Cricket 1906

J u l y 5. 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S AT THE SIGN OF THE W ICKET. By F. S. A sh lh y -C o o p b e . GENTLEMEN v. PLAYEES, 1806-1906. Without the slightest fear of contradiction, one may state that no match can boast so great a history asthat between the Gentlemen and the Players. It is exactly a hundred years since the two sides first met, on the original Lord’s Ground, where Dorset Square now stands, and it is of interest to note that the Gentlemen had Beldham and Lambert on their side as givenmen. The Gentlemenwon easily by an innings and 14 runs, the odds allowed them being evidently too great, for, in the return match, played a fortnight later, Lambert alone was given. But the Gentle­ men still won—by 82 runs—owing chiefly to the fine play of Lord Frederick Beauclerck, who was probably just now at his best. His lordship was one of the moBt interesting, as he was one of the most accomplished, figures on the cricket stage during the early decades of the nineteenth century. He is remembered by students of the game almost as much for his hasty temper as for his skill as a player, for stories innumerable—some of them, perhaps, stories in more senses than one—are told at his expense. For many years he was Vicar of St. Alban’ s, and, althoughhe assisted the Gentlemen, it was well-known that he reckoned to make six hundred guineas a year out of the game. Obviously, he was a cricketerwho combined businesswith pleasure. Among the Gentlemen who took part in the pioneer matches of 1806 are some whose names are still familiar to followers of the game. General the Hon. Edward Bligh, who went in first, was a member of the well- known cricketing family of that name; he played for Kent from 1790 to 1806 : Thomas Assheton Smith, a useful cricketer, but best remembered as a crack shot and a mighty hunter: E. H. Budd, a powerful hitter, fine bowler, and active fieldsman : John Willes, a Kent man, one of the earliest advocates of round-armed bowling, and John Nyren, who will always be affectionately remembered on account of the charming book of instruction and reminiscences that he gave to the world in 1833—all these played their part in inflict­ ing defeat upon the Players in 1806. Amongst the latter we find such giants as Tom Walker, a notorious sticker, and the originator of round-armed bowling: Robin-, son, a crack Surrey player, who, owing to his hands having been sadly burnt whilst he was a child, had a bat specially made in order to fit his stunted fingers: John Hammond, a famous all-round player from Sussex: T. O. Howard, a fine bowler out of Hampshire: Fennex, the pioneer of forward play: and Lambert and Beldham, both Surrey men, the greatest all-round players of the time. Lambert is wall-known as being the first cricketer to obtain two separate hundreds in a match: Beldham, probably the finestplayer Surrey have ever had, and perhaps the most picturesque figure in the whole history of cricket, lived to the great age of 96. Yerily, then as now, there were giants in the land. Between 1806 and 1819 no match between the two sides took place : why, is hard to say, for there were several good cricketers, both amateur and professional, during the period named. Perhaps the interregnum was due to the Napoleonic wars, and the members of the M.C.C., who promoted all the great matches at Lord’s, at considerable personal expense, patriotically preferred to let their country benefit by their generosity. From 1819 to date tbe two sides have met regularly at Lord’s every year, except in 1826 and 1828, when no matches were played, but, as though to compensate for these omissions, the sides met twice in 1837 and 1851. Even in those early times large scores were occasionally made : e.g., the famous Tom Beagley scored 75 and 26 not out in 1819, and 113 notout two years later, whilst in 1825 Mr. William Ward made 102 not out and thereby enabled the Gentlemen to win by 72 runs after being headed 99 on the first innings. About this time the finest batsman the Players possessed was James Saunders, who, like Joe Guy, of Nottingham, was “ Elegance, all elegance: fit to play in a drawing-room before Her Majesty.” He was a left-handed man, and died in 1832 at the early age of twenty- nine. In the 1825 match he was run out when 99, but in 1827 played an innings of exactly a hundred. It is a curious, and remarkable, circumstance that, not until 1904, when King scored 104 and 109 not out on his debut for the Players, did any batsman play a three-figure innings in the match. In many of the early games between the Gentlemenand the Players, the latter received odds either in numbers or given men, in order to makethe match more interesting. In 1832, a curious arrangement was made whereby the Gentlemen defended wickets 22 in. by 6 in., and the Players those of the regulation size, viz., 27 in. by 8 in., whilst five years later the latter were handicapped by being called upon to protect wickets of four stumps, 36 in. by 12 in. In 1827 William Lillywhite, one of the greatest bowlers of all time, made his first appearance in the match. He and James Broadbridge, who assisted the Gentlemen as given men, bowled unchanged through both innings of the Players, which amounted to but 24 and 37. Eight men failed to score in the first innings, and such mighty bats as Hooker, Saunders, Pilch and Howard obtained spectacles. In 1835 Fuller Pilch, the Shrews­ bury of his day, was clean-bowled by Redgate, of Nottingham, first ball he received in each innings : Cobbett andRedgate were “ given ’ ’ to the Gentlemen for the occasion. In 1838 the amateurs received odds at Lord’s for the last time, and the same year Mr. Ward, who was still considered good enough to go in first for his side, made his last appearance against the Players. About 1840 these matches fell into disre- ute with the leading members at Lord’s, and, ut for the efforts of the Hon. Frederick Ponsonby and Messrs. C. G. Taylor and C. Bowdler, would have been discontinued altogether. In 1842 Mr. J. H. Dark, of Lord’s, most liberally undertook upon himself the whole expenses of the match, and, the Gentlemen proving successful, it was in future played under the auspices of the Marylebone Club. In 1843 several noteworthy feats were performed. For the Players E. G. Wenman, the Kent wicket-keeper, made 73 not out, whilst for the Gentlemen Mr. C. G. Taylor made 89 before a ball from Hillyer knocked his hat on to the wicket. (Pilch had been disposed of in similar fashion in 1837/. In the first innings of the Players Mr. T. A. Anson stumped Butler off one of Alfred Mynn’s tremendous shooters, using the left-hand only! In the match of 1847 old William Lillywhite (aged 55) and Clarke (aged 48) obtained all twenty wickets of the Gentlemen after Hillyer and Dean, two of the finest bowlers of the day, had opened the attack unsuccessfully. About this time Mr. Arthur Haygarth, the compiler of the “ Cricket Scores and Biographies,” began to assist the Gentlemen. He was a wonderful defensive player, as steady as the Pyramids, but an ungainly bat. In the 1858 match he played