Cricket 1910

4 3 6 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 2 7 , 1 9 1 0 . of the field. There he siis, mark his anima­ tion ! his gesture! he is telling of a catch he made aboAe 50 years since, and the ball is again in the air. He was taken instantly up to the Duchess of Richmond, of whose side he was, and she made a handicap of 6 guineas for him. She won hundreds by it. How my heart throbs, and my eyes glisten, and in what fearful suspense I sit, when he calls to life the ghost of a magnificent hit, fresh as the life, though half a century has intervened. I see the ball running at Moulsey Hurst, that fetched ten runs oft' Beldham’s bat in 1787, as plainly as if it were in my own field. Then the trick he played Butler Danvers , when he came into the field dressed as a countryman, and was taken in unconsciously, merely to fill up the eleven;—the sly If ok of Lord Winchilsea, as sly and as black as a gypsey’s (the Finches were all black), (it had been planned between them); his delight, when they sent him down to the tent, to select whatever dress he chose to wear: his joy, when he heard “ Countryman, you take the bat to begin with,” and the consterna­ tion among the enemy’s forces, when eighty notches were scored by him. You should hear of the day, when Manchester saw the flower of youth fall before him ; when he might have won thousands, if he had had them to stake. Or that single combat (nor Europe nor Asia ever beheld such, never seen from the Sigsean promontory, or on the banks of Simois) that even now (twice twenty years have passed since) will alone immor­ talize the plains of Wisbech. Midnight Rounds in vain. Politics, scandal, Tories, Whigs, my Lord Grey, and the Bishop of Peterborough, and the last story about the Maids of Honour, and Lady Farquhar’s splendid breakfast, and the unknown tongues, all solicit attention in vain; they seem as nothing, idle all and without interest; one wonders how the world can trouble itself about such toys. We fill the tumblers anew ; and for the hundredth time I ask, “ What was young Small's favourite hit? How did John Wells get his runs ? ” Behold the advantage, ye parents, of bringing up your sons (why not your daughters?) to the love of subjects which cannot be exhausted, which never tire. But we must hasten on.—The first time I see Lord Fred. Beauclerk's name, is on the 2nd June, 1791. He played with Marylebourn against Kent. Fennex and his Lordship bowled, and they beat their adversaries by one innings and 113 runs; in fact, it appears by the score, that Fennex , Beauclerk, and Beldham got out the whole field between them. For thirty years after this, his Lord­ ship stood as the most accomplished cricketer in England. In batting he was brought up in the school of Beldham, and he was quite as fine. He introduced a slow home-and- easy kind of bowling, which was very effec­ tive; till Saunders and Beagley, and the new players, destroyed it, by rushing in, and driving it away. Though his Lordship has given up the bat some years, we have seen enough of his practice to say that his execu­ tion was eminently beautiful, and certainly not equalled now. Excepting the name of Hammond, the famous wicket-keeper, and Bay (a good batter), among the players, and those of Tufton, Col. l/pton, and Bligh, among the gentlemen, the old list of players remained much the same, till about the year 1804.* * Howard, Sparkes and H. Bentley are playing about this time. The bowling of the first was very good, and lasted till lately in reputation ; it was swift and straight. Slater was the wicket-keeper. Then the names of Aislabie (the father of cricket, and the great fautor of the Mary- labonne Club), and of Budd, first appear. The latter gentleman resigned last year, after near thirty years’ display of the finest science; and his departure is much lamented. His fielding was excellent, his hits strong and scientific; Lut his bowling, once good, was no longer of avail. A little before this, the name of Lambert first appears among those of the players. Take him in every department of lhe game, we believe he has been esteemed as the first player that ever appeared. His batting was straightforward, and driving, a good deal resembling that of Mr. Ward; who appears to have been instructed by h:m. His bowling was excellent, and had a considerable twist. A splendid single­ wicket match appears, in 1806, to have been played by him, Bobinson, and Beldham against Bennett, Fennex and Lord F. Beau­ clerk, and won by the former. The play must have been very fine, for from 116 hits Lambert obtained only 13 runs. rih e name of Axhby , which is seen in the lists of 1807, seems to connect us with m< dein times ; and we pause for a moment to remind our readers of the changes which are now taking place in one material branch of the game. It appears that however skilful or success­ ful bowlers may be, they will in the long run be beaten by the batter; as he becomes gradually accustomed to their balls, and knows how to meet them; on this account the wickets were raised from 22 inches to 27, and proportionately altered in width. They had been once before-hand elevated on a similar account. But batters, notwithstand­ ing, vere so skilful, and the matches conse­ quently las!ed so long, that a new system of bowling was at length introduced. We have mentioned that Boxall and Lumpy, and other old bowlers, had a twist in their balls, which much increased the dilFiculty of meeting them ; but this was effected by a turn of the fingers or the wrist. Ashby, however (who was brought up out of Kent, we btlieve, by Mr. Willes), introduced the round bowling, by throwing the arm in a sweeping circular position. This puzzled the batsmen much ; and the once triumphant wickets fell before him. Mathews adopted the same system with equal success ; and we have seen these two bowlers clear off the batters in quick succession. They had, however, the same defect, they were too slow * ; they gave too much time : and they were at length beaten like their predecessors. To them has suc­ ceeded the eminent projectors of the ball of the present day, whose merits we shall briefly recognize. Lillywhite stands first and foremost; his balls are sent at a pood pace, and come quickly off the ground, f They are well pitched; generally straight to the wicket, and are very destructive. Broad- bridge is more variable and ii regular, and uses much finesse ab( ut his play, which often succeeds; but his bowling is in great * The plan adopted by good baiters against slow bias bowling was successful ; if the ball pitched straight they played i t ; if to the leg they placed the left leg before the wicket, extended the right, and struck the ball to the left, which often brought four or five runs; and if they missed the ball they were by the laws of Cricket not out. This is Mr. Knatchbull’s favourite hit. It, of course, is more difficult as the speed of the ball increases, but it rendered Mathews’s bowling nugatory. Mr. Budd would jum p before his wicket and cut him to pieces. t Pilch has batted so long to Lillywhite that he may be said to be perfectly master of his balls. request. He has gone off in batting sur- prisingly. Cobbett, who is the Marylebourn bowler, has been for the last few seasons very successful; his balls are slower than Lilly- white’s, but have a very perplexing bias, and require a most accomplished batter to meet them. Beagley, of the Marylebourn Club, is a good bowler and player generally, but is not sufficiently brought forward : he is generally umpire. Burt used to bowl very successfully; his balls were very high, lut too slow. Pilch generally bowls in the matches, but he is inferior to the above. Among the gentlemen two bowlers are to be found of th e . highest eminence. Mr. Harenc's balls are magnificent; getting up and puzzling the unfortunate man who has to meet them ; and the bowling of Mr. Mynn , when he can. get his balls less wide, will almost defy opposition ; the tremendous force at which they perform their journey alone will bring destruction with it. Mr. Jenner seldom takes the ball now ; he had great success, but his bowling we think was not always fair.* We are con­ vinced that the present style of bow.ing will never again fa’l back into the straight or underhand mode ; but we hope also that it will not advance into throwf, to which it is approaching; and which, if allowed, will destroy the game altogether. The alteration in the manner of bowling also produced a change in the style of batting ; and an old batter would have much to learn were he to come now into the field. As the present style of bowling is wider from the wicket than of old, hitting to the leg and the off-cut are necessaiy parts of the batters science ; without them he would score but few runs. Caldecourt , though a good player, has never mastered the present system of bowling ; and the batting of Mr. Ward is far more adapted to meet the balls that were in vogue in the time when he first appeared. About the year 1806 will be found the names of the great players of the present day, gradually appearing in the lists. Mr. Brand , Bayley, and Lillywhite; and Slater the wicket-keeper. Then Bowyer and Brown of Brighton, + and at length in 1820, in the renowned match of Norfolk against Maryle­ bourn (when Mr. Ward scored the highest number that ever was remembered, viz., 278 in one innings) for the first time appears the name of Fuller Pilch ; then the names of Searle, Jenner, Saunders and others, shining foith like stars one by one brightening in the heavens, which brings us down to our present day. Among the players we recollected none whose brilliancy of stroke, and quickness of movement, and elegance of style delighted us more than that of Saunders. “ We better * The law in bias bowling is that the hand should not be above the elbow, which is meant to keep it clear from a throw ; but that law is for ever broken. Lillywhite and Cobbett both throw ; and Mr. Mynn’s is, we think, a direct violation of the law in another way. Mr. Jenner's was often a jerk ; in fact, the law now is conventional; if every ball was stopped by the umpire that is not fair the bowlers would all be put out and very likely give up. f Brown was a tremendous under-hand bowler. I remember at a single wicket match at Lord’s his bowling Searle, Saunders and Broadbridge, and without a run. He once- told old Beldham that he would do the same to him. “ I suppose,” said Billy, “ you will let me have this little bit of stick in my hand,” pointing to his bat. He went in and fetched above 70 against him. Brown’s batting is very common, and depends upon force.