Cricket 1905

F eb . 23, 1905. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 23 O B ITU A RY . M r . E. B. R owley . Mr. Edmund Butler Rowley, who died on February 8th in Manchester, was bom in that city on May 4th, 1842. He was the fourth of seven brothers, all of them cricketers, one of whom—“ A. B.” — w as one of the finest all-round amateurs in England, and on several occasions asi-iited the Gentlemen against the Players. There was no Lancashire club until 1864, and it was his suceass with the powerful Manchester Club that first brought Mr. E. B. Rowley into prominence. When but eighteen years of a g e he assisted the Gentlemen of the North against the Gen­ tlemen of the South at Broughton, and though he made but five runs in his only innings, he had the satisfaction of being on the winning side, thanks to a great b o w liD g feat by his brother, “ A.B.” who took in all ten wickets for 48 ruus. In 1861 he played for the North v. the South, at Birmingham, and in the follow­ ing year assisted the Gentlemen v. the Players at the Oval, going in first and making six and five. A few days later, on the same ground, he achieved his first great success, scoring 61 and 70 for Gentlemen of the North v. Gentle­ men of the South, which were easily the two highest individual totals in the match. In 1863 he made 30 for the North v. Surrey and t.wo years later assisted Lancashire against Middle­ sex, who were Lancashire’s first opponents in first-class cricket after the formation of the county club. The season of 1867 was perhaps the most successful he ever enjoyed. In a great scoring match at the Oval he made 78 for his county against Surrey, including two great drives for 5 each, and effected a great stand with Ricketts, who played right through the Lancashire innings for 195 not out. Against Yorkshire, at Old Trafford, he ran up a fine 65, when Emmett was carrying everything before him, and in July played the innings of his career in the match between the Gentlemen of Lancashire and the Gentlemen of Yorkshire, when he scored 219 out of a huge total of 586. In 1869 he registered 52 against Surrey, at Old Trafford, hitting two 4’s and a 5 in succession; while in 1870, though he did not come off for the county, he made 88 for XV I. of Lancashire against the United North, at Bolton, when opposed to such bowlers as Freeman, Howitt, Atkinson and Luke Greenwood. He regularly assisted Lan­ cashire till the close of the season of 1880, and if his scores were not sensational, he was always making runs consistently, twenties and thirties proceeding from his bat galore. Of his special efforts may be mentioned 43 v. Surrey in 1873; 42 v. Sussex in 1876; 65 v. the same shire in -i877; and 40 against the M.C.C. at Lord’s in the wofully wet season of 1879. It is stated that from 1864 to 1880 he played 134 innings for Lancashire, scoring 1,665 runs, with an average of 13-2L No less a celebrity than George Parr regarded Mr. Rowley as one of the finest hitters in England. In the early days of Lancashire cricket he captained the team until succeeded by Mr. A. N. Hornby, and served on the county com­ mittee up to the time of hii death. His son, Mr. Ernest Rowley, scored well for Lancashire in 1896, but soon gave up first-class cricket. J a m e s P h il l ip s . James Phillips, brother of Harry Phillips the famous wicket-keeper, died on Janutry the 31st at Hastings where he was born on 26th September, 1849. At the very outset of his career he created a profound impression when on June 1st and 2ud, 1871 he played a great innings of 103 at Brighton for Fifteen Colts against a Sussex Twelve, which included James Lillywhite—in fact, local critics described his effort as “ the best colt’s innings they had seen played.” Three weeks later his powers were tested in a county match when he was sent in first with Walter Humphreys, then also a colt, against Kent at Brighton. The two youngsters ran up 63 before they were parted, of which Phillips claimed an excellent 37. In his four other innings he, however, only accounted for 12 runs, and it was not till 1874 that he again appeared as a Sussex player. A capital 40 for the East v. the West of the County gave promise which was fully borne out in the later engagements — indeed he was regarded as the most promising colt that had appeared Bince William Oscroft took greatness by storm in 1864. In 16 innings he scored 13 doubles, and was never sent back for a cypher, ten of his efforts ranging from 20 to 58 in value. Against Notts he batted one and three-quarter hours for 31, when the two Shaws, Morley, and Martin McIntyre were opposed to him, and in the return match was at the wicket the same time for 17 runs. He also made 48 at Sheffield against the powerful Yorkshire bowling, aud registered 57 and 58 in one match against Gloucestershire, in addition to 45 against Surrey at the Oval. In 1875 he only assisted Sussex in four out of eight matches, but of his six innings four ranged from 20 to 27. The follow­ ing year he made 41 v. Gloucestershire, and the same number against Kent, but in the succeeding years it can hardly be said that his play realised the high ex­ pectations he had raised. Sussex was passing through some disastrous seasons, and it may fairly be assumed that his play suffered in the general depression of the side. Other m9mbers of the team, including Charlwood, who for a time became a reckless hitter, retrograded in no small degree, until a revival a few years later stiffened their backs once more. In 1877, 1879, and 1880 Pnillips did nothing, but in 1878 he showed up gallantly against Gloucestershire with a splendid 77 not out when Chari- wood was the only other man who could rtach double figures in the two innings of Sussex. For Eleven Players against the Australians at the Oval, his 19 not out and 14 were the highest in either innings of his side in the memorable match wherein Barratt took all ten wickets and the Australians won bv eight runs ! In 1881 he made 33 and 77 against Kent at Brighton, when Mr. William Blackman hit up 89 in fifty-five minutes, but was unfortunately on the losing side, and in the home match against Hants made 42 and 33. His highest innings in a first-class match was his 89 against Hants in 1882, and that it was a score of peculiar value is shown by the fact that in conjunction with Mr. Newham and others he helped to raise the Sussex score from 66 for five wickets to a full total of 402! Even so, Hants won by seven wickets. In 1883 he played but once or twice and failed badly, while in 1884 he was a total absentee. In 1885, however, he appeared four times and hit up 56 against Surrey at the Oval, making a long stand with his brother, which came too late to be of any service, as Surrey totalled 631 (then a record) and won by an innings and 221 runs. He batted tw icj in 1886 and then his career closed. At his best, Phillips was a very brilliant fieldsman, aud there is little reason to doubt that had he played with a shire that enjoyed more of the favours of Fortune he would have made an even greater name for himself. T h e Rev. A. F. E. F o r m a n . The Rev. Arthur Francis Emilius Forman was born at Gibraltar, July 26th, 1850. His figure — 6 feet; 13 stone— suggested physical advantages which, when at Sherborne, stood him in good stead. At all events he was in the school eleven from 1866 to 1869, inclusively, and was regarded as one of the finest bats the school had produced, as well as a fine fieldsman and an accurate and effective bowler. He was captain for two years, and in 1869 had an average of 42, among his scores being one of 149 against the Shaftesbury C.C. W. H. Game, of Surrey and Oxford renown, was with him in the Sherborne Eleven. Mr. Forman was at Oxford from 1870 to 1873, and though he failed as a bat in the Freshmen’s and Seniors’ games his bowl­ ing was effective on more than one occasion. He never played in any of the regular matches for his University, but in 1871 he had a batting average of 31 for Trinity, and he rowed in the College “ eight.” In 1874, for Past v. Present of Trinity, he made 164 not out, and he also played for the Gentlemen of Dorset, making 104 for them. On six other occasions he passed the century in minor games between 1875 and 1883, tiis highest scores being 169 not out against Ply­ mouth Garrison in 1881, and 150 not out against Repton School in 1883. Mean­ time he appeared on a few rare occasions for Derbyshire, his best innings and highest for the county being 36 against Sussex in 1882. Mr. Forman could wield the pen as well as the bat, among his contributions to cricket literature being some interesting articles on Public School cricket in “ Lillywhite’s Companion.” J. B. P.