The Coromandel Trip.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2156, 1 December 1875, Page 3

The Coromandel Trip.

A fine day s for once in a way, greeted those who rose on Coromandel thoughts intent, and of course with frugal mind on pleasure bent;, yesterday morning, and right glad were one and all that this anomaly. (for the present) in the shape of ' fine weather, was permitted to them Picking up by ones and twos ai many of the eleven who, having promised to play,' condescended to turn up, the-captain found himself with eight men and a scorer on the coal sacks of the p.s. Enterprise at 7a.m., bound for Coro-/i..'iiikndeK\":-Some. few of the:' friends of the cricketers and members of the Cricketers' Dramatic Club accompanied them, and the scorer and two substitutes were drafted into the ranks of the fCleven, with Donovan to mark for; them. The Voyage, though long, was most enjoyable. The sea was as smooth aa the most : dyspeptic person could wish, and the ■cenery as the boat progressed truly rural. There was a cry raised at one part of the journey that a shark had been canglit, but being below at the time, we Simot vouch for the accuracy of the report. There was, we believe., an exhibition ma<Jel of some kind, but the. proprietor could not be persuaded to disclose it • again, probably- for rprivale reasons. On the arrival of the boat at'Coromandel a crowd of the inhabitants were on the wharf to, welcome it, and. also: 'btfsses to take the cricketers and amateurs to the ? 'hotel of Mrs Boyd, whence the necessary changes in; the? apparel having been made, a move was made for the cricket ground.' The ground; though not theismoothest we have seen—though by? : the-bye there is no reason why it should not bp made so—is certainly one of the prtttiest,^ situated at an easy ! distance -from" the town; v with ' a -background of woods and a . pretty view :" of the harbor in the distance. Everything in the power of the Coromandel people, had; been.. done to ..make the visit of the Thames 'jQricketers?; a«i able as possible, and the kindness . they received a,t ; the handsjofj, their hosts must long be remembered by those who received it. 'Itobinson, for the Thames, : Ifbn the toss* and sent his opponents in, as it was thought the wickets would, improve as the day advanced. Coromandel were: represented at the wickets first by Norman and Oadman; Eobinsbn bowling from the lower wickets and Lawless! from

thW upper, Gellion was pomt, Crump long stop, Colson wicket-keeper, Bell M-. W., off, Frater L.'bff and L. leg, --Si Paul short leg, H argreaves. M. on, Whitford-: C. P. and Hewitt L. stop. Eobinson commenced bowling very well, but it was not Lawless's day, and his bowling was r' never though after being changed , for and then put'on again he ,ygot'wickets. The wickets -began to fall Terr fast, and it was not until Gatland H took the bat in hand ,that anything ap- j proacning to a, stand was made. ; .Gatland i : scored 17, not out, iri almost praiseworthy «nd painstaking manner, and the number of "good balls he stopped, particularly | from Eobinson, can hardly be believed by ! looking merely at the. numerical number 1 'of his score. The innings closed for fifty, not a large number at rany timej • and., one which, under the circumstances, Jfe .Thames players certainly expected" get. They were doomed to disappointment, howeyer. The bowling of Coromandel was straight,: the fielding fair, and the long-stopping of Higginson excellent, and the small total of 38-was all they could muster/ of which , WinWord contributed nine. Gellion and Paul each played steadily, and. Lawless contributed a hard hit for four, which might might have been more —the ball being hit over a fence—had not the batsmen imagined that it was a boundary hit. The Thames being defeated on tfie first innings, their only hope of winning the match was to get their opponents out as soon as possible, and endeavor to hit off the requisite runs, and as it had been agreed to draw the stumps at 6 o'clock, not much time remained for them to do it. Eobinson commenced bowling beautifully, getting two "wickets in his first over, and bowling maiden after maiden to no purpose, to the impenetrable defence exhibited by Gatland, who again proved himself to be the mainstay of his side. The innings closed for 41, within ten minutes of time, but the Thames men went in, though all fhope of getting the runs was gone. The following is the score at 6 o'clock, from which it will be seen that custom' —though the laws of cricket are against it—gives the victory to the local players by 12 runs on the first inning. The following is the score :rCOBOMANDEt —I'IEST IKNINGS. Iformanj b Lawless ... 0 Cadman,,runout ... ' ... 0 Higginson, b Eobinson ... .7 Beeson, run out ... ... 0 : .: Gatland,'not out ... ... 17 Woodward, b "Whitford ... 5 Hornbrook, run out ... "8 Wilson, b Lawless ... ... 0 : Bumsey, b Lawless ... 0 McLean, run out ... ... 0 Hovell, b Bobinson ... 0 Wides 2, byes .11 ... 13 . *'•:,/• .:'- ; T-0ta1.... „, ....:,;..50 '; THAMES—HHST INKINGS. - ; j Hewitt b Hovell „>,. '»..' 1 1 Frater b Hovell ... ... S» Colaon b HdveM ... ... 0 Eobinson c Higginson b Hovell 7, Crump b Hovell ... ... 4 Whitford b Hovell 9 Gellion ibw Norman ... 1 Paul b Norman ... .: ... 1 Lawless b Hovell ... ... 5 Hargreayes, runout ... 0 Bell, not out... ... ... 0 ,Byes 4, leg byes I ... 5 Total „.,;,... 38, „ COBOMAKDEL—SECOND INNINGS.: ! ! . Hornbrook b Eobin son ... 0 \'' -: ::Cadmanb Lawless... ... 0 ■ Higginson b Lawless ..".'■ 0' ■ Norman b Eobinson ...■'. 2; BeesonbEobihson.'., ' ;.. 1 ' "vVoodward b Colson" ... 2Gatland, not out „V i ...14 "Wilson b Eobinsdn ' ... 0; Eumsey.c and b Whitford 7\ ;•■>; -McLean b Eobinsbn ' ; ; : 2 Hovell b Eobinson... .... 0; " : Wides 5, byes 8 ... 13

Total... ... 41 Immediately after the stumps were drawn, the cricketers and their friends proceeded back to Mrs Boyd's, where an excellent spread, including oysters,, the last of the season, was provided by th<3 hospitality of the Coromandel hosts. Tho

dinner being over, preparations were immediately commenced for turning the room into a pro. tem.,theatre, as the play of "Caste," and the farce "No 1. round the Corner," were to be performed in aid of the Coromandel Cricket Club. At the end of the room the ingenuity of Mr Gatland and his confreres had rigged up a very pretty little stage, with drop curtain, foot - lights, &0.,.- .all complete, and as many as -: could be accommodated inside were loud in their applause of " Caste," the characters in' which were performed by the same ladies and gentlemen as performed here on September 16°, with ihe exception that;; Miss Brookes played the part of Esther ;which had been previously played by Miss Aimy Thornton. After the play Mr > Whitford sang spine songs, and Messrs' Donovan and Burgess performed the farce; This being done the room was once more cleared for a dance, which was kept, up until one o'clock, when a general '■ move was made for the wharf to igo on bqarjdthe steamer, which was anchored :out in the deeper water. Ladies, cricketers, stage properties and luggage were all got on board without a mishap, and at 2 a.m. the Enterprise started, and arrived here at 7 a.m without anything noteworthy hay-: ing occurred on the voyage. ;.: Tfcej' cricketers, the dramatic club, and, we believe, all who went thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and thanks to the kindness .and good fellowship of the Coromandel people declare they have seldom made so pleasant an excursion. ",-.," '