Cricket 1906

CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. APRIL 19, 1906. t ')fl©8c=: fvS j f “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— By,ron. N o. 7 1 4 . VO L . X X V . THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1906. P R IC E 2d. H. STUBBERFIELD. Two or three weeks ago reference was made to the fact that Stubberfield, hale and hearty at the age of seventy-one, could not get any work. In the hope that some of the cricketers, American as well as English, who played against and with him in the bygone days may re­ member him now in his time of trouble, some remarks about him are given here. Stubberfield was born at Brighton on March 16th, 1835, and played for Sussex from 1857 to 1874 as a medium-paced bowler. In that time he took 118 wickets for the county at an average of 18 97. He was one of the few men who have taken a wicket with their first ball in a county match, and his best performance as a bowler was to take seven wickets for 10 runs against Kent at Brighton in 1859. As a batsman he was not great, but occasionally, in a style which was entirely his own, he made a useful score, his highest innings for the county being 40 in 1864. Stubberfield’s bowling was esteemed so highly by the best judges of the game that it brought him an offer to join George Parr’s England eleven, and also to go to Australia with the first Eng­ lish team, but for various reasons he was obliged to decline the invitations. But he acted as coach at various times to the schools at Har­ row, Winchester, Chelten­ ham, Brighton, Lancing, and Hurstpierpoint, while in 1872 he went as coach to the New York C.O., on the recommen­ dation of Mr. V. E. Walker. In later years Stubberfield acted as umpire, chiefly for Lord Sheffield at Sheffield Park, and for the Brighton Brunswick C.C. I have heard it said that he was not a good umpire; but, with regard to this, I can only say that I often saw him acting as umpire and never knew him to make a mistake except once, when he gave me out caught at the wicket. It is true that the wicket-keeper afterwards told me in confidence that the ball had been turned a foot by the bat, and that cover-point, or it may have been extra-cover, was satisfied that it was the clearest case he had ever seen in his life; but wicket- H. STUBBERFIELD. Photo by Hawkins and Co., Brighton. keepers and extra-covers can hardly be deemed impartial judges, and I never con­ sidered that their opinion justified me in concluding that the mistake was mine and not Stubberfield’s. Once, when it was “ a near thing,” the ball was thrown in from deep long on when I was run­ ning; but, doing my best, I was past the wicket when the ball knocked off the bails. Not seeing where I was, the wicket-keeper appealed, and then I noticed that Stubberfield, who was the square-leg umpire, had turned his back on the ball, apparently in fear that it would hit him. He would, therefore, not have been able to give an opinion as to the question of whether I was run out if there had been any doubt. It did not occur to me until some time afterwards that, as the ball was thrown in, it could by no possibility have hit the umpire, and that Stubber­ field, whose pluck was notorious, was unnecessarily anxious about his fate. It was afterwards suggested by a good-natured player on the other side that Stub­ berfield felt sure that I could not get to my crease in time, and, therefore, took prompt measures to save me, but this was, of course, a libel. In his earlier days Stub­ berfield was a bowler with a high action, but being compelled to alter his style, as was required by the new law, he soon became profi­ cient in bowling with a low action. When the law was again altered, he still kept his low action. He had a short run, and a curious way of turning his hand two or three times in a circle before he let the ball go. When I first met him he was nearly at the end of his career as an active cricketer, but he was still a really good bowler. He may or may not have been easy to play on a perfect wicket, but whenever I played against him the wicket was as bad as village wickets could be in those days. With his low action the ball often shot; if it did not shoot, it rose “ among the knuckles” or as high as the nose. Consequently, as he was always perfectly straight, kept a good length, and broke back a little when he did not come in from leg, it was not easy to score off him. Once I played against him at Cuckfield for the village club. I