Cricket 1900

“ Together joined In Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. N o. 5 3 9 . VOI>. X I X . THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1900. P B X C E S d. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. ROBERT PEEL. For years one of the best all-round men in the Yorkshire team— famous alike as a bowler and a batsman, and brilliant in the field—Peel seems to have lost none of his skill either with bat or ball. It was a thousand pities that an inexorable fate took him out of the Yorkshire team when he was still in his prime, and cricketers of all kinds have lost much by his absence from first- class cricket. As for the reasons for his withdrawal from the team they have never been made public, and it would serve no good purpose to refer to them here. Suffice it to say that Peel says: “ I have never been called before tbe county committee during the course of my career. I had been in bed for three weeks as the result of a blow which I received when batting, and after I recovered I played in a match for Yorkshire, in which I took five wickets and made about 40 runs. The next thing that I knew was that I was not to play again for York­ shire. No reason was ever given to me, and as I have never known who was res­ ponsible, I have never made any accusations, and it is not my nature to complain.” Peel was almost invari­ ably successful as a bowler; he has not had anything like a bad season in the whole of his career. His highest score was 226 not out for Yorkshire against Leicestershire, and for some years he was one of the best batsmen in the Yorkshire team. So many brilliant performances have been done by Peel that it would be hard to say which was the best. He would himself, perhaps, place first his six wickets for 23 runs in the third and final match between Australia and Eogland at the Oval in 1896. Of this match he says: BOBEBT PEBL. {From a Pholo by Hawkins dc Co., Brighton. “ The Australians, with nearly all the third day before them, had to make 111 runs. I went down to the nets to have a little practice, and bowled a few balls to Mr. Jackson. On our way back he asked me what I thought about the result, and seemed quite surprised when I'said that if the bowlicor was man­ aged all right they wouldn’t get the runs. In the pavilion Lord Sheffield said to Shaw : ‘ They can’t help getting the runs without any difficulty at all,’ to which Alfred re­ plied : ‘ Well, they’re going to get 75, unless some awful mistake is made about the bowling—you’ll see.’ Richardson began with a maiden, and Jack Hearne bowled at the other end, getting Joe Darling in the first over. After his first over, Richardson, not being able to get a foot­ hold, was taken off, and I took his place. Jack Hearne took the next two wickets, the next six fell to me, and the last to him. They only made 44 runs. It was the biggest match I ever played in during my career, and it was ex­ citing to the last, for any­ one might have knocked up runs quickly.” “ You used to have some pretty close fights in your matches with Notts ? ” ‘ ‘ Ah ; there was gener­ ally a pretty good fight, for both sides were very keen to win. I remember a finish at Sheffield. When I went- in we had to make 12 to win, and it was not only a question of whether we could make them, but whether there would be time to do it. I was stumped almost at once. It came to the last over before time, when the game was in a state ,which could not