Cricket 1900

"Together joined In Cricket’s manly toll.”— Byron. ho. 556 . voi. xix. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1900 A C H A T A B O U T J O H N P A IN T E R . It was always a mystery to those who saw him play that Painter did not dis­ tinguish himself very greatly in the cricket field as a batsman. H e had a fine eye, and could judge the pace of a ball very well indeed. H is hitting was hard and well timed. Indeed there seemed no reason w hy he should not almost invariably make a good score. B e that as it m ay, he was good and bad by turns, and after givin g promise of being a fine cricketer he seemed steadily to be drifting into mediocrity, when he suddenly woke up, and for a time was talked about as having at last found his true position. Possibly he would have been a far greater cricketer if he had not accepted a position as ooaoh, first at Cheltenham College, then at Sherborne School, and lastly at Clifton College, for although he roved an admirable coach e could not take part in first-class cricket regularly. H e first came out as a bowler for Gloucestershire. This was in 1881. H is experience as a bow ler was one of the most remarkable on record. H e was for a lon g time almost a failure, and everybody had come to the conclusion that he was a fourth or fifth change bowler only. So he went on for years, until in 1895 he suddenly startled the cricket world b y tw o or three exceptional perform ­ ances, which made people think that in some way or other he must have been extremely badly tried ; for there was no question about the goodness of his bow ling in these few matches ; it was excellent in every way. Against K en t, for Gloucestershire, he took seven wickets for 25 runs, and in no small measure helped to gain a memorable victory for his side, who had to go in against a score of 470. It was the first time in which a county had won a match after the other side had made over 400 in the first innings. A week later at L ord ’s, against M iddlesex, he took twelve wickets, and again did much to bring about a splendid victory for his side. The next appearances of the new bowler were watched with the greatest interest, but although he seemed always on the point of doing something remarkable, the fire and devil was no more to be found, and he once more retired into his former obscurity. Born in 1858, it was not until 1881 that Painter received a trial in the Gloucestershire eleven. H e was then chosen to play against Surrey and M iddlesex, and although he did well enough to justify the choice, he was not tried again until 1883—which was un­ doubtedly a b ig mistake. In the latter year he obtained a post as coach at Cheltenham College, and played in fifteen innings, ending the season w ith an average of 10 60. But there was enough promise in his play to encourage W .G . to give him a further trial, and for the next thirteen years he was a regular member of the team . It is reported that before he went to Chel­ tenham College he answered an advertisement for a coach to a Scottish school, and that, although the authorities were advised by several cricketers to take him , they preferred a man recom­ mended by a famous old N otts player, w ith the result that they spent the season in wondering when their new man was going to develop a ball which would cause diffi­ culty to at least some of the smaller boys. The follow ing account of his career is taken from the Bristol Times and M irror :— “ During the summer of 1884 he stood third am ongst the Gloucestershire batsm en, his figures being 594 runs— 70 more than any other man made— for 21 innings, aver­ age 28'33, and this without the aid of a “ not ou t.” H e greatly distinguished him ­ self b y twice scoring over a hundred within a fortnight on the Clifton College close. H is first three-figured con­ tribution was 116 against Lancashire, and it was un­ doubtedly his fine batting which gave Gloucestershire their only victory of the season by the narrow m a­ jority of seven runs. About £3 0 was collected on the ground and presented to Painter, and a week or two later he showed how he appreciated this kindness by again passing the century. This second feat he accomplished in the memorable match w ith Surrey, when the visitors, going in first, compiled 464, W . W , Read and J . Shuter being credited w ith one*half— 135 and 1 0 1 — and