Cricket 1897

464 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 25, 1897. TW EN TY Y E A R S o f M ID D LE S E X CR ICKET , 1878 t o 1897. B y F. S. A sh le y -C oo per . I.—THE COUNTY. It is a matter of surprise that the doings of the members of the Middlesex County Club have never been published. We have, it is true, able chapters both in “ The English Game of Cricket ” and “ The Jubilee Book of Cricket ” concern­ ing the performances of the team as a whole, but the individual performances have not, as far as I am aware, yet been compiled and laid before the public. In fact, the history of Middlesex has been somewhat neglected by historians of the game. A glance through the pages of “ The Bibliography of Cricket” (pub­ lished by my fiiend, Mr. Alfred J. Gaston, for private circulation) reveals the fact that not a single book has yet been written upon the doings of the Middle­ sex County Club ! Why the subject has been neglected it is hard to understand. In “ Scores and Biographies” we have, of course, the records of all matches from the earliest days; but, with this except ion, the history of Middlesex as a cricketing county has yet to be told. Although I shall endeavour to give in these columns a detailed history of cricket played by the county from 1878 up to the present time, I purpose, first of all, to give a brief—very brief—summary of events of interest in connection with Middlesex cricket prior to 1878. 1787.—Middlesex v. Essex, May 31. This was the first match ever played at Lord’s (the original ground, where Dorset Square now stands ) 1791.—Twenty-two of Middlesex v Hambledon Club, at Lord’s, May 16. This was the last recordtd match played by the old Hambkdon Club. (The Hambledon Club, however, probably lasted in some form or oJher until about the year 1825.) 1792.—v. Biighton. The first innings was played out in 1792, and the second in May, 1793. Twenty-two of Middlesex twice beat twenty- tw o of Surrey. 1830.—Middlesex v. M.C.C., at Lord's, May 37. This was the first match in which no-talls were scored. 3830 to 3850.—Only one match was played by the county during this period, viz., v. Surrey in 3844. 1859.—Middlesex played Kent on Mr. John Walker’s ground at Southgate. Five of the celebrated Walker family participated in this match. 1864.—A meeting, presided over by the Hon. Bobert Grimston, was held, at which the present county club was formed. 1864.—First match played by the present Middlesex Club. Gentlemen of Middlesex v. 14 Colts, at Islington, May 5 and 6. This match ended in a tie. 38C4.—First county match p’ aytd by the present Middlesex Club. Middlesex v. Buckingham- .» shire, at Newport Pagnell, June 2. Middle- \\ sex, followingon2l8runsbehind, won by 138! From 1864 until the end of 1868 the Middlesex Club had its own ground at the Cattle Market, Islington. Although the financial results wt re unsatisfactory the cricket was of the highest class. The three brothers Walker formed the back­ bone of the eleven. Mr. V. E. Walker, with the single exception of W. G. Grace, is perhaps the best all-round gentleman player that has ever lived. He was a wonderful lob bowler, an excellent bats­ man, and a splendid field. Iu 1859 for England v. Surrey, at the Oval, hetcored 20 not out and 108, and obtained all ten wickets in the first innings of his opponents. A great performance, truly! Five years later, for the Gentlemen of Middlesex against the Gentlemen of Kent, he again obtained ten wickets in an innings, whilst in the following year (1865) he, for the third time, accomplished the peiformance, this time for Middlesex v. Lancashire. Not only as a player, however, has Mr. V. E. Walker rendered service to Middlesex cricket. Iu the days when the county played at the Cattle Market, and when the financial results were unsatisfactory, he advanced money to keep Ihe enterprise going. “ But for the Walkers,” says the Jubilee Book of Cricket, “ there would have been no Middlesex cricket,” and a truer remark has never been m^de. But the Walkers were not the only famous playeis found in the ranks of the county in those days ; others worthy of mention being C. F. Buller (most graceful of batsmen), A.W.T. Daniel (famous for the power of his driving), Tom Heame (the best all-round professional the club ever had), J. J. Sewell, George Howitt (a fine fast left- hand bowler), Mr. Edward Rutter (a capital slow left-hand bowler), and B. Bitsett (a very good wicket keeper). 1866.—Surrey v. Middlesex at the Oval. All the Surrey men lad a turn with the tall while Middlesex scored 455. 1866.—In the match v. Nottingham, at Islirgton, Tom Hearne threw at and killed a pigeon as it flew across the ground. 1867.—Middlesex met Eng’ and at Lord’s, bi t were defeated by an innings and 25 runs, mainly owing to W . G., who played a fine innings of 75, 8nd c^ptur d eight of the county wickets for 50 runs. 1868.—The match against Surrey at the Oval resulted in a tie. 1S68.—The Cattle Market Ground fell into the hands of the luilders and for three years Middlesex had no ground. 1870—Only two matches played this season, both against Surrey and loth at the Oval, tie Mid< lesex ground for this season (the Lillie Bridge at West Frompton) not being fit for a county match. 1873.-v. M.C.C. at Lord’s. The Utter, although they made 328 in their first innings, were beaten by an innings. For the county Mr. W . H. Hadow made 217, this being the third highest individual scoie ever mi.de for Middlesex. 3872.—Middlesex ccmmenccd plajing their matches at Prince’s Ground, Chelsea, wheie they remained until the end of 1876. 1874.—The match v. Oxford University, at Pn'nce’s, wes completed in one day, this being the only instance of the kind recorded in the annals of Middlesex clicket. 1875.—Mr. A. J. W ebbe played his first match for the county. 1876.—In the match v. Oxfoid University, at Tiinct’s, the Oxonians scored 632 after the county had played a first innings of 439! This being the first score of over 610 ever made in a first class mhtch. 3237 runs were scored in this contest for 24 wickets. 1876.—Middlesex v. Notts, at Trince’s. This game came to an abrupt conclusion owing to the sudden death of Tom Box, ihe once famous Sussex cricketer, whil t attending to the scoring board. 1876.—The match against Surrey at the Oval resulted in a tie. 1877.—An arrangement was made with the M.C.C. by which all the county’s home matches were to be played at Lord’s. This arrangement has continued in force up to the present time. T a b l e No. 3 -RE SU LTS OF A L L YE A R BY YE Ali. Year. Won. Lost. Drawn. Tie. 3878 ... 3 ... 1 .. 3 .. 0 1879 ... 2 ... 3 .. 4 .. 0 1880 ... 3 ... 4 . 2 .. 0 3883 ... 4 ... 3 .. 3 .. 0 1882 ... 5 ... 6 .. 1 .. 0 3883 ... 4 ... 2 .. 4 . 0 1884 ... 4 ... 4 ... 3 .. 0 188» ... 2 ... 7 .. 1 .. 0 18S6 ... 3 ... 5 .. 3 .. 0 3887 ... 4 ... 3 ... 4 .. 0 1888 ... 5 ... 8 ... 1 .. 0 1889 ... 3 ... 5 ... 3 . 0 1890 ... 3 ...' 9 ... * ... 3 1S91 ... 8 ... 5 ... 3 .. 0 3892 ... 7 ... G ... 3 .. 0 3893 ... 9 ... 7 ... 1 .. 0 1891 .. 8 .!! 5 ... 3 .. 0 3895 ... 6 ... 6 .. 6 .. 0 3896 ... 8 ... a 5 .. 0 3897 ... 4 ... 4 . 9 ... 0 Totals... 95 96 64 1 T a b l e No. 2 - -RESULTS OF ALL 3878 TO 3897. Opponents. W on. Lost. Drawi Australians . 0 . . 6 . 1 Derbyshire . 1 . . 0 . . 0 Essex................. . 1 . . 0 . . 1 Gloucesterrhire . 15 . . 9 . . 34 K* n t ................. . 14 . . 31 . 5 Lancashire 1U . . 10 . . 3 Nottinghamshire . . 11 . . 12 . . 37 Oxford University. . 2 . . 2 . . 0 Philadelphians . 1 . . 0 . . 0 Somersetshire. . 6 . . 2 . 7 Surrey . 15 . . £2 . . 3 Sussex ......... . 8 . . 3 . . 3 Yorkshire... . . 11 . . 39 . . 30 Totals ... . . 95 96 64 Total. 7 9 9 .. 10 .. 12 .. 30 .. 11 .. 10 .. 11 .. )1 .. 14 .. 33 .. 15 .. 36 .. 1G .. J7 .. 3(5 .. 18 .. 3H .. 17 256 7 1 2 38 30 *3 40 4 1 36 40 34 40 The two matches played against Essex in 1895 tock place in order to allow the latter county a sufficiently larger pro­ gramme to qualify for the county cham­ pionship. The record of the matches against the various Australian teams is worthy of perusal. Nottinghamshire, Surrey and Yorkshire are the only counties which have been met by Middlesex twice every season during the twenty years under notice. Surrey and Middlesex, however, are very old opponents, the first match, which Surrey won by eight wickets, taking place in 1798. T ablf . No. 3. —BUNS SCORED B T M IDDLE­ SEX YEAR B Y YEAR. Year. Buns. Wickets. Average. 3878 .......... . 2*80 ... ... 119 ... ... 19-16 1879 .......... . i'628 ... ... 3;9 ... ... 16T6 3880 ......... ., 28 5 ... ... 154 ... ... 18-21 1881 ......... . 2733 ... ... 150 ... ... 18-08 188 i ......... . 3353 ... ... 390 ... ... 17-61 1883 ......... . S739 ... ... 353 ... ... 24-43 1884 ......... . 35-7 ... ... 179 ...• ... 1970 388 b ......... . 3323 ... ... 390 ... ... 1643 3886 ...' .. . 4018 .... ... 388 ... ... 2137 3887 ......... . 3708 ..., ... 373 ... ... 21*68 1888 ......... . 3800 .. . ... 227 ... ... 16*74 3889 ......... . 3118 .. . ... 388 ... ... 18-18 3810 ......... 3S84 .. . ... 272 ... ... 34 64 1893 ......... . 3523 .. . ... 233 ... ... 3532 1892 ......... . 6180 .. . ... 250 ... ... 20-72 1823 .......... . 6 82 .... ... 297 ... ... 22 49 1894 ......... . 4581 .. . .. 252 ... ... 38*.7 1895 .........„ 6-J48 .. . ... 280 ... ... i2 I l 18f6 ........... . «529 .. . ... 2c9 ... ... 2520 3897 ......... . e883 .. . ... 269 ... ... 25 55 Total 82622 4170 19 81 In other words, Middlesex batsmen have averaged 19 81 runs for every wicket lost. T a b l e N o . 4.— RUNS SCORED AGAINST M ID ­ DLESEX YE AR BY YEAR. Year. Buns. W i( kets. Average. 3878 ... ... 2:97 ... ... 1W ... ... 1887 3879 ... ... 2281 ... ... 1:2 ... ... 1728 3880 ... ... 2647 ... ... 143 ... ... 18-51 1881 ... ... :772 ... ... 360 ... ... 1732 1882 ... ... 3716 ... ... 2C0 ... ... 1858 1883 ... ... 3719 ... ... 167 ... ... 22*16 1884 ... .. 3. 00 ... 357 ... ... 22-29 1885 ... ... 32:9 ... ... 344 ... ... 22 49 388G ... ... 4340 ... ... 377 .. ... 2451 3887 ... ... 4108 ... ... 172 ... ... 24 47 1888 ... ... 1861 ... ... 215 ... ... 17£5 N E X T ISSUE, THURSDAY , D ECEM BER 30.