Cricket 1897

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no. 4 48 . v o i . x -v i. THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1897. p r i c e aa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. EDWARD RU TTER . It is probably not known to all the world that Mr. Rutter, the old Middlesex county left-hand bowler, was not only the first left-hand bowler to place all the field on the off-side, but was probably the first slow left-handed bowler. It was when he was at school at Rugby that the idea occurred to him, and so successful did it prove when put into prac­ tice that for one season Mr. Rutter and Mr. F. Bowden Smith bowled without a change in all the foreign matches. Mr. Smith was medium right, but taking to rowing when he went to Ox­ ford, lost his bowling. Not so with Mr. Rutter, who for several years was one of the principal bowlers of the Middlesex eleven. He bowled slow left, and came a great deal with his arm. Among his best performances were the following :— For Free Foresters v. Southgate, 1869, first innings 9 wickets, second innings 8 wickets; for I. D. Walker’s X Y I. v. United South (with W. G. Grace), first innings 7 wickets; for Middlesex v. Kent, 1869, first innings 5 wickets, second innings 6 wickets ; for Middlesex v. Surrey, 1870, second innings 7 wickets; for Hillingdon v. I Zingari, first innings 9 wickets; Hillingdon v. I Zingari, first innings 7 wickets, second innings 10 wickets; Free Foresters v. Oxford Univer­ sity, first innings 7 wickets; Free Foresters v. Gentlemen of Notts, second innings 10 wicket'j. The first time that Mr. Rutter ever did anything of importance as a bowler was in September, 1859, in a match against the Gentlemen of Rugby, who were a very strong team. “ I was not regularly in the eleven then,” he said. “ The Gentlemen beat us in an innings with the greatest ease, and when the match was over it was proposed to play a sort of return. When the Gentlemen went in again somebody said to our captain, ‘ Try young Rutter.’ So he put me on, and the Gentlemen were all out for 27. I took seven wickets. Goodrich and David Buchanan were the bowlers. Goodrich was an underhand bowler, very accurate. He bowled from the hip, and did not twist much, but he was a master (From aphotograph ly W . Bates , Clicrtsey.) of the art of pitching a ball just a little further or shorter, according to the play of the batsman. David Buchanan used to bowl fast at that time, but he after­ wards developed into a slow bowler, and most successful he was.” Mr. Rutter, besides being an enthusi­ astic cricketer, has always been an' active supporter of the game, both as a member of the Marylebone Committee and as Hon. Sec. of the Free Foresters, which post he has held for 25 years and still retain?, and it is with this club that he has chiefly been known to cricketers of late years. As recently as 1894 he very nearly, in partnership with the Rev. J . H . Savory, approached the record of 173 for the last wicket madeby Briggs and Pilling in 1885 for Lancashire v. Surrey. Mr. Rutter was playing for the Free Foresters against C. T. Hoare’s Eleven, at Bignell, and when, as last man, he joined Mr. Savory, who had just gone in, a follow-on seemed certain. “ Up to that time,” he said, “ the Free Foresters had only scored about a hundred. Savory got out at last, absolutely ex­ hausted. He was a great hitter, and you may guess the rate at which he scored when I say that he made 125, while my score was only 41. We put on 163 for the last wicket. We have always had a great deal of fun in Free Foresters’ tours, but good cricket is always played, and the side never gets demoral­ ized. I remember a match which we played at Battersea Park against the Civil Service. There was quite a large crowd which insisted on encroaching on the field of play. One old chap, who had frequently been warned to stand back, at last met with an accident which might have been very serious. Somebody hit a ball which fell right on the old fellow’s clay pipe and drove it down his throat. I can see it now ! I never heard what becameof him, but I recollect that he brought up bits of clay pipe by degrees. In another of our matches, against Eton, Major Milman, a one-armed man, who was bowling at the opposite end to me, had been very unfortunate, and at last bowled a ball which hit the wicket and parted the stumps. The bail in falling lodged be­ tween the wickets about half way down, and Thoms, who was umpiring, gave the