Cricket 1899

THE FINEST BAT THE WOULD PRODUCES. A p r il 20, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 67 BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. B y F . S. A sh le y -C ooper . OLD LONDON CRICKET GROUNDS. When cricket began to become popular and where the game was first played has often been conjectured but never clearly proved. In the Wardrobe Accounts of the twenty-sixth year of King Edward the First (a .d . 1300), published in 1787 by the Society of Antiquaries, among the entries of money issued fot the use of his son PrinceEdward in playing at different games, is the following item :— “ Domino Johanni de Leek, capellano domini Edwardi fil’ ad creag’ et alius ludos per vices, per manus proprias apud Westm. 10 die Aprilis 100 S.” —(P. 157.) The meaniug of the word creag’ has never been clearly explained, but that it referred to a game which was well-known at the end of the thirteenth century is evident. Is it not possible that the apostrophe after the word denotes that the letters et have been omitted for the sake of euphony ? If so, the complete word would havebeen creaget, which is certainly not very different to our modern word cricket. Creag’ and Cricket being pre­ sumed identical, the game must have been popular six hundred years ago ! As far as can be ascertained the first occasion on which the word cricket occurs is in Russell’s “ History of Guildford.” It is there recorded that one John Derrick gave evidence that a piece of waste-land in that town, to his own knowledge, had been used in the middle of the sixteenth century for recreative purposes “ where he and his school-fellows did run and play at Cricket.” Some have endeavoured io prove that the word was lacrosse and not cricket, but a photographic fac- simile of the original document, from which Russell obtained his information, can be set n in the pavili n at Kennington Oval, and the word is certainly cricket. The game was probably popular in and near London early in the seventeenth century. In theClerkenwell Parish Book of 1668 the proprietor of the Ram Inn, Smithfield, is rated for a cricket-field, which proves that even then cricket was so well-known that a field was set aside expressly for the game. At the commencement of last centmy matches took place on Walworth Common. The Common, which is n ow completely built over, was situated where Westmoreland Road, Faraday Street, Mann Street, etc., are now, and was about three-quarters of a mile from the spot where the Bee Hive Ground after­ wards existed. Permission to play on the Common bad to be obtained from the Lords of the Manor or their bailiff, one Henry Morris in 1705, otherwise the players were liable to prosecution. About the same time good-class matches were often played in Lamb’s Conduit Fields. This ground was situated where Bruns­ wick and Mecklenburg Squares now stand, and was the first really important cricket ground in London of which any record exists. Matches were played there at the beginning of last century and advertisements calling attention to the same were sometimes published in newspapers of the period. The following is taken from a paper issued in 1707 “ There will be two great matches at Cricket plaid between London and Croy­ don, the first at Croydon, on Tuesday, July 1st, and the other to be plaid in Lamb's Conduit Fields, near Holborn, on the Thursday following, being the 3rd of July.” A great match was played on the ground in May, 1719, for sixty pounds aside between Kent and London. The game continued to be played in the Fields until 1739, after which date the Artillery Ground, in Finsbury, appears to have been generally recognised as the principal ground in the Metropolis. In the seventeen-twenties Kennington Common, now the Park, was often the scene of a good-class match, some of the contending sides representing London, Kent, Mitcham, and Surrey. Mitcham, which is, with the single exception of Hambledon, the most famous village in the world as far as cricket is concerned, was very strong even in those far-away days, and in 1736 boasted so many good players as to be able to throw down the gauntlet to London. Richmond, too, possessed excellent players, two of whom in 1736 were considered the two best single-wicket players in England. James Love, it will be remembered, dedicated the third edition of his famons poem to the members of the Richmond Club. William Cowper, the poet, who was a student at Westminster School from 1742 until 1748, states that whilst there he was considered a good cricketer and might have been in the eleven. That the game was played at Westminster is highly probable, but that Cowper was, as he makes out, an able exponent of the same is very doubtful. “ The author of ‘ The Task,’ ” to quote Mr. Andrew Lang, “ was no Mynn nor Grace.” It has already been stated that Lamb’s Conduit Fields after the year 1739 ceased to be the scene of good-class matches, the players favouring the Artillery Ground, in Finsbury. This ground was the most famous in London before Lord’s was opened. There were two Artillery Grounds. The first was a plot of ground near Artillery Lane, in Bishopsgate Street. This ground was sold by the HonourableArtilleryCompany to Richard Woolaston, Esq., of London, for £300, on September 29th, 1658. The second ground, where cricket was played, was presented to the Company in 1638. Two years later an additional portion of adjoining land was leased to the Com­ pany for one hundred and thirty-nine years at a yearly rental of six shillings and eight-pence. In 1727 the lease was renewed for fifty-three years. Stow, in his “ Survey of London,” states that the Artillery Ground was “ in Finsbury Fields, adjoining to the upper quarters of Moorfielda on the east, and Bun-HUl on the west, containing about ten acres, enclosed by a high brick wall.” Some additional particulars of interest con­ cerning the ground are furnished by Howe in his “ Continuation of Stow.” “ It was,” says he, “ a noysome and