Cricket 1900

16 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 25, 1900. ON PRO B A B IL IT IE S . Probably the first ball in India went down on the ground of the Surat Gym­ khana ground A.D. fifteen, sixteen or seventeen hundred and something, and the probability is that a Dutchman bowled it. A similar probability accur­ ately places a Dutchman as the wicket­ keeper and a Dutchman as the batsman. No record having been kept of this match I am a trifle hazy about it, but the probabilities are so strong that the haze is somewhat lifted. The sight of the first ball going down so impressed the Parsees of Surat that probably they owe their present exceptional cricket qualities to that probable Dutchman trundling to another probable Dutchman. The next match was probably played at the town of Chennapatnam [Anglice Madras] where Lord Clive, then a clerk on board a grain boat, probably did the first hat-trick on the then county ground, now known as Black Town. It is certain he was probably a bowler, for what school boy does not know the yarn about Clive bowling out 10,000 Bengalees under Arabi Pasha or Hyder Ali at Arcot ? Anyway, there’s a cricket ground near Arcot, for I made it myself, and it cost exactly seven rupees eight annas coolie hire, cost of roller, borrowed without permission from the P.W .D., nil. Messrs. C. D. McCarthy. P. M. Lushi g- ton, E. H. Gadsden, A. Edgirgton, and a host of other famous Madras cricketers will sign any certificate to the fact that there is a pitch near Arcot, and that it is probably the worst in India. From Clive’s hat-trick we must take a stride to the year A.D. 1863 when Madras first met Bangalore on the Guindy Park ground, near Madras. Suffice it at this point to state that the probability is the Madras-B ingalore match has the longest record in India of matches between two stations, besides providing some of the longest individual scores and aggregates. Likewise the Bangalore cricket ground has probably seen some of the best cricketers who ever came to India, and so far as fast scoring is concerned some of the very fastest in the world. I can certify to over 500 runs being got in just over four hours, in a station match, and to a side getting the 243 required to win in just under two hours. And thus an end to probabilities.— Madras Times . The “ G.G.B. Cricketer’ s Diary and Com­ panion ” is always “ to the front” with the ivew Year, Messrs. G. G. Bussey and Co.’s useful little diary ought to be in the pocket of every cricketer. In its 230 pages it includes, in addition to a diary for the whole year, giving ample room for the insertion of one’s daily engagements, a store of informa­ tion, valuable either to the active player or the student of cricket, statistics galore of the past year, fixtures for the present, with a quantity of curiosities of all times. All these interesting facts and much more are to he found in the handy little “ G.G.B.” for 1900. O B ITU A R Y . J. ROWBOTHAM. The death is announced of Joseph Rowbotham, at Morcimbe, at the end of December at the age of 67. He began to play for Yorkshire iu 1856, and retired from first-class cricket in 1875. One of his best performances was to score a hundred against Notts in 1869, when his county was in desperate straits; by his brilliant play he paved the way to victory. Another leat of his on a bowler’s wicket at the Oval was to help Luke Greenwood, without losing a wicket, to score the 84 runs required by Yorkshire to win. The following notes about Rowbotham are from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph :— “ J o e ” Rowbotham, as he was every­ where known, was a Sheffielder to the backbone. Born within almost a few yards of the Bramall Lane ground, on July 8 th, 1831, he remained a Sheffielder in both residence and sympathies almost the whole of his life, only removing to Morecambe, in Lancashire, during the last two years. He was a very popular personality in Sheffield, for he was one of those hard hitters, straight and fearless drivers so beloved of the general spectator. The specialist who goes to watch a match and criticises every stroke, would not have had a very exalted idea, perhaps, of his style, for it was not one wherei i was any undue regard tor the nicer strokps ; his was a hitter’s art, and therein he had few superiors in his time. To him c<me as a natural successor that prince <f tall hitters, George TTlyett, who prede< eased his predecessor. But Ulyett developed his powers more than Rowbotham, coming into the game at a later stage, when cricket had b CJine invested with more science, and hedged round with greater caution. As a natural hitter, however, the man whose death is now being mourned stood right in the front rank. Not only as a batsman was he famous; scores of the older generation of readers will remembsr how superb was his work at long stop, in which position he was unrivalled in an age when long-stopp ng was almost as high an art in cricket as cutting is to-day. He played in the first match in the Bramall Lane ground when it was opened in 1855, the fixture being the Sheffield X L v. 18 of the district. Prior to that he bad come well into ihe forefront of the game. His first pro­ fessional engagement was at Old Trafford, Then he went to Rochdale, and later on joined and played for nine years with the team which used to tour the provinces under the control of Gejrge Parr. In matches between the United X L >nd all England X L —the two great rivals of the sixties—Rowbotham had a fair measure of success, though at Dewsbury in 1865 he “ bagged a brace,” beiug bowled by Tom Emmett in the first innings and Geo. How itt in the second. But in two of these important fixtures, in the course of four innings, he only gave away three byes, quite a curiosity, seeing that the mighty Tarrant was one of the bowlers he had to take. It was in 1875 that he retired from first-class cricket, the same season as saw the end of Edgar Willsher and J. C. Shaw, whilst George Freeman had dropped out twelve months before. For twenty years he had been a valued member of the Yorkshire County team, receiving a well-deserved benefit, and making far better use of the proceeds than any of bis contemporaries. For years after his retirement he was on the list of umpires, and altogether stands as one of the most notable of the many gre^t, cricketers born and brought up in Sheffield. Paper, 1/-. N o w R e a d y . Cloth, 2/-. J O H N W I S D E N ’ S Cricketers’ Almanack For 1900. Edited by SYDNEY H. PARDON. Contains Full Scores and Bowling of ALL FIKST-CLA.SS CRICKET played in 1899. Photos of Five Great Players of the year. Articles by Right Hon. Lord Harris and A. G. Steel. All Australian Matches in England in 1899, Public School, and ’Varsity Cricket. Back Numbers still on sale:—1879. 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, and 1888, 2/- each; 1889, 1890, and 1891, 5/- each; 1892, .893, 1894, 189/), 1896, 1897, 1898, and 1899, 2j- each. JOHN W1SDBN & CO., 3t, CRANBOURS STREET, LONDd#,W.C. NATIVE GUANO. litfiST and Cheapest Manure for Lawn*, «'ricUet and Tennis Grounds and all V. getables. Fruits and Flowers. Pi ice, £3 10*. per ton in bags ; 2 ton lots carriage paii. Lots under 10 cwt., 4/- per cwt at works. A I cwt. bag sent carriage paid to any station in England on receipt of P.O. for 6 /-. Extracts from recent reports: •*J. 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