THE GAME OF CRICKET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 5 February 1927, Page 12

THE GAME OF CRICKET.

FROM 1750 AND ONWARDS. INTERESTING HISTORY. In the belief that some account of the origin and history of cricket, with its outstanding features and striking personalities, would be of interest and value, facts have been, taken from early writings and incidents recalled. The first section will be given this week and will be'followed by others in serial form.

The- game was still in a somewhat crude state ancl the implements used were rough compared to the beautifully manufactured bats, etc., of today. But interest was keen, and it is recorded by a member of the first constituted club at Hambledon in Hants, always a great centre of the game, in 1750' that “in the playing districts every pottage had a well greased bat either kept in the bacon rack or hung up behind the kitchen door.'’ Another great centre was Alton, in Hants, famous for its ale and cricket. It is recorded that the first taste of thorough cricket in the Midlands wms fostered by Mr Abraham Bass, a partner in the'great firm bearing his name. Such an enthusiast is he said to have been that “ he trained up a creditable club in his own establishment so that the name might become as famous for ericket as it is for bitter ale.”

The throwing of the ball from player to player on a ground while waiting for a new man to come in is suggested by an incident related by Lord March in 3753, when lie laid a wager with another nobleman “that he would cause a letter to be conveyed 106 miles in an hour. His Lordship engaged twenty cricketers who were expert in catching; the letter was enclosed in a cricket ball, and at the appointed time they stood in a circular direction, threw the ball from one to another for the specified time, after which the ground was measured, which proved to be 120 miles.’’ So he won his bet. Other incidents of that time are the death of the then Prince of Wales as the result of a blow in the side from a cricket ball, and. a record in colours of a match by the Royal Academy Club in Marylebone Fields. It is interesting to note that save for the curious dress the construction of the game might well have applied to half a century later.

But the social standing of the cricketer was not always very high, for one reads of one Air Toby Bumper “who is frequently engaged at cricket, and at a time when the cricket ground was thought as low as a modern skittle alley. But at the same time it is recorded by one of the poets that some Dukes at Alary’hone bowled time away. ’ ’

The famous Hambledon Club, by a system of regular practice, enjoyed a singular fame until the end of the century and for several years played an annual match against All England. A famous inn there was kept by old Parmer Nyren, and called ‘-‘Bat and Ball,” where congregated and drank his fiery ale many young devotees of the, game. Cricket was also “born” in Notts and Yorkshire, afterwards to become two of the most famous counties, in the latter half of the eighteenth -century, and it is believed that the fir century ever made in 'England -mas made by a player named Smith, of the Hampshire team, in. a match against All England. Ho scored. 3-5U5, and a significant feature of the match is that it was played for a stake of 1000 guineas. The democratic state of tlfe game is shown by the fact that the famous players included a bricklayer, a Duke’s gardener, a tanner, a groundman, a bootmaker, a farmer, a miller, a barber, a tailor and another described as a wicket-keeper. It is not, recorded whether this was a profession. Women played in. those days a match being recorded in the Weekly 'Register of August J 77/7, between six unmarried women and six married, resulting in a win for the former. The year 1777 brought out a Hampshire player, Aylward, who performed

the great feat of scoring 167 against the finest bowling then in England, that of a man known as “Jmmpy” Stevens. He went in at 5 p.m. on Wednesday and was not out until 3 p.m. on Friday. An amusing inscription, was put up on the house of .Tohn Small, ball maker to Hambledon Club, which ran as follows: “Here lives John Small, Sells bat and ball, And will play any man in. England.” That the game; was popular also with the- nobility and gentry is proved by the reports of “a match between the Countess of Derby and some other ladies of quality and fashion at Seven Oaks, Kent, 1779.” (To be continued.)