Cricket 1911

M a y 27, 1911. CEICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OP THE GAME. 185 Of Dr. E . M. Grace, as is but natural, many interesting stories —stories, perhaps, in more senses than one—are told. It has been whispered that, when he was in his prime, no umpiie within twenty miles of B ristol dared to give him out upon appeal. On one occasion, however, the umpire, seeing that it was a very clear case of lbw, gave the great man out, and, upon being at once a?sailed by a stentorian “ What ! / ” from the batsman, hurriedly exclaimed to the astonished field, “ Not out. ‘ Little Doctor ’ knows best! ” And “ E .M .” hit for the rest of the afternoon. In another match the Doctor is said to have retired under the impression that he was bowled. Upon reaching the pavilion, however, he learnt that the ball had rebounded upon the stumps from the wicket-keeper’s pads. “ E .M .” was scarcely the man to forego his innings whilst, the slightest possibility of continuing it remained. But it so chanced that the wicket he had left was the one furthest away, and in leaving it he had got out of his ground, which would, of course, not have been the case had he been at the nearer wicket at the time of his retirement. The question was, “ What can be done in the circum ­ stan ces?” “ E .M .” knew that if he walked out of the pavilion on to the field and claimed the right of continuing his innings the fieldsmen would probably put the wicket down before he could reach it. Therefore—alwavs according to the story—he went out of the pavilion by the back door, put his bat between his teeth, and crawled round the ground behind the spectators until he had made good his ground, and then triumphantly strode to the wickets, convinced the fieldsmen that he had not really been bowled, and stayed in until he had made another 150 or so. On another occasion, so it is said, he declared the innings closed when it appeared likely that he would be caught in the long-field from a big h it ! One of his most amusing experiences occurred in September, 1864, in a match at Hanham between Hanham and Bitton. “ W .G .'’ was playing for the former side and *• E .M .” for the latter, the rivalry between the two teams being consequently very keen. It was a low-scoring match, and Bitton were set only ten runs to win. “ E .M .” promised to finish the match the first over, if not the first ball, and went gaily to the wicket to do as he said. Sad to say, the very first ball shot and took his off-stump, and “ E .M .” was able to save his reputation only by pointing out the particular blade of grass which caused the ball to shoot. “ W .G .” was in fine bowling form that day, and it was largely due to him that Bitton were put out for six runs and beaten by three. The full score of the match is given by Mr. H aygarth in Scores and Biographies (viii., 525), whilst a very amusing account of it can be seen in Mr. W. Methven Brownlee’s biography of “ W .G .” One of “ The Little Doctor’s ” most interesting experiences occurred at the Oval at the end of September, 1865. Ju st about that time, when he was reading in London, he was a member of the Surrey County C.C ., and on the occasion referred to was assisting the Club against the United South of England Eleven. Jupp, as frequently happened, was difficult; to dismiss, and, on Mr. I. D. Walker’s suggestion, “ E.M . ” went on to bowl high tosses. The first ball was about fifteen yards high and Jupp hit it for two.: the second, higher still, deceived the batsman and alighted on the stumps, removing the bails. Thereupon the crowd broke in, howling, hissing and hooting, and became so threatening that the players retired, as best they could, to the pavilion. The late Sir Augustus Hemming, who took part in the game, afterwards recalled seeing the Doctor standing with a stump in his hand, surrounded by an angry crowd, and hearing him remark, “ The very first man who touches me will get the middle stump on his head.” The attitude he assumed was characteristic of him, for he was the last man in the world to give way to intim idation. It wras about three-quarters of an hour before the game could be proceeded with. In Scores and Biographies he was well described as “ Overflowing with cricket at every pore, full of lusty life, cheerily gay, with energy inexhaustible.” Dr. E . M. Grace was such a capital raconteur that it is much to be regretted that he could never be .induced to give his reminiscences to the world. In his early days he played with or against such men as W illsher, Jackson, Tarrant, Woottori, Parr and Ctcsar, and kept up the game long enough to meet Lohmann, Richardson, Jessop and others. More than one tempting offer was made to him , but the book which could not have failed to be one of the most interesting ever produced was never written. “ E . M. ’ was a kind-hearted, genial man, and the world of cricket is distinctly the poorer through his loss. F . S. A.-C. T h e R ev. A. C. TOM BLIN . The Rev. Arthur Charles Tomblin, for almost thirty years Vicar °f Great Oakley, near Kettering, died in the Kettering General Hospital on the 15th inst., aged seventy-four. F or four years, commencing in 18 5 1, he was in the Uppingham Eleven, being captain in 1853 and 1854, and in 1857 was a member of the Cambridge team which were beaten by Oxford by 8 1 runs. He was described as “ A good left-handed batsm an; cuts w ell; also a first-rate field.” In his only University match he did little, scoring only 12 and 0, but earlier in the season he had made 33 v. Gentlemen of Cambridgeshire (with Arnold and Reynolds) and 3 1 not out v. M .C.C. and Ground. After leaving Cambridge he continued to take a great interest in the game, and frequently revisited Uppingham to play against the School. In the latter part of his life M r. Tomblin was eccentric in m any ways. Several years ago he could be seen daily constructing a high mound in his garden which gained the title locally of Mount A rarat. The mound was erected to a considerable height, and attracted the attention and curiosity of all visitors to the village. Undaunted by the gaze of on-lookers he toiled away at his m iniature mountain until at last the steepness made it necessary for him to confine his attentions more to the base. When he became unable to carry out his pastoral duties he gave considerable trouble to the owner of the property by refusing to surrender his house. A ll conciliatory means failed, and for a time a state of siege prevailed. Mr. Tomblin could often be seen over the high garden wall keeping guard, a duty which w as shared by several dogs. E ventually the vicarage was declared unfit for human habitation, and, after some trouble, its tenant was persuaded to retire from the house. CRICKET IN AUSTRAL IA . G O L D F IE L D S v. COAST.—Played at Kalgoorlie on April 14 , 15 and 16 and won by Coast by 58 runs. Jon es, the old A ustralian Eleven player, took eight wickets for 48 runs, and Selk eleven for 59. Goldfields won the toss and sent the visitors in. Score :— C oast . First innings. Second Innings. T. Howard, c Truscott, b Hall ................. 1 run o u t................................ 3 A. Randell, b Jones ..................................... 9 c Robinson, b Jones ... ... 0 R. Evans, c Truscott, b H a ll......................... 1 b Jones.............................. .. 11 H. Brennand, c Farrell, b Hall ................. 5 c Smith, b Jones ... ... 23 W. Jones, b Jones ....................................... 5 c and b Jones ............... .. 9 W. Hogue, b Jones ........................................ 8 c Bean, b Jones.......... ... 0 T. Hogue, run out ....................................... 11 b Lindsay ...................... .. 35 H. Hodge, c Wellington, b Lindsay .......... 9 c Fleming, b Lindsay (j A. Patfield, st Truscott, b Lindsay .......... 9 b Lindsay ...................... .. 2 R. Selk, run o u t............................................... 9 not o u t.............................. 2 J. Pepperall, not o u t....................................... 3 c Jones, b Lindsay ... . .. 4 Byes, &c..................................... 3 Byes, &c................. .. 6 Total ................................. 73 To ta l............... .. 101 G oldfields . First innings. Second innings. G. Bean, b Selk ............................................... 6 lbw, b Selk...................... .. 1 W. Smith, st Patfield, b Selk......................... G b Selk .............................. .. 0 A. Robinson, b Sclk ....................................... 2 st Patfield, b Selk ... ... 27 C. Wellington, c T. Hogue, b W. Hogue 10 run out ...................... .. 4 E. Bryant, b W. Hogue ............................... 3 absent ............................. .. 0 J. Farrell, st Patfield, b S e lk ......................... 2 c Randell, b T. Hogue .. 8 R. Hall, c Hodge, b Selk ................................ 4 b T. H ogue...................... 0 E. Jones, c Evans, b W. Hogue ................ 1 c Evans, b Selk............... .. 4 W. Truscott, st Patfield, b Selk ................. 2 not out ... ..................... .. 10 J. Lindsay, b Selk ...................................... 8 st Patfield, b T. Hogue . 4 E. Fleming, not out ...................................... 5 b T. Hogue...................... .. 0 Byes, &c.................................... 5 Byes, &c..................... 4 Total...................................... . 54 Total............... .. (12 WANDERERS v. SURREY CLUB AND GROUND.— Played at Kennington Oval on May 18. Score :— S u r r e y C l u b a n d G r o u n d . First innings. Second innings. Goatly, st Brooks, b Wells ... 73 Harrison, lbw, b Wells .......... ... 40 Abel (W. J.), c Slater, b Bridger ... 13 c Brooks, b S. Stafford . 1 Vigar, lbw, b Wells ................. ... 0 c Wells, b Kenward ... 4 A. E. Palmer, c Slater, b Wells ... 19 not o u t............................. . 45 Blacklidge, lbw, b Bridger 9 N. P. Singh, b Bridger .......... ... 23 c Slater, b Bradley ......... 14 A. M. Latham, not out .......... ... 4 Sir Cecil Moon, b Bridger.......... ... 0 b Bradley ....................... 10 Sidney Gandy, run out .......... ... 0 c Watt, b Ashbery ......... 7 Edwards, c Ashbery, b Wells ... ... 2 Byes......................... ... 1 B 2, lb 2, w 1 ... . 5 Total .......... ... 184 Total (4 wkts) . 80 W a n d e r e r s . P. If. Slater, c Abel, b Edwards . . 94 G. H. Ashbery, not out............... 7 T. C. Stafford, c and b Edwards . . 44 R. B. Brooks, b Abel ................ 4 J. U. C. Watt, b Abel ............... . 27 C. J. Bridger, b Abel ............... 7 S. Stafford, c Abel, b Edwards . . 9 W. M. Bradley, run out................ 0 Stanley Colman, lbw, b Abel . 15 B 8 , lb 1, w 1 ........................ . 10 R. Kenward, st Vigar, b Abel . 0 — L. S. Wells, c Abel, b Edwards . 4 Total............................. . 221