Cricket 1899

“ Together joined In Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. ■So. 5 0 9 . v o i . x t i i i . THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1899. p b i c e a a . CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. R ICH ARD HUM PH REY . Dick Humphrey ! The name recalls to memory a host of famous old cricketers of a past age, of whom Dr. Grace and Mr. H ornby are almost the only ones remaining who still play in first-class cricket. Of the old Surrey team of 1870, when Dick Humphrey began to play for the county, very few are left, and Dick is perhaps the only one who still plays cricket; for although he is fifty years old he is still a good batsman, and last year made 83 for Over Stowey against Stowey on Mr. Stanley’s ground. He still makes his old strokes in the same graceful way for which he was famous in the years gone by. To the modern cricketer his averages may seem small, but averages are not everything, even in these days of perfect wickets, and that Humphrey was a very valuable addition to the Surrey team cannot be gain­ said. Perhaps his best record was his performance in one of the matches' agaiust Y ork­ shire when he made 70 in each innings— a performance which was thought very highly of at the time. He would have been a greater player if he had not suffered from ill-health and accidents, which have two or three times compelled him to go into the hospital, and only a week or two ago he had an operation performed on his wrist. He was not fortunate in his benefit. Two splendid sides had been chosen for the match—which was North v. South. Bain kept people away on the two days during which the match lasted, while as an instance of the irony of fate it may be mentioned that on the Saturday afternoon the weather was beautifully fine . Like so many other famour cricketers D ick Humphrey learned his cricket on Mitcham Green. When he got into the village eleven his brother Tom had just left it, but Southerton, Sherman and Harwood were still in it. He was put in the first eleven when he was a boy of sixteen, and very soon began to give a good aocount of himself, fie found con­ siderable difficulty in getting away from his trade as a plumber in order to play cricket, but thanks“to the intervention of Mr. Fred Gale and other gentlemen, his employer was soon induced to let him off more frequently. “ The first time I ever had any thought of playing for Surrey,” he said, “ was one day when Mr. F. B. Soden came down to Mitcham and Slid to me : ‘ Your brother says that you can play cricket, and the Surrey Club has sent me down to see what you can do, „,nd I am to take back a g ood rrep ort; so mind you behave yourself.’ I got about 30.” “ What was your first county match ? ” “ Against Gloucestershire. I was working at my trade in repairing the Bank of England, when Mortlock gave up playing for [Surrey. Several gentle­ men had been kind enough to interest themselves in my cricket, especially Mr. Winterflood, Mr. Burrup and Mr. Fred Gale, and the result was that I was asked to g o t o Bristol, where we played on Durdan Down. It was the first county match that Gloucestershire had that year; they only played two matches then. I only made six or seven runs in the match, but after it was over Mrs. Grace came up to me and said, ‘ Y ou haven’t made any runs, but some day you will get a lo t; a good field like you is sure to get runs.’ She gave me half a sovereign, and afterwards whenever I played in Glou­ cestershire she always came to me and made me a present. She was a wonderful lady to encourage a young player.” “ When did you justify Mrs. Grace’s prediction ? ” “ A few weeks afterwards. I did not do much in the Nottingham match, but I had about an hour and a quarter against the two Shaws, and although I only just made double figures, it was excellent practice for me. I thought to myself, ‘ W ell at any rate I can stop here, and if this is the best bow ling I am to meet, I can play it.’ The next match was against Cambridge University. In the first innings I was 20, not out, and in the second went in first after Jupp and made 82. W e put on 112 or 113 in partner­ ship, which in those days was a big score. This gave me a good start, and I was afterwards regularly in the team. Jupp used to talk to me a great deal—he wasn’t much of a talker