Cricket 1897

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no. 456 . vol. xvi. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1897. m ice aa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. M r. G. F. VERNON, To see Mr. Vernon well set at the wickets is one of the greatest pleasures which can fall to the lot of a cricketer. Ever since 1874, when he left Rugby School, until the present day, he has delighted the spectators at Lord's and other grounds where Middlesex play matches, by some of the finest and most resolute hitting imagin­ able. He made his debut for Middlesex in the same match as Mr. T. S. Pearson and Mr. J. Robertson, the old Middlesex fast bowler. At Rugby, of which school he was captain in 1874, he was in the eleven with Mr. E. T. Hirst, the Yorkshire ama­ teur, Mr. D. H. B. Brownfield, who has played for Staffordshire, and Mr. C. M. Cunliffe, who played for Kent some years ago. His first school was Yverdon House, Blackheath, of which the Rev. G. Meyrick Jones, father of the Kent amateur, was head master. Here he was captain of the eleven. Among his many feats of quick scoring may be mentioned his 88 out of 112 for Middlesex v. Gloucestershire at Lord’ s in 1888. Of late years he has not been seen in the Middlesex eleven as cften as could have been wished, for last year he did not return from a visit t ) Australia until the end of the season, while in 1895 he onlv played occasionally to oblige his captain, and in 1894 he was away all the season. This year it was his intention to play only in club matches, but he has been induced to take part in several first-c’ass matches with most satisfactory results to his side. His not out innings of 57 against Oxford on a bowler’swicket, when he almost pulled the match out of the fire for the M.C.C., shows that he has by no means lost his skill. As a field in the country Mr. Vernon has always been considered as exceptionally good, and the only reason why he has not made many catches which appeal to the gallery, is that he has the gift of being able to judge the direction of the ball to a nicety as soon as it leaves the bat, with the result that nearly all his catches seem easy. That they are not goes without saying. “ I don”; like catches for which I do not have to move an inch ” he said, “ especially if I am near the crowd. I remember that in one of the matches at Sydney, Percy McDonnell skied a ball to me when his score was about 112. I saw in a moment that I should have to remain exactly where I was—thatistosayneartheropes within a couple of yards of the crowd, who seemed to realise my position almost as soon as I did my­ self. I haveavividrecollectionoftheirremarks while I was waiting for the ball to drop. It (Prom a Photo by Bourne, & Shepherd, Bombay.) went very high and seemed as if it were never going to come down, and by the time that I made the catch my left leg began to shake in a way which I did not like at all. However, it all came right in the end. I have heard of men turning their backs on the ball when they have to wait like this, but I should not.like to take my eyes off it for a moment; I know that if I were batting and had made such a hit I should like to see the fieldsman turn round away from the ball.” “ Have you often been out yourself by remarkable catches in the long field ? ” “ I don’t think so; but I remember one match, against Oxford at Lord’s, in which I was missed four times just before lunch, and twice afterwards, before I had made ten runs. After these numerous escapes I was able to make something like 160. Once I was caught in a curious manner. The ball went off my left toe, and was held, high up, by mid-on, but I think that the ball must have previously touched the ground, otherwise I must have smashed my foot. As it was, I couldn’t put a boot on for some time.” Of Mr. Vernon’s many fine performances in batting, there is not much doubt that the most remarkable was his stand with Sir T. C. O’Brien (then Mr. O’Brien) in the match in 1886 between Middlesex and Yorkshire at Lord’s. Middlesex required 82 runs to win at twentyminutes just six (stump* to be drawn at -even), when he joined Sir T. C. O’ Urien. “ I had no idea,” he siid, “ of trying to knock off the runs, but O’ Brien was hitting in most marvellous fashion, and good length balls were as half volleys to him. He seemed to get every ball right in the middle of the bat.” ‘ ‘ When did you begin to think that there was a chance of making the runs ? ” “ I don’t quite know ; but I remember saying to Hunter at about twenty minutes to seven, when there were still 40 runs to get, that it was a pity we had not another ten minutes. As it happened, the runs were hit off at about ten minutes to seven. We ran everything. At the end O’Brien had made 99, when there were only two runs required to win. If I had got the ball I could not have afforded to let it go without trying to score off it, but I told him that I wrould run for anything whatever. He played a ball just in front of point, and we ran easily. I think that point perhaps had a kindly feeling of sympathy, but it was one of those runs which, if two batsmen make up their minds, might often be brought off successfully. O’Brien made 52 in the last half hour,”