Cricket 1906

CR ICKET : a w eek ly r e c o r d o f t h e q a m e . JULY 12, 1906. “ Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.”— Byron. no. 726 . v o l . x x v . THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1906. p b i c e ad. ETON AND W IN C H E S T E R . EIGH TY YEARS OP SCHOOL CRICKET. Eton and Harrow had been “ joined together in cricket’s manly toil ” years before Winchester, who had already twice met Harrow, decided to test its strength against Eton. The twomatches between Harrow and Win­ chester already played had both been memorable in different ways. In the first, that of 1825, the respective captains were the brothers Charles and Christopher Wordsworth, both of whom subsequently attained the highest honours in the Church, the former as Bishop of St. Andrews, the latter as Bishop of Lincoln. The first meeting of Harrow and Winchester will always be associatedwith bitterregrets, as the night of its comple­ tion is memorable in cricket history for the fact that it saw the destruction of the pavilion at Lord’s by fire, with the accompanying loss of a lot of reliable informa­ tion in the shape of early cricket records. In the second match between Harrow and Winchester, played in 1826, the latter was obviously superior at all points. The Harrow eleven, which included H. E. Man­ ning, in later years to be known all over the world as Cardinal Manning, were able to score only 29 in their first innings, and in the whole match got but a few more than W. Meyrick, who carried out his bat for 146 in the second knock. The first match between Eton and Winchester, which took place on the day following the completion of the seoond game between Harrow and Winchester (August 4th, 1826), found theWykeham­ ists again successful, though this time the margin was only one of 53 runs. Harrow and Winchester, it may be stated in par­ entheses, met again at Lord’s in 1830 and onwards from 1834 to 1854 inclusive, with the one exception of the year 1837, when the match was played at Harrow. Owing to some dispute, Winchester did not meet Eton that year, and the match between Harrow and Winchester which was decided at Harrow instead of at Lord’s, was memorable for the first victory of Harrow, though it was the seventh MR. A. G. PAWfiON. (Captain of Winchester, 1906.) [Photo by Salmon meeting of the two schools. From 1834, Harrow and Winchester met regularly till 1854, when the match was discon­ tinued owing to an objection of the Winchester authorities to theboys coming to London. According to modem ideas the scene at Lord’s on the occasion of these early school matches must have been very quaint. Winchester, at least, had no regular colours, and a contemporary writer mentions that one member of the team appeared at Lord’s in'j“ bright Prus­ sian blue trousers, and a white hat and crimson necktie.” There were obviously difficulties too, at times, in the way of getting the full side together, no doubt for good and substantial reasons. What­ ever the explanation the fact remains that in 1834 Win­ chester was disappointed at Lord’s of no leas than three of its eleven, who had to be replaced by other members of the College happening to be on the ground. In those early times the wickets at Lord’s certainly did not make for run-getting. Both schools just about this period had at least one bowler destined to attain to the highest honours on the cricket field. InJ. H.Kirwan Eton had a tremendously fast bowler, Winchester, Alfred Lowth, who, both of them, did splendid service for the Gentlemen against the Players. By the light of modem cricket it is strange to read of such a match as that of 1836. Winchester was again without ‘four of its regular players, and though its two crack bowlers, A. Lowth and N. Darnell, were both there, Eton won by two wickets. It could not have been very en­ couraging cricket when one reads that the grand total of 447 for thirty-eight wickets included 148 extras with no less than a hundred wides, and that B. Stent, who sub­ sequently blossomed into Bridger Stent, the Honorary Secretary of the Sussex County C.C., was missed five times in making his first score of 45. There were brave men before Agamem­ non, we are told. They were certainly cricket stalwarts, the old players, and one cannot read of those early days at Lord’s without akeen appreciation of the pluck with which batsmen stood up with- Winchester.