Cricket 1898

198 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. June 16, 1898. astonishing to see the way in which, even on the best of wickets, he would clean bowl half-a-doz-n men, and I have con­ cluded that the chief reason of his success was that he was a little slower than any other bowler of the day. la the match against Australia, which I have just men­ tioned, five of us got a duck in the first innings, but none of us managed to bag a brace, although there was great excite­ ment when each man went in for his second innings. The ■wicket was very tricky.” “ You got into the Cambridge X I. im­ mediately after you left Eton ? ” “ Yes, I was in the team for four years, duiirig which time we won three times by seven wickets, and lost once, also by seven wickets. At that time the ’Varsity Cricket Club was practically managed by the Eev. A. R. Ward, a real good sort, who had himself been in the eleven; his father was, I believe, the owner of Lord’s ground. Ward acted as secretary, treasurer, and various other things; he was always most kind and attentive in looking after visitors. I well remember that he had a very great objec­ tion to men bringing umbrellas and sticks into the pavilion, and he provided a rack for them outside. J. A. Turner, the Leicestershire cricketer, and I were very great friends of Ward’s, and we sometimes used to try and steal a march upon him by carrying our sticks behind our backs. But he invariably spotted them, and pre­ tended to be very angry with us for our attempted breach of the rules. Oue night before the Cambridge and York­ shire match, I dreamed that Jack Turner would go in the next morning and make a certain number of runs—about 70 ,1 think it was. I told him of the dream before he went in, and he made the exact number of runs. It was an odd coincidence.” “ Have you ever distinguished your­ self in bowling in first-class cricket ? ” “ I should thiik so! It was in this way. In one of the Notts matches I was put on to bowl about ten minutes before lunch, as a perfectly forlorn hope. I bowled three medium paced balls, and then a very slow one indeed, high up in the air. When Webbe, who was at mid- i ff, saw the ball so far above the ground, he called out, ‘ What a ball to b o w l!’ with considerable emphasis on the ‘ what.’ However, Bean, who was batting—he had not then gone to Sussex—some­ how or other managed to miss the ball, which happened by good fortune to be s'raight—very much to the surprise of Webbe and the rest of us. Webbe did not put me on again after lunch, and in this he undoubtedly showed good generalship.” “ You were playing in the famous match at Rickling Green when the big score was made by the Orleans Club ? ” “ I was playing for the Orleans Club, and was put in second wicket down. At the end of the first day 300 had been scored for the first wicket, and I was chaffed a good deal about having to keep my pads on nearly all day. I was told that I should very likely have to keep them on all the following day, but I said that I had made up my mind about that, and did not intend to put them on at all. As it turned out the wicket did not fall until the score was 620. It often happens that after waiting a very long time for his innings a man gets out in the first over, but I was not so unfortunate, and although I did not make a very big score, I was able to relieve my mind by m akiD g some hits.” ‘ ‘ Have you ever had to play a barn­ door game ? ” “ Very seldom indeed. Once I was told to keep up my wicket and not to hit at all in a match against Notts, when it was a question of saving the game. So I kept in for three-quarters of an hour for one run. This did not amuse me, except in so far that it was a new ex­ perience.” Mr. Paravictni stills plays cricket, chiefly for Bucks and the Windsor Home Park C.C. Occasionally he plays country house cricket. List year he was taking part in a match of this sort in Norfolk. “ I was talking to one of the opposing bide,” he said, “ and he pointed to mid- off, saying that he was the best catch in Eogland. He warned me not to give him a chance of distinguishing himself. As it happened, I gave mid-off three chances—not on purpose—and he missed them all.” At the end of each season Mr. Paravicini used to play iu the matches at Scar­ borough. “ We always had a most delightful time there,” he faid, “ thanks in great measure to Lord Londesborough, who entertained us in the most hospit­ able manner. On one occasion at a dance given by Lady Londesborough, W. G. scored off me very considerably; he was always splendid company. At this dance we were rather short of ladies. W. G. had been dancing all through the night, for he never was short of partners —the ladies would always dance with him rather than with us young fellows. At last, however, it happened that he was deserted for the moment. He came up to me (I had a partner) and in the most mysterious manner said, “ I say, Para, j ust come and have a look at these stars shining out here.” Thinking that some­ thing special must be on in the way of stars I went to have a look at them, and on turning round found that W. G. had gone off with my g ir l! On that night two of us did not go to bed till dawn, but another went very early so as to get runs next day; however, he got out first ball, and the two late birds made good scores.” “ First-class cricket was not quite as serious then as it is now ? ” “ Well, the Scarborough festival comes at the end of the season, and it is natural that everybody should be in a good humour. I recollect once that some of us arranged a nice little scheme to entrap W. G. It worked v°ry well, too. He had been given out, caught at the wicket by Farrands, and did not think he was out. With much pains we wrote a letter to Lord L ondesborough—we were all dining with him—purporting to come from Far­ rands. We arranged that the letter should be delivered at a suitable moment. The letter read something like this: ‘ My lord, I really must complain of Mr. Grace. He said he was not out, which, I consider, reflects on my standing as an umpire, etc.’ Of course, W. G. indig­ nantly explained that he had said nothing except the merest commonplace, but we all looked very serious, as if we had dis­ covered some great crime, until someone laughed and gave the show away. Of course, W. G. forgave us, and he is so good-natured that I am sure he will forgive this re-production. What he can go through in the way of hard woik is absolutely astonishing. In one of the matches at Clifton, between Gloucester­ shire and Middlesex, he made 220 against us, after having been up the whole night attending to a patient. He had not been to bed at all, but he did not show the slightest signs of being tired during his innings.” W. A. B e t t e s w o b t h . NONDESCBIPTS v. SOUTHGATE.—Played Southgate on June 4. S outhgate . at K. A. Maude, c Cobb, b Corke ................. 2 R.T. Barker, not out 12 H. Chattelton, not out 1L Extras.................16 Total 198 L. D. Smith, b Cane .. 21 F. Bryan, b Cane ... 14 A. Ricketts, b Cane ... 4*S S. W. Scott, b Head .. :4 J. C. Bevington, sub., b Corke..........39 W. T. Ricketts, b Cane 1 F.S Lewis,b Matthews 12 E. P. Sugden did not bat. N ondescripts . H. H. Cobb, not out... 33 |E. W. H. Beaton, not F. 8. Young, c Sugden, I out ........................ 4 b Lewis ................. 8 Extras................... L. Corke, b A. Ricketts 12 — H.Wade, b A.Ricketts 5 1 Totil (3 wkts.) 66 R. Matthews, L. Hutchinson. L. A. Cane, J. Gieig, G. H. Head and A. N. Other did not bat. FOREST HILL v. LONDON & WESTMINSTER BANK.—Played at Denmark Hill. L ondon and W estminster B ank . H. O. Manfield, c and b Bradley................. 2 C.J.Bowman,cCockell, b Welchman ..........12 W.Bradbery.bBradley 4 C J.Lawless,b Bradley 0 O.D.Brenan,b Bradley 0 J.M.AUcoc*i,b Bradley 4 G. Bradvery,b Bradley 0 F orest H ill . E. B. Minfleld, b Welchman ......... C C. Simpson, b Welchman .......... A. Podmore, not out... C. A. Snell, absent ... Extras................. Total H.Hooker,c&bLawless 5 W.L.Pierce, b Lawless 3 S E.Lea, c & b Lawless 32 A. Johnson, b Lawless 4 C.J. V*elchman,cSnell, b Lawle-s.................14 W.M.Bradley, c Brad- lery, b Lawless ... 14 F. Skipper, b Law'ess 23 L. V. Cockell, c Law­ less. b Snell ..........21 G. J. Newman, candb Snell........................ 3 F.Woodman bLawless 1 W.H. Barham, notout 0 Extras.................24 Total ...144 STOICS v. PALLINGSWICK.—Played at Acton on June 4. PALLING8WICK. J. S. Haycraft, not out .......................101 F. S. Heynemaa, c Rennie, b Page ... 24 E. A. Collins, b Smail 27 H. Delacombe, b Page 9 J. Bowstead, c Bry- done, b Page ........... 2 8. J. E. Watson, c and b Fage .......... ... 4 H. A. Budden, b. W . J. Haycraft ..........13 W. C. Yarborough, not out .......... '... 5 Extras .......... 5 Total (6 wkts.) *190 B. A. Carter, H. W. Burnside, and Dr. A. J. Carter did not bat. *Inninga declared c oscd. S toics . S. H. Gladson, not out ........................25 J. Brydone, c and b H.M.Smail,bBowatead 4 Bowstead................... 1 C. C. Roberts, b Bow- stead...........................32 > __/ E. J. Brown, W. H. Haycraft, A. H. Bartlett and B. Rennie did not bat. C. E. E. Lee. b Collins 16 V.Glenn-Wilson,cYar- torough.b Bowstead 7 W.S.Page, b Bowstead 16 Extras................11 Total (6 wits.) 112 Owing to pressure on our space, we are compelled to hold over several club scores.