Cricket 1908

A p r il 30 , 190 8. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. THE CEYLON SPORTS ANNUAL* . In the latest edition of this very useful Annual cricketers will find a great deal to interest them. The season of 1907 is, of course, fully dealt with, whilst several pages are devoted to Ceylon cricket re­ cords—perhaps the most interesting chapter in the volume. Mr. George Vanderspar, for over thirty years one of the leading cricketers in the island, again played suc­ cessfully, and the redoubtable Kelaart, whose bowling average for the past seven­ teen seasons works out at a trifle over five runs a wicket, fully maintained his form. The tours of the Ceylon Malay team in Bombay and of the Madras team in Ceylon are dealt with, whilst there is a well-com­ piled folding chart relating to the series of 71 matches played between Dimbula and Dikoya. Portraits are included of Messrs. A. L. Gibson, A. S. Eliyatamby, and D. Joseph, and of the Ceylon, Up-Counlry and Madras teams. The volume, which is capitally bound in cloth, also deals ex­ haustively with golf, Rugby and Associa­ tion football, hockey, lawn tennis, croquet, and racing, and is a valuable and in­ teresting record of the year’s sport in the island. *The Ceylon Sports Annual , 1908. Edited by P. L. Bartholomeusz. Ceylon: Capper & Sons. Price : Rs. 2. OBITUARY. T he H on . and R e v . E. V . B ligh . The Hon. and Rev. Edward Vesey Bligh, J.P., uncle of the Earl of Darnley, died suddenly at Fartherwell, West Mail­ ing, Kent, on the 22nd inst., in his eightieth year. He was born in London on February 28th, 1829, and was a member of the family which has been so pro­ minently connected with Kent cricket for over a hundred years. He did not obtain a place in the Eton Eleven but was more fortunate at Oxford, playing against Cam­ bridge on Cowley Marsh in 1850, when he scored 27 and o and was on the winning side. It was whilst at the University that he made his d^but for Kent, playing on the Prince of Wales’ Ground, at Oxford, which was kept by Edwin Martin, an old Kent County cricketer, against 16 of Ox­ fordshire. He scored only 2 and 1, but had the satisfaction of playing shoulder to shoulder with such giants as Adams, Fuller Pilch, Alfred Mynn, Martingell, and Hillyer; Mr. W. S. Norton, still living, likewise assisted the County for the first time on this occasion. Mr. Haygarth, in Scores and Biographies (iii-613), described Mr. Bligh as “ A hard hitter, especially excelling in the drive, bowls slow round­ armed, and fields generally middle-wicket or short-slip ’ ; he was also at one time a very fair wicket-keeper. During the fifteen years over which his career as a County cricketer extended he assisted Kent on twenty-three occasions, taking eight wickets at a cost of 18 runs each and making 395 runs with an average of 11.28, his highest innings being 53 against Eng­ land at Canterbury in 1862. These figures appear insignificant compared with the large averages gained during the past few decades, but if they are compared with those of some of the great players with whose career his own interlaced the value of a double-figure score in the old days becomes at once apparent, for Pilch’s average for Kent was only 19.56, Alfred Mvnn’s 12.62, and Wenman’s 11.12. Mr. Bligh’s name will be found in the Middle­ sex Eleven in 1862, although in that year he also appeared for Kent. From 1850 until 1853 he was in the Diplomatic Ser­ vice, being successively Attach^ at Han­ over, Florence, and Berlin, but afterwards entered the Church. He frequently assisted the Gentlemen of Kent, and in 1850 played a prominent part in defeating the Gentle­ men of England at Canterbury by a wicket. Concerning this match Mr. Bligh, in his Former Kent Cricket-- a most in­ teresting pamphlet published for private circulation at Maidstone in 1896—has said : —“ The best match I ever played in . . We had some 150 [165] runs to get, of which 40 only had been obtained for six wickets overnight when I joined Felix in the morning, and together we made a long stand against the redoubtable Harvey lific writer on outdoor sports, and was a great authoritv on baseball. F.F.K. T he H on . an d R e v . E . Y . B lig ii . (li>produced by kiml permission from “ The Ilibtory o f Kent County Cricket.") Fellows and others, ultimately winning the match by one wicket. I was ‘ not out ’ at the end myself, and I well remember these two things: chiefly, one, the wrath of Felix because (he said) I ran him out— Felix was a terribly bad runner for all his excellencies; the other, a narrow escape which I had from" being pancaked by Alfred Mynn, who came out of the tent to hoist me in, and then nearly tumbled over me.” Mr. Bligh was one of the original trustees—of whom only one, Mr. F. H. Norman, survives—of the Mynn Memorial Benevolent Institution for Kentish Cricketers. He had been a member of the M.C.C. since 1894. A genealogical table showing his relationship to the various cricketing members of the Bligh family will be found on page 105. M r . H. C h a d w ic k . Mr. Henry Chadwick, who, in 1873, pub­ lished his American Cricket Manual , con­ taining the scores of the principal inter­ national matches of 1859, 1868, and 1872, died at Brooklyn, N.Y., on the 20th inst., in his eighty-fourth year. He was born at Jessamine Cottage, St. Thomas, Exeter, on October 25th, 1824, and emigrated to the United States in 1837. Tie was a pro­ C o l . K enyon -S i . aney . Col. the Right Hon. William Slaney Kenyon-Slaney, P.C., M.P., who died of pneumonia at Hatton Grange, Shifnal, Shropshire, on the 24th inst., was born at Rajkote, in India, on August 24th, 1848. and was educated at Eton and Oxford, but did not obtain a place in either Eleven. He became a member of the M.C.C. in 1869, and the same year played his first match at Lord’s—for M.C.C. and Ground against Lancashire. Scores and Biographies (xi— 147) says of him—“ Has played in various matches with success, while his fielding is good, often taking cover-point..................... Height 5ft. 9^in., and weight 11st. Entered the Grenadier Guards, November 20th, 1867.” He played a great deal of cricket at various times for the M.C.C., I. Zingari, and Household Brigade, and was instru­ mental in securing the Guards’ cricket- ground at Burton’s Court. He served in the Egyptian WTar of 1882, being present at Tel-el-Kebir, and received the medal and clasp and the Khedive’s star. Since 1886 he had been Unionist M.P. for the New­ port Division of Shropshire, and shortly before the fall of the last Unionist Govern­ ment was appointed to the Privy Council. He served on the Committees of the Mary­ lebone and Prince’s Clubs, being on the former for eight years— 1875-’78 and 1880- ’83. He was also an Association footballer of note, having played for Old Etonians, the WTanderers, and for England against Scotland. An interview with Col. Kenyon- Slaney appeared in Cricket of July 14th, 1904. M r . F. S m ithson . Mr. Frederick Smithson, manager of the St. George’s Cricket Grounds in Hoboken for more than twenty years, died on the 12th inst. at his home, 383, Palisade Avenue, West Hoboken, in his sixty-first year. He was widely known among base­ ball, football and tennis players, cricketers, curlers, and other athletes. He formerly had charge of the Belmont Cricket Grounds in Philadelphia. F.F.K. Mr. S t . C. K. M. S tobart . Mr. St. Clair Kelburn Mulholland Sto­ bart died on the 9th inst. after a short ill­ ness on the voyage home from East Africa. He was born in 1862, and in 1879 and 1880 was in the Winchester XI., among his con­ temporaries being the Hon. J. W. Mans field, G. F. Wells-Cole, and E. H. Hard- castle. In his two matches against Eton he scored i and 4, not out 20 and 3 and bowled 49 overs for 62 runs and four wickets ; Eton won by 45 runs in 1879 and bv 9 in 1880. Mr. Stobart afterwards pro­ ceeded to Oriel College, Oxford, but did not succeed in obtaining his Blue. He played in the Freshmen’s match and other trial matches in 1881 and in the Seniors* match two years later. He was a very useful all-round cricketer, but did not pos­ sess sufficient guard of his wicket. J.D.B. The Sportsman s a y s :-“ The bound volume of Cricket for 1907 is now ready, and affords a valuable record of the game not only in England, but in Greater Britain.” Price 8s. Gd., post free 9s.