Cricket 1898

“ T o g e th e r jo in e d in C r ic k e t ’ s m a n ly t o i l . ” — Byron. no . 482. vol . x v ii . THU E SD A Y , JUNE 16 1898 f b ic e ad. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. P. J. DE PAR W IC lN t. It is not many years since Mr. de Paravicini was one of the famous band of Middlesex cricketers, whose batting was the admiration of all pliyers and spectators. They were all hitterj, and nearly always came off. They did not often make enormous scores, but the total of their individual efforts was almost invariably formidable. They were all splendid fielders, and Mr. Paravicini was not the least of them; the catch in the country, by which he dis­ posed of Mr. Frank Townsend, is still spoken of as something marvellous by those who saw it. From 1882 to 1885inclusive, Mr. Paravicini was in the Cam­ bridge eleven. He went to Eton in 1876, at the end of the summer half, but if a vacancy had not turned upunexpectedly he would have gone to Harrow. In 1878 he was in the E ‘on eleven, and kept his place for the four years, until he went to Cambridge. He was captain of the eleven ia 1880-1881, and was also Keeper of Field and Keeper of Mixed Wall. His early schooldays were passed at Hawtrey’s, Aldin House, Slough. As a footballer, Mr. Para­ vicini is as well known as he is at cricket, for he played for England as full back, against Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; he is an old Cambridge Blue and also a Corinthian. He had the pleasure of plaj ing for the Old Etonians in the great match in which they defeated the Blackburn Rovers in the final of the Association Cup. An accident to his knee, however, compelled him to give up football when he was at his best, and it also greatly handicapped him at cricket, although he still plays regularly for Bucks. His home is at Datchet, where the floods sometimes rise to such an extent that a roach has been discovered in a piano when they subsided. He takes a very great interest in the golf club, and it is almost en'irely owing to his energies that the greens and the course are ia such excellent condition. He has three sons. The eldest is four and a-half years old, and as he invariably offers the left hand, Mr. Paravicini hopes that he will develop into a left-hand bowler. The second son is just over three. He is evidently intended by Nature to be a wicket-keeper, for he seems impervious to damage, although he does his best to knock himself about. It goes without saying that the name “ Paravicini” often exercised the minds of spectators who saw the Middlesex cricketer for the first time. “ As I nearly always fielded in the country,” he said, “ I often used to hear remarks about my name; sometimes I was asked questions about it. When I first played at Sheffield the crowd near me in the long field began to amuse themselves by pronouncing the name in various ways, and suggesting improve­ ments on it. At last a man called out to me ‘ I say, where does this Paraphernalia or Parafine, or whatever you call him, come from ? What is his nationality?’ I said ‘ I don’t know, but I should think he was very likely Scotch.’ In another of the matches at Shef­ field, Yorkshire were making a lot of runs. I was whiling away the time by talkin g to the spectators, who are rare good sportsmen, and I was, perhaps, more jovial with them than I should have been if our captaiu had not been away. After a time I was moved to another position in the field, whereupon the crowd called out ‘ Don’t leave us, laddie ! ’ ” When Mr. Paravicini played for Middlesex, the county had very little bowling indeed. “ We always went into the field,” he said, “ knowing that we should not get any team out under three hundred; on the other hand, we felt pretty sure that we should make a good many runs ourselves. I enjoyed the matches immensely; we had a splendid time. I enjoy fielding thoroughly, and it must be owned that we had plenty of it. Generally, I was in the country, and I have a vivid recollection of two catches which came to me. One was hit in the Australian match by McDonald iff Burton; it was the highest hit I ever saw, and the ball was an inconceivable time in the air. When it dropped I managed to hold it, but I was not so lucky with regard to the second catch. This was hit by E M. Grace. The ball never rose more than about twelve or fifteen feet in the air, and when it cime to me it went through my hands like a cannon ball. Ofcourse, with Burton bowling, we had a lot to do in the long field. It was MB. P. J. DR PARAVICINI. (Fvom a Photo by A. D. Kissack.)