Cricket 1911

O c tob e r 21,1911. RUGBY FOOTBALL AND CRICKET. 561 CRICKET. The kate Tom Sherman. OM SHERMAN, one of the oldest of professional cricketers, died of pneumonia in Croydon Hospital on the 10th inst. As he was born—at Mitcham, in Surrey—on December 1st, 1827, he was in his eighty-fourth year at the time of his death. To the present generation he was, of course, only a name, but sixty years ago he was one of the best fast bowlers in the world. Scores and Biographies (iii.—417) said of him :— “ Is one of the fastest round-armed bowlers there has ever been, and for some seasons he was very successful in the Surrey Eleven, being also a fine field. Bats in good style, but is too impatient, often running in at the ball and trying to take it a “ half-volley.” ” An idea of his pace can be formed from the fact that in a match against Yorkshire at Sheffield one of his deliveries broke a stump into five pieces. He made his first appearance for Surrey sixty-four years ago, and played his last match for the County in 1870, his career thus covering the long period of twenty-four seasons : but he did not assist the side between 1861 and 1870, and in the latter year took part in only one game. In all matches in which he appeared for Surrey he obtained 229 wickets and scored 422 runs with an average of 6-91. It was only to be expected that the services of so useful a cricketer should be much in demand, and, in addition to being for many years a most valuable member of the Surrey team, it was but natural to find him playing, whenever oppor­ tunity occurred, for the All England and United Elevens. In his old age nothing pleaded him more than to recount the great feats and the foibles of the famous captain of the A .E.E.— old William Clarke, of Notting­ ham. It would be easy to fill a page with the stories he was wont to relate of the great cricketer, who, as all students of the game’s history are probably aware, was quite an autocrat in his way. On one occasion Sherman turned up at one of the provincial towns to assist the local twenty-two against the travelling Eleven, and as soon as Clarke saw him on the ground he went up to him and said, “ Oh ! I suppose you think you’re going to bowl, don’ t you ? ” Sherman replied that was exactly what he had come’ for. “ Well then,” said Clarke, “ that’s just where you’ve made a mistake. I’m not going to have half my team smashed up, and you won’t bowl, because if they try to put you on we shall walk off the field.” Rather than have no match the local authorities gave way. “ I didn’t bowl,” said Sherman, “ but I made a lot of runs, so that I didn’t m ind.” Old Clarke always had his eye to business, and the writer was told by Sherman himself that, if one of the Eleven received a monetary present from an admirer the captain invariably demanded a good share of it, and that, as he was in a position to change the constitution of the side whenever it pleased him to do so, his request was always complied with. According to Sherman, Clarke must have made a deal of money out of the matches in which the A.E.E. took part. “ This conviction was forced upon me the first time I received payment from him ,” said Tom. “ The cricketers went up to him, one after the other, for their money, and as I was the last in the row I was able to take in all that transpired. Clarke had a heap of gold and silver in front of him, and during the paying- out process you would hear something like this, “ Four pounds for you, fifty shillings for you, three pounds for you,” the amount varying according to a player’s fame and what he had done in the match, When I approached him he looked up, saying, “ Fifty shillings for you,” and then, shovelling the balance into his trousers pockets, and giving a most satisfied smile, added “ and thirty-seven pounds for me.” That Clarke should not have cared for Sherman to bowl against his picked men was, to a certain extent, not surprising, seeing that, if in­ juries had occurred to three or four members of the side, the team might have been deprived of a good deal of its drawing power. It would be difficult to imagine a nastier bowler to face on a rough and fiery wicket, as George Parr, who generally slanted his bat more than did other players, and so ran a greater risk of having his hands battered, could attest. When the South beat the North at Tunbridge Wells in 1855, he and John Lillywhite, bowling unchanged throughout, dis­ missed the latter for 77 and 74, Sherman taking eight of the wickets for 71 runs. But his greatest feat was to obtain six wickets for 16 runs for Surrey and Sussex against England at Lord’s three years earlier. Against Sussex at the Oval in 1850 he secured eight wickets in an innings, and on two occasions, in addition to the instance at Tunbridge Wells, bowled unchanged through both completed innings of a great match, he and George Brockwell doing so for Surrey Club and Ground v. M.C.C. and Ground at the Oval in 1851 and he and' Martingell for Surrey v. Sussex on tbe same ground five years later. After his great days Sherman coached at several colleges and schools, including Harrow, Eton, Winchester and Rngby, and to the close of his long life continued to take very great interest in the game. He belonged to a cricketing family, both his father (James Sherman) and an uncle (John Sherman) having played in their time for Surrey. It may be of interest to recall that the latter was born at Crayford, in Kent, on October 14th, 1788, and that his father—old Tom’s grandfather, that is—was fetched away from a cricket match for the event. The name was originally Shearman. An interview with Tom Sherman appeared in Cricket of September 10th, 1903. TH E LATE TOM SH ERM AN .