Cricket 1913

J an . 18, 1!»13 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 2 ! ) M ig h ty Men of Yore. M r . W. M. B r a d l e y . M r . P. P. L in coln . M r . J. S hu ter . D r . W . G. G race . M r . F. E. L a n d er . M r : A . S . J ohnston . meeting was held on April 30 of the later year, and it was | reported that promises had been received from a | sufficient number of intending members to warrant a club’s formation. There and then the history of the club starts. The officers elected were : President, Mr. Sydney S. Baiss ; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. F. J. Rutter and F. Wood ; Captain, Mr. John Shuter ; Vice-Cap­ tain, Mr. F. G. Monkland ; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. F. K. Chater ; Hon. Secretary, Mr. T. A. Bevis ; Committee, the' Rev. C. E. Kindersley, Messrs. H. Scarlett and W. Moens, and the officers. The records of season 1895 and 1896 have been lost, and little is known of the club’s doings therein. But there are indications of progress and of plentiful support in the fact that Sam Apted was employed in the close season of 1895-6 to lay the twenty-five yards square of turf that still rolls out into wickets second to none— wherefore blessed be the name of Apted, for who deserves better than the honest and capable craftsman ?— while a considerable sum was expended in other improve­ ments. The fame of John Shuter drew recruits of name and prowess to the club’s ranks— C. Aubrey Smith (“ Round- the-Corner ” Smith then, a well-known actor in these later days), R. S. H. Baiss (Oxford and Kent), F. G. Monkland (Gloucestershire), and others. I was privileged during an interview with Mr. Shuter to look over his scrap-books, full of scores of bygone matches— Gentlemen v. Players, Surrey, M.C.C., I. Z., and, of course, Lessness Park. And, though Mr. Shuter didn't know it, I was busy meanwhile making mental notes as to what he must have meant to the club as a player, apart from all question of his great influence. His proportion of the club’s total scores was remark­ able. In 1901 his aggregate— 842 in 18 completed in­ nings— represented over a third of the side’s total ! His 236 (five 6’s, thirty-eight 4’s, the last 24 runs scored off six successive balls !) v. Gravesend that year was one man’s contribution to a total of 438— istill a record, individual score and total alike, for the club. And one must not omit mention of the slashing partnership which he and the Rev. C. E . Kindersley had in 1896 against the 2nd Lincolnshire Regiment— 160 runs in seventy minutes— not much sitting on the splice there, though John Shuter could do that when occasion called. The club suffered grievous loss when in 1904 its great leader moved to Blackheath. He remained a member ; he played occasionally; but it was not the same, and how heavily he was missed ! Bu t fortunately another fine cricketer joined the club in that same year— Mr. Arthur Sannox Johnston, of Middlesex and Essex cricket, Blackheath Rugger, and England golf renown. I put golf last. Perhaps he was best at t h a t ; but I can’t help owing the royal and ancient game a grudge for seducing from the tented fields of the greater game such a cricketer. Before Arthur Johnston joined Lessness Park he had captained the Eltham club, near neighbours and friendly foes ; and the Abbey Wood players had learned to dread his forceful batting, his tempting slows. In 1903, his last season with Eltham, Mr. Johnston (if m y memory does not fail me) made two centuries against Lessness