Cricket 1911

A p r i l 2 9 ,1 9 11 . CRICKET : A W E EK LY RECORD OF THE GAME. 1 0 1 little streaks of water ambled along the ruts between the wickets. Later on, after having recovered my senses, J. 0. Shaw presented me with three successive beauties on the left elbow ; this, I think, happened in a Kent v. England contest. In first-class cricket you never saw a man afraid to face any bowling ; but why have your forehead knocked on to the top of your head—your finger smashed in two places, besides being kept out of the saddle for a good two months ? Perhaps enough has been said. Yet in order to show how essentially desirable it is to play on perfectly prepared wickets I will just mention one more experience. Alfred Mynn gave me a stinger ; the ball, pitching in a hole well on the leg side, broke across and smacked me on that portion of the back where—as they say in France—it changes its name.” In glancing through the recently-published volume entitled Some Letters and Records of the Noel Family , we found a reference to the game being played in Sussex nearly a hundred and thirty season’s ago. Cricket had, of course, been popular in the county for many years earlier, but the allusion referred to is nevertheless of sufficient interest and importance (to the historian of the game) to warrant re­ production in G o s s ip . Sir Richard Noel Noel, writing from Brighton to his sister in 1783 said: “ Our general plan of cricket is to take in as many of the fishermen as make eleven of a side, and we give them two and six a man. . . . Sometimes the Prince himself plays for an hour or two, and he bowls very tolerably well.” The Prince referred to was the future George IV. A n o t h e r interesting allusion to the game is to be found in Notes from the Life of an Ordinary Mortal, by A . G. C. Liddell, C.B., lately published by Mr. John Murray. Refer­ ring to the Eton v. Harrow match, Mr. Liddell writes : ‘ ‘ The match had not become the fashionable picnic which it now is, and we all sat on the grass to watch the game. Chaff and howls of “ bow led” and “ played” were in­ dulged in to such an exaggerated extent that they interfered with the cricket and had to be put down by the authorities. The enthusiasm of Eton after the 1800 match was tremen­ dous, as it was the first time we had made a fight for years. Daniel, the Harrow captain, had whiskers, and for some reason or other wore a straw hat instead of a cap. These facts fostered a myth that the Harrovians had introduced into their eleven a professional in disguise.” M e n t io n of Eton v. Harrow recalls the fact that Messrs. Nelson have recently included in their shilling series of reprints A Pocketful of Sixpences, by the Rt. Hon G. W. E. Russell, a son of the late cricket-loving Lord Charles Russell. The volume contains a most interesting chapter entitled ‘ ‘ Lord’s,” in which the author admits that some of the most thrilling moments of his life have been spent at that famous ground during the last half-hour of a closely-contested match :— There we sate in the circle vast, Hard by the tents, from n oon ; And watched as the hours went slowly past, And the runs came, all too soon ; And never, I think, in the years gone by, Since cricketer first went in, Did the dying so long refuse to die, And the winners so hardly win. O, good lads in the field they were, Laboured and ran and threw ; But we that sate on the benches there Had the hardest work to do. There is a delightful anecdote (page 267) in connection with the match of sixty years ago: “ In 1851, the present Master of Trinity enjoyed a singular experience of what is meant by a blessing in disguise. When batting for Harrow he received a blow on the knee so violent that play was stopped, and the opposing side crowded round with sym­ pathies and remedies. When play was resumed the umpire whispered in Butler’s ear— “ It’s lucky for you, sir, that you was ’it so ’ard, as the bowler forgot to ask for leg-before, and you was clean out.” [Reference to the score-sheet shows that Montague Butler scored 41, that Harrow won by eight wickets and that the umpires were Dakin and Sewell.] A n amusing incident occurred quite recently at the annual meeting of a village club in Surrey. It was proposed and seconded that one of the members be elected to the Committee, and, as all the ten who had served during the previous year seemed desirous of continuing their services, a ballot was decided on. In order, however, to save the time of the meeting—a large one, held in the village school­ room—the Rector, with characteristic kindness, offered to make his resignation. That suggestion, however, was obviously so against the wishes of everyone present that the Rector resumed his seat, only, however, to rise again almost immediately to say that his son, who was not present, would vacate his position on the Committee, as he had so many calls upon his time now, was studying hard, etc., etc. The proposal, which certainly had its humorous side, was carried, and then, in response to a very audible aside on the part of the chairman, that things might be lively when he explained matters at home, the Rector “ brought down the house ” by remarking, in his driest tone,— “ I ’m still boss! ” C o n g r a t u l a t io n s are due to the R ev. H ubert Murray Burge, D .D ., headmaster o f W inchester College, upon his appointment to the B ishopric o f Southwark. B orn in Calcutta 48 years ago, D r. B urge has always taken a keen interest in cricket, and, in addition to being a very useful exponent o f the game, has been a m em ber o f the M .C.C. for exactly a quarter o f a century. D u r i n g the recent practice of the Yorkshire players it became evident that Dolphin, who succeeded Hunter as the wicket-keeper of the side, had developed a good slow ball. He bowled to several members of the county eleven at the nets and surprised them with the ease with which he obtained their wickets. In order to prevent any (wilful) misunderstanding it may be as well to add that Dolphin’s bowling skill, and not lack of ability on the part of the bats­ men, was responsible for the happenings. F o r breaking into Nutbourne, Lower Addiseombe Road, Croydon, the residence of Mrs. Florence Read, widow of Mr. W. W. Read, the well-known cricketer, Cornelius Stevens, 15, was sent to the training ship Cornwall until he is nineteen, and Walter Henry Peskett, of the same age, was sent to a reformatory for the same period by the Croydon magistrates on Saturday. T h e Hon. F. S. Jackson made a most auspicious first appearance for the Oxford and Cambridge Gofing Society against the Royal Liverpool Club on the Friday of last week, beating Mr. Dick by 5 up and 4 to play, after being 1 up at the turn. Mr. Jackson played very fine golf on the way home and lioled some very good putts. Mr. S t a n l e y H. S a v i l l e , who showed such pluck and coolness in his second match for Middlesex last season, winning a hard-fought game for his side by his fine innings