Letterbox

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28180, 19 January 1957, Page 5

Letterbox

Lord Cob'nam And Cricket “Cricket lovers must have read with great interest in last Saturday's issue of “The Press" the cricketing history of the Lyttelton family. Something may be added of purely Canterbury interest. Lord Lyttelton (Lord Cobham’s great grandfather. George William Lyttelton, fourth Baron Lyttelton) visited Canterbury, for which he had done so much, in February, 1868. and brought with him his son. the Hon. S. G. Lyttelton The son played in a club match, United v. Albion, and made 104 runs and took seven wickets. This was. as far as my knowledge goes, the first century to be scored in Canterbury up to that time and caused a considerable stir. “There were plenty of cricketers. but the pitches and grounds were rough and there was little practice. To give an idea of the standard of cricket of the day, when the English XI crossed the Tasman in 1864 after touring Australia, one of its matches was against a Canterbury XXII. The Canterbury team was captained by H. P. Lance and in its first innings made 30. There were 11 ducks and the top score was 7. The English side made 137 and Canterbury in its second innings made 105. The top scorer of the match was a young Englishman named A. E. Tennant, who made 28 in Canterbury's second innings.”—G. R. MACDONALD. ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT E.S. (Christchurch). —The referees for the three tests • between the Springboks and New Zealand in 1937 were: First test, Mr L. E. Macassey (Otago): second and third tests, Mr J. S. King (Wellington).