Cricket 1897

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. wo. 465. v o l . xvi. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1897. p b i c e ad. A CHAT ABOUT Mr. W. NEWHAM. It is said that a lady who had heard a great deal about Mr. Newham’s batting, once went to a match on purpose to see him play. After she had enjoyed a de­ lightful chat with another lady for about a couple of hours, she Was reminded of the Sussex secretary’s existence by a mutual friend, who introduced him to her, whereupnn she sweetly said, “ Oh, Mr. Newham, I ’ve heard so much about your cricket. When are you going to bat ? I’ve been waiting ever so long in hopes of seeing you g.. in ! ” Somewhat embar­ rassed, Newham replied that he had just got out. He had made about 80 runs ! This is, however, doubtless a libel on the fair sex, and in any case the remark of the lady is not to be taken as an inti­ mation that Newham’s batting is so uninteresting that people may allow him to go through an innings without noticing him at the wickets. On the con­ trary there is something about his play which is bound to attract attention, whether he makes runs quickly or slowly. He has a particularly graceful style, and when he is at the wickets it seems to an onlooker that nothing short of a miracle can dis­ pose of him, so easily does he play the bowling. At one time he was almost en­ tirely a hard-wicket bat, but of late years he has made runs under all sorts of difficulties; in fact, he has sometimes shewn himself at his best when other men have been able to do nothing whatever with the bowling. He has been heard to say that it was always a mystery to him that Shrewsbury not only played very difficult bowling easily, but made it look easy—which is quite another thing—but the same thing has often been noticed about his own batting. It is true that he has not been as consis­ tent as usual this season, although con­ sistency in scoring is generally his strong point, but any falling off whi^h he may MR. W . NEWHAM. ( From a Photo by Messrs. E. Hawkins and Co.,' Brighton .) have shown is doubtless only temporary (after all his average is 26), and next season will again see him mak­ ing as many runs as ever. Almost every cricketer, good or bad, has been through a similar experience. It is now many years since Newham first appeared in the county team—in 1881—and he has seen one after another of those who played with him at the time drop out of county cricket, until he alone remained. He did not make a remarkably brilliant begin­ ning, but the S'i'sex committee, who knew that they had got hold of a good man, were not discouraged by his early failures. When he had once found his feet he went steadily on, nearly always making a useful ecore, and it was not very long before he was one of the most valued members of the team. It will be remembered that when his approaching marriage was announced, the Sussex county committee started a testimonial fund to which friends of cricket were invited to contribute, as a wedding present. This movement has met with great success, but Sussex cricketers may perhaps be reminded that the fund is not yet closed.’ The very first match in which Mr. Newham played of which there is any record was Ardingly College v. Hurst College. For the former he scored two runs. Before this he had not even played for the school second eleven ; but in the middle of the season (1876) he began to appear ’regularly in the first eleven, his scores being 0, 1, 5 and 0, 7, and not out 10, not outj;16, 6 and 12, and 5, from which it will be noticed that he steadily improved. In the following year his average increased to 21’4 for 16 innings, his total being 382, and his highest score 69. It was at the end of this season that the first recorded description of him as a cricketer appeared in print in the school magazine. “ A splendid bat_^for £his years; hits well when there is an oppor-