Cricket 1896

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — B y ro n . wo. 425 . v o l. xv. THURSDAY, JULY 2 , 1896 . f b i c e 2 d. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. DR. RUSSELL BEN CRAFT. There are very few cricketers who can look back on their career with greater pleasure than Dr. Bencraft, who besides being one of the most useful men in the Hampshire team during the last twenty years, has for nearly all that time acted as honorary secretary with conspicuous success. For the last four years he has been the captain of the team, and last year he attained the crowning point of his ambition as a cricketer, when Hampshire was a second time made a first-class coui.tv, after suffering a long period of eclipse. He is a nephew and godson of the famous Jack Russell, the Sporting Parson, after whom he was named ; he belongs to a Devon- shire family, but he himself was born at Southampton on March 4th, 1858. As a balsman he has always been noted for his won­ derful cutting, and those who saw him cut Woodcock at Lord’s last year, in the M.C.C. match, must have been somewhat as­ tonished. He has in most years playeda great deal of club cricket, and sometimes has played as many as 80 innings in a season—it is very seldom that he does not make over a thousand runs a year in club cricket; often, indeed, he has made over 2,000, and once over 3,000, as well as taking 200 wickets. While he was working for his medical examinations he played for Richmond, and in after years he was a member of the M.C.C., Free Foresters, Incogniti, and Hampshire Hogs, of which club he is still the honorary secretary. Altogether he has made from fifty to sixty hundreds. Once while he was at St. George’s Hospital he made a hundred on a Thursday against St. Mary’s Hospital, went home for the end of the week and made a hundred on Saturday, and another on Monday, by which time he was doubtless able to resume his duties with much satisfaction. He is president of the Southampton St. Mary’s Football Club, and for two years was president of the Hampshire Football Association, while for many years he was captain of the Southampton Trojans Rugby F.C. ‘ ‘ What was your best year for the county ?’ ’ “ It was 1889, the year in which I was married. My highest score was 195, against Warwickshire, at Birmingham. In the first innings I was bowled for a duck by Shilton, who afterwards explained to me, in his amusing way, how I should have played the ball. At the end of the second innings I told him that I was greatly obliged to him for his teaching, which seemed to tickle him ; he had, however, bowled me out again. In that year I was at the head of the Hampshire averages with 53.” “ When did you become secretary of the county club ? ” “ In 1877, when C. Booth gave it up. I took the office simply because nobody else could be found willing to do so. At that time there really was no proper county club — the teams were scratch elevens got together by one man—and there were only 30 members. At the present time we have recently bought our ground of nine acres, and have 950 mem­ bers, as well as 200 ladies (all subscribers). We owe our present prosperity in great measure to Colonel Fellowes, who during the three or four years that I was working for my Medical undertook my secretarial duties. It was through the efforts of the Colonel that our ground was secured; and, in addition to this, he laid it out for us. I need hardly say that it has been a source of very great satisfac­ tion to us that we were made a first-class county last year, owing to the exertions of Lord Hawke, whose kindness we repaid by defeating Yorkshire at Bramall Lane by two wickets. This was, I consider, the best performance done by Hampshire since I have been in office.” “ Better than that against Sussex at Southampton in 1894, when you won just before time, after Mr. Murdoch had closed the Sussex innings ? ” “ That was a little different, because if the innings had not been closed we could not have won in the time. As it was, Murdoch challenged us to make about 240 in three hours ; it was a very sportsmanlike challenge too. Captain Wynyard got a hundred by such wonderful cricket as is seldom seen in county matches, and we won by six wickets about four minutes from time. Wynyard also made hundreds in the two succeeding matches. I consider that he ought to have been given a trial in some of the representative matches, and it is strange that he has always been forgotten when the teams have been chosen.” “ Had you made any big scores before you played for the county ? ” “ A few, but I think that I was really chosen on account of two innings of 34 and 36 that I played for the New Forest against I Zingari, against the bowling of Walter Hadow, C. K. Francis, and A. W . Ridley. I was pretty active in the field at that time. My first county match was against Kent nearly twenty years ago—in August, 187G. We beat them in an innings, thanks in great measure to Ridley, who made a hundred. My score was only 5, and I quickly came to the conclusion that county and club cricket were very different games.” DR. RUSSELL BENCRAFT. From a Photograph by Hawkins and Co., Brighton.