Cricket 1896

A pril 23, 1896. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 80 H.J.GRAY&SONS Patentees^ and Manufacturers of GAMES A L L GOODS GUARANT E ED , THE PLAYFAIRJ DRIYER acknowledged by experts to be unsur- Illustrated Catalogues Free. C am b r id g e AND 8, Goswell Road, AIdersgate, London , e . g . Cricket: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME, 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LOUDON, E.C. THURSDAY, APRIL 23 rd , 1896. $a\)tlton <§osstp. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— Ham7e'. P rin ce C h r is t ia n V ic t o r of Schleswig- Holstein, a keen supporter of the grand old game, as most Cricket readers know, has just returned to England. After serv­ ing on the staff of Sir Erancis Scott, and going through the march to and from Kumasi safely, he set off, on his arrival home, for Cimiez, where he spent several weeks with a view to recruit his health after the risks and probable ills which flesh is heir to in such a dangerous climate as that of Ashanti. The cricketing Prince, who was one of the cheeriest of the party in charge of the chief column of the invading force, in the bloodless advance which ended in the capture of King Prempeh, celebrated his twenty-ninth birthday last Tuesday week. Cricket readers, those of South London in particular, will recognise in the first named of the two high contracting parties referred to in the following announce­ mentlast year’s captain of the Barnes Club. For other clubs ‘ ‘ round the town,” W. F. L. Frith has done good service as a run getter. He has scored well for the Surrey Club in some of its best matches, and if I am not mistaken, has played for the County’s second eleven:— F rith -S issons .— 16th inst., at St. Mary’s, Mortlake, by the Rev. B. Meredyth Kitson, M.A., Rector of Barnes, William Frederick Lowndes Frith, eldest son of Henry Frith, of listers’ -avenue, S .W ., to Ethel Maud, youngest daughter of the late Robert Sissons, of Newark House, Richmond, Surrey. “ T h e Queen has been pleasedtoappoint the Hon. Arthur Hay to be one of the Gentlemen Ushers’ Quarterly Waiteis in Ordinary to Her Majesty, in the room of the late Mr. Alfred Montgomery. ” In this particular instance Her Majesty’s favour has again fallen on a cricketer. Mr. Arthur Hay, who is, by the way, a brother-in-law of Capt. G. A. Webbe, the old Harrovian, best known latterly in connection with I Zingari, has, I believe, been actively identified cricket at Kew for some years. with Or the infinite variety of cricketers, every week throughout the year brings some fresh examples. Football, golf, racquet, skating, and, indeed, every manly sport finds them well to the front. And now, “ let’s to Billiards, Charmian,” to quote from the divine William. Well, there they are again in the thick of it. The latest volume of the Badminton Library, that on Billiards, at least, finds cricket well represented. Among the contributors who have helped Captain Broadfoot, of the Royal Engineers, are three who have made their mark at cricket. The trio in question, in the order of seniority, are R. D. Walker, D. D. Pontifex, and W. J. Ford. W. J. F., it is needless to add, is the original “ gentle tapper ” of Robert Thoms. J. T. H earne has returned to England none the worse for his visit to India, and he has promised to go there again at the end of the present season. During his visit the Court was in mourning, and the cricket matches which had been arranged were abandoned, and the Court adjourned to the hills. I n a match in Ceylon between Dikoya and Dimbula on March 27th and 28th, L. H. Gay, the old Cambridge University wicket-keeper made 31 not out, and P. H. Papillon, who a year or two ago was well known in matches in the neighbour­ hood of Eastbourne and Hastings, 76 not out. Both the scores were made for Dikoya, who won easily. I f the scorers in the match between the Kandy Buddhist C.C. and the Matale Boys were Englishmen, their duties must have been somewhat depressing. For the names of the players, though, doubtless, simple enough to those who are used to them, are passing strange to those who are not. If Messrs. Wadigamangawa, Wijeyekoon, Tillekeratne, Silvab Ratwatte and Senanayke, and others who took part in the match, ever come on a tour to England together to play cricket, the reports of the matches are likely to be amusing reading. I n the next match played by Kenny Burn (March 7th) after his two scores of 117 (not out) and 162 (not out), to which reference was made last week, he made 176 (not out). The match was to be con­ tinued on the following Saturday (March 14th), so that Bum has probably increased his score. This makes his fourth hundred in successive innings. During his last innings the bowling is said to have been very good, but Bingham, who took the only three wickets which fell, was kept on nearly the whole afternoon. I n an able article on the prospects of Yorkshire clubs, the Yorkshire Daily Post says :— “ The great object of all leagues and asso­ ciations should be the encouragement of sport in its best and highest aspect, which is, that it should be followed as a healthful recreation and not asa commercial enterprise. We have come across no association of clubs that in its objects so well realises the true principle of union and combination as that of the Craven Cricket Union. The principal objects of the Union are the encouragement of village cricket, and the discouragement of profes­ sionalism and the pernicious system of clubs playing men borrowed, begged, or stolen from other places, and wholly unconnected with the district of the clubs for whom they play. In these objects the Union has in past years been singularly successful, and we are assured that there are favourable omens of further success this season. ‘ The advancement generally of the game of cricket in Craven,’ ‘ the speedy and amicable settlement of differ­ ences and disputss between clubs and players ’ —these are thefirst two articles of the Union’s faith which we cull from its book of constitu­ tions for the current year. They should be the guiding principles of every organisation that has the interests of cricket under its control.” To judge by its annual report, the Madras C.C. is in a very flourishing con­ dition. At the end of last season the number of members on the books was 466, of whom 433 were paying members. Fifty-seven new members joined the club during the year, and thirty-three of the old ones left it. Twenty-four matches were played, of which 15 were won, 5 lost, and 4 drawn. The batting averages were headed for the second season in succession by R. J. H. Arbuthnot with an average of 92, while the bulk of the bowling fell to H. R. N. Ellison and E. H. D. Sewell, who have averages of 11*17 and 12*43 runs per wicket. Centuries were scored by the following:—R. J. H. Arbuthnot 158, R. E. Firth 162 (not out), R. H. Dewing 114, E. H. D. Sewell 119, H. R. N. Ellison 102 (not out), H. F. E. Freeland 101, and F. Wall 101. A m o n g the professionals engaged by Yorkshire clubs are Mounsey and Waller