Cricket 1910

4 + 2 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 2 7 , 1 9 1 0 . C O B B E S P O N D E N C E . [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions of his correspondents.] CHARLES DICKENS AND CRICKET. To the Editor of Ckicket. S ib , —In the last issue of C kicket the interesting subject was raised o£ Charles Dickens’ references to the game in his published works. Cricket is mentioned in several of his books in addition to the well-known chapter in Pickwick. In Martin Chuzzlewit there are two allusions to the game. In chapter xxvii. it states that within the offices of the Anglo- Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assur­ ance Company are “ green ledgers with red backs, like strongcricket-ballsbeaten flat”— a picturesque description. A little further on, in chapter xxxvi., where Tom Pinch’s journey by the stage­ coach from Salisbury to London is related, the following passage occurs : — “ Yoho, among the gathering shades ; making of no account the deep reflections of the trees, but scampering on through light and darkness, all the same, as if the light of London, fifty miles away, were quite enough to travel by, and some to spare. Yoho, beside the village- green, where cricket-players linger yet, and every little indentation made in the fresh grass by bat or wicket, ball or player’s foot, sheds out its perfume on the night.” In chapter xlviii. of Barndby Rudge poor Barnaby is enveigled into the lawless crowd who attend Lord George Gordon’s “ No Popery ” meeting in St. George’s Fields, and, whilst there, “ Barnaby had been thinking within himself that the smell of the trodden grass brought back his old days at cricket, when he was a young boy and played on Chigwell Green,” when he is accosted by Maypole Hugh. In The Old Curiosity Shop, chapter xxiv., Little Nell and her grandfather arrive in their wandering at a small (un-named) village where “ The men and boys were playing at cricket on the green ; and as the other folks were looking on, they wandered up and down, uncertain where to seek a humble lodging.” Turning to Dickens’ minor writings, we read in The Scho dboy's Story that “ Old Cheesman one night in his sleep, put his hat on over his night-cap, got hold of a fishing-rod and a cricket-bat, aud went down into the parlor.” In A Flight occurs the following passage in a vivid description of a journey by express- train from London to Folkestone: “ Now a wood, now a bridge, now a landscape, now a cutting, now a ------Bang ! a single-barrelled station------there was a cricket-match some­ where with two white tents, and then four flying cows, then turnips------.” In an Uncommercial Paper, Dulliorougli Town, Dickens describes his own sensations upon re-visiting Rochester, which he had not seen since he resided there as a child. He finds that the old playing field is now build over by a railway-station, and says : “ Here too, had we, the small boys of Boles’s, had that cricket match against the small boys of Coles’s, when Boles and Coles had actually met upon the ground, and when, instead of instantly hitting out at one another with the utmost fury, as we had all hoped and expected, those sneaks had said respectively, ‘ I hope Mrs. Boles is well ’ and ‘ I hope Mrs. Coles and the baby are doing charmingly.’ ” Tbe above list does not, I believe, exhaust all the allusions to cricket iu Dickens’ works. I was under the impression that Steerforth, when at Mr. Creakle’s school, excelled at cricket; and also that upon the morning of Maypole Hugh’s execution, he was awakened from pleasant dreams of the green fields and his old days at cricket. Glancing through David Gopperfield and Barnaby Rudge I have failed to verify these impressions, and so leave to other admirers of ihe immortal Boz the pheasant task of discovering his other references to cricket. In very eaily boyhood Charles Dickens was too delicate and fragile a child to indulge in the pastimes of his more robust companions, but he took his favourite Robinson Crusoe or Perigrine Pickle to the playground, aud there he would alternately read and watch his companions at their games. His subsequent unhappy boyhood is well-known, and unfor­ tunately he never had the opportunity of taking part in the games and pastimes of youths of his own age. In his early reporting days Dicken3 must often have posted past cricket matches on the village green. One can imagine his keen and kindly eye taking in the scene at a glance, and years afterwaids, in a few graphic touches, he gives us a vivid peu- pictnre of his impressions iu Tom Pinch’s journey to London. In his later years, when entertaining at Gad's Hill, Dickens would arrange cricket and running matches for the amusement of his guests ; in which the villagers who took (art were stimulated by the kindly praise and encouragement of the genial Boz, who took the greatest interest in their contests, giving small prizes to the successful players, and extending his open-handed hospitality to all. The famous All Muggleton v. Dingley Dell match has been stated by a Dickens commentator to have been the description of an actual match played between the Cobham and Town Malling Clubs. As Dickens was born in 1812 and Pickwick was published early in 1836 the date would probably be between 1830 and 1835. Perhaps one may be allowed to commend to Mr. Ashley-Cooper the congenial task of discovering the actual match, and of identifying in the redoubtable Dumkins some rustic Fuller Pilch who too long has blushed unseen under his nom-de- plume. In the account of the match itself, it will be noticed that the umpires stand (to the modern eye) in an unusual position; but in contemporaneous prints they are depicted exactly as stated in the text, thus once again proving Dickens’ minute attention to the smallest detail, a characteristic which is such a striking feature of all his writings. Yours, &c., A. C. DENHAM. S ir , —The suggestion of your correspon­ dent, Mr. C. F. Adamson, with reference to the above is very interesting, and I beg to be allowed to add a little bit to the common stock of knowledge on the subject. The allusion I have in mind occurs in Chapter XXV. of The Old Curiosity Shop It is, however, very slight, but an illustration to this part of the work shows the boys playing cricket on the Green :— “ In the silence that ensued, the hum of distant voices borne upon the evening air came floating through the open window. ‘ What’s that ? ’ said the sick child, opening his eyes.” “ The boys at play upon the Green.” “ He took a handkerchief from his pillow, and tried to wave it above his head. But the feeble arm dropped powerless down. “ ‘ Shall I do it ? ’ said the schoolmaster.” “ ‘ Please wave it at the window ’ was the faint reply. ‘ Tie it to the lattice. Some of them may see it there. Perhaps they’ll think of me, and look this way.’ He raised his head, and glanced from the fluttering signal to his idle bat, that lay with slate and book and other boyish property upon a table in the room.” Yours truly, PERCY SANDERS. 71, W aller R oad , N ew C ross , S.E. [Another reference to “ Charles Dickens and Cricket” will be found on page 418, under the heading “ The Antiquary.” —Ed., Cricket .] A SUGGESTION FROM CEYLON. To the Editor of C ricket . S ir , —Cannot Kent oblige by arranging two first-class county matches on the same dates some time in August next ? In that month they can muster two full teams, either of which could meet any other county eleven with good hopes of success, and the attempt would be of exceptional interest. Surrey’s disastrous experiment last year cannot be quoted against this suggestion, the cases not being on all fours at all. The only feasible objection would arise if—unlike this year—the fate of the Championship were at the particular date hanging in the balance, so that the result of a single match would be likely to decide it. I am, &c., “ ZUMMERZET.’ C eylon , 14S7j Sept., 1910. HIT WICKET. To the Editor of C rick et . D ear S ir , — In reference to one of the unusual incidents noted on page 424 of the last issue of Cricket, viz., Mr. C. S. Body being given out “ hit wicket” because in hitting at a ball his cap fell on the wicket and dislodged a bail, I remember seeing a similar incident in the Oxford and Cambridge match in 1856. Mr. A. Payne’s hat, a straw hat, fell on his wicket when he was striking at the ball, and he was given out “ hit wicket.” Law 25 says that the striker is out “ if, in playing at the ball he hit down his wicket with his bat or any part of his person or dress—hit wicket.” But surely if ihe bats­ man’s cap is blown off by the wind, or falls from any other cause, it is no longer a part of his dress. It has become detached from him through no blunder of his. Might not the law be amended by the addition of some such words as “ while attached to his person? ” Mr. A. Payne’s hat was blown off by the wind. He was well set, and with Mr. H. Veitch, a very good bat, might have piled on enough runs to save the match, for Cam­ bridge won by only three wickets. Yours truly, JAMES E. VLRXON. O lveston V icarage , T ockington , G los .