his day had come, he pulled him self together, like the warrior he has always shown him self to be, and actually cam e out at the head of the batting tables, w ith the highest average for the M elbourne Club. H e was p layin g for the M .C .C . against F itzroy in the end o f last m onth when the accident occurred w hich has, in all p robability, rem oved from the field one o f the pluckiest cricketers the gam e has ever seen. W hen about 40 runs had been made b y F itzroy, a fast ball from C. M ’L eod g o t up rather abruptly over the leg stump and struck the famous keeper on the same old thumb, layin g it bare and b loo d y to the bone. A fter the w ou nd had been dressed Blackham con ­ fessed thatit was the w orst b low h e had ever NEXT ISSUE, THURSDAY, JANUARY 30th.