Cricket 1897

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no. 4 6 7 . v o l. xvi. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1897. p r i c e 2d. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD- MR. C. J. M. GODFREY. One of the best known and most popu­ lar of cricketers in the London district, Mr. Godfrey, the Granville captain, has been compelled, owing to an old football accident, to change the very fast bowling which in the eighties gained liim a place in the Sussex team, for medium pace—some of his opponents, who find him very difficult to play nowadays, must think it is a great pity he met with the accident. He is a man of many clubs, having repre­ sented in the course of his career East Sussex, South Saxons, Tunbridge Wells, Sidmouth, Horsham, Surbi­ ton, Hastings, Brighton, and the Incogniti, as well as the Granville. His best bowling feat was, perhaps, to take five wickets for 22 for Sussex againstYorkshire; his highest Bcore for the county was 59. On one occasion for Next Sixteen against the Oxford Eleven he did the hat trick, with a night and an over coming in between. He is an all round athlete. He played for the Corinthians in 1887, for Berks and Bucks in 1886, 1887 and 1888, and for the Swifts in the days when they won the London Charity Cup. At Oxford he won the “ throwing the cricket-ball,” with 107 yards, and was vic­ torious in the same event at school with 114 yards. Like many other well- known men, Mr. Godfrey just missed getting his “ blue ” at Oxford, in 1892 and 1895; but for this he has to thank accidents at football. He often played for the ’Varsity team, but a dislocated toe handicapped him very considerably in 1895. “ Page was captain,” said Mr. Godfrey, “ and nursed me very wisely in bowling; if, for instance, there was nothing in the match in the second innings he did not put me on at all. In the evenings after the matches I had a bad time with my foot. In college matches I could make runs easily enough, but for the ’Varsity I was almost invariably unsuccessful; this I attributed in great measure to always going in tenth. It was the same when I played for Sussex. When I first appeared for Oxford against the Austra­ lians, in 1882, one of the London dailies thus described my bow ling: ‘ Bowls at a terrific pace, with ungainly run, and ugly action.’ In this match I was horri­ bly nervous and missed Massie at third man when he had made 12. He afterwards raised his score to 206! S. P. Jones, who was not a stonewaller as a rule, was in while Massie was scoring his second hundred, his own share towards the total being four! In Oxford v. M.C.C., in 1882, I bowled three balls only in the second innings. With the first two I bowled Flowers andC. T. Weatherby, and off the third Morley ran his partner out, after being as nearly bowled as possible. With regard to this match a startling statement was made in the list of ‘ curiosities ’ which annually appears in one of the sporting papers. Itwas: ‘ InM.C.C. v. Oxford, C. J. M. Godfrey took three wickets with two balls ’ ! ! In my Freshmen’s Match, at Oxford, a fast bowler named Pickering, an old Shrews­ bury boy, was on my side. He began the innings at the pavilion end, bowled a man with his first ball, and was no-balled for the second. Our skipper, Owen,'who had apparently anticipated the umpire’s decision, asked Pickering to finish the over with lobs. The very first lob disposed of the next man— E. H. Kempson, I believe— much to the amusement of the field and, perhaps, of Pickering himself.” “ How long were you in the Sussex team ? ” “ On and off I played for about five years, but I could only get away during the holidays. Oddly enough I came off in the last match in which I was ever] asked to play—it was against York­ shire—getting three wickets, aud making a stand with Newham on a difficult wicket for an hour and a quarter. I played in the Lancashire match in which A. C. Mac­ Laren made his debut and scored' over a ihundred, and I think in J. T. Brown’s first county match, also in the match between Oxford and Lancashire, when Briggs first came out as a bowler; in this match G. Jowett was no-balled for throwing and retired. I shall never forget one of the matches against Kent in which George Heame and W. H. Patterson made a very big stand. Hearne had been batting very steadily until MR. C. J. M. GODFREY. (From a Photo by Wayland , Blackheath,)