Cricket 1903

420 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 17, 1903. Pilch’s batting was chiefly remarkable for superb forward play, which Felix says was manly, nrasterly and majestic. During his long career Pilch scored as many as ten centuries, which was considered, and cer­ tainly was, a remarkable feat for those days of rough and bumpy wickets. The amount of attention which was bestowed upon the pitches in those days, apart from Lord’s, may be gauged from the fact that Pilch considered it necessary to always travel with a scythe amongst his cricket paraphernalia in order that he could attend to the ground between the wickets ere the match commenced. He died at Bridge Street, Canterbury, of dropsy on May 1st, 1870, aged 67, and is buried in the lower cemetery attached to the church of St. Gregory in the same town. The chief matches of 1803 were those between Surrey and England, both of which were won by Surrey, the first by lb5 runs and the second by 101. The great patron of Surrey cricket in those days was Mr. W. Lawrell, who bet Lord Frederick Beauclerck 1,000 guineas that the county could defeat any eleven of England the latter could pro­ duce, in two matches out of three. Lord Frederick doubtlessmademany very emphatic remarks when the stakes were handed over to Mr. Lawrell, for although in holy orders, he could (and did at times) use most unparsonical language. (It is said that the infamous Daniel Dawson, who was executed at Cam­ bridge in 1812, before 10,000 spectators, for horse-poisoning, once declined to travel in the same coach as his lordship, on account of the latter’s fluent and expressive vocabulary ! But this may be a libel.) Mr. Lawrell, says Mr. Pycroft, “ was not slow to give orders for golden guineas on old Thomas Lord, when a Surrey man, by catch or innings, had elicited applause.” He retained the services of Robinson as gamekeeper, and in the winter months would walk from village to village, chatting with the players on events of the past and the prospects of the future. The full scores of the two matches played between Surrey and England are appended, as they contain the names of many of the leading players of a bygone age. AT LORD’S, JUNE 21, 22, 23 & 24, 1803. SUBBEY. First innings. T. Walker, c Hammond ... 8 W . Lambert, b Ward..........32 R. Robinson, c Bennett ... 1 W . Beldham, c Small......... 11 John Wells, b Boxall.......... 1 Mr. G. Leicester, b Ward... 2 J. Walker, c Beauclerck . 5 Mr. J. Lawrell, c Beauclerck 5 J Sparks, not out ..........13 C. Waller, c Bennett......... 7 H. Mitchell, st Hammond.. 1 Bye ........................ 1 87 E n g la n d . First innings. W . Ayling, b T. Walker ... 0 J. Nyren, b Wells .......... 8 W. Fennex, b T. Walker ... 0 W. Barton, b Wells .......... 9 A. Freemantle, b T. Walker 9 J. 8mall. jun., b Beldham .. 12 Lord F. Beauclerck, b Beld­ ham ............................... 19 J. Hammond, not out ... 4 John Bennett, b Wells ... 1 J. Ward, b Beldham......... 1 T. Boxall, b Beldham.......... 2 Bye ........................ 1 Second innings, b Beauclerck ... 43 c Beauclerck b Beauclerck b Fennex ... c Hammond b Fennex ... c Beauclerck run out c Small not out.......... cN jren Byes ... 187 Second innings, c Beldham ... b Wells not out b Wells c Lambert ... c Sparks ... b Wells ... c Robinson... b Beldham... st Beldham .. b Wells Bye ... 66 73 Surrey winning by 135 runs. The returnmatch was played at Lord’s—then, as now, the headquarters of cricket—on July 11th and 12th, 1803. Score :— S u r e st . First innings. T. Walker, run out ..........61 W. Lambert, b Beauclerck 41 R. Robinson, leg-before - wicket...............................19 W. Beldham, b Fennex ... 8 John Wells, c Beauclerck... 15 Mr. G. Leicester, run out... 24 Mr.J. Lawrell, b Beauclerck 3 J. Walker, b Beauclerck ... 1 J Sparks, not out .......... 5 Mr. J. Tanner, c Freemantle 1 J. Hampton, b Beauclerck 0 Byes ........................ 3 181 E n g lan d . 1st Innings W. Fennex, b T. Walker... 0 John Bennett, st Lambert... 2 J. Small, jun., b Beldham... 19 J. Hammond, b Beldham 3 Lord F. Beauclerck, b T. Walker ... .................49 James Benrelt, b Beldham 6 A. Freemantle, b Beldham 15 W . Barton, c Sparks.......... 4 J. Crawte, b Wells ......... 0 H. Hampton, b Wells ... 5 J. Ward, not out................. 0 Byes ........................ 2 Second innings, st Hammond ... 12 st Hammond ... 2 run ou t........ st Hammond c Fennex ... c Fennex ... b Fennex ... notout......... st Hammond absent ......... runout . ... 133 2nd Innings, c J. Walker .. 3 st Beldham .. 24 b T. Walker ... 3 b Wells .......... 2 c Beldham ... c Beldham ... st Beldham... c Lambert... run out.......... st Lambert .. not out .. .. Byes ... 105 Surrey winning by 101 runs. ... 34 ... 0 ... 0 ... 25 ... 2 ... 15 ... 0 ... 0 it's CRICKET. Wednesday next will be played on Windmill Down, a Match for Five Guineas a Man ; Droxford and the adjoining Parishes against Eleven of Hambledon.— Wickets to be pitched at ten o’clock. N. B. Good accommodations at J. Stewart’s Booth. Hambledon, July 20, 1803. Both Lambert and Beldham, it will be ob­ served, are recorded to have stumped men. This may be accounted for by Nyren’s statement (made in 1833) that “ It is the duty of the bowler to be wicket-keeper at his own wicket during the intervals of his bowl­ ing.” The two matches recorded above give one a good idea of Surrey’s strength a hun­ dred years ago. The most successful cricketer of 1803 was undoubtedlyLordFrederickBeauclerck, whose name will be found in good matches for a period of thirty-five years. He was born on May 8th, 1773, and died April 22nd, 1850. His hitting, especially to the off, was very fine indeed, though, records Mr. Haygarth, he sometimes lost his wicket in trying to cut straight balls. From 1828 until his death he was Vicar of St. Albans, and was a regular frequenter at Lord’s for nearly, if not quite, sixty years. The scores he made in great matches in 1803 will bear comparison with those of any of the chief players of recent years, His innings, arranged in chronological order, were as follows :— *24 ) jg >M.C.C. and Ground v. Woolwich, at Lord’s. *112 | and Ground, v. Homerton, at Lord’s. ^ |England v. Surrey, at Lord’s. *110 I ^ arylebone C.C. v. Montpelier, at Lord’s. 34 (Notts and Leicestershire (with Lord F. B.) v. 74 4 Hampshire, at Lord’s. gjj |England v. Surrey, at Lord’s. Summary ; 12 innings (in eleven of which he was the chief contributor), 3 times not out, highest score 112*, total 617 : average 68 55. Who can doubt that so prolific a run-getter would have made many hundreds in these days of hard wickets ? His skill asa cricketer did not assert itself merely in batting, for as a slow underhand bowler he obtained a great many wickets, being very accurate as to pitch and possessing a remarkably quick rise from the ground. Altogether he may be regarded as one of the best gentlemen players of his or any age. Apart from the Surrey v. England matches already alluded to, but few really important contests appear to have been played in 180c. The M.C.C. was, of course, the leading institution of that time, whilst the Homerton and Montpelier clubs boasted many of the chief amateur cricketers of the day. It will, perhaps, be as well to give a syropsis of the leading matches played in the South of England during 1803 :— At Lord’s, May 15 and 16 ; Woolwich E8 and 80, v. Marylebone 66 and 49. Woolwich winning by 23 runs. At Lord’s, June 6,7, 8. 9 and 10; X X II. of Surrey 61 and 89, v. X X II. of Middlesex 109 and 45 for 16 wickets. Middlesex winning by five wickets. The best Surrey players, apart from Lambert, did not participate, presumably by arrangement. In 1802 XX II. of Middlesex beat XX II. of Surrey by 25 runs. At Lord’s, June 13 and 14; Marylebone 189 and 182, v. Homerton 50 and 60 for eight wickets. Hom­ erton gave up the match. On Hillingdon Heath, June 18; Hayes Club 16and 16, v. Burnham Club 19 and 14 for three wickets. Burnham winning by seven wickets. At Lord’s, Jut e 21, 22, 23 and 24; Surrey 87 and 187, v. England 66 and 73. Surrey winning ly 135 runs. In Beaconsfield Park, Bucks., June 27 ; Beacons- field Club v. Drayton Club, Middlesex. Drayton winning by one wicket and 16 runs. At Lord’s, June 29 and 30; Marylebone 165and 258 for seven wickets, v. Montpelier 26. Montpelier gave up the match. On Cowley Moor, Middlesex, July 1; Mr. Holman’s IV. (7 and '/), v. Mr. J. Avery’s IV. (9 and 1 for no wicket). Mr. Avery’s side winning by four wickets. At Lord’s, July 4, 5 and 6; Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire (with Lord F. Beauclerck) 116 and 117, v. Hampshire 263. Hampshire winning by an in­ nings and 20 runs. Tbe famous T. C. Howard made his first appearance at Lord’s in this match. At Loru’s, July 11 and 12 ; Surrey 181 and 133, v. England 105 and 108. Surrey winning by 101 runs. On Hounslow Heath, July 15; Hounslow 38 and 107, v. Kingston 81 and 64 for six wickets. Kingaton winning by four wickets. On Chiti enfold Green, in Surrey, July 15; Chitten­ fold 1eat Ripley by 49 runs and one wicket. At Lord’s, July 18; G. Ollivor’s X II. (165 and 103), v. Richardson’s X II. (65 and 152). G. Ollivor’s XII. winning by 51 runs. At Seveaoaks. July 25; Homerton beat the combined Sevenoaks and Tonbridge clubs by four wickets. On Wimbledon Common, in Surrey, July 30: A. Dorant’s III (‘21 and 32) v. J. Cook’s III (82). J. Cook’s ILL winning by an innings and 29 runs. On Kingston Wicx Green, August 3 : Ripley 131 and 94 v. Kingston 66 and 38 for fivewickets. “ Post­ poned.” This was the return match. At Homeiton, August 4 : Homerton 96 and 79 v. Hackney (“ A select eleven of three parishes ” ) 42and 32. Homerton winning by 101 runs. On Duppas Hill, Croydon, August 5; Croydon 101 and 166 v. Montpelier 139: “ Montpellier lost and began a fresh match, and won this by seven wickets. At Brighton, August 23 : The Sussex Militia (with General Lennox) beat the North Hants. Militia. “ The South (North?) Hants, were taking their last innings when the gentleman at the wicket struck the ball to an immense height in the air ; a grenadier and an officer in the Sussex, both rushing forward at the same moment to catch the ball in its descent, met in contact with such dreadful violence that they were both dashed to the earth. The grenadier was for