Cricket 1902

J une 5 , 19 02. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 187 were £1,057 12s. 3d. On Tuesday, 17,450 passed through the turnstiles, making a total for the two days of 51,155. In the August bank holiday match at the Oval in 1892 between Notts and Surrey, the official return of the number of f-pectators who paid at the gates was 30,770 on the Monday, 29,370 on the Tuesday and 3,635 on the Wed­ nesday, a total of 63,776, but this did not include members. T h e Hon. F. G. Pelham, who has just succeeded to the Earldom of Chichester on the death of his brother, the fourth earl, was in the middle of the eighteen sixties in the front rank of amateur cricketers, as well as of amateur athletes. After representing Eton at Lord’sin 1863 and 1864, he got a double blue at Cam­ bridge University. He was captain of the cricket eleven there in his second and third years (1866 and 1867), and from 1865 to 1867 inclusive, was one of the Light Blue representatives in the Inter- University Sports, winning the quarter mile in the first two years. He played on a few occasions for Sussex, but gave up cricket practically on taking Holy Orders. Since 1890 he has been vicar of Great Yarmouth. He was a good slow round- arm bowler, a useful bat, and an excellent field, particularly at short slip. His best score in a first-class match was 78 for Sussex v. M.C.C. and Ground, at Lord’s, in 1866. S u r r e y ' s double victory last week will come as a welcome relief to the eleven, after a good deal of disappoint­ ment and a very long spell of ill-luck. How persistently Fortune has frowned on Surrey cricket of late can be judged from the faot that until they beat Essex at Leyton this week, the Surrey eleven had not tasted the sweets of victory in the County Championship since the 27th of June last year. This meant that they had played twenty-two inter-county matches in succession without a win. Worcestershire, indeed, was the only county Surrey defeated—June 5th of last and May 28th of this year—and Worcestershire was beaten twice in 1901. REMINISCENCES.* It is always a difficult task for a writer to have to record the experiences of another man, but Mr. Pullin, who is responsible for the book describing the career of Alfred Shaw, the famous old Notts bowler, has met with more than an ordinary amount of success. The book is written in an unaffected manner in the first person, and except that it does not contain as many really good_ anecdotes, re­ minds one of the first reminiscences of Dr. W. G. Grace. There is no “ high falutin’ ” about i t ; everything is told in plain English without any striving after effect, and some­ times (but not always) one who knows Alfred may almost fancy that he hears him speaking. Shaw’s career was a very long one, for he bowled with great success many years after Alfred Shaw; Cricketer. His career and reminis­ cences. Recorded by A . W . Pullin, with a statisti­ cal chapter by Alfred Gaston, and an introduction by the Earl of Sheffield. London: Cassell & Co., Ltd. 2s. 6d. most men would have retired into private life; in addition, he has had the advantage of being an umpire for some years, so that in a manner which is open to very few men, he has been able to form opinions as to the merits of the cricketers of the present day, and those of twenty and thirty years ago. He is not by any means convinced that the modem cricketer, whether bowler or batsman, is superior to the men who played during the period of his prime, and he is severe on modern fielding. “ We hear a great deal about long scores,” he says, “ and the necessity for doing something to handicap the batsmen and assist the bowlers. The first reform necessary, to my mind, is to remove the charge of “ butter fingers ” from the list of delinquences urged against so many of our county fieldsmen.’ ’ Referring to thebadlength of so many modem bowlers he says “ In the season of 1900 I acted as umpire in a few matcheswhen the wickets were simply perfect from a bowler’sstandpoint. Yet the opposing batsmen in at least one instance scored over 400 runs. I was really never so astonished in my life to see such bad bowling on a bowler’s wicket. It was in no false spirit of admira­ tion for my own cricket days that I thought to myself : “ If I and Fred Morley, and other bowlers of my time, had to bowl on this wicket, the best side in England could not have got 100 runs. This is stillmy deliberate opinion.” And so say most people who watch the length of bowlers nowadays. Of his earlier times Shaw tells an excellent story of himself and Mr. A. G. Steel. “ I was captain,” he says, “ of the Players (in Gentlemen v. Players, at Brighton, in 1881, for Jim Lillywhite’s benefit), and when the popular Lancashire gentleman came in to bat in his second innings he said to me, ‘ A If, you have tempted me many times in your life, but you are not going to tempt me out of my ground this time on any consideration. You may try as hard as you like, but I shall not come. I laughingly replied, *Oh, you may do, if you stop in very long.’ . . . . Mr. T. S. Pearson was batting when Mr. Steel came in. I soon bowled the first named, and then Mr. Steel played as carefully as he could for about half-an-hour or longer. He declined to be tempted, as he said he should, but I kept pegging away, and finally got him to ‘ have a go,’ as I felt sure I should. Result, clean bowled! Mr. Steel, as he retired, turned towards me and admitted he had been ‘ done again,’ although he had made the strongest resolution not to succumb to temp­ tation, and had not believed it possible that he could be successfully tempted. Alfred relates his reminiscences of the time when he played for Notts, and for Sussex, of the Gentlemen and Players’ matches, of his Australian tours, all with a charming sim­ plicity. Occasionally he lots the reader see a little behind the scenes, but in this respect he has exercised a good deal of discretion. He sums up the financial result of his Australian tours, in most of which he was one of the promoters, by saying that “ at the finish we were much worse off financially than when we began.” This will come as a surprise to many people who know how successful the tours, whether in England or Australia, have been in later times. On the subject of throwing Shaw speaks out plainly, and gives good reasons for not no-balling men whom he knows to be chuckers. He does not seem to think much of the proposed new l.b.w. law, and referring to a match in which he was umpiring when Cranfield was bowling, he says, “ Had the proposed alteration in the l.b.w. law been adopted, I really think I should have had to give all the Worcestershire side out in three overs.” We have said enough, and more than enough, to show that Shaw’s book cannot be left out of the library of any cricketer, whether he knew the author of the reminis­ cences or not. At the same time, we cannot help thinking that in Alfred’s brain there must be plenty of material for another book, for he is a man to whom anecdotes come readily if he is started on the right tack, and perhaps if this book is a success, as it surely must be, another may be forthcoming. THE BATTLE OF THE BALLTRICK.' Of Tyldesley and the North Sing the glorious day’s renown, When the Rhodes and Hirst went forth, And the Cornstalks tumbled down, While their Trumper proudly stood alone ; Yet each batsman in the band Was an old and wily hand ;— The best captain in the land Led them on. “ Our luck indeed has gone,” Said the Cornstalks, with a sigh ; While the light of battle shone In the haughty British eye :— It was four o’clock on cloudy summer’s day When the Trumper and the Duff Went in on a wicket rough ; Soon the latter had enough Of the play. Then the Pride of England bowled To annihilate the foe, And the Hirst was fast as Mold, Oa a wicket soft as dough. “ Men of York ! ” our captain cried ; when each ball, From each homy handed fist, With a most distressful twist, Spread destruction down the list:— What a haul! Again ! again ! again! And the havock did not slack, Till a feeble cheer, “ The rain ! ” The Australians sent us back :— The showers of mom were dropping slowl down :— Then ceased—But all is wail, For they nought do us avail:— Let us close the ghastly tale With a frown. W.A.B. LONDON & WESTM INSTER BANK v. FOREST' H IL L .—Played at Forest Hill on May 31. L ondon and W estminster B ank . C. J. Bowman, lbw, b H and...........................15 S. Bowman, b Hand... 4 A . G. Gough, st Gib­ bon, b Welchman . 0 W . Bradberry, b Hand 3 C. A . Snell, c Gibbon, b Hand ................... 7 E. A . Willson, st Gib­ bon, b W elchm an... 3 H. E. Thomson, c and b Hand ................... 0 H . S. Baker, not out 4t C. C. Simpson, b Welchman ... 13T H . Crossley, b W il­ liams........................... o A. Podmore, b W il­ liams........................... o •Extras .., .........15 T o ta l...................68 H. A. Hooker, b Snell 65 F. Skipper, b W illson 3 C. G. Hill, c Baker, b S. Bowman ...........36 C. G. Young, c Cross- ley, b Baker ...........16 W . R. Williams, c C. Bowman, b Snell 16 C. F. Phillips, not out 5 i C. E. Hand did not bat. F obkst H ill . S.Owens,c Bradberry, b Snell ...................i0 H. Barham, b "Willson 4 C. G\ Welchman, c Balter, b Snell ... 7 P. Gibbon, not out ... 1 Extras ...................12 Total (8 wkts) 222 L AW S OF CRICKET, with List o f Fixtures and Memo, pages. One Penny each, post free lid . Cricket Offices, 168, Upper Thames Street, E.C.