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CRICKET . The See also:game of cricket may be called the See also:national summer pastime of the See also:English See also:race. The See also:etymology of the word itself is the subject of much dispute. The See also:Century See also:Dictionary connects with O. Fr. criquet, " a stick used as a See also:mark in the game of See also:bowls," and denies the connexion with A.S. crice or cryce, a See also:staff. A claim has also been made for cricket, meaning a See also:stool, from the stool at which the See also:ball was bowled, while in the See also:wardrobe See also:account of See also: III., there is found a See also:grotesque delineation of two male figures playing a game with a See also:bat and ball. This is undoubtedly the first known See also:drawing of what was destined to develop into the scientific cricket of See also:modern times. The See also:left-See also:hand figure is that of the batsman, who holds his weapon upright in the right hand with the handle downwards. The right-hand figure shows the catcher, whose See also:duty is at once apparent by the See also:extension of his hands. In another portion of the same MS., however, there is a male figure pointing a bat towards a See also:female figure in the attitude of catching, but the ball is absent. In a Bodleian Library MS., No. 264, dated the 18th of See also:April 1344, and entitled See also:Romance of the See also:Good King See also: III. (1365), Men. 23, disparages certain See also:games on account of their interfering with the practice of See also:archery, where the game of cricket is probably included among the pastimes denounced as " ludos inhonestos, et minus utiles See also:aut valentes." In this instance cricket was clearly considered See also:fit for the See also:lower orders only, though it is evident from the entry in King Edward's wardrobe account, already mentioned, that in 1300 the game of creag was patronized by the See also:nobility. Judging from the drawings, it can only be conjectured that the game consisted of See also:bowling, batting and See also:fielding, though it is known that there was an in-See also:side and an out-side, for sometime during the 15th century the game was called " Hondyn or Hondoute," or " Hand in and Hand out." Under this See also:title it was interdicted by 17 Edw. IV. c. 3 (1477-1478), as one of those illegal games which still continued to be so detrimental to the practice of archery. By this See also:statute, any one allowing the game to be played on his premises was liable to three years' imprisonment and £20 See also:fine, any player to two years' imprisonment and £Io fine, and the implements to be burnt. The inference that hand in and hand out was analogous to cricket is made from a passage in the Hon. Daines See also:Barrington's Observations on the more See also:Ancient Statutes from Magna Charta to 21 See also: In 35 Elizabeth (1593) See also:evidence was taken before a See also:jury and a See also:verdict returned, ordering the See also:garden to be laid waste again and disinclosed. Amongst other witnesses John See also:Derrick, gent., and one of H.M.'s coroners for See also:Surrey, aetat. fifty-nine, deposed he had known the ground for fifty years or more, and " when he was a scholler in the See also:free school of Guildford, he and several of his fellowes did runne and See also:play there at crickett and other plaies." In the See also:original edition of See also:Stow's Survey of See also:London (1598) the word does not occur, though he says, " The ball is used by noblemen and gentlemen in See also:tennis courts, and by See also:people of the meaner sort in the open See also:fields and streets."
Some noteworthy references to the game may be cited. In Giovanni See also:Florio's dictionary A Worlde of Wordes most Copious and Exact, published in See also:Italy in 1595 and in London three years later, squillare is defined as " to make a See also:noise as a cricket, to play cricket-a-wicket and be merry." See also:Sir See also: The See also:chaplain of H.M.S., "Assistance," Rev. See also: The famous Hambledon Club lasted approximately from 1750 to 1791. Its matches were played on Broad Half-See also:Penny and See also:Windmill See also:Downs, and in its See also:zenith the club frequently contended with success against All England. The See also:chief players were more or less retainers of the noblemen and other wealthy patrons of cricket. The original society was broken up in 1791 owing to See also:Richard Nyren, their " See also:general," abandoning the game, of which in consequence " the head and right arm were gone." The See also:dispersion of the players over the neighbouring counties caused a See also:diffusion of the best spirit of the game, which gradually ex-tended northward and westward until, at the close of the 18th century, cricket became established as the national game, and the See also:custom became general to play the first game of each year on Good See also:Friday.
The M.C.C. (or Marylebone Cricket Club), which ranks as the leading club devoted to the game in any See also:part of the globe, sprang from the old Artillery Ground Club, which played at Finsbury until about 1780, when the members migrating to See also: Dark bought him out in 1836, selling the See also:remainder of his See also:lease to the club in 1864. Meanwhile, in 1860, the See also:freehold had been purchased at public See also:auction by a Mr Marsden—we Moses—for £7000, and he sold it to the club six years later for nearly £18,500, a similar sum being paid in 1887 for additional ground. In 1897 the See also:Great Central railway company conveyed a further portion to the club, making the ground See also:complete as it now is; the See also:total See also:area is about 20 acres, including the site of various villas adjoining the ground which are part of the See also:property. The number of members now considerably exceeds five thousand. See also:Laws.—The See also:oldest laws of cricket extant are those See also:drawn up by the London Club in 1744. These were amended at the " See also:Star and Garter " in See also:Pall Mall, London, in 1755, and again in 1774, and were also revised by the M.C.C. in 1788. From this time the latter club has been regarded as the supreme authority, even though some See also:local modifications have in See also:recent years been effected in See also:Australia. Alterations and additions have been frequently made, and according to the present See also:procedure they have to be approved by a See also:majority of two-thirds of the members present at the See also:annual general See also:meeting of the whole club; the See also:administration being in the hands of a president, annually nominated by his outgoing predecessor, a treasurer and a See also:committee composed of sixteen members, four annually retiring, in See also:conjunction with a secretary and a large subordinate staff. Implements.—Concerning the implements of the game, in the 1744 rules it was declared that the See also:weight of the ball must be " between five and six ounces," and it was not until 1774 that it was decided that it " shall weigh not less than five ounces and a half nor more than five ounces and three-quarters," as it is to the present day. Not until 1838 however came the addition, " it shall measure not less than nine inches nor more than nine inches and a See also:quarter in circumference." The materials out of which the old balls were made are not on See also:record. At present a See also:cube of See also:cork forms the See also:foundation, See also:round which layers of fine twine and thin shavings of cork are accumulated till the proper See also:size and shape are attained, when a covering of red See also:leather is sewn on with six parallel seams. Various " compositions " have been tried as a substitute for cork and leather, but without taking their See also:place. For the bat, English See also:willow has been proverbially found the best wood. The oldest extant bats resemble a broad and curved See also:hockey stick, and it has been claimed to be an See also:evolution of the club employed in the Irish game of " hurley." The straight blade was adopted as soon as the bowler began to See also:pitch the ball up, an alteration which took place about 1750, but pictures show slightly curved bats almost to the time of the See also:battle of See also:Waterloo. The oldest were all made in one piece and were so used until the middle of the 19th century, when handles of ash were spliced into the blade, and the whole See also:cane-handle was introduced about t86o. No limit was set to the length of the bat until 1840, though the width was restricted to 44 in. " in the widest part " by the laws of 1788, and a See also:gauge was made for the use of the Hambledon Club. The length of the bat is now restricted to 38 in., 36 being more generally used, as a See also:rule the handle being 14 in. long and the blade 22 in. As to weight, though there is no restriction, 2 lb 3 oz. is considered See also:light, 2 lb 6 oz. fairly heavy; but W. Ward (1787-1849) used a bat weighing 4 1b At present the wicket consists of three stumps (round straight pieces of wood) of equal thickness, standing 27 in. upright out of the ground. On the See also:top are two " bails," See also:short pieces of wood which fit into grooves made in the top of the stumps so as not to project more than half an See also:inch above them. But the evolution of the wicket has been very See also:gradual, and the history of it is very obscure, since different types of wickets seem to have existed simultaneously. If early pictures are to be trusted, no wicket was required in See also:primitive times: the striker was either caught out, or run out, the fieldsman having to put the ball into a hole scooped in the ground, before the batsman could put his bat into it. A single stump, it is supposed, was sometimes substituted for the hole to See also:save collision between the bat and the fieldsman's fingers. In due course, but at an unknown date, a wicket—a " See also:skeleton See also:gate "—was raised over the hole; it consisted of two stumps each 12 in. high, set 24 in. apart, with a third laid on the top of them. John Nyren, however, writing in 1833, and discussing some memoranda given him by Mr W. Ward, says apropos of these dimensions, " There must be a See also:mistake in this account of the width of the wicket." Undoubtedly such wickets were all against the bowler, who must have bowled over or through the wicket twenty times for everyoccasion when he succeeded in hitting either the uprights or the See also:cross stump. In pictures of cricket played about 1743 we find only two stumps and a cross stump, or See also:bail, the wicket varying apparently both in height and width. In a picture, the property of H.M. the King, entitled " A See also:Village Match in 1768," three stumps and a bail are distinctly shown. Two stumps are shown as used in 1779, afterwards three always with one exception. Two prints, advertisements, representing matches played between See also:women on consecutive days in 1811, show, one of them a wicket of three stumps, the other a wicket of two. The addition of the third stump, as is universally agreed, was due to an incident which occurred in a match of the Hambledon Club in 1775. " It was observed at a See also:critical point in the game, that the ball passed three times between Mr Small's two stumps without knocking off the bail; and then, first a third stump was added, and seeing that the new See also:style of balls which rise over the bat also rise over the wicket, then See also:butt ft. high, the wicket was altered to the dimensions of 22 in. by 8, and to its present dimensions of 27 in. by 8 in 1817." So writes the Rev. J. Pycroft (1813–1895), quoting fairly closely from Nyren, who wrote many years after the event; but Pycroft is wrong in writing 22 by 8, which should really be 22 by 6. It is hard to believe that the 12 by 24 wicket lasted as long as 1775, for in the laws issued after the meeting held at the " Star and Garter," Pall Mall, where many " noblemen and gentlemen " attended " finally to See also:settle " the laws of the game, we read that the stumps are to be 22 in. and the bail 6. " N.B.—It is lately settled to use three stumps instead of two to each wicket, the bail the same length as before." Regarding all the circumstances one is tempted to believe that Small defended a wicket of two stumps, 22 in. high and 6 in. apart, See also:strange as is the circumstance that the ball should thrice in a short innings—for Small only made 14 runs—pass through them without dislodging the bail, even though the See also:diameter of the ball is a trifle less than 3 in. Allusion is also found to a wicket 12 in. by 6, but it is hard to believe in its existence, unless it was used as a See also:form of See also:handicap. It should be recorded that in advertisements of matches about this time (1787) the fact that three stumps will be used to shorten the game " is especially mentioned, and that the Hampshire See also:Chronicle of the 15th of See also:July 1797 records that " The earl of Winchilsea has made an improvement in the game of cricket, by having four stumps instead of three, and the wickets 2 in. higher. The game is thus rendered shorter by easier bowling out." In 1788, however, when the M.C.C. revised the laws, reference is made to stumps (no number given, but probably three) 22 in. high and a bail of 6 in. Big scoring in 1796 caused the addition next year of 2 in. to the height and of 1 to the breadth, making the wicket 24 in. by 7. That three stumps were employed is shown by a See also:print of the medallion of the See also:Oxfordshire County C.C. 1797, forming the See also:frontispiece to See also: Each side has two innings taken alternately, except that the side which leads by 150 runs in a three days' match or by too runs in a two days' match or by 75 runs in a one day match shall have the See also:option of requiring the other side to " follow their innings." In England cricket is invariably played on turf wickets, but in the Colonies See also:matting wickets are often employed, and sometimes matches have taken place on See also:sand, See also:earth and other substances. The oldest form of the game is probably single wicket, which consists of one batsman defending one wicket, but this has become obsolete, though it was very popular in the time when matches were played for See also:money with only one or two, or perhaps four or five, players on a side. Matches between an unequal number of players are still sometimes arranged, but mainly in the See also:case of local sides against touring teams, or " colts " playing against eleven experienced cricketers. In any case two umpires are always appointed, and for English first-class county cricket these are now annually chosen beforehand by the county captains. Two scorers are officially recognized. All the arrangements as to scoreboards, and See also:accommodation for players, members of the club and general spectators, vary considerably according to local requirements. Between six and seven acres forms the most suitable area for a match, but the size of a cricket ground has never been defined by law. The wickets are pitched opposite and parallel to one another at a distance of 22 yds. ; the " bowling crease " being marked with whitewash on the turf on a See also:line with the stumps 8 ft. 8 in. in length, with short " return creases " at right angles to it at each end; but the " popping crease," marked parallel to the wicket and 4 ft. in front of it, is deemed of unlimited length. The captains of the opposing sides toss for choice of innings, and the winner of the toss, though occasionally, owing to the See also:condition of the ground or the See also:weather prospects, electing to put his adversaries in first, as a general rule elects for his own side to bat first. The See also:captain of the batting side sends his eleven (or whatever the number of his team may be) in to bat in any order he thinks best, and much See also:judgment is used in deciding what this order shall be. Two batsmen with strong defensive See also:powers and good See also:nerve are usually selected to open the innings, the most brilliant run-getters immediately following them, and the weakest batsmen going in last. As there must always, except in the obsolete single-wicket cricket, be two batsmen in together, it follows that when ten of the side (in a side of eleven) have been put out, one of the final pair must be " not out "; that is to say, his innings is terminated without his getting out because there is none of his side left to become his partner. The batsman who is thus " not out " is said to " carry his bat," a phrase that recalls a period when two bats sufficed for the whole side, each retiring batsman leaving the implement on the ground for the use of his successor, till at the close of the innings the " not out " See also:man carried it back to the See also:tent or pavilion. As the phrase is not also applied to the last batsman to get out, who would of course have carried the second bat off the ground, it was possibly at one time restricted to a player who going in first survived through the whole innings. It should be observed that the term " wicket " is used by cricketers in a number of different senses. Besides being the name given to the set of three stumps with their two bails when pitched for a match, it is in an extended sense applied to that portion of the ground, also called the " pitch," on which the stumps are pitched, as when it is described as being " a fast wicket," a " sticky wicket " and so forth. It also in several idiomatic expressions signifies the getting out of a batsman and even the batsman himself, as in the phrases: " See also:Grace lost his wicket without scoring," " Grace went in first wicket down," " when Grace got out England lost their best wicket," " England See also:beat Australia by two wickets." The umpires are required to decide questions arising in the course of play and to call the "overs," the "over" being a See also:series of successive deliveries of the ball (usually six) by the bowler from one end of the pitch, the See also:rest of the " out " side, or fielders, being stationed in various positions in the field according to well-defined principles. When an " over " has been bowled from one end a different bowler then bowls an " over " from the opposite end, the See also:alternation being continued without interruption throughout the innings, and the bowlers being selected and changed from time to time by the captain of their side at his discretion. At the end of every over the fielders " See also:change over " or otherwise rearrange their places to meet the batting from the other end. An over from which no runs are made off the bat is called a " See also:maiden." A " run " is made when the twobatsmen change places, each See also:running from his own to the opposite wicket without being " run out." The aim of the batting side is to make as many runs as possible, while the See also:object of the fielding side is to get their opponents out, and to prevent their making runs while in. There are nine ways in which the batsman, or " striker," can be put out. Of these the following five are the most important. (1) The striker is " bowled " out if the bowler hits the wicket with the ball, when bowling, and dislodges the bail; (2) he is " caught " out if the ball after touching his bat or hand be held by any member of the fielding side before it touches the ground; (3) he is " stumped " out if the wicket-keeper dislodges the bail with the ball, or with his hand holding the ball, at a moment when the striker in playing at the ball has no part of his See also:person or bat in contact with the ground behind the popping crease, i.e. when the batsman is " out of his ground "; (4) he is out " l.b.w." (See also:leg before wicket) if he stops with any part of his person other than his hand, or arm below the See also:elbow, a ball which in the See also:umpire's judgment pitched straight between the wickets,, and would have bowled the striker's wicket; (5) if when the batsmen are attempting to make a run a wicket is put down (i.e. the bail dislodged) by the ball, or by the hand of any fieldsman holding the ball, at a moment when neither batsman has any part of his person or bat on the ground behind the popping crease, the nearer of the two batsmen to the wicket so put down is " run out." The remaining four ways in which a batsman may be dismissed are (6) See also:hit wicket, (7) handling the ball, (8) hitting the ball more than once " with See also:intent to score," and (9) obstructing the field. The positions of the fieldsmen are those which experience proves to be best adapted for the purpose of saving runs and getting the batsmen caught out. During the middle of the 19th century these positions became almost stereotyped according to the See also:pace of the bowler's delivery and whether the batsmen were right or left handed. A certain number of fielders stood on the " on " side, i.e. the side of the wicket on which the batsman stands, and a certain number on the opposite or " off " side, towards which the batsman faces. " Point " almost invariably was placed square with the striker's wicket some ten or a dozen yards distant on the " off " side; " See also:cover point " to the right of " point " (as he is looking towards the batsman) and several yards deeper; " See also:mid on " a few yards to the right of the bowler, and " mid off " in a corresponding position on his left, and so forth. Good captains at all times exercised judgment in modifying to some extent the arrangement of the field according to circumstances, but in this respect much was learnt from the Australians, who on their first visit to England in 1878 varied the positions of the field according to the idiosyncrasies of the batsmen and other exigencies to a degree not previously practised in England. The perfection of wicket-keeping displayed by the Australian, McCarthy Blackham (b. 1855), taught English cricketers that on modern grounds the " long stop " could be altogether dispensed with; and this position, which in former days was considered a necessary and important one, has since been practically abolished. In many matches at the present day, owing to the See also:character of modern bowling, no more than a single fieldsman is placed on the " on " side, while the number and positions of those " in the slips," i.e. behind the wicket on the " off " side, are subject to no sort of rule, but vary according to the nature of the bowling, the See also:state of the ground, or any other circumstances that may See also:influence the judgment of the captain of the fielding side. Charts such as were once See also:common, showing the positions of the fielders for fast, slow and See also:medium bowling respectively, would therefore to-day give no true See also:idea of the actual practice; and much of the skill of modern captaincy is shown in placing the field. The score is compiled by runs made by the batsman and by the addition of " extras," the latter consisting of " byes," " leg-byes," " wides " and " no-balls." All these are included in the designation " runs," of which the total score is composed, though neither " wides " nor " no-balls " involve any actual run on the part of the batsmen. They are called by the umpire on his own initiative, in the one case if the bowler's delivery passes the batsman beyond the reach of his bat (" wide "), and in the other if he delivers the ball without having either See also:foot touching the ground behind the " bowling crease " and within the " return crease," or if the ball be jerked or thrown instead of being See also:bona fide" bowled." " Wides " and " no-balls " See also:count as one " run " each, and all " extras " are added to the score of the side without being credited to any individual batsman. The batsman may, however, hit a " no-ball " and make runs off it, the runs so made being scored to the striker's See also:credit instead of the " no-ball " being entered among the "extras." The batsman may be "run out " in attempting a run off a " no-ball," but cannot be put out off it in any other way. " Byes " are runs made off a ball which touches neither the bat nor the person of the batsman, " leg-byes " off a ball which, without touching the bat or hand, touches any othei part of his person. With the exception of these " extras " the score consists entirely of runs made off the bat. Batting is the most scientific feature of the game. Proficiency in it, as in See also:golf and tennis, depends in the first instance to a great Batting extent on the player assuming a correct attitude for making his stroke, the position of leg, See also:shoulder and elbow being a See also:matter of importance; and although a See also:quick and accurate See also:eye may occasionally be sufficient by itself to make a tolerably successful run-getter, good style can never be acquired, and a consistently high level of achievement can seldom be gained, by a batsman who has neglected these rudiments. Good batting consists in a See also:defence that is See also:proof against all the bowler's See also:craft, combined with the skill to seize every opportunity for making runs that the latter may inadvertently offer. If the batsman's whole task consisted in keeping the ball out of his wicket, the accomplishment of his See also:art would be comparatively See also:simple; it is the See also:necessity for doing this while at the same time he must prevent the ball from rising off his bat into the air in the direction of any one of eleven skilfully-placed fielders, each eager to catch him out, that offers See also:scope for the See also:science of a Grace, a See also:MacLaren or a Trumper. In early days when the wickets were See also:low and the ball was trundled along the ground, the curved bats of the old pictures were probably well adapted for hitting, defence being neglected; but when the height of the wickets was raised, and bowlers began to pitch the ball closer to the batsman so that it would reach the wicket on the first See also:bound, defence of the wicket became more necessary and more difficult. Hence the modern straight-bladed bat was produced, and a more scientific method of batting became possible. Batting and bowling have in fact See also:developed together, a new form of attack requiring a new form of defence. One of the first principles a See also:young batsman has to learn is to play with a " a straight bat " when defending his wicket against straight balls. This means that the whole blade of the bat should be equally opposite to the line on which the ball is travelling towards him, in order that the ball, to whatever height it may bound from the ground, may meet the bat unless it rises altogether over the batsman's hands; the tendency of the untutored cricketer being on the contrary to hold the bat sloping outwards from the handle to the point, as the golf-player holds his " See also:driver," so that the rise of the ball is See also:apt to carry it clear of the blade. Standing then in a correct position and playing with a straight bat, the batsman's chief concern is to calculate accurately the " length " of the ball as soon as he See also:sees it leave the bowler's hand. The " length " of the ball means the distance from the batsman at which it pitches, and " good length " is the first essential of the bowler's art. The distance that consitutes "good length " is not, however, to be defined by precise measurement; it depends on the condition of the ground, and on the reach of the batsman. A " good-length ball " is one that pitches too far from the batsman for him to reach out to meet it with the bat at the moment it touches the ground or immediately it begins to rise, in the manner known as " playing forward "; and at the same time not far enough from him to enable him to wait till after it has reached the highest point in its bound before playing it with the bat, i.e. " playing back." When, owing to the good length of the ball, the batsman is unable to play it in either of these two ways, but is compelled to play at it in the middle of itsrise from the ground, he is almost certain, if he does not See also:miss it altogether, to send it up in the air with the danger of being caught out. If through miscalculation the batsman plays forward to a short-pitched ball, he will probably give a catch to the bowler or " mid off," if he plays back to a well-pitched-up ball, he will probably miss it and be bowled out. The bowler is therefore continually trying to pitch balls just too short for safe forward play, while the batsman defends his wicket by playing forward or back as his judgment directs so long as the bowling is straight and of approximately good length, and is ready the instant he receives a bad-length ball, or one safely wide of the wicket, to hit it along the ground clear of the fieldsmen so as to make as many runs as he and his partner can accomplish before the ball is returned to the wicket-keeper or the bowler. But even those balls off which runs are scored are not to be hit recklessly or without scientific method. A different stroke is brought into requisition according to the length of the ball and its distance wide of the wicket to the " off " or " on " as the case may be; and the greatest batsmen are those who with an almost impregnable defence combine the greatest variety of strokes, which as occasion demands they can make with confidence and certainty. There are, however, comparatively few cricketers who do not excel in some particular strokes more than in others. One will make most of his runs by " cuts " past " point," or by See also:wrist strokes behind the wicket, while others, like the famous See also:Middlesex Etonian C. I. See also:Thornton, and the Australian C. J. Bonnor, depend mainly on powerful " drives " into the deep field behind the bowler's wicket. Some again, though proficient in all-round play, develop exceptional skill in some one stroke which other first-class players seldom See also:attempt. A good See also:illustration is the " glance stroke " off the legs which K. S. Ranjitsinhji made with such ease and grace. All great cricketers in fact, while observing certain general principles, display some individuality of style, and a bowler who is See also:familiar with a batsman's play is often aware of some See also:idiosyncrasy of which he can take See also:advantage in his attack. Bowling is, indeed, scarcely less scientific than batting. It is not, however, so systematically taught to young amateurs, and it may be partly in consequence of this neglect that Bowling See also:amateur bowling is exceedingly weak in England as compared with that of professionals. The evolution of the art of bowling, for it has been an evolution, is an interesting See also:chapter in the history of cricket which can only be briefly outlined here. The fundamental law as to the proper mode of the bowler's delivering the ball is that the ball must be bowled, not thrown or jerked. When bowling underhand along the ground was superseded by " length bowling," it was found that the ball might be caused, by jerking, to travel at a pace which on the rough grounds was considered dangerous; hence the law against jerking, which was administered practically by chalking the inside of the bowler's elbow; if a See also:chalk mark was found on his side, the ball was not allowed as fair. The necessity of keeping the elbow away from the side led gradually to the extension of the arm horizontally and to round-arm bowling, the invention of which is usually attributed to John See also:Wills (or Willes; b. 1777) of Kent and See also:Sussex. Nyren, however, says " Tom See also: In early days much importance was attached to great pace, but the success of the slow lobbing bowling (pitched up underhand) led to its cultivation; in both styles some of the best performers delivered the ball with a curious high See also:action, thrusting the ball, as it were, from close under the arm-See also:pit. When the advantages of See also:bias (or twist, or break) were first known is not closely recorded, but we read of one Lamborn who (about 'Soo) could make the ball break from leg so that " the Kent and Surrey men could not tell what to make of that cursed twist of his." Whatever the pace of bowling, accuracy is the essential point, or, more correctly, the See also:power of accurately varying pace, pitch and direction, so that the batsman is never at See also:peace. If the bowler is a See also:mere See also:machine, the batsman soon becomes his See also:master; but the question as to which of the two is supreme depends very largely on the condition of the turf, whether it be hard and true, soft and wet, hard and rough or soft and drying: the first pair of conditions favour the bats-men, the second pair the bowler. The immense amount of. labour and expense devoted to the preparation and care of cricket grounds has produced during the past quarter of a century a perfection of smoothness in the turf which has materially altered the character of the game. On the rough and fiery pitches of earlier days, on which a " long stop " was indispensable, the behaviour of the ball could not be reckoned upon by the batsman with any degree of confidence. The first ball of an " over " might be a " shooter," never rising as much as an inch off the ground, the next might bound over his head, and the third pursue some equally See also:eccentric course. But on the best grounds of to-day, subject to the well-understood changes due to weather, the bound of the ball is so See also:regular as to be calculable with reasonable certainty by the batsman. The result has been that in fine weather, when wickets are true and fast, bowlers have become increasingly powerless to defeat the batsmen. In other words the defence has been strengthened out of proportion to the attack. Bowlers have consequently to a great extent abandoned all attempt to bowl the wicket down, aiming instead at effecting their purpose by bowling close to but clear of the wicket, with the See also:design of getting the batsman to give catches. Many batsmen of the stubbornly defensive type, known in cricket See also:slang as " stonewallcrs," retaliated by leaving such balls alone together, or stopping them deliberately with the legs instead of the bat. These See also:tactics caused the game to become very slow; over after over was bowled without an attempt being made to score a run and without apparent prospect of getting a wicket. This not only injured the popularity of the game from the spectator's point of view, but, in conjunction with the enormous scores that became common in dry seasons, made it so difficult to finish a match within the three days to which first-class matches in England are invariably limited, that nearly 70% of the total number of See also:fixtures in some seasons were drawn. Cricketers of an older See also:generation have complained that the cause of this is partly to be found in the amount of time wasted by contemporary cricketers. These critics see no See also:reason why half of a summer's day should be allowed to elapse before cricket begins, and they comment with some scorn on the See also:interval for See also:tea, and the fastidiousness with which play is frequently interrupted on account of imperfect light or for other unimperative reasons. Various suggestions have been made, including proposals for enlarging the wicket, for enabling the attack to hold its own against the increasing strength of the defence. But the M.C.C., the only recognized source of cricket legislation, has displayeda cautious but See also:wise conservatism, due to the fact that its authority rests on no See also:sanction more formal than that of See also:prestige tacitly admitted by the cricketing See also:world; and consequently no drastic changes have been made in the laws of the game, the only important amendments of recent years being that which now permits a side to close its innings voluntarily under certain conditions, and that which, in substitution for the former hard and fast rule for the " follow on," has given an option in the matter to the side possessing the requisite See also:lead on the first innings. Early Players.—If the era of the present form of cricket can very properly be dated from the visit of the first Australian team to England in 1878, some enumeration must be made of a few of the cricketers who took part in first-class matches in the earlier portion of the 19th century. Among amateurs should be noted the two fast bowlers, Sir F. H. See also:Bathurst (1807—1881; ton, Hampshire), and See also:Harvey Fellowes (b. 1826; See also:Eton); the batsman N. See also:Felix (1804—1876; Surrey and Kent), who was a master of " cutting " and one of the earliest to adopt batting gloves; the cricketing See also:champion of his time See also:Alfred Mynn (1807—1861; Kent); and the keen player F. P. See also:Miller (1828—1875; Surrey). The three Marshams, Rev. C. D. Marsham (b. 1835), R. H. B. Marsham (b. 1833) and G. Marsham (b. 1849), all of Eton and See also:Oxford, were as famous as the Studds in the 'eighties; and R. Hankey (1832—1886; See also:Harrow and Oxford) was a great scorer. In the next generation one of the greatest bats of his own or any time was R. A. H. See also:Mitchell (1843-1905; Eton, Oxford, Hants). A very attractive run-getter was C. F. See also:Buller (b. 1846; Harrow, Middlesex); an all too brief career was that of C. J. Ottaway (1850—1878; Eton, Oxford, Kent and Middle-See also:sex); whilst A. Lubbock (b. 1845; Eton, Kent) was a See also:sound bat, and D. See also:Buchanan (1830—1900; See also:Rugby and See also:Cambridge) a destructive bowler, as was also A. See also:Appleby (1843—1902; See also:Lancashire). Of the professionals, See also:Fuller Pilch (1803—1870) and E. G. Wenman (1803—1897) were great bats; T. See also:Box (1808—1876) the most skilled wicket-keeper of his time; W. Lillywhite (1792—1854), one of the first round-arm bowlers, renowned for the accuracy of his pitch, and W. See also:Clark (1798—1856) possessed wonderful variety of pace and pitch. It was the last-named who organized the All England Eleven, and he was not chosen to represent the players until he had reached the See also:age of See also:forty-seven. See also:George See also:Parr (1826—1891), the greatest leg-hitter in England, had no professional See also:rival until the See also:advent of Richard Daft (1835—1900). J. See also:Dean (1816—1891) was the finest long-stop, See also:Julius See also:Caesar (183o—1878) a hard clean hitter, as was G. See also: See also:Hayward (3835—1876) and R. See also:Carpenter (1830—1901) , as well as two other keen cricketers, H. H. See also:Stephenson (1833—1896) and T. See also:Hearne (1826—19c'o). Since the first half of the loth century the sort of cricket to engage public See also:attention has very greatly changed, and the change has become emphasized since the See also:exchange of visits between Australian and English teams has become an established feature of first-class cricket. First-class cricket has become more formal, more serious and more spectacular. The contest for the county championship has introduced an annual competition, closely followed by the public, between standing rivals familiar with each other's play and record; an increased importance has become attached to " averages " and " records," and it is See also:felt by some that the purely sporting side of the game has been damaged by the change. Professionalism has increased, and it is an open See also:secret that not a few players who appear before the public as amateurs derive an income under some pretext or other from the game. Cricket on the village See also:green has in many parts of the country almost ceased to exist, while immense crowds congregate to See also:watch county matches in the great towns; but this must no doubt be in part attributed to the See also:movement of See also:population from the country districts; and some See also:compensation is to be found in See also:league cricket (see below), and, in the numerous clubs for the employees of business firms and large shops, and for the members of social institutes of all kinds, which play matches in the suburbs of London and other cities. At an earlier period two great professional organizations, " The All England," formed in 1846, and " The See also:United All England," toured the country, mainly for profit, playing local sides in which " given men," generally good professional players, figured. They did much good work in popularizing the game, and an annual match between the two at Lord's on Whit-See also:Monday was once a great feature of the See also:season; but the increase of county cricket led eventually to their disbandment. At this period, and much later, the first-class matches of "M.C.C. and ground" (i.e. ground-staff, or professionals attached to the club) occupied a far greater amount of importance than is at present the case. In recent years over 150 See also:minor matches of the utmost value in propagating the best interests of cricket are annually played by the leading club. League cricket has of See also:late become exceedingly popular, especially in the See also:North of England, a number of clubs—about twelve to sixteen—combining to form a " League " and playing See also:home-and-home matches, each one with each of the others in turn; points are scored according as each club wins, loses, or draws matches, the championship of the " League " being thus decided. English County Cricket.—The first English inter-county match which is recorded was played on See also:Richmond Green in 1730 between Surrey and Middlesex; but for very many years, though counties played counties, there was no systematic organization, matches often being played at odds or with " given " players, who had no county connexion with the side they represented. This was the natural outcome of the custom of playing for stakes. It was not till 1872 that any real effort was made to organize county cricket. In that year the M.C.C. took the initiative by offering a See also:cup for competition between the counties, six of which were to be selected by the M.C.C., the matches to be played at Lord's, but the See also:scheme See also:fell through owing to the coolness of the counties'-themselves. It was only in 1890 that the counties were formally and officially classified, Notts (the county club dating from 1859), Lancashire (1864), Surrey (1845), Kent (1842), Middlesex (1864), See also:Gloucestershire (1869), Yorkshire (1862), and Sussex (1839), being regarded as " first-class," as indeed had been the case from the time of their existence; and by degrees other counties were promoted to this class; See also:Somerset in 1893; See also:Derbyshire, See also:Essex, See also:Leicestershire, See also:Warwickshire in 1894; Hampshire in 1895; See also:Worcestershire in 1899; See also:Northamptonshire in 1905. In 1887 the County Cricket See also:Council had been formed, working with and not against the Marylebone Club, for the management of county cricket, but the council dissolved itself in 1890, and it was then arranged that the county secretaries and delegates should meet and discuss such matters, and See also:request the M.C.C. to consider the result of their deliberations, and practically to See also:act as See also:patron and arbitrator. In 1905 an Advisory Cricket Committee was formed " with the co-operation of the counties, with a view to improve the procedure in dealing with important matters arising out of the development of cricket, the effect of which will be" (the See also:quotation is from the annual See also:report of M.C.C. in 1905) " to bring the counties into closer See also:touch with the M.C.C." Various methods have been tried as to the See also:assignment of points or marks, the following being the See also:list of champion counties up to 1go9: 1873 Surrey 1864 Surrey 1865 Notts 1874 Gloucestershire 1866 Middlesex 1875 Notts 1867 Yorkshire 1876 Gloucestershire 1868 Yorkshire 1877 Gloucestershire 1869 Notts 1878 Notts 1870 Yorkshire 1879 Lancashire 1 equal 1871 Notts Notts S 1872 Surrey 188o Notts Gloucestershire equal 1881 Lancashire 1882 Lancashire 1895 Surrey equal 1896 Yorkshire Notts 1883 Yorkshire 1897 Lancashire 1884 Notts 1898 Yorkshire 1885 Notts 1899 Surrey 1886 Notts 1900 Yorkshire 1887 Surrey 1901 Yorkshire 1888 Surrey 1902 Yorkshire Notts equal 1903 Middlesex Lancashire 1904 Lancashire 1889 equal 1905 Yorkshire Surrey 1890 Surrey 1906 Kent 1891 Surrey 1907 Notts 1892 Surrey 1908 Yorkshire 1893 Yorkshire 1909 Kent 1894 Surrey English county cricket is now the most firmly established cricketing institution in the world, but in its earlier stages it owed much in different counties to enthusiastic individuals and famous The See also:Graces cricketing families whose energies were devoted to its and al". encouragement and support. To Gloucestershire belongs See also:tester-the See also:honour of the greatest name in the history of the game. See also:shire. Dr W. G. Grace (q.v.) was not only the most brilliant all- round cricketer in the world, but he remained supreme after reaching an age when most cricketers have long abandoned the game. He and his two famous See also:brothers, E. M. Grace (b. 1841) and G. F. Grace (1850-1880), rendered invaluable service to their county for many years; and not to their county alone, for the great part they played for a generation in first-class cricket did much to increase the growing popularity of the county fixtures. A See also:separate See also:article is devoted to Dr W. G. Grace, whose name as the champion of the game will always be associated with its history. And of Dr E. M. Grace it may be mentioned that, besides being the most daring field at " point " ever seen, he altogether took 11,092 wickets and scored 75,625 runs. In more recent years some excellent cricketers have been associated with Gloucestershire, such as F. Townsend, and the professional See also:Board; but foremost stands G. L. Jessop, a somewhat " unorthodox " batsman famous for his powers of hitting. What W. G. Grace did for Gloucestershire, Lord Harris (b. 1851) did for Kent, and his services are not to be estimated by his performances in the field alone, great as they were. His influence Kent. was always exerted to impart a spirit of sportsmanship and See also:honourable distinction to the national game. Kent had been a home of cricket since the first half of the 18th century, but it was Lord Harris more than any other individual who made it a first-class county, celebrated for the number of distinguished amateurs who have taken part in its matches. The Hon. No See also:Bligh, afterwards Lord See also:Darnley (b. 1859), and F. Marchant (b. 1864), both Etonians like Lord Harris himself; the two Harrovians, W. H. Patterson (b. 1859) and M. C. See also:Kemp (b. 1862), and the Wykehamist J. R. See also:Mason (b. 1874) are names that show the place taken by public school men in the annals of Kent cricket, while the family of Hearnes supplied the county with some famous professionals. Amateur batsmen like W. Rashleigh, C. J. Burnup, E. W. See also:Dillon and A. P. Day have been prominent in the Kent eleven; and in Fielder and Blythe they have had two first-class professional bowlers. The " Kent nursery" at See also:Tonbridge has proved a valuable institution for training young professional players, and contributed not a little to the rising reputation of Kent, which justified itself when the county won the championship in 1906, largely owing to the admirable batting of the amateur K. L. Hutchings. Middlesex and Lancashire, not less than Kent, have been indebted to the great public schools, and especially to Harrow, which provided both counties with famous captains who directed their Middlesex fortunes for an uninterrupted period of over twenty years. and Lan-I. D. Walker, the most celebrated of seven cricketing cashire. brothers, all Harrovians, who founded the Middlesex County Club, handed on the captaincy, after a See also:personal record of astonishing brilliancy, to a younger Harrow and Oxford cricketer, A. J. See also:Webbe, who was one of the finest leg-hitters and one of the safest out-fielders of his day, and a captain of consummate judgment and knowledge of the game. A. N. See also:Hornby, a contemporary at Harrow of I. D. Walker, was for many years the soul of Lancashire cricket, and was succeeded in the captaincy of the county by the still more famous Harrovian, A. C. MacLaren, one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, whose record for England in test matches against Australia was almost unrivalled. In 1895, when he headed the batting averages, MacLaren made the highest individual score in a first-class match, viz. 424 against See also:Somersetshire. Middlesex has also the distinction of having produced the two greatest amateur wicket-keepers in the history of English cricket, namely, the Hon. Alfred See also:Lyttelton (b. 1857) and Gregor See also:MacGregor, both of whom, after playing for Cambridge University, gave their services to the See also:Metropolitan county; while Lancashire can boast of the greatest professional wicket-keeper in Richard Pilling (1855-1891), whose reputation has not been eclipsed by that of the most proficient of more recent years. Another famous Cambridge University cricketer, a contemporary of Lyttelton, who was invaluable to Lancashire for some years when he was one of the very finest all-round cricketers in the country, was A. G. See also:Steel (b. 1858), equally brilliant as a bats-man and as a slow bowler; and other names memorable in Lancashire cricket were R. G. See also:Barlow (b. 1859), whose stubborn batting was a striking contrast to the rapid run-getting of Hornby and the perfect style of Steel; John See also:Briggs (1862-1902), whose slow left-hand bowling placed him at the head of the bowling averages in 1890; John Crossland (1853-1903) and A. See also:Mold (b. 1865), both of whom were destructive fast bowlers; J. T. See also:Tyldesley and R. H. Spooner, both among the most brilliant batsmen of a later generation; and W. Brearley, the amateur fast bowler. Middlesex, like Kent, has been better served by amateurs than professionals. Indeed, with the notable exceptions of J. T. Hearne, who headed the bowling averages in 1891, 1896 and 1898, and of the imported Australian A. E. Trott, few professionals of high merit are conspicuously associated with the history of the county cricket. Trott, in 1899 and again in 1900, performed the previously unprecedented feat of taking over two See also:hundred wickets and scoring over one thousand runs in the same season. And in his " benefit match " in May 1907 at Lord's he achieved the " See also:hat See also:trick " twice in one innings, taking first four and then three wickets with successive balls. But if there has been a dearth of professionals in Middlesex cricket, the county has produced an abundance of celebrated amateurs. In addition to the Walkers and A. J. Webbe, the metropolitan county was the home of the celebrated hitter, C. I. Thornton, and of the Studd family, who learnt their cricket at Eton and Cambridge University. C. T. Studd, one of the most polished batsmen who ever played cricket, was at the same time an excellent medium-paced bowler, and his See also:brother G. B. Studd is remembered especially for his fielding, though like his See also:elder brother, J. E. K. Studd, he was an all-round cricketer of the greatest value to a county team. Sir T. C. O'Brien, who made his reputation by a fine innings for Oxford University against the Australian team of 1882, sustained it in the following years by many brilliant performances for Middlesex. A. E. Stodclart for several years was the best run-getter in the Middlesex eleven; and W. J. See also:Ford and his younger brother, F. G. J. Ford, were conspicuous among many prominent Middlesex batsmen. In more recent times the Oxonian P. F. See also:Warner (b.. 1873), both as captain and as batsman, did splendid work; and B. J. T. Bosanquet, besides assisting powerfully with the bat, became famous for inaugurating a new style of See also:curly bowling (" googlies ") of a very effective type. A glance at the table given above shows the high place occupied by Surrey in the past. Surrey county cricket can be traced as far Surrey. back as 1730. Pycroft observes that " the name of Surrey as one united county club is quite lost in the annals of cricket from 1817 to 1845." But before that date two of the most celebrated cricketers, William Lillywhite and Fuller Pilch, had occasionally played for the county, and so also had James Broad-See also:bridge (1796-1843) and W. See also:Lambert (1779-1851). See also:Kennington Oval became the Surrey county ground in 1845, the property being leased from the duchy of See also:Cornwall; and in the years immediately following the county team included H. H. Stephenson (1833-1896), Caffyn (b. 1828), N. Felix, and Lockyer (1826-1869) ; among a later generation appeared such well-remembered names as Jupp, Southerton, Pooley and R. See also:Humphrey. After being champion county in 1873, Surrey did not again attain the same position for fourteen years, but for the next ten years maintained an almost uninterrupted supremacy. The greatest credit was due to the energetic direction of J. See also:Shuter (b. 1855), who kept together a remarkable See also:combination of cricketers, such as W. W. Read (1855-1906), See also:Maurice Read (b. 1859), George Lohmann (1865-1901), and See also:Robert See also:Abel (b. 1859), all of whom were among the greatest players of their period. Lohmann in 1885-1890 would alone have made any side famous; and in the same years when he was heading the bowling averages and proving himself the most deadly bowler in the country, W. W. Read was performing prodigies of batting. No sooner did the latter begin to decline in power than Abel took his place at the head of the batting averages, scoring with astonishing consistency in 1897-1900. In 1899 he made 357 not out in an innings against Somersetshire, and in 1901 his aggregate of 3309 was the largest then compiled. The Oxonian K. J. See also: During the following years his reputation was fully maintained, and in 1906 he had a particularly successful season. Key was followed in the captaincy by D. L. A. See also:Jephson, but the county did not in the opening years of the 20th century maintain the high place it occupied during the last quarter of the 19th. It possessed some excellent professionals, however, in See also:Hayes, Hobbs and Lees, and the season of 1906, under the captaincy of Lord Dalmeny, showed a revival, a new fast bowler being found in N. A. See also:Knox, and a fine batsman and bowler in J. N. See also:Crawford. Several of the celebrated cricketers of early times already men tioned as having played for the Surrey club were more closely associated with the adjoining county of Sussex, whose Sussex. records go back as far as 1734, in which year a match was played against Kent, the chief promoters of which were the duke of Richmond and Sir William See also:Gage. One of the earliest famous cricketers, Richard Newland (d. 1791), was a Sussex man; and James Broadbridge, W. Lambert, Tom Box, and the great Lillywhite family were all members of the Sussex county team. Lambert, in a match against See also:Epsom, played at Lord's in 1817, made a " century " (one hundred runs) in each innings, a feat not repeated in first-class cricket for fifty years; and the occasion was the first when the aggregate of a thousand runs was scored in a match. Broadbridge played for Sussex in five reigns, while Box (1808-1876) kept wicket for the county for twenty-four years without missing a match. Notwithstanding this distinguished history, Sussex never attained the highest place in the county rivalry, and for a number of years towards the end of the 19th century the left-handed batting of F. M. See also:Lucas (1860-1887) alone saved the county from complete insignificance. A revival came when W. L. Murdoch (b. 1855), of Australian celebrity, qualified for Sussex; and at a still later date the fortunes of the county were raised by the inclusion in its eleven of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, afterwards H.H. the Jam of See also:Nawanagar (b. 1872), the See also:Indian prince, who had played for Cambridge University. Ranjitsinhji's dexterity, grace and style were unrivalled. He scored 2780 runs in 1896, averaging 57, while in county matches in 1899 his aggregate was 2555, with an See also:average of 75. Even this performance was beaten in 1900 when he scored a total of 2563 runs, giving an average for the season of 83. In all matches his aggregates were 3159 in 1899, and 3065 in 1900. Not less remarkable was the cricket of C. B. See also:Fry (b. 1872), who came from Oxford University to become a mainstay of Sussex cricket, and who in 1901 performed the unparalleled feat of scoring in successive innings 106, 209, 149, 105, 140 and 105, his aggregate for the season being 3147 with an average of 78. In 1905 his average for Sussex was 86, but in the following year an See also:accident kept him out of the cricket field throughout the season; and in 1909 he transferred his services to Hampshire. If Kent and Middlesex may be described as the counties of amateurs, Yorkshire and See also:Nottinghamshire should be called the counties of famous professionals. Between 1864 and Notts. 1889 Nottinghamshire was champion county twelve times and the county eleven was as a rule composed almost entirely of professional players, among whom have been many of the greatest names in the history of the game. Richard Daft (1835-1900), after playing as an amateur, became a professional in preference to abandoning the game, scorning to resort to any of the pretexts by which cricketers have been known to accept See also:payment for their services while continuing to cling to the status of the amateur. William Oscroft (1843-1905) was one of Nottinghamshire's early batting heroes, and in Alfred See also:Shaw (b. 1842) and F. See also:Morley (1850-1884) the county possessed an invaluable pair of bowlers. William Gunn (b. 1858), besides being a magnificent fielder " in the country," was an exceptionally able batsman; but his performances did not equal those of his greater contemporary, See also:Arthur See also:Shrewsbury, who in six years between 1885 and 1892 headed the English batting averages. Shrewsbury's perfect style combined with inexhaustible See also:patience placed him in the front See also:rank of the " classical " batsmen of English cricket. Of the batsmen nicknamed " stonewallers," who at one time endangered the popularity of first-class cricket, was W. Scotton (1856-1893); and among the other numerous professionals whose cricket contributed to the renown of Nottinghamshire were See also:Barnes (1852-1899), at times a most formidable bat; See also:Flowers (b. 1856), always useful both with the bat and the ball; W. Attewell (b. 1861), a remarkably steady bowler who bowled an abnormal number of maiden overs; Mordecai See also:Sherwin (b. 1851), an excellent successor to T. Plumb (b. 1833) and F. See also:Wild (1847-1893) as wicket-keeper for the county; and among more recent players, J. Iremonger (b. 1877) and John Gunn, both of whom proved themselves cricketers worthy of the Notts traditions. J. A. See also:Dixon (b. 1861), one of the few amateurs of the Nottinghamshire records, was for some time captain of the county team; and he was succeeded by A. O. See also: 1873), a dashing batsman, who in 1899 was partner with Shrews-See also:bury when the pair scored 391 for the first wicket in a match against Gloucestershire.
The history of Yorkshire cricket is modern in comparison with that of Surrey, Sussex or Kent. The county club only See also:dates from 1861, and for some years the team was composed entirely yorkshlre. of professionals. But though Yorkshire attained the
championship three times during the first ten years of the county club's existence, thirteen years elapsed after 187o before it again occupied the place of honour. In the ten years 1896-1906 Yorkshire was no less than six times at the head of the list, this position of supremacy being in no small measure due to the captaincy of Lord See also:Hawke (b. 1860), who played continuously for the county from his university days for more than twenty years, and whose influence on Yorkshire cricket was unique. But before his time Yorkshire had already produced some notable cricketers, such as George Ulyett (1857-1898), who headed the batting averages in 1878, and who was also a fine fast bowler; Louis See also: 1862). The full effect of Lord Hawke's energetic captaincy was seen in 1900, when Yorkshire played through a See also:programme of twenty-eight fixtures without sustaining a defeat; and the county's record was but little inferior in both the following years and again in 1905, in each of which years it retained the championship. It was during this period that as notable a See also:group of cricketers wore the Yorkshire See also:colours as ever appeared in county matches. See also:Edmund Peate (1856–1900), one of the finest bowlers in his day, did not survive to take part in the later triumphs of his county; but the period beginning in 1890 saw J. T. See also: The two first named became famous for their first wicket partnerships. In 1896 in a match against Middlesex at Lord's these two batsmen scored 139 before being separated in the first innings, and in the second knocked off the 147 required to win the match. In the following year they made 378 for the first wicket against Surrey, and during their careers they scored over a hundred for the first wicket on no less than fifteen occasions, the greatest feat of all being in 1898, when they beat the world's record by staying together till 554 runs had been compiled. Peel was for many years an untiring bowler, and Yorkshire was fortunate in discovering a successor of even See also:superior skill in See also:Wilfrid Rhodes, who in 1900 took over 200 wickets at a cost of 12 runs each in county matches alone, and was also an excellent bat. Hirst and Jackson were the two finest all-round cricketers in England about 1905. The Hon. F. S. Jackson (b. 1870), like his See also:fellow-Harrovian A. C. MacLaren, had a wonderful record in test matches against Australia; he captained the England eleven in 190., and his wonderful nerve enabled him to extricate his side when in a difficulty, and to render his best service at an emergency. Hirst (b. 1871) in 1904 and in 1905 scored over 2000 runs and took more than See also:loo wickets; and in 1906 he surpassed all previous records by scoring over 2000 runs and taking over 200 wickets during the season. A concourse of 78,000 people watched his " benefit " match (Yorkshire against Lancashire) in See also:August 1904. Besides cricketers like these, such fine players were included in the team as Wainwright (b. 1865), Haigh (b. 1871), See also:Denton (b. 1874), and E. See also: See also:Hewett (b. 1864), who in See also:partnership with L. C. H. Palairet (b. 1870), famous for his polished style, scored 346 for the first wicket in a match against Yorkshire in 1892. Hewett was succeeded in the command of the county eleven by the Cambridge fast bowler, S. M. J. See also:Woods (b. 1868) ; and among other members of the eleven the most valuable was L. C. Braund (b. 1876), a professional who excelled as an all-round cricketer. The counties above referred to are those which have figured most prominently in the history of county cricket. Individual players of Minor the highest excellence are, however, to be found from time counties. to time in all parts of the country. Warwickshire, for example, can boast of having had in A. A. Lilley (b. 1867) the best wicket-keeper of his day, who represented England against Australia in the test matches; while Worcestershire produced one of the best all-round professionals in the country for a number of years in See also:Arnold (b. 1877), and a batsman of extreme brilliancy in R. E. See also:Foster, a member of a cricketing family to whom belongs the credit of raising Worcestershire into a cricketing county of the first class. Derbyshire, similarly, can claim some well-known cricket names, the bowler W. Mycroft (1841–1894), W. See also:Chatterton (b. 1863), and W. Storer (b. 1868), a first-class wicket-keeper. Essex possesses at See also:Leyton one of the best county grounds in the country, and the club was helped over See also:financial difficulties by the munificent support of an old See also:Uppingham and Cambridge cricketer, C. E. Green. It has produced a fair number of excellent players, notably the bats-men P. Perrin, C. MacGahey, and the fast bowler C. J. Kortright; and A. P. Lucas, afterwards a member of the county club, was a famous cricketer who played for England in 188o in the first Australian test match. Hampshire had a fine batsman in Captain E. G. Wynyard, and its annals are conspicuous for the phenomenal scores made during the single season of 1899 by See also:Major R. M. See also:Poore; these two put together 411 against Somersetshire in that year before being separated. Among the later Hants professionals, Llewellyn was most prominent. The See also:distribution of cricketing ability in England might be the subject of some interesting See also:speculation. In the first forty years of the annual competition for the championship six counties alone gained the coveted distinction, and three of these, Surrey, Notts and Yorkshire, won it See also:thirty-four times between them. Why, it may be asked, is it that one county excels in the game while another has no place whatever in the history of cricket? How comes it that great names recur continually in the annals of Surrey and Yorkshire, forexample, while those of See also:Berkshire and See also:Lincolnshire are entirely barren? No doubt proximity to great centres of population favours the cultivation of the game, but in this respect Kent and Sussex are no better situated than See also:Hertfordshire, nor does it account for Nottinghamshire having so illustrious a record while See also:Staffordshire has none at all, nor for Somersetshire having outclassed See also:Devon. It is strange, moreover, that while the See also:universities are the chief training-grounds for amateur cricketers, neither Oxfordshire nor See also:Cambridgeshire has made any mark among the counties. The influence of individuals and families, such as the Graces in Gloucestershire, the Walkers in Middlesex, and in recent times the Fosters in Worcestershire, has of 'course been of inestimable benefit to cricket in those counties; but See also:Buckinghamshire and See also:Norfolk and See also:Cheshire send their sons to the public schools and universities no less than Lancashire or Kent. It is difficult, therefore, to understand why county cricket should so persistently confine itself to a small number of counties; but such is the fact. Cricket has never flourished vigorously in Scotland, See also:Ireland or Wales, a fact that may partly be accounted for by the See also:comparative difficulty of obtaining good grounds in those parts of the See also:kingdom, and by the inferiority, for the purpose of cricket, of their See also:climate. In the See also:south of Scotland, and especially in the neighbourhood of See also:Edinburgh, there are clubs which keep the game alive; and Scotland, though it has produced no great cricketers, either amateur or professional, has sent a few players to the English university elevens who have found places in English county teams. In Ireland cricket is fairly popular, especially in those parts of the See also:island where local sides can obtain assistance from soldiers quartered in the See also:neighbour-See also:hood. One or two counties play annual matches, that between See also:Kildare and Cork in particular exciting keen rivalry. Trinity See also:College, See also:Dublin, has turned out some excellent players; and the See also:Phoenix and See also:Leinster clubs in Dublin, and the North of Ireland club in See also:Belfast, play a full programme of matches every season. D. N. Trotter, who played for county See also:Meath for many years towards the close of the 19th century, was a batsman who would have found a place in any English county eleven; so also would William See also:Hone, one of several brothers all of whom were keen and skilful cricketers. About the same period See also:Lieutenant Dunn scored so many centuries in Irish cricket that he was played, though without any great success, for his native county of Surrey. More recently L. H. Gwynn (1873–1902) batted in a style and with a success that proved him capable of great things. Sir T. C. O'Brien, though an Irishman, belongs as a cricketer to Middlesex; but T. C. See also:Ross, who was chosen to play for Gentlemen v. Players at Lord's in 1902, was a bowler who played regularly for county Kildare. Gentlemen v. Players.—The most important match of the year as far as purely English cricket is concerned is the match between the gentlemen and players (amateurs and professionals) played at Lord's. For many years a match played between sides similarly composed at the Oval excited equal interest, but latterly county cricket has rather starved this particular game, though it still continues as a popular fixture. Other matches with the same title have been played in London on Prince's Ground (now built over), and at See also:Brighton, See also:Hastings and See also:Scarborough and elsewhere, but those games in no way rank with the London matches. The Lord's fixture was first established in 18o6, in which year two matches were played; it became annual in 1819, but in those days the amateurs, being no match for their opponents, generally received odds, while in 1832 they defended wickets 22 in. by 6, and in 1837 the professionals stood in front of wickets of four stumps, measuring in all 36 in. by 12 in. This match was known as " The Barndoor Match " or " Ward's Folly," and the professionals won by an innings and to runs. Odds were not given after 1838, the gentlemen having then won eight matches and lost thirteen. From 1839 to 1866 the gentlemen only won 7 matches as compared with 21 losses. In 1867 the See also:tide turned, for the brothers Grace, especially Dr W. G. Grace, became a power in the cricket-field, and from 1867 to 1884 the gentlemen, winning fifteen matches, only lost one. From 1885 the See also:balance swung round, and by 1903 the professionals had won eleven matches and lost but four. The gentlemen won on nine successive occasions between 1874 and 1884, a draw intervening; while beginning with 1854 the professionals won eleven matches " off the See also:reel." The professionals won in 186o by an innings and no less than 181 runs; in 1900 they only won by two wickets, but to do so had to make, and did make, 5o1 runs in the last innings of the match. In 1903 the gentlemen, heavily in arrears of ter each side had played an innings, actually scored 50o in their second innings with only two men out. In 1904 the gentlemen won by two wickets after being 156 runs behind on the first innings, thanks to fine play by K. S. Ranjitsinhji and A. O. Jones. J. H. King had scored a century in each innings, a feat previously only performed by R. E. Foster in 1900. C. B. Fry's 232 not out in 1903 was the largest innings scored in the match. Dr W. G. Grace, who is credited with eight centuries, is the only cricketer who exceeded the hundred more than twice at Lord's in the fixture, 164 by J. T. Brown being the highest innings by a professional. There were seven instances before 1864 of two bowlers being unchanged in the match, and the Hon. F. S. Jackson and S. M. J. Woods repeated this in 1894. The Oval match was first played in 1857. The amateurs effected their first win in 1866, and though several games were drawn the professionals did not win again till 1880. As at Lord's, it was the era of Grace, but from this point the amateurs could only win two matches, and by the narrowest of margins, till 1903, this making their sum of victories up to then thirteen, as opposed to twenty-three. In 1879 the gentlemen won in one innings by 126 runs, the heaviest beating that one side had inflicted on the other. The highest individual score was Robert Abel's 247, and the next Dr W. G. Grace's 215. Hayward scored 203 in 1904; A. G. Steel and A. H. See also:Evans bowled unchanged in 1879. School and Club Cricket.—Cricket is the standing summer game at every English private and public school, where it is taught as carefully and systematically as either See also:classics or See also:mathematics. There are also See also:numbers of amateur clubs which possess no grounds of their own and are connected with no particular locality, but which are in fact mere associations of cricketers who play matches against the universities, schools or local teams, or against each other. Of these the best known, perhaps, is I Zingari (The Wanderers), popularly known as I.Z., whose well-known colours, red, yellow and See also:black stripes, are prized rather as a social than as a cricketing distinction. This club was founded in 1845 by See also:Lorraine See also:Baldwin and Sir See also:Spencer See also:Ponsonby-Fane. The first rule of the club humorously declares that " the entrance See also:fee shall be nothing, and the annual subscription shall not exceed the entrance fee." It is a rule of the club that no member shall play on the opposing side. I.Z. has long been connected with the social festivities forming a feature of the " Canter-bury See also:Week," a cricket festival held at See also:Canterbury during the first week in August, of the Scarborough week, and of the Dublin See also:horse-show. Dr W. G. Grace, who almost invariably appeared in the cricket field wearing the red and yellow stripes of the M.C.C., and some other notable amateurs, never belonged to I.Z. or any similar club; but Dr Grace was instrumental in the formation of the London county club, whose ground was at the Crystal See also:Palace at See also:Sydenham. Other amateur clubs, similar to I Zingari, are the Free Foresters, Incogniti, Etceteras, and in Ireland Na Shuler; while the Eton Ramblers, Harrow Wanderers, Old Wykehamists, and others are clubs whose membership is restricted to " old boys." The Oxford and Cambridge universities match was first played in 1827, but was not an annual fixture till 1838. Five matches, those of 1829, 1843, 1846, 1848 and 1850, were played at Oxford, the rest at Lord's. The " 'Varsity match," and that between the two great public schools, Eton and Harrow, are great " society " events at Lord's every summer. Up to 1909 Eton won thirty times, and Harrow on thirty-five occasions. D. C. Boles by scoring 183 in 1904 set up a new record for this match, beating the 152 obtained in 1841 by Emilius Bayley (afterwards the Rev. Sir John Robert Laurie) ; and in 1907 the Harrow captain, M. C. See also:Bird, established a further record by scoring over a hundred runs in each innings. Of the contests between Oxford and Cambridge, the latter (up to 1909) had lost thirty-one and won thirty-five. Oxford's 503 in 1900 and Cambridge's 392 in the same match furnished the highest aggregates. The largest individual innings was 172 not out by J. F. See also:Marsh in 1904; but as a feat of batting it was intrinsically inferior to the 171 by R. E. Foster in 1900. Of the thirty centuries scored up to 1909, Oxford was credited with sixteen. Eustace Crawley (b. 1868) made a hundred both in the Eton v. Harrow and Oxford v. Cambridge matches. In the match of 187o F. C. See also:Cobden (b. 1849) took the last three Oxford wickets with consecutive balls, winning the match for Cambridge by 2 runs. Australian Cricket.—Naturally popular in a See also:British See also:colony, cricket made but little progress in Australia before the arrival of an English professional eleven in 1861–1862, which carried all before it. Subsequent visits, and the coaching of imported professionals, so promoted the game that in 1878 a representative eleven of Australians visited England. The visits were repeated biennially till 1890, and then triennially. The visits of the Australian teams to England aroused unparalleled interest and acted as an immense incentive to the game. A great sensation was caused when the first team, captained by D. W. See also:Gregory, on the 27th of May 1878, defeated a powerful M.C.C. eleven in a single day, disposing of them for 33 and 19, the fast bowler F. R. Spofforth (b. 1853) taking 6 wickets for 4 runs, and H. F. See also:Boyle (b. 1847) 5 for 3. Their prowess was well maintained when in See also:September 188o Australia for the first time met the whole strength of England, such matches between representatives of Australia and England being known as " test matches," a term that was applied later to matches between England and South Africans also. Although in 188o the old country won by 5 wickets, the honours were fairly divided, especially as Spofforth could not play. Dr W. G. Grace with a score of 152 headed the total of 420, but even finer was the Australian captain W. L. Murdoch's imperturbable display, when he carried his bat for 153. From 1882 onwards the Colonials, with two exceptions, at See also:Blackpool and See also:Skegness, only played eleven-a-side matches. Such bowlers as Spofforth, Boyle, G. E. See also:Palmer (b. 1861), T. W. See also:Garrett (b. 1858), and G. See also:Giffen (1859) became See also:household names. Nor was the batting less admirable, for Murdoch was supported by H. H. Massie (b. 1854), P. S. McDonnell (186o–1896), A. C. Bannerman (b. 1859), T. Horan (b. 1855), C. J. Bonnor (b. 1855), and S. P. Jones (b. 1861), whilst the wicket-keeper was McCarthy Blackham (b. 1855). This visiting side in 1882 was the greatest team of all; 23 matches were won, only 4 lost, and England was defeated at the Oval by runs. In1884 English cricket had improved, and the visiting record was hardly so good. The match against England at the Oval will not soon be forgotten. The Colonials scored 351 (Murdoch 211, McDonnell 103, See also:Scott 102), and England responded with 346, Scotton and W. W. Read adding 151 for the ninth wicket. The team of H. J. H. Scott (b. 1858) in 1886 proved less successful, for all three test matches were lost, and eight defeats had to be set against nine victories, but Giffen covered himself with distinction. This was the first tour under the auspices of the See also:Melbourne Club. McDonnell's team in 1888 marked the See also:appearance of the bowlers C. T. B. See also:Turner (b. 1862) and J. J. Ferris (1867-1900). The former took 314 wickets for 11 runs each, and the latter 220 for 14 apiece. To all appearance they redeemed a poor tour, 19 matches being won and 14 lost. The 1890 tour, though Murdoch reappeared as captain, proved disappointing, both the test matches being lost and defeats for the first time exceeding victories, though the two bowlers again performed marvellously well. After an interval of three years, M. Blackham captained the seventh team, which was moderately fortunate. H. See also:Graham (b. 1870) and S. E. Gregory (b. 1870) batted admirably, and the 149 of J. J. See also:Lyons (b. 1863) in the match against M.C.C. was an extraordinary display of punishing cricket. In 1896, though they did not win the See also:rubber of test matches, the colonials were most successful, 19 matches being victories and only 6 lost. S. E. Gregory, J. See also:Darling (b. 1870), F. A. Iredale (b. 1867), G. Giffen, C. Hill (b. 1877), and G. H. S. Trott (1866–1905) were the best bats, and the last-named made an admirable captain. H. Trumble (1867) kept an excellent length, and E. Jones (1869) was deadly with his fast bowling. The Australian representatives in 1899 demonstrated that they were the best since 1882, 16 successes and only 3 defeats (v. Essex, Surrey and Kent) being emphasized by a victory over England at Lord's by to wickets, the only one of the five test matches brought to a conclusion. M.A. See also:Noble (b.1873)and See also:Victor Trumper (b.1877), both newcomers, batted superbly. The latter, v. Sussex, made 300, the largest individual score hitherto made by an Australian in England, the previous best having been 286 by Murdoch in the corresponding match in 1882. H. Trumble scored 1183 runs and took 142 wickets for 18 runs apiece, and Darling not only made a judicious captain, but scored the biggest aggregate, 1941, up to then obtained by any batsman touring with a colonial eleven in England. On the home side, Hayward did sound service with the bat, and his stand with F. S. Jackson in the fifth test match yielded 185 runs for the first wicket. In 1902 another fine Australian eleven, captained by Darling, won 23 and lost only 2 matches. They won the rubber of test matches at See also:Manchester by 3 runs, but lost the final at the Oval by one wicket after an even more remarkable struggle, G. L. Jessop having scored 104 in an See also:hour and a quarter. The other defeat was by Yorkshire by 5 wickets, when they were dismissed for 23 by Hirst and Jackson. The rest of the tour was characterized by brilliant batting. The performance of Trumper in making 2570 runs (with an average of 48) surpassed anything previously seen; R. A. See also:Duff (b. 1878) also proved a brilliant run-getter. W. W. See also:Armstrong (b. 1879) was useful in all departments, and J. V. Saunders (b. 1876) proved a successful left-handed bowler. In 1905 there was a marked falling-off, as England won two and See also:drew the other three test matches; but only one other defeat, by Essex by 19 runs, had to be set against 16 Australian victories. The persistent bowling off the wicket by Armstrong, and the inability to finish games within three days, were the chief drawbacks. Arm-strong eclipsed all previous colonial records in England by heading both tables of averages, scoring 2002 (average 48) and taking 130 wickets at a cost of 17 runs each. He also compiled the largest individual score (303 not out v. Somerset) ever made on an Australian tour. M. A. Noble also exceeded 2000 runs. For a long time the fast bowler, A. See also:Cotter (b. 1882, N.S.W.), failed, but eventually " came off," just as F. Laver (b. 1869), who had taken many wickets in the earlier part of the tour, was becoming less formidable. Duff saved the colonials by a great innings in the fifth test match; Trumper was less certain than formerly, and See also:Clement Hill more reckless; whilst J. J. See also:Kelly (b. 1867) on his fifth tour was better than ever before with the gloves. The Australians who visited England under the leadership of M. A. Noble in 1909 were generally held to be a weaker team than most of their predecessors, but they greatly improved as the season advanced, proving that the side included several cricketers of the highest merit, and as a captain Noble has seldom been surpassed in consummate generalship. Their record of thirteen wins to four defeats offered little evidence of inferiority, while the large number of twenty-one drawn matches was accounted for by the See also:cold wet weather that largely prevailed throughout the summer. Two out of the five test matches were unfinished, and Australia won the rubber by two matches to one. In all the test matches England was under the command of A. C. MacLaren, but the great Harrovian was no longer the batsman he had been some years earlier; Jackson had abandoned first-class cricket ; Hirst and Hayward were becoming veterans; and, speaking generally, the English batting was decidedly inferior, and it collapsed feebly in three of the test matches. England's failure, for which poor fielding and missed catches were also responsible, was the more disappointing since they began well by winning the first test match at See also:Birmingham by ten wickets. C. B. Fry and Hobbs knocking off the 105 runs required to win in the second innings without the loss of a wicket. In the third test match, at See also:Leeds, England was deprived of the services of Hayward and Blythe through illness, and an accident to Jessop during the match compelled the side to play a man short. It was in bowling that the Australians were thought to be least strong; but Laver's See also:analysis in the Manchester test match, when he took 8 wickets for 31 runs in England's first innings, was the most notable feature of the match; and although his record at the head of the bowling averages for the tour, 70 wickets at an average cost of 14.9 runs, had frequently been beaten in earlier Australian See also:tours in England, it proved him a worthy successor of Spofforth, Boyle and Turner. Armstrong, although he did not equal his record of 1905, again scored over moo runs and took over loo wickets, his exact figures being 1439 runs and 120 wickets. The most remarkable Australian batting was that of two young left-handed players who on this occasion visited England for the first time, W. Bardsley (b. 1884) and See also:Vernon Ransford (b. 1885), the latter of whom headed the averages both for test matches (58.8) and for the whole tour (45.5), his See also:principal achievement being an innings of 143 not out in the test match at Lord's. Bardsley, who was second in the test matches averages (39.6), fell into the third place slightly below Armstrong in the averages for the tour; but he alone scored over 200 in an innings, which he accomplished twice, and over 2000 in aggregate for the tour, and he established a test match " record " by scoring 136 and 130 in the match at the Oval. Of the twenty-two " centuries " scored by Australians during the season Bardsley and Ransford each made six. Trumper and Noble each scored over a thousand runs, and See also:Macartney was an invaluable member of the side both in batting and bowling. As a wicket-keeper See also:Carter worthily filled the place of Kelly, and the fielding of the Colonials fully maintained the brilliant Australian See also:standard of former years. The following " records " of Australian cricket in England up to 1909 are of interest: Highest total by an Australian team: 843 v. Past and Present of Oxford and Cambridge Universities in 1893. Highest total against an Australian team: 576 by England at the Oval in 1899. Lowest total by an Australian team: 18 v. M.C.C. in 1896. Lowest total against an Australian team: 17 by See also:Gloucester-shire in 1896. Highest individual Australian score in one innings: 303 not out by W. W. Armstrong v. Somersetshire in 1905. Highest individual Australian aggregate in a tour: 2570 by V. T. Trumper in 1902. Two centuries in a match: V. T. Trumper 109 and 119 V. Essex in 1902; W. Bardsley 136 and 130 v. England in 1909 (test match record). The following table shows the Australians who headed the batting and bowling averages respectively in tours in England up to 1909. Batting. Year. Inn. out Runs. Most. Aver. 1878 C. Bannerman, N.S.W. 31 I 723 133 24.10 1880 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. . 19 I 465 *153 25.80 1882 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. . 61 5 1711 *286 30.50 1884 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. . 50 5 1378 211 30.60 1886 G. Giff en, S.A. . . . 63 9 1453 119 26.90 1888 P. M'Donnell, V. . 62 I 1393 105 22.5o 1890 W. L. Murdoch, N.S.W. 64 2 1459 *158 23.33 1893 H. Graham, V. . 55 3 1492 219 28.36 1896 S. E. Gregory, N.S.W. . 48 2 1464 154 31.38 1899 J. Darling, S.A. . 56 9 1941 167 41.29 1902 V. T. Trumper, N.S.W. . 53 0 ?570 128 48.49 1905 W. W. Armstrong, V. . . 48 7 2002 *303 48.82 1909 V. S. Ransford . . 43 4 1778 190 45.58 * Not out. Bowling. Year. O. M. R. W. Aver. 1878 T. W. Garrett, N.S.W. 296.2 144 394 38 10.30 188o F. R. Spofforth, N.S.W. 240.8 82 396 46 8.6o 1882 H. F. Boyle, V.. 1200.14 525 168o 144 11.6o 1884 F. R. Spofforth, N.S.W. 1544.32 649 2642 216 12.20 1886 G. Giffen, S.A.. 1693.26 722 2711 159 17.05 1888 C. T. B. Turner, N.S.W. 2589.3 1222 3492 314 11.38 1890 C. T. B. Turner, N.S.W. 1651.1 724 2725 215 12.45 1893 C. T. B. Turner, N.S.W. 1148 450 2202 16o 13.12 1896 T. R. M'Kibbin, N.S.W. 6471 198 1441 101 14.27 1899 H. Trumble, V. . 1249.1 431 2618 142 18.43 1902 H. Trumble, V. 948 305 1998 140 14.27 1905 W. W. Armstrong, V. 1027 308 2288 130 17.60 1909 F. Laver . . . 495.5 161 1048 70 14.97 The first English team to visit Australia was organized in 1862, and was captained by H. H. Stephenson. George Parr (1826-1891) took out the next in 1864, Dr E. M. Grace being the only amateur. In 1873 the Melbourne Club invited Dr W. G. Grace to take out aneleven, and three years later James Lillywhite conducted a team of professionals. On this tour for the first time colonials contended on equal terms, one match v. Australia being won by 4 wickets and the other lost by 45 runs. Lord Harris in the autumn of 1878 took a team of amateurs assisted by Ulyett and Emmett, winning 2 and losing 3 eleven-a-side encounters, Emmett's 137 wickets averaging 8 runs each. Shaw, Shrewsbury and Lillywhite jointly organized the expedition of 1881, when Australia won the second test match by 5 wickets. The Hon. No Bligh (afterwards Lord Darnley) in 1882 took a fine team, which was crippled owing to an injury sustained by the bowler F. Morley. Four victories could be set against three defeats; Australia winning the only test match, owing to the batting of Blackham. Shaw's second tour in 1884 showed Barnes heading both batting and bowling averages, while six victories counterbalanced two defeats. In the third tour Shrewsbury became captain, but the English for the first time encountered the bowling of C. T. B. Turner, who took 27 wickets for 113 runs in two matches. Australia was twice defeated, the English captain batting in fine form. On this tour was played the Smokers v. Non-Smokers, when the latter scored 803 for 9 wickets (Shrewsbury 236, W. See also:Bruce 131, Gunn 15o), against the bowling of Briggs, Boyle, Lohmann, Palmer and Flowers. The See also:winter of 1887 saw two English teams in Australia, one under Lord Hawke and G. F. Vernon, the other under Shrews-bury and Lillywhite. Both teams played well, the batting being headed by W. W. Read with an average of 65, and Shrewsbury with 58. The ill-success of Lord See also:Sheffield's team in two out of three test matches did not disprove the great merits of his eleven. Dr W. G. Grace headed the averages with 44, and received the best support from Abel and A. E. Stoddart, whilst Attewell, Briggs and Lohmann all possessed fine bowling figures. A. E. Stoddart's first team (in 1894) achieved immense success and was the best of all. In the first test match they went in against 586 runs and ultimately won by 10 runs, Ward making 75 and 117. Stoddart himself averaged 51, scoring 173 in the second test match, and A. C. MacLaren (who made 228 V. See also:Victoria), Brown and Ward all averaged over 40. The last tour conducted by Stoddart proved less satisfactory, four of the five test matches being lost, and some See also:friction being caused by various incidents. K. S. Ranjitsinhji, who averaged 6o and made 175 in a test match and 189 v. South Australia, and A. C. MacLaren, who scored five hundreds and averaged 54, were prominent, Hayward also doing good work; but the bowling See also:broke down. Weakness in bowling was the cause of the ill.success of A. C. MacLaren's side in 1901. After a brilliant victory by an innings and 124 runs at See also:Sydney, the other four test matches were all lost. MacLaren himself batted magnificently, and so did Hayward and Tyldesley. Braund stood alone as an all-round man. The M.C.C. in 1903 officially despatched a powerful side led by P. F. Warner, and in every sense except the financial the success was complete. Three test matches were won and two lost, while two new records were set up, one by Rhodes obtaining 15 wickets at Melbourne, the other by R. E. Foster, who in seven See also:hours of brilliant batting compiled 287. Tyldesley and Hayward both did good work as batsmen; Rhodes and Braund both bowled consistently. The catch-phrase about " bringing back the ashes " became almost proverbial; its origin is to be found in the Sporting Times in 1882 after Australia had defeated England at the Oval. New See also:Zealand.-Although cricket has not attained a degree of perfection in New Zealand commensurate with that in Australia, it Is keenly played. Lord Hawke sent out from England a team in 1902-1903 which won all the eighteen matches arranged. Cricket in See also:India.-Not only the English who live in India, but the natives also-See also:Parsees, See also:Hindus and Mahommedans alike-play cricket. A Parsee eleven visited England in 1884 and 1888. South See also:Africa.-South See also:African cricketers visiting England are handicapped by playing on turf instead of on the matting wickets used in South Africa. The side which came over during the See also:Boer See also:War in 1901 won 13, lost 9, and drew 2 matches, playing a tie with Worcestershire, and showing marked improvement on the team which had visited England in 1.894. E. A. Halliwell (b. 1864) proved a fine wicket-keeper, J. H. See also:Sinclair (b. 1876) a good all-round cricketer, J. J. Kotze (b. 1879) a very fast bowler, and G. A. Rowe (b. 1872) See also:clever with the ball. In 1904 more decided success was achieved, for on a more ambitious programme ten victories could be set against two defeats by Worcestershire and Kent, with a tie with Middlesex. The most important success was a victory by 189 runs over a powerful England eleven at Lord's, when R. O. See also:Schwarz (b. 1875) scored 102 and 26, and took 8 wickets for 106, dismissing Ranjitsinhji twice. Kotze and Sinclair again See also:bore the brunt of the attack. Of the English teams visiting South Africa, that taken by Lord Hawke in 1894 did not meet with such important opposition as the one he led in 1900, yet the side came back undefeated, having won all three test matches. P. F. Warner and F. Mitchell, with Tyldesley, were the chief run-getters, Haigh, Trott and Cuttell bowling finely. In the winter of 1905 the M.C.C. sent out a side under P. F. Warner, but it lost four out of the five test matches, F. L. Fane and J. N. Crawford being the most successful of the Englishmen, and G. C. White (1882) and A. D. Nourse proving themselves great colonial batsmen. In 1907 a representative South African team came to England, and their improved status in the cricketing world was shown by the arrangement of test matches. In the winter of 1909-1910 an English team under Mr Leveson See also:Gower went to South Africa, and played test matches. West Indies.-West Indian cricketers toured in England in 1900, winning 5 matches and losing 8. The best batsman was C. A. Olivierre (b. 1876), who subsequently qualified for Derbyshire. The brunt of the bowling devolved on S. Woods and T. See also:Burton (b. 1878). In 1897 teams under Lord Hawke and A. Priestly (b. 1865) both visited West Indies, See also:Trinidad defeating both powerful combinations. R. S. Lucas (b. 1867) had in 1895 taken out a successful side. A much weaker combination in 1902 suffered five defeats but won 13 matches. B. J. T. Bosanquet, E. R. Wilson (b. 1879) and E. M. Dowson (b. 188o) were the chief performers. In 1906 another West Indian side visited England,. but were not particularly successful. See also:America.-In the United States cricket has always had to contend with the popularity of baseball, and in See also:Canada with the rival at-tractions of See also:lacrosse. Nevertheless it has grown in popularity, See also:Philadelphia being the headquarters of the game in the New World. The See also:Germantown, See also:Belmont, Merion and Philadelphia Clubs play annually for the See also:Halifax Cup, and the game is controlled by the Associated Cricket clubs of Philadelphia. In the neighbourhood of New See also:York matches are arranged by the Metropolitan See also:District Cricket League and the New York Cricket Association; similar organizations are the Northwestern, the See also:California and the See also:Massachusetts associations, while the Intercollegiate Cricket League consists of college teams representing Harvard, See also:Pennsylvania and Haverford. R. S. Newhall (b. 1852) and D. S. Newhall (b. 1849) may almost claim to be the fathers of cricket in the United States; while D. W. Saunders (b. 1862) did much for the game in Canada. Other eminent names in See also:American cricket are A. M. Wood ; H. See also:Livingston, of the See also:Pittsburg Club, who scored three centuries in one week in 1907; H. V. Hordern, University of Pennsylvania, a very successful bowler; J. B. King, who in 1906 made 344 not out for Belmont v. Merion, and who as a fast bowler proved most effective during two tours in England. At See also:San Francisco in 1894 W. See also:Robertson and A. G. Sheath compiled a total of 340 without the loss of a wicket, the former scoring 206 not out, and the latter 118 not out. A large number of English cricket teams have visited the United States and Canada. The first county to do so was Kent in 1904, in which year the See also:Philadelphians also made a tour in England, in the course of which J. B. King (b. 1873) took 93 wickets at an average cost of 14 runs, and proved himself the best all-round man on the side. P. H. Clark (b. 1873), a clever fast bowler, and J. A. Lester (b. 1872), the captain of the team, also showed themselves to be cricketers of merit, while N. Z. See also:Graves (b. 188o) and F. H. Bohlen (b. 1868) were quite up to English county form. The team did not, however, include G. S. Patterson (b. 1868), one of the best batsmen in America. The Philadelphians again visited Great See also:Britain in 1908, when they won 7 out of 14 matches, one being drawn. On this tour King surpassed his former English record by taking 115 wickets, and Wood, who played one fine innings of 132, was the most successful of the American batsmen.
Other Countries.-The English residents of See also:Portugal support the game, but were no match for a moderate English team that visited them in 1898. In See also: A professional player generally receives extra See also:reward for good batting or bowling, the amount being sometimes a fixed sum of £1 for every fifty runs, more frequently a sum awarded by the committee on the recommendation of the captain. Some counties give their men winter pay, others try to provide them with suitable work when cricket is over. A few get cricket in other countries during the English winter. For inter-national matches professional players and " reserves " receive £2o each, though before 1896 the fee was only Do; players (and reserves) in Gentlemen v. Players at Lord's are paid £To. A good county professional generally receives a " benefit " after about ten years' service; but the amount of the proceeds varies capriciously with the weather, the duration of the match, and the attendance. In the populous See also:northern counties of England benefits are far more lucrative than in the south, but £80o to £1000 may be regarded as a good average result. County clubs generally exercise some See also:control over the sums received. Umpires are paid Y. a match; in minor games they receive about £1 a day. Records.-Records other than those already cited may be added for reference. A schoolboy named A. E. J. See also:Collins, at See also:Clifton College in 1899, excited some interest by scoring 628 not out in a boy's match, being about seven hours at the wicket. C. J. Eady (b. 1870) scored 566 for Break o' Day v. See also:Wellington in eight hours in 1902, the total being 911. A. E. Stoddart made 485 for See also:Hampstead v. See also:Stoics in 1886. In first-class cricket the highest individual score for a batsman is A. C. MacLaren's 424 for Lancashire v. Somerset at See also:Taunton in 1895. Melbourne University scored 1094 against Essendon in See also: Warwickshire at Birmingham in May 1896. The lowest total in a, first-class match is 12 by Northamptonshire v. Gloucestershire in June 1907. The record for first wicket is 472 by S. See also:Colman and P. Coles at See also:Eastbourne in 1892. The longest partner-ship on record is 623 by Captain See also:Oates and See also:Fitzgerald at the See also:Curragh in 1895. The best stand that has been made for the last wicket in a first-class match is 230 runs, which was run up by R. W. Nicholls and See also:Roche playing for Middlesex v. Kent at Lord's in 1899. The " averages " of individual players for batting and bowling annually excite a good See also:deal of interest, and there is a danger that some players may think too much of their averages and too little of the sporting side of the game. Any comparison of the highest averages during a series of years would be misleading, owing to improvements in grounds, difference of weather, and the See also:variations in the number of innings. The following table of aggregates, compiled from the figures to the end of 1905, affords a See also:summary of the records of a select list of historic cricketers; it will serve to supplement some details already given above about them and others. Batting. Innings. Not Out. Runs. Most. Aver. K. S. Ranjitsinhji . 448 57 22,277 285 56.3 C. B. Fry . . . 481 29 22,865 244 56.4 T. Hayward . . . 667 61 25,225 315 41.3 J. T. Tyldesley . 491 38 18,683 250 41.1 Dr W. G. Grace 1463 103 54,073 344 39.1 A. Shrewsbury . . 784 88 25,819 267 37.6 R. Abel . . . . 964 69 32,810 357 36.5 A. C. MacLaren . . 526 37 17,364 424 35.2 G. I-I. Hirst . . . 626 92 18,615 341 34.4 Hon. F. S. Jackson . 490 35 15,498 160 34.2 W. Gunn . . . 821 66 25,286 273 33.3 W. W. Read . . . 739 . 53 22,919 328 33.2 A. E. Stoddart . . 513 16 16,o81 221 32.2 Bowling. Overs. Maid. Runs. Wkts. Aver. A. Shaw . . 22,830 12,803 21,887 1916 11.8 F. R. Spofforth . . 5,342 2,168 8,773 682 12.5 C. T. B. Turner 5,388 2,396 8,419 649 .12.6 T. Emmett . . . 14,672 6,87o 20,811 1523 13.1 G. Lohmann . . 15,196 6,508 23,958 1734 13.1 F. Morley . . . 12,610 6,239 15,938 1213 13.1 E. Peate . . . . 11,669 5,593 14,299 1061 13.5 W. Rhodes . . . 11,014 3,476 23,336 1564 14.1 W. Attewell . . . 22,461 11,408 28,671 1874 15.5 J. Briggs . . . . 20,300 8,275 34,411 2161 15.2 R. Peel . . . . 18,255 7,856 27,795 1733 16.6 S. Haigh 7,749 2,279 18,516 1102 16.8 J. T. Hearne 19,895 7,395 40,532 2350 17.5 W. H. Lockwood 8,733 2,241 22,981 1273 18 ;6 T. Richardson (1904) 14,474 3,835 38,126 2081 18.6 Dr W. G. Grace (1904) 28,502 10,892 50,441 2730 18.1 G. H. Hirst . Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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