Cricket 1905

O ct . 26, 1905. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 447 84 v. Sussex in 1873 ; 84 v. Gloucester­ shire in 1876; 80 v. M.C.C.1in 1880 ; 78 v. Cambridgeshire in 1865 ; 77 v. Middle­ sex in 1878; and 76 v. Gloucestershire in 1879. Between 1871 and 1880 he was usually to be found in the Play ers’ eleven, making 73 against the Gentlemen at the Oval in 1873 and 58 at Lord’s in 1876. In other extraneous games he made 96 and 90 for England elevens v. Cambridge University in 1873 (two scores which by some strange' oversight were omitted in the first-class batting averages); 98 for North v. South in 1879; 86 for All- England v. United in 1866; 68 for North v. South in 1877; and 54 for All-England v. Yorkshire in 1865. There can be no better judge of O.croft’s play than Richard Daft, who played with him for many years. Daft says of Oscroft in his “ Kings of Cricket ” : “ He was one of the finest leg-hitters we ever had, hitting like Cirpenter, high and square. His hitting all-round was a treat to behold whenever he was well set.” Daft adds the following anecdote : “ He gave me a great flight at the Clifton Suspension Bridge many years ago. I have always a great objection to looking down from a great height, and when crossing the bridge in question took care to keep well away from the side. Ojcroft knowing this, andjprobably to let me see that he felt no such fear himself, took a run, and vaulting on the rail sat across it as though on a horse, swaying himself about in the (to me) most alarming manner, ■and the more frightened I became the better he enjoyed it.” Oicroft, who succeeded Daft as captain of the Notts eleven, went with Mr. W. G. Grace’s team to Australia in 1873-4, and to America end Canada with Daft’s team in 1879. He was a fine field at point aid a useful fast change bowler. J.B.P. Captaim R. A. C lim e n t. Captkin Clement, who died on October 2nd at the age of 71, was in the Cam­ bridge eleven in 1854, but had the unfortunate distinction of making two duck’s eggs. He was contemporary to Henry Perkins and R. A, Fitzgerald, two former secretaries. of the M.C.C., Canon McCormick and E. T. Drake. He was at school at Rugby, and, after he left the University, entered the army, serving in the New Zaaland War in 1864-66. For seme time in his later 3ears he was clerk of the course at Ascot. M r. W. F. T r a il l. On October 3 d, Mr. Traill, who w„s in the Oxford eleven from 1858-60, died at the age of 67. From 1860 to 1863 he played for Kent, ar.d he was on the committee of the M.C.C. from 1863 66. In his last match against Cambridge he took six wickets in the first innings for 35, and five in the second for 18. He was at schccl at Merchant Taylors. W. B o ttom o fe . William Bottomore, 60 years of age, died suddenly at Sheepshed on Saturday. In 1879 and the first half of the eighties he did good service to Leicestershire as a fast bowler and was a useful batsman. His highest innings against first-class sides was 79, v. Sussex in 1880. He also made 41 not out against Surrey in 1884. T he R ev . G. S. M arriott . Mr. Marriott, who died on October 21st, at the age of fifty, was in the Winchester eleven in 1872, 1873 and 1874, and gained his blue for Oxford in 1878. In his later years he was Rector of Sigglesthorne, Hull. F rederick S m ith . Frederick Smith, who was born at Yeadon, Yorkshire, on December 1st, 1880, died in the Burnley hospital on Friday last as the result of pneumonia brought on by a severe wetting at the conclusion of a football match in which he had taken part. Very unwisely he had travelled in his wet clothes. His performances with the Yeadon Club brought him under the notice of the Yorkshire Committee, and he was tried in the Second Eleven. In 1903 he was pro­ moted to a trial in the county team, playing 18 completed innings for an aggregate of 292 runs and an average of 16 22, his highest score being 55 against Kent at Leeds. Smith, who was a capable left-handed batsman, migrated a year ago to Nelson, where he took up his residence with a view to qualifying for Lancashire. G eorge U bsdell . George Ubsdell, who died within the last few days, was born at Southampton, April 4th, 1845. He was a capital wicket-keeper and good hitter. For Hampshire against Surrey in 1865 he stumped five men and caught another in the second innings of his opponents. In the same year he played an innings of 72 for Hampshire against Buckinghamshire, and made 49 in the corresponding fixture of 1866. The Hampshire Club practically collapsed a year or two later, and though matches were played against Lancashire in 1870, it was not resuscitated until 1875. M r . T. F. H am ilton . Mr. Hamilton, who died recently in Australia, was a member of the Mel­ bourne C.C. for fifty-6even years, and, during the whole of that long period he took an active interest in the club’s affairs. He was president from 1859 to 1868, and a trustee of the ground for forty-three years till the date of his death. C olonel F rank R hodes . Colonel Rhedes, whose dea'h at the age of about 54 was announced on September 21st, was the elder brother of Cecil Rhodes. In his younger days he was well known as a cricketer. After leaving Eton he entered the 1st Royal Dragoons in 1873, and for some years was a prolific scorer in club and military cricket. During the first part of the time that Lord Harris was Governor of Bombay, Colonel Rhodes was his Military secre­ tary. After a distinguished career the Colonel took a principal part in the Jameson raid. He was tried at Pretoria, and, with four others, was sentenced to death by Judge Gregorowski. But, as everyone knows, the sentence was not carried out. Of the scene at the trial Colonel Sir Francis Younghusband has written the following description. “ I may dwell for a moment,” he says, “ on one pathetic figure for whom it would be impossible not to feel sympathy. It is that of the man who as a boy gained his cricketing colours on the playing fields of E ton ; who for four years served in one of the finest cavalry regiments of the British Army; who gained a Distinguished Service Order for his gallantry on Her­ bert Stewart’s hard desert march to the relief of Gordon at Khartoum; who is a solitary survivor of Gerald Portal’s arduous mission to Uganda; and who, through loyalty to his younger brother, had engaged in an ill-fated schema in which he had absolutely no personal interest, and which has now brought him, a colonel in the British Army, to the prisoner’s dock to be sentenced to death in a foreign country. Even his enemies, with all their roughness, were able to speak with admiration of the dignity with which he carried himself on this awful occasion, aud to say that they understood now what was meant by the term ‘ an English gentleman.’ ” A N INNOVATOR . In looking through a bound volume of a journal of 1893, now defunct, I came across an extract taken from the South African Review. It shows that neither A. O. Jones nor Armstrong can claim to be the inventor of the system of bowling with all the men on the on-side except the wicket-keeper. The extract is as follows :— There were some extraordinary goings on in the Cape Town v. Simon’s Town match, at Newlands, on Saturday, owing to the obstinancy of a certain bowler on the Cape Town side. The home team had scored 134, and then Simon’s Town took the bat. One of the howlers deputed, having ideas of his own, started by placing all the fieldsmen on the leg-side, and set about tossing up sky “ scrapers.” The result was that the trundler, not always being accurate in his pitch, was sometimes hit to the oil, and, to the trouble of the scorers, was often put away in the slips. Seeing this, the captain of the side iusisted on going to slip, whereupon the self-opiniated howler wanted to refuse to bowl. Being told he must bowl or go off the field, he consented to continue, but, on the rule of contrary, placed all his men on the o^-side, and by still keeping his deliveries as much to leg as possible, bowled the match away. Such conduct, on the circumstances represented, is extremely reprehensible, and the said bowler, whatever reputation he may have come with, is not likely to be asked again to assist the club he was so con­ descending as to join. One cannot help asking, after reading the above, what the captain of the side was doing in allowing such a perfor­ mance to continue.