Cricket 1900

A p r i l 2 6 , 1 9 0 0 . CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 8 5 Vicar of Huddersfield. In 1771, owing to his religious labours, his health broke down, and in consequence he accepted the small living of Yelling (Hunts.), holding ihat position until his death. He was well- known both as preacher and writer, his “ Compleat Duty of Man,” wh ch first appeared in 1763, runni ir through several editions He is buiied in the o'd churchyard at <lapham, of which parish his eon John was rector from 1792 to 1813 Frederick Lewis, PRINCE OF WALES, was the greatest patron of the game in the middle of the eighteenth century. He presided over the London Club and p-omoted many excellent matches. Bis first recorded match, and indeed the first time he ever played, was in Kensington Gardens, September 8th, 1735. The following is from Sir N. W raxall’s Memoirs:—“ Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of George II.. expired sudd-nly in 1751, at Leicester House, in the arms of DesnoyOrs. the celebrated dancing-master. His end was ciused ty an internal abscess that had long been forming in consequence of a blow which he received inthesidefrom acricket- ball while he was engaged in playing at that game on the lawn of ( liefden douse, in Buckinghamshire, wh°re he then principally resided. Death did not take place, however, tdl several months after the a cident, when a collection of m itter burst and instantly suffocated him.” THOMAS W AYM ARK . of Bray in Berkshire, was a miller employed at Bray Mills by Darvile. whose name will b-fou n d in a f^w matches. At one time he was engaged by the Duke of Richmond to play cricke\ His fame seems to have been great, as he was frequently tpokenof a* “ The famous Waymark.” W ILDEN . of Kent. THE END. A TOP ICAL SK IT . From the “ Ceylon Cricket Annual.” Nobody ever quite understood how the thing first started. Some say that Sir Frederick Saunders made a bet that he could easily get a team that would literally chaw up the Nuwara Eliya team that beat the Colts. Others said that Mr. Mitchell was at the bottom of it. An) - how, Sir Frederick definitely challenged Mr. Burrow’s X I., and the challenge was accepted. Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Taylor, the Chief Justice, the Planting Member, Sir Noel Walker, the G.O.C. Colonel Savage, and the captain himself made up the nucleus of a very fair side; but, as Mr. Mitchell remarked “ they must have a good round-arm bowler.” This was soon supplied by Major Firminger, and Mr. Pennycuick got his place as tenth man. There was a good deal of warmth as to who should get the last place. Mr. John Ferguson, Mr. Wendt, and several others were considered likely men; but eventually Mr. H. White got in as being a likely lad in the long field. There was some correspondence in the papers as to who ought to captain the side, but Sir Frederick clung to his rights and got them by virtue of his K.C.M.G., “ Kaptain of Cricket’s Mighty Game.” Captain Wyndham undertook to score on condition that he was allowed to come in to the tiffin, and a special umpire was procured. Some little surprise was felt when the P.M.G. asked for a “ trial,” and he was only convinced that he was out of order when the Chief Justice from the pavilion reminded him that he was not in the police court. Colonel Savage played a ball towards mid-off and called to his partner to run. Gibson returned it like a flash, and there was a general appeal. “ Do you think you were out, Colonel ? ” said the um­ pire, blandly. “ Of course I was,” said the almost too honest batsman. “ Out,” said the umpire with an air of conviction. And out the Colonel went. The General went in looking as though he meant to do or die. He didn’t. He died. 31—6—0 looked bad, and the Auditor-General was sent in with express instructions to hit like blazes. And hit was precisely the thing that resulted. Only the batsman was passive, and the ball active as regards hitting. However, some byes came, and the mercantile member did a smart business iu snicks in various directions behind the wicket. Alexander here showed up strong, and was clapped for picking up a ball in his mouth that he could not get his hands to. All this time the umpire had been going steadily over after over. It was now his turn. Mr. Mansergh appealed for l.b.w. off Gibson. In response to his Tiinothean “ How’s th a t?” came the answer “ Out—for he hit with the wrong side of his bat.” The side were out for 63. The others took their turn. Colonel Savage’s first over realised 20, all byes, as the wicket-keep and long- stop did not seem to get a sight properly of the ball. One, however, was a bit wide and went between point’s legs— much to point’s alarm. Sir Edward’s first over was distinctly better and only realised 16, of which five came from over­ throws. The score rapidly mounted to 70 in a few overs, and then Mr. Campbell went on in place of the demon bowler at the club chambers’ end. He started with only six men in the deep field, but soon had eight. Mansergh seemed specially to enjoy his deliveries, and hit a sweet six over the club. Cornish played a quieter game, and put in some nice drives, one going on a voyage of dis­ covery down Kollupitiya, and eventually taking to the sea near Steuart Place. The 200 was cheered, but it was now positively dangerous in the pavilion, as every over balls kept flying in. Man­ sergh was now getting his second wind, and had just got the range of the church that was being rebuilt. The earnest re­ quest, however, of the trustees softened him, and he put the planting members’ halfers into the lake instead, the ball being so heated several times by friction as to raise a jet of steam on touching the water. Mr. Pennycuick after a while went on, with nothing more nor less than deliberate shying. But he could not hit the stumps, and an over containing 20 byes became quite a frequent incident. Cornish’s next hit of any importance was into the Galle Face Battery, which pro­ duced a re nonstrance from the O.C.R.A. On Mansergh following suit a few balls later, it was observed that there were signs of activity in the battery, and pre­ sently two guns were trained straight on to the pitch. The 500 drew some cheer­ ing, though it contained 193 extras, the two batsmen having shared the scoring equally. Mr. Mitchell now passed on the pads and gloves to the General and went on with jerks. The mercantile member’s fielding by the way was good throughout, and his splendid businesslike abilities were shown by his quick returns. The jerks, however, at six runs apiece, were voted expensive, and a new line was tried by the captain, who took advantage of the sun to go on with donkey - droppers. Cornish, however, relished these amazingly, and tapped one srently into the Indian Ocean. The heat by this time had begun to affect the fielding, and drinks were brought out by the various peons to the thirsty home X I. Mr. Cornish, feeling fresh as paint, took nothing, but Mr. Mansergh, feeling a little empty, took a cracknel biscuit. On resuming it was agreed to draw stumps at 5'30, and the batsmen now began to relinquish their cautious tactics «.nd force the game a bit. To make the 1,000 they had to score 209 iu 65 minutes. Mr. Mansergh, however, put on four overs of sixes consecutively at this point, and they looked like doing it. The excitement grew intense, and iced claret-cup was now served out every four overs to keep the fielding side up to the mark. “ One more over,” was at last the cry, and 26 runs were still required. Mr. Mansergh took two sixes to start with, both off the Colonel’s flyers. The third was only a four, which seemed a poor stroke. The fourth, which was a no-ball, worse still, was a miserable two. The fifth ball, however, flew true, a six all over, and 24 of the runs were thus got. Then only remained one ball more, and the score was 998, or two short of the 1,000. Intense excitement now prevailed. Several hundred people had taken their seats on the roof of the Galle Face Hotel; the battery was full of Tommies; the pavilion reminded one of Rorke’s Drift, it was so piled up with boards and biscuit tins. Everything depended on that one ball. The Colonel just put everything into that last ball that he knew, and took an extra long run. Mansergh let out all he knew, and high up into the air soared the ball—a catch at last. The men ran, and so did the Chief Justice, in whose direction the ball was going. He watched it as he ran, tried the catch in his well- known judicial manner, gave it a short term of rigorous imprisonment in his bands, and then had the misfortune to stumble and drop the ball. It was a three. The 1,000 went up amid a scene of genuine enthusiasm, having established a world’s record. THE F IE L D ON CRICKET REFORM. So much interest has been aroused by the efforts which have been lately made, and are still being made, by the M.C.C. to improve the game that no apology is needed for giving in extenao the remarks made on the subject by the Field. According to a quaint old custom, the cricket season has already, in the middle of April, been preluded at Nottingham hy a colts’ match, pi lyed under conditions highly favourable for the concealment of batting talent. What is technically called first-class cricket for the purpose of the reckoning of averages has been attempted at Kennington Oval, but the campaign will not open in