by A. W. Pullin
"As amateurs in my county days," says he, "we paid our own expenses. I believe it was about the year 1881 when Lancashire began to pay railway fares, and afterwards hotel bills. The conditions now are, of course, altered, and there are so many matches that, had I been playing, I certainly could not have spared the time required. Cricket was played in my day more as a recreation, and some of my contemporaries agree with me in thinking that there was more pleasure and less seriousness in the game then than now. To-day, a firstclass county match has become a great tournament—a public display—eagerly scanned and criticised by thousands."
As a bowler Mr Appleby's action was above suspicion. His association with a county in whose ranks all bowlers have not enjoyed a similar unequivocal reputation makes his opinion on throwing of interest and value.
"Though it is quite possible Crossland might occasionally 'chuck' a yorker, I used to think it singular that we never heard anything about it, except when he had taken a wicket. Once at Burnley, for Enfield, the crowd, as he was knocking down the wickets of the local team, shouted out, 'Gi'e over cobbing,' the latter being another word for throwing in Lancashire. Honestly, it was a very difficult thing to put my finger, as it were, upon any definite occasion when I have seen Crossland deliberately throw. During the four years Crossland was at Enfield no one, except in the instance referred to, raised any cry of throwing against him. He was a short sturdy chap, and it was said he could throw 100 yards out of a tub. When he delivered the ball he did not run more than five yards, and his last action was a whip of the wrist which some people took for a throw, as was the case with Nash and Watson. Once, I remember, at Old Trafford one of the Australians watched Crossland and said, 'There, did you see that throw ?' but again the remark was made after a wicket had fallen.
"Crossland, who is now an out-porter at Blackburn, was not devoid of humour. I remember once in a match at Blackburn the ball from one of his deliveries was hit between cover-point and mid-off, and the two fielders between them dropped it. He was disgusted, and blurted out, 'Two of you's as good as one, and one's as good as two, for neither of you can stop a ball.'"
Mr Appleby does not like to talk about his own bowling, and certainly disclaims phenomenal powers, although for a time he was probably the best amateur bowler in England. "I should say," he confesses, "I was never conscious of any distinct ability to make the ball 'do' anything. I varied the pace a little, tried a yorker now and again, and so on. The only explanation of my success is, that it came as the result of steady practice. I have very fair-sized hands—they sometimes called them 'shovels' when I was fielding—with long and powerful fingers, and I suppose I must have put some life into the ball in delivering it, and it invariably 'came in' with my arm. I was strong, fairly capable of endurance, and stood nearly 6 feet 2 inches in my shoes."
Preserved in his carefully-kept scrapbook are letters from local clubs—the Judge Walmsley C.C., date July 1, 1860, and Ramsbottom C.C., to be precise—"to play a friendly game at cricket for a ball and for honour." A glance at them naturally turned the conversation into local channels and the influence of Leagues upon the game, Lancashire being one of the strongholds of League cricket.
"I have tried," he says, "to bring League cricket in Lancashire more in line with the county; that is to say, that it should be the aim of the Leagues to produce local players fit to uphold the honour of the county. In my opinion it is a mistake to rely on professionals in our local clubs to win matches, and still more is it an evil that professionalism, direct or indirect, should be encouraged among the local club members themselves. In my own case, if there had been two professional bowlers at Enfield, in all probability I should never have had the chance of becoming a bowler myself: I should not have been wanted.
"Another opinion that I hold is, that whatever tends to unduly exaggerate the importance of a result, or suggest individual or collective fame—much less a reward in the shape of trophies or medals—is a source of danger to the pastime. Competitions of this kind are apt to shake the balance of fair play and good judgment, except perhaps of the very best of men, and make them more anxious of the result of a match than careful of the way in which it is won. Leagues, too, while they increase the number of spectators, also introduce men whose conception of sport is perhaps not as high as we should all like it to be, and when they become excited, the players are liable to find that the feeling is contagious. I don't think there is a great deal of betting in League cricket -—at least, that is my experience.
"Before leaving local cricket I might recall an interesting occurrence that happened so far back as September 9, 1865. Enfield were to play Accrington at home. We were quite a young club then. Accrington had the services of old John Berry, the Yorkshireman who did a great deal to develop cricket in East Lancashire—a man whom we all held in much respect, and who always did his level best for his side. We had no professional of our own, so we engaged George Atkinson. When the match had to commence we were anxiously looking towards the road to see if he was coming. But no George turned np. We asked Accrington if they would drop Berry, seeing that Atkinson had not come, but they replied, 'We shall play Berry; you do as you like.' The match had to go on, Accrington were got out for 62, and we won easily with a score of 122. My own contribution was 6 wickets and 57 runs. Needless to say, the result caused immense delight at Enfield, and dismay at Accrington. George Atkinson never explained why he did not keep his engagement, but I afterwards joked him about it, and it was a pleasure to me to play in his benefit match at Dewsbury on September 5, 6, and 7, 1870, on which occasion, by the way, I remember he sang at the theatre at night, and sang remarkably well."
Mr Appleby has been president of the Enfield Club since 1861. In 1877 the local cricketers made him a presentation, of which he continues justly proud. It consists of a handsome silver loving-cup, which bears the following inscription:—
Presented to A. Appleby, Esq., by the members and friends of the Enfield Cricket Club, of which he has been President seventeen years, as a recognition of his services in promoting the national game, and acknowledgment of the ability with which he has represented his club and county both at home and abroad. Oct. 20, 1877.
Another presentation of which Mr Appleby is equally proud is an elegant silver goblet. It was presented to him by the Committee and players of the Enfield Club on October 25, 1899. It commemorates the completion of his fortieth year of active cricket in his native village .
153
WILLIAM OSCROFT.
THE name of Oscroft, of Arnold, is to Nottinghamshire cricket what that of Thewlis, of Lascelles Hall, is to Yorkshire. It represents a family of cricketers in a county nursery. A John Oscroft played in the Notts County Eleven half a century ago. His brothers Joseph, James, and Thomas were all cricketers, while Samuel, or "Bow" Oscroft, in his day was an invincible pedestrian. In later years another John and William Oscroft, sons of Thomas, appeared on the county cricketgreen. William was captain of Notts for some years, and one of England's foremost batsmen. It is he who is the subject of this Talk.
The village of Arnold, situated about four miles from Nottingham, resembles Lascelles Hall as much as the Oscrofts recall the Thewlises. It was formerly the home of a community of handloom weavers, who when they had spare time occupied it in playing cricket, and when they had no time to spare put their work aside and made it, so that they could still play cricket. The age of the power-loom has changed all that at Arnold, just as it has done in the famous old Yorkshire nursery.
William Oscroft's county cricket career commenced in 1863. It lasted practically twenty years, and closed with a tragedy. On September 7, 1882, Notts were playing Sussex at Brighton, and Oscroft, being in brilliant form, scored a fine forcing innings of 62, making that figure out of 90 for the-first wicket in company with Mr C. W. Wright. That was the last time he handled a bat.
Shooting pains through the muscles, a giving way of the knees, a strange difficulty in preserving the equilibrium, brought home suddenly to Willia
m Oscroft that there was something wrong with him. The symptoms grew worse. He sought a specialist's advice. Would he get better 1 The specialist looked thoughtfully out of the window for a few moments, and then ventured the reply, "I hope so." To Oscroft this was the umpire's verdict "out." He played cricket no more.
William Oscroft is a victim of locomotor ataxia, brought on by cold and over-exertion.
But if physically infirm, and only able occasionally to get down to the scene of his former triumphs at Trent Bridge, William Oscroft is mentally as bright and active as ever, and retains lively recollections of his cricketing career. He was born on December 16, 1843. The portrait given of him represents him as he was in early manhood. He prefers that this only shall be published.
There was no orthodox cricket-field at Arnold when Oscroft learned to play cricket as a boy. The present field at Bestwood Park—a seat of the Duke of St Albans—which is also the club name now, was constructed in 1867 by William Oscroft's father, and opened by a match with the AllEngland Eleven, the funds for which were obtained by £shares. The score of the match, printed on silk, is still preserved by the Oscrofts of Arnold.
It may here be mentioned that the late Duke of St Albans was once induced to play cricket with the youths of Arnold, and there is an entry in an old score-book which shows that his Grace was caught out for 8 by C. T. Oscroft. The latter will now tell you that the ball went to his hand and "stuck." The catch was quite an accident. No member of the team would have dreamed of trying to prevent the Duke from making a big score against them.
Oscroft's- introduction into the serious side of cricket— that is, his first professional engagement—took place when he was seventeen years of age. "There was," he says, "an advertisement in the 'Sporting Life' for a boy to play cricket at Eastbourne, wages 10s. per week. I applied, and got the post. It was understood that I was to bowl for the boys at the school, but after seeing me bowl in practice the elders thought they would like my assistance. W. Slinn, a wellknown Yorkshireman, now dead, should have taken up an engagement as the senior professional, at a salary of ^4 per week, but he broke it, and George Baker, of Kent, took his place. I lived with Baker, thanks to whom I was able to subsist on 10s. a-week, and pay board and lodging. My stay at Eastbourne lasted four years.
"In 1863 I applied for a trial with the Notts Colts early in the season, but was not selected. Then I came home to play in the Arnold feast matches, and after scores of 70 and 90, and a lot of wickets, a Notts Committee member asked me to play with the Colts in the September trial, but on the day of the match I was placed not among the Colts but among the County Eleven. It was, you see, a repetition of the Eastbourne experience: I was engaged for the juniors, but taken over by the seniors. In 1864 Alf. Shaw and I were sent up together as Colts to play at Lord's. Shaw took 7 wickets in the first innings and 6 in the second: I was 1-b-w-b, Grundy 51 in the first innings and b Wootton 76 (out of a total of 113 from the bat) in the second. Our reputations were then made. The M.C.C. called me into the pavilion and presented me with a bat—a rare thing for them to do, at least in those days.
"My connection with the All-England team began in 1865. The previous year in the Yorkshire match at Bradford—August 4, 5, 6—George Parr did a very curious thing. He was not playing himself, but he was there in charge of the team. I had previously gone in first wicket down; now he placed me absolutely the last man! You may guess I was astonished, and could not explain the move except on the ground that Parr had a poor opinion of my abilities. However, in last I had to go, and George Anderson caught me out from a straight drive off Roger Iddison for 2.
"Then Parr came up and asked me if I was engaged for next season. I replied I was not. Had not Carpenter asked me to play for the United 1 No. Had I not promised to go to Lord's? No. Then would I play for him (Parr)? Would I play for George Parr! Why, of course, I would; it was the very thing I had set my heart upon. I had my wish.
"It was only a couple of months before that [July 23, 1864], in my second match for Notts, we looked like being beaten by Kent at the Crystal Palace. Some one told Parr that his county looked in for a beating, but the veteran replied, 'I have a boy here who will be put on after dinner, and he'll get them out.' I was put on to bowl after luncheon, and had the good fortune to take 4 of the last 5 wickets quickly, Notts winning the match by 73 runs.
"I was not long in meeting with both the humiliating and the exciting phases of county cricket. On July 28 and 29, 1864, Notts played Surrey at Trent Bridge. I captured 'a pair.' That was the humiliation. The excitement came in Surrey's second innings. They needed 62 to win the match, and Jupp and Mortlock making 30 odd for the first wicket, bets of 6 to 4 were made as to the pair rubbing the runs off before being separated. Then suddenly one of them got out, and one of those marvellous chances which sometimes come over a game was seen. Wickets fell so fast that when the last man came in 4 runs were needed. Jackson gave Shepherd— the last man—a yorker, but the batsman stuck his bat in the block-hole and the ball went away for one. Then Mr Dowson, who had been batting an hour and a half for 8 runs, cut one for 3, and Surrey won by 1 wicket.
"The 1865 match with Surrey, I may add, at the Oval, was
also won by Surrey by 1 wicket. Sixteen runs were then needed when the last man came in, and the last 9 runs were hit off the last two balls. One of the umpires gave one of the batsmen not out just at this exciting time, though he was run out a yard and a half. The incident produced so much feeling that Notts and Surrey did not meet the two following years."
On being introduced into the All-England Eleven, Oscroft at once made a reputation with both bat and ball, for he scored nearly 800 runs, and headed the bowling averages with a record of 33 wickets at a cost of 4-1 runs per wicket. In subsequent years he captained the eleven, and arranged the matches for old George Parr. There was an appropriateness in this, seeing that Oscroft's father was the first to bring the All-England team to his native village of Arnold in 1853, in which match no fewer than six Oscrofts took part.
The All-Englanders were gay dogs, and some of them inveterate practical jokers, as the following will show :—
"I remember the match Parr's England Eleven v. Twentytwo of Chickenley and District in Yorkshire, played in August 1865. After the day's play, and I had dined, on returning to the hotel where we were staying I found Jackson and Tom Bignall and a number of others in the parlour enjoying themselves, while Jack Smith of Cambridge lay fast asleep on three chairs. I cried to Jackson, 'Hollo! what's up with Jack?' 'Oh,' he replied, 'he's been fast asleep some time.' 'He's only dog sleeping,' says I, 'I can wake him;' and fetching a tumbler of water, I blew a portion into his face. The effect was electrical. He jumped to his feet and raved like a madman, using language that cannot be reproduced. But worse was to follow. It seems that during his sleep Jackson had filled both his slippers with cold water. After squaring himself up a bit, he suddenly thrust his feet into his slippers, upon which his rage broke forth with renewed violence, and he wanted to fight both me and Jackson. I did not know of the slipper business when I sprinkled him.
"Poor Jack was to have shared my bed that night, but he went out in high dudgeon, and I did not see him again till next morning at breakfast, when he looked at us as black as thunder. He and I were in together a long time during the morning, and he played wonderfully well, but looked as glum as ever, and not a word would he utter, so all our runs had to be got by instinct and our silent knowledge of the game. We won easily, and Jack left us after the match was over, in high umbrage at our conduct.
"A curious incident occurred just before I went in to bat in this match. Parr called me aside and said to me, 'Oscroft, if you are in when Tom Hayward comes in, mind he doesn't run you out.' I was still in when Tom came in, and splendid cricket did he play. After making a fine cut straight to a fielder, Tom shouted to me, 'Come on.' I replied,'No— go back;' but long before he reached the crease his wicket was down, and he had to retire. I was top scorer with 52 not out. While I was fielding next d
ay a gentleman whom I did not know called to me and said, 'Here, Oscroft, here's a sovereign for your fine innings yesterday.' I learnt afterwards that Parr and Hayward were staying with a gentleman overnight, and after dinner the question of top scorer was discussed. Hayward said he would lay 5 to 1 against any individual member of the team being top scorer barring himself, and one of the company took the odds to two sovereigns. This may have been the gentleman who gave me the sovereign, though I never knew.
"Immediately afterwards [August 24, 25, 1865] Notts had to meet Sussex at Brighton. George Parr, Jackson, Tinley, and myself travelled to London together. We stayed at the Three Tuns Inn, near London Bridge Railway Station. I was sitting during the evening in a secluded part of the bar, and being quite unknown to any one present, I overheard a rich bit of conversation, between several of the Sussex players and their friends, as to the probabilities of the coming contest. One expressed the hope that they would beat Notta Another replied, 'We are sure to do that. There's nobody to play. Dicky Daft isn't playing, and Parr is getting old and done up: we are sure to win.' But a third man says, 'There is this young Oscroft to contend with—what about him 1' 'Well, what about him 1 Surely we are not going to be beaten by a lad?' So this volley-firing was kept up for some time.
"Sussex opened the batting and got 118 runs. I and C. Brampton went in first for Notts, about forty-five minutes before the close of the day's play, and I got 20 overnight. The next day I made my score up to 107 before being caught. The match was over the second day, and Notts won with an innings and 50 runs in hand. On the following Monday I was due at Scarborough for the Scarborough Week. On Sunday I broke the journey at York, and on going into my hotel the first man I saw was Jack Smith, who instantly came up to me, and, seizing my hand, said,' Bill, I congratulate you on your 107 at Brighton.' So ended pleasantly the little episode. He had forgiven the impromptu christening which he had received a few days before at Chickenley."