Cricket 1903

300 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u l y 23, 1903. O B ITU A RY . C ornelius C o w a r d . While the last number of Cricket was in the press, there passed away an old-time cricketer, who, in addition to assisting his county, had taken part in some of the representative matches of his day. Cornelius or “ Kerr” Coward was horn at Preston, Lancashire, on January 27th, 1838, andwas of comparatively short stature, standing 5 feet 5J inches in height. His introduction to the better class of cricket took place in June 1862, when he appeared at Lord’s on the side of eleven colts —“ who had never appeared at Lord’s or the Oval” —against an M.C.C. team. In the first innings he was howled by Grundy for a “ round one,” but in the second his 17 not out against Grundy andWootton was not only the highest score on his side, but was so well played for as to merit a presentation bat at the hands of the Hon. F. Ponsonby. The Lancashire county club was formed in 1864, and it was in the following year that Coward played his first county match, going in first against Middlesex, at Islington, and scoring 23 and 0 (run out). In 1866 he assisted his county regularly, being also chosen to repre­ sent England against Surrey at the Oval, while he further played for the United All England Eleven in their matches with Twenty-Two’s. His best innings were 85 against Middlesex at Manchester (his highest in first-class cricket), and 52 against the same county at Islington. The 85 was a splendid effort, for when Coward went in sixth down, five of the preceding Lancashire batsmen had only been able to raise 16 between them. He failed to come off for England v. Surrey, a match memorable for an innings of 224 not out by Mr. W. G. Grace, then but eighteen yearsof age. In 1867 he realised one of the great ambitions of a professional, being picked in the Players’ team at the Oval, where he made 17 (run out) in his only innings, and went in third down. For United All Eng­ land v. All England at Manchester, he also made two good scores of 25 and 34 against Jackson and J. C. Shaw, his second innings being the highest in a poor total of 81. His best efforts for Lancashire were a finely- played 31 in a very low scoringmatch against the M.C.C. at Lord’s when “ mops and pails ” wore used to remove pools of water on the ground. The value of his 31, 33 and 18 against Yorkshire will be understood when it is stated that in the two matches the Lanca­ shire totals fell three times below 100, and that Freeman and Emmett were at their best. For North of the Thames against South of the Thames at Lord’s, his 23 not out was the only double figure in either innings of the North ! Coward’s highest and best innings in 1868 was his 46 for North of the Thames v. South of the Thames in Canterbury. He was the only man who gave very substantial assistance to the Eev. J. McCormick while that famous batsman ran up 137. It was in this match that Dr. AV. G. Grace for the first time in his career made two separate hundreds in one match, though, singularly enough, he found himself on the losing side, l or Lancashire v. Notts, Coward played a fine innings of 41 at Not- tingham and one of the same number (run out) in the return match, successfullymeeting the formidable attack of the two Shaws Martin McIntyre and Wootton. In this same year he again assisted the Players against the Gentlemen, and the “ United” against All England, while his 10 was, sin­ gularly, the highest score for Lancashire in the first innings against Yorkshire at Holbeck. In this game Freeman and Emmett dismissed the County Palatine for a total of 30 and 34, Freeman in the first innings taking eight wickets (seven howled and one l.b.w.) for 11 runs. It is only fair to add that of the eleven Lancastrians originally picked seven were defaulters and had to be replaced as best might be. In 1869 Coward’s best innings was 49 against Surrey at Man­ chester, but he also played for the “ United ” against England, and for North v. South. From 1870 to the end of his career in 1876 he played but little first-class cricket, his best innings being 35 in 1870 in the first match ever played between the “ United North” and “ United South,” 86 for Lancashire v. Derbyshire and 33 v. Yorkshire, both in 1871. He received a “ benefit ” in 1878 in thematch between Lancashire andNotts. Coward, who possessed a brilliant “ cut” and was a good field, flourished during aperiod when “ faked ” wickets were unknown, when runs had to be worked hard for, and whenEngland was passing through a golden age of bowling. He was singularly unfortunate in the matter of being “ run out,” and did many of his best things when others failed. A curious incident must close this sketch. In or about 1875 Coward was playing for Preston against Stonyhurst College. He had to receive the first ball of the match, which was a “ trial ” delivery, and scattered his stumps. The following ball served him in exactly the same manner, the bowler being A. Pereira, who was tried in the Cambridge Eleven of 1880. Fred Coward, a brother of the deceased player, also assisted Lancashire, and was for many years a most successful “ coach” at Stonyhurst College, where he was held in affectionate regard by the boys. To latter day cricketers he is well-known as one of the county umpires. A B IO C R ICK E T B O O K * Edited by Mr. Horace Hutchinson, the famous golfer, this book reflects the very greatest credit on the publishers, who have spared no efforts to make it attrac­ tive. It is well and neatly bound, the pages open easily, the type is clear, and the illustrations, of which there are about eighty, are the very best of their kind. Most of them are photographic repro­ ductions of well-known cricket pictures and prints, dating from a long time ago. The limitations of photography are clearly seen in some of these illustrations, but, again, in very many others its ability to reproduce with exactness the actual work of the artist stands out with great promi­ nence. Notably is this the case with those which deal with a series of pencil drawings by Mr. G. F. Watts, R.A. These represent “ Block or Play,” “ For­ ward Play,” “ The draw or pull,” “ The leg volley,” “ The bowler (Alfred Mynn),” and “ The batsman (Fuller Pilch).” They all come out distinctly, and very little of the artist’s work is missed. Other particularly good reproductions are the “ Portrait of a Youth,” by Thomas Gainsborough, “ George Parr,” by W. Bromley, “ and Dr. W. G. Grace,” by A. 8. Wortley, while perhaps the most delightful picture in the whole series is • “ Country Life Library of Sport.” Cricket. Edited by Horace G. Hutchinson. George Newnes, Ltd., Southampton Street, Strand, W.C. Illustrated. 12 b . 6d. net. the “ Hon. Spencer Ponsonby,” from the drawing by “ Felix.” Where photo­ graphy chiefly fails in the illustrations is in those which are taken from coloured prints—some of which are not very beautiful in themselves. It is pretty safe to say that such a gallery of pictures has never appsared before in a cricket book. But it must not be supposed that the book contains nothing but illustrations, although these are its greatest attraction. On the contrary there are about four hundred and fifty page} of literary matter, chiefly written by well-known cricketers whose names are frequently before the public as journalists or writers of crioket books and cricket articles. Among them are Messrs. P. F. Warner, D. L. A. Jephson, G. L. Jessop (at least we suppose that “ S. L .” is a mistake for “ G. L .” ), W. J. Ford, A. C. Maclaren, Home Gordon, and the Hon. R. H. Lyttelton. Not so well known as writers are the Earl of Darnley (batter known to cricketers as the Hon. Ivo Bligh), and Messrs. H . D. G. Leveson Gower, and C. F. Wood. The editor also writes a preface and two chapters on early cricket. The literary contents of the book cover a wide field, and include Batting, Bowling, Fielding, County, Country House, Village, University and Foreign cricket, Amateurs and Professionals, Australian cricket, etc. A practical article on Cricket Grounds by Messrs. Sutton aud Sons, the well-known seedsmen, brings the book to a conclusion. BELSIZE C.C. SUSSEX TOUR. 1 st MATCH, v. EASTBOURNE.—Played at East- bourne on July 14. E astbourne . First innings. Second inningB. C. W. Lindsay, b Pfeiffer... 12 c Pfeiffer, bChal­ lenger ..........13 F. G. Wagener, run out ... 2 runout............. 8 J. F. Morris, st Fox,b Chal­ lenger ................................48 lbw, b Challenger 3 M. Poyntz,lbw,b Challenger 41 not ou t................121 E. A. Wodehouse.b Pfeiffer 25 c & b Challenger 6 . Trask, not oat ..........68 b Parker ............16 R. G. Hattersley, c Fox, b Griffia...............................26 b Pfeiffer ............ 6 Nixon, b Welch .................49 b Pfeiffer ............38 Sho^smith, b Pfeiffer......... 3 b Welch .......... 3 T. E. Metcalfe, c Parker, b Pfeiffer .................. . 7 b Challenger ... 0 Tabor, c Fox, b Welch ... 5 c Fox, b Welch... 27 Extras ... ... '............. 5 Extras............10 Total .281 Total.......... 251 B klsize . First innings. Second innings. G. F. S. Griffin,b Shoosmith 18 not out...........100 E. S. Buckingham, c Wage- c Wodehouae, b ner, b Nixon .................18 Shoosmith ... 11 A. W. Parker, b Shoosmith 54 b Wodehouse ... 18 C. F. Welch, b Nixon ... 23 not out............42 C. S. Buckingham, b Nixon 7 C. W. K. Pfeiffer, b Wode­ house ............................... 6 C. F. Pearce, c Shoosmith,b Wodehouse .................14 T. S. Fox, c Wodehouse, b Morris...............................33 J. S. Buckingham, b Wode­ house ...............................19 J. D. Forsyth, not out ... 6 O. O. Challenger,c Lindsay, b Morris ........................ 6 Extras........................ 17 Extras............ 6 Total ................. 263 Total (2 wkts) 177