Cricket 1908

14 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 30, 1908. and lively hitter, but he did not possess sufficient guard of his wicket. IIis best inniDgs in a good-class match was probably his 115 for Mr. C. W . Wright’s X I. against Durham County, at Darlington, in 1888, whilst his highest in first-class cricket was 66 for Derbyshire v. Surrey at the Oval in 1884. He made the last-mentioned score at a time when runs were badly wanted. Derby­ shire, in fact, had followed-on, 199 behind, and had lost seven wickets for 174 when Mr. Walker joined Air. A. II. J. Cochrane. The pair, by very plucky cricket, added 95 together before the latter was dismissed for 50. The partnership did not save the side from defeat, however, Surrey wiuning by seven wickets. It is amusing to note that Wisden , in its account of this match, remarks “ \\hen Suney went in to get 108 to win, Mr. Shuter was caught at poinc before a ball was bowled.” Mr. Walker’s best display of all-round cricket was in the match with Leicestershire, at Leicester in 1895, when, in addition to taking 13 wickels for 137 runs (9 for 68 and 4 for 67), he scored 44 not out and 19. He was invited to assist the Gentle­ men against the Players at Lord’s in 1888 and 1894, but declined on each occasion. In the latter year, however, he twice took part in representative cricket, appearing for the North against the South in Wood’s benefit at the Oval and for the Gentlemen on the same ground. In the former match he scored 38 and 2 and took four wickets for 114 runs, and in the latter dismissed seven men at a cost of 108, and had Abel, who carried his bat through the innings for 168, twice missed off him. M r . H. D en n b . Mr. Henry Denne, J.P., who died very suddenly of heart failure at Minehinhampton, near Stroud, on the 5th inst., in his 78th year, was an enthusiastic supporter of cricket. At Eton and Oxford he seldom played, but at the end of the fifties and up to the middle sixties he took part in local games in Kent and Essex. He was very regular in his attendance at the University and Eton v. Harrow matches, and seldom missed seeing Gloucestershire play at Cheltenham and Gloucester. He was one of the founders of the Band of Brothers, whose coming into existencj Lord Harris has described as follows in the official History of Kent County Cricket (p. 216) “ Itw as at one Yeomanry Training at Dover of The Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles that the brothers Leigh Pemberton, Capt. Wyndham Knight, Sir Courtney Honywood, and Messrs. Edward Pepys and Henry Denne formed themselves into a club for social rather than cricket purposes, and an eminently social band they w ere; but, it being a Kentish club, it was inevitable that before long cricket became one of its objects, and we find the club playing matches as early as 1858.” He was a good oar and rowed No. 5 in the Oxford crew of 1852, which was known as “ Chitty’s ” and was always held up as a model of what an eight should be. Mr. Henry Denne, who was called to the Bar in 1856, belonged to a family of which many members have distinguished themselves in the worjd of sport. A brother, the llev. R. H. Denne, gained his rowing Blue for Oxford, Mr. Thomas Denne was a member of the Oxford X I. of 1827 and played for Kent in 1823, when only 15 years of age, whilst Major-General Lambert Henry Denne, a very fine batsman, assisted Kent in 1860, 1861, and 1863 and in 1895 became President of the County Club. H a r r y P ick ett . Harry Pickett, whose body was washed ashore at Aberavon on October 3rd, was born on March 16ih, 1862. After his retirement | from county cricket he had acted as coach at Clifton College, a position now held by I Tunnicliffe. Early in his career he was engaged at Liverpool and joined the staff at ' Lord’s in 1884. For the long period of seventeen years, 1881 to 1897, he was one of the mainstays of the Essex X I. Powerfully built and of a thick-set frame, he was em­ phatically the type of man for the work he had to do. Year by year he helped to bear the brunt of the Essex attack, and his fast bowling was usually effective and reliable. He could not be described as a batsman, but in 1891 he ran up a score of 114 for his county, which did not then rank as first-class, and his hitting was occasionally of use towards the close of an innings. Two or three instances of his ability to keep up an end during a long innings occur early in his career. Thus in 1884 he took five wickets for 136 in a heavy total of 398 by Surrey and had the satisfaction of dismissing Mr. Shuter for <4a pair.” Again, in 1886 he took six for 128 in a Lancashire total of 378. One of his best performances was against the full strength of Surrey in 1889, when Essex gained a sensational victory by 135 runs. In the first innings he took six wickets for 52, and in the second six for 26. So delighted were the Leyton crowd that a collection on his behalf realised £26. The following year he again came off against Surrey, accounting for six wicktts for 73 in the first innings, and bowling J. Shuter, W . E. Holler, and Henderson for cyphers. In the return at the Oval- he also took twelve wickets for 162 runs. In 1895 he achieved the feat of his career, when in the first innings of Leicester­ shire at Leyton he secured the whole ten wickets for 32 runs and earned a collection of close upon £20. It was distinctly hard upon him that Essex should have lost by 75 runs. Once in first-class cricket he accomplished the hat-trick and thus naively did he recount the performance. ‘ ‘ It was the luckiest hat-trick on record. The first ball got Shilton caught, but the catch was taken so low down that only the umpire knew whether the man was out or not. I bowled Joe Creswell with the next ball, and then Harry Pallett received the third. It was not straight, and would not have bowled him, but it knocked his legs from under him and as he fell he trod on his wicket.” Pickett’s bowling for Essex sums up as follows:— O. R. W. O. R. W . 1881 ... 414 .. . 706 ... 48 1890 .... 552 .. 1060 ... 76 1882 ... 335 .. . 466 ... 56 1891 .... 575 ...1043 ... 68 1883 ... 451 .. . 744 ... 68 1892 .... 483 ... 960 ... 45 1884 ... 325 .. . 708 .. 31 1893 .... 255 ... 561 ... 33 1885 ... 380 .. . 712 .... 41 1 1894 .... 191 ... 397 ... 12 1886 ... 533 .. . 761 ... 59 1 1895 .... 451 ... 955 ... 51 1887 ... 512 ..„ 874 ... 40 1896 .... 278 ... 736 ... 20 1888 ... 1889 ... 93 .. 309 .. . 140 .. . 520 .. . 12 . 38 1897 ..,. 210 ... 469 .,.. 13 J. B. P a y n e . M r . M . T u rn e r . Mr. Montague Turner, who was born at Acton, in Middlesex, on September 21st, 1843, died at Woodcroft, Cuckfield, Sussex, on the 25th inst. and was buried there yesterday. He learnt his cricket at Chelten­ ham, where he was in the Eleven in 1860, and for some years was one of the best wicket-keepers in England. He appeared for Middlesex on 52 occasions, his first match being against M.C.C. and Ground at Lord’s in 1863 and his last against Surrey on the same ground fifteen years later. In the match against Notts, at Princo’s in 1875 he caught 6 and stumped 3, a numb« r of wickets he had obtained four years before, when he caught 4 and stumped 5 when assisting the Gentlemen of England against Oxford Univ­ ersity on the Magdalen ground. Appearing for the Gentlemen against Cambridge University at Fenner’ s in 1876, he caught 3 and stumped 5 and also plaved an innings of 51. He was a very useful batsman at time 3 , though he never made a hundred in a match of note. His highest innings in first-class cricket was 82 for Middlesex against Oxford University at Prince’s in 1876, when the latter, going in against a total of 439, made 612, every player on the side reaching double figures and W . H. Game, with 141, being top scorer. In the match between Oxford University and Gentlemen of England at Oxford in 1870 the former, who wrentin first, curiously lost their first four wicket 9 in the same manner, the score-sheet reading :— Mr. A. T. Fortescue, st Turner, b Buchanan.. 1 Mr. W. H. Hadow, st Turner, b Buchanan ... C Mr. C. J. Ottaway, not out...................................24 Mr. B. Pauncefote, st Turner, b Buchanan ... 0 Mr. E. F. S. Tylecote, st Turner, b Buchanan 0 Two years later, in the Gentlemen of South’s first innings against the Playfrs of the South, at the Oval, Mr. Turner scored only 4 whilst Mr. C. I. Thornton, who was in with him, made 63. He twice appeared for the Gentle­ men against the Players—at Brighton in 1871 and at the Oval the following year, and on each occasion had the pleasure of seeing “ W . G. ” at his best, the Champion scoring 217 in the former year and 117 in the latter. Mr. Turner, who was a solicit -r by profession, had been a member at Lord’s tance 1869, and had served on the Committees of the M.C.C. and the Middlesex County C.C. He frequenty appeared for the Free Foresters and was one of the 14 original members of the Will o’ the Wisps,” formed in 1869. His height was 5 feet 10 inches, and weight (in 1863) 11 stone 7 lbs. M r . J. F airclo u g h . Mr. James Fairclough, of Gatesgarth, Latchford, Cheshire, and formerly of War­ rington, Lancashire, died on December 1st in his 69th year. He was a very fair all-round cricketer, and four decades ago occasionally appeared for the Gentlemen of Lancashire. The first match played by the County Club, which was formed in January, 1864, was against Birkenhead Park at Warrington the same year, and Mr. Fairclough opened the Lancashire innings. In the games with the Gentlemen of Kent in 18^8 h >did fairly well, taking three wickets for 23 runs at Manchester and playing an innings of 41 in the return at Gravesend. Mr. Fairclough had three times been Mayor of Warrington. Major Blacker, whose death was announced in the last number of Cricket , died at Wes- town, Ireland, on November 21 st as the result of an accident in the hunting-field whilst out with the Kildare hounds. BO O K S R E C E IV E D . Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack , 1908. Edited by Sydney H. Pardon. London: John W isden & Co., 21, Cranbourn Street, W.O. Price. Is. With the M.C.C. to New Zealand. By P. R. May. L ondon: Eyre and Spottiswoode, East Harding Street, E.O. Price, 5s. ANSWERS 1 0 CORRESPONDENTS. B ertram R ussbll — (1) Mr. P. R. Selby, 37, Egerton Terrace, S. W. (2) Near Ascot. Apply to Mr. O. C, Clarke, Woodlands, Sunninghill, Berks. An introduction or some evidence of desirability. A. L indsay .— An interview with him appeared in Cricket of August 18th, 1898. See also The Sportsman's Year Book, 190f/, published by Newnes. George Edward Milles, 2nd Earl Sondes, better know™ to cricketers as Viscount Throwley, who died on October 1st last, loft estate valued at £91,382.