by A. W. Pullin
MR C. I. THORNTON'S reputation is that of the hitter of the century. There may be rival claimants to that honour, but 1 think it will be admitted by those least interested and most qualified to judge that Mr Thornton as a hard, clean, and determined hitter is entitled to rank first among all the cricketers of the century in either the Old Country or the Colonies. From 1S69 onward almost to the 'Nineties he was the terror of bowlers and the delight of the ring. It was once written that "a professional like Mr Thornton would be an impossibility; and yet most people would sooner see half-a-dozen of Mr Thornton's big hits than the most scientific innings of the most patient professional." Cricket purists may affect to regret this want of taste; but they cannot controvert the fact.
Mr Charles Inglis Thornton is the son of the Rev. W. J. Thornton, and was born at Llanwarne Vicarage, Herefordshire, on March 20, 1850. For many years Mr Thornton's initials were often given in print as Mr C. J., and even to this day the error occasionally finds its way into black and white. The explanation given of the mistake by Mr Thornton is that, when his name was first printed on the "correct card, and order of going in," the printer could not find a fount of capital I's. A J had therefore to be used, and the error once given a life has died hard.
In business Mr Thornton is chairman of the firm of Messrs Raffety, Thornton, ifc Co. (Ld.), 42 Old Broad Street, London. The firm carry on a large business as timber merchants. Cricketers of a humorous turn of mind will at once see in this fact an explanation of Mr Thornton's wonderful hitting powers. He believes in the free use of wood.
As to his earliest cricket associations, it will be sufficient to say that Mr Thornton was in the Eton Eleven when sixteen years of age, and played as a schoolboy in the elevens of 1866-67 and'68. In 1867 he scored 1483 runs. His average while at Eton for all public-school matches was 41, and for general cricket 39. An extraordinary thing about his Eton career was that, though he made 50 in the match with Harrow every year, he was never on the winning side. Mr ll. H. Mitchell and the Hon. C. G. Lyttelton, now Lord Cobham, had a similar experience. On the other hand, when in the Cambridge Eleven, from 1869 to 1872 inclusive—he was captain in the last-mentioned year—Mr Thornton was on the winning side three times in the matches with Oxford. It was in the 1869 match that he made old John Lilly white and all the veteran habitues of Lord's open their eyes wide with astonishment by hitting a ball clean over the pavilion there. This hit was described by Lillywhite at the time as the biggest straight drive he had ever seen.
Asked to explain the secret of his remarkable hitting powers, Mr Thornton disclaims the possession of abnormal physical developments. He has, of course, a good reach— every man of 6 feet has that; but he considers he has almost the smallest arms of any cricketer of his size and weight (15 stone) in England, and his biceps would certainly not pass muster with the new Sandow school of physical culture. A hawk-like eye, an intuitive knowledge of timing the ball and bringing the bat on to it at the right place, a belief that when a hit is attempted there should be no finnicking half measures about it, and a natural delight in feeling the ball sail skyward from the bat to drop into the fields beyond,—these make up the why and the wherefore of Mr Thornton's penchant for hard hitting.
Putting it colloquially, Mr Thornton says, "I was always a bit 'on the hit,' after reaching seventeen or eighteen years of age. When a young boy there was nothing in my cricket to make one suppose I should be noted as a big hitter. It became afterwards a natural part of my game. When I went to the wicket it was my idea to get runs. Occasionally I succeeded in putting that notion into effect, as the records will show."
Having got at once, as it were, to the base of Mr Thornton's renown, it will be appropriate to give in his own words some incidents which justify the writer in describing him as the hitter of the century.
"I believe it is a fact that one hit of mine is the longest authenticated hit in the world. It was made during practice in front of the pavilion at Brighton. The ball after pitching rolled down to the Western Road. The distance to the point at which it pitched was measured by the Rev. J. Pycroft, and was found to be 168 yards. In a match the farthest hit I made was for the Orleans Club against the Australians, and that was found to measure 152 yards."
The most sensational display of hitting ever seen in England was from Mr Thornton's bat at the Scarborough Festival in 1886. The writer places it easily before Mr Gilbert Jessop's 1897 performance at Harrogate—100 in forty minutes—for the reason that the Harrogate boundaries at that time were so very easy.
"It was in the match Gentlemen of England v. I Zingari," recalls Mr Thornton, "and among I Zingari bowlers was Mr A. G. Steel. I went in for the Gentlemen in the second innings when the score was 133 for 4 wickets. In seventy minutes the score was exactly doubled, and I had made 107 out of 133, all the other wickets having fallen and I being not out. There were eight 6's—one being attributed to an overthrow—and twelve 4's in my score, and one of the 6's went through an open window in one of the houses on the Square side of the ground. Probably Mr Steel had never such rough punishment before."
It will be interesting to reproduce the exact hits in this remarkable innings—namely: 6, 1, 6, 4, 6, 2, 1, 1, 4, 6, 4, 6, 1, 4, 4, 4, 1, 6, 4, 4, 4, 6, 1, 6, 4, 4, 1, 4, 2. There were, it will be seen, only 29 strokes in the not-out score of 107!
One of the eight 6 hits in this score of 107 was a drive which sent the ball over the houses into Trafalgar Square beyond. It is a hit which to this day is spoken of at Scarborough, and by those who saw it, as one of the greatest drives ever made. Mr W. G. Grace, in his book on cricket, says, "Unfortunately this hit could not be measured, but it was thought to be the largest hit he ever made." In this the champion is in error. What says Mr Thornton ?—
"The hit sent the ball over the third chimney from the space between the houses, and it was off A. G. Steel. The late Mr Baker, the Scarborough secretary, and I measured it next day, and we found the distance to be 138 yards. It was therefore not a record by any means; those who thought it was were deceived by the extraordinary height at which the ball soared: a low swimming hit will, of course, go a lot farther than a very lofty one."
"There was some more curious cricket the following day," adds Mr Thornton. "We played a scratch game between the Gentlemen of Middlesex and Gentlemen of England. In my score of 54 there were five 6's, two of them from successive strokes. In one over of five balls it was found necessary to use four different balls. Three of them had been knocked into the field outside the ground. There was another hit at Scarborough in which the ball went through an open window on the second floor of one of the houses, and was thrown back through a window on the first floor. How it made the descent from one floor to the other—whether it rolled down or was taken down—we never ascertained."
As bearing on these incidents the writer may quote a letter written by a resident in Trafalgar Square, Scarborough, to the 'Manchester Guardian' last summer, in reply to some comments upon them in the cricket notes of that respected journal:—
THORNTON AND H1S H1TS.
To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian.
S1R,—My attention has been called to an article in your issue of Monday last in which reference is made to Thornton's big hits. The writer of the Notes seems to make light of "Old EborV' statement that one of Thornton's hits sent a ball into a window of a house on the Trafalgar Square side at Scarborough. Now I lived in the Square at that time, and witnessed the incident referred to. The house in which I lived was No. 45 ; the house whose window was smashed was No. 39. We were only two houses apart. The first ball of an over went crashing through the glass of the second-storey window of No. 39. The next ball did the same, and the cricketer suggested that the window had better be left open. I also saw that marvellous hit when Mr Thornton lifted the ball clean over the same house—a fourstoreyed building—into the garden in the centre of the square. When the height and distance are taken into account I very much question whether a bigger hit has ever been made.— I am, &c, A SPECTAT
OR.
But Mr Thornton must not be thus interrupted in his Talk.
"Here's another instance of big hitting. In a match at Malton in 1871, Scarborough Visitors v. Malton, odds of 2 to 1 were laid that I could not and would not hit a ball out of the ground. As luck would have it, the very first ball I received was hit clean out of the enclosure, and before the innings was closed I had hit the ball out five times. In the same season at Scarborough one hit off Tom Emmett pitched 130 yards away from the wicket.
"I ought to add that in every case where distance of a hit is quoted, the measurement was fairly and squarely taken by chain. Bonnor was once said to have hit a ball over a fence, a garden, a river, and a field beyond; but the hit was never measured. It has also been said that Mr Fellowes once hit a ball 175 yards, but that, too, was not authenticated.1 As showing how big hits may be deceptive, I may mention one by me on the Castle Hill at Scarborough, which Tom Emmett said had gone into the sea. To do so it would have had to travel a quarter of a mile! My big hits were always made with a .jump off the right foot. Of course I had to take the risk of being stumped, but I got wary of the wicket-keepers. When, a stumper stood straight up to the wicket I paid him respect; if he crouched back a bit I took more liberties."
Asked to give other instances of rapid run-getting, Mr Thornton says that "perhaps one of the most striking exhibitions (no pun intended) was in the match Cambridge v. M.C.C., at Lord's in 1870. I scored 34 in ten hits. The first stroke was a long hit to square-leg off Farrands over the grand stand, but there was a bigger hit in an on-drive into the gardens—also off Farrands—at the eastern extremity of the ground. At Brighton in 1871, playing for Gentlemen v. Players, this was beaten by a record of 34 in nine balls. One of the balls I did not hit; the others yielded seven 4's and one 6.
"There was an amusing conversation in this match well worth recalling. The first four balls I received were from Southerton, and they were all boundaries. At the completion of the over, Southerton came across to me and said, 'For goodness' sake, Mr Thornton, do serve M'Intyre the same way.' 'With pleasure,' I replied, and as luck would have it, I did so. This would be comforting to Southerton, if not to M'Intyre, between whom, as representing South v. North professionals, there was perhaps some natural rivalry.
"If you want further instances of rapid hitting, here are a few more. Once at Rickling Green the Orleans Club had to score 250 runs in two hours to win the match. The runs were got in a hundred minutes, my share of them being 170 not out. The feat cost me ^5, for I had laid 10 to 1 in half1 See Talk with Mr David Buchanan on this incident.
sovereigns that we did not get the runs. The Rickling Green ground is an easy one, it must be admitted. You will remember that it was there in August 1882—the year before the incident just referred to—that the Orleans Club scored 920, which at that time was a record for any match. On another occasion with the Orleans Club on their ground at Twickenham I helped myself to such scores as 91 out of 100 in one innings, and 49 out of 50 in the next."
The writer may add other instances of fiery hitting. On May 16, 1888, there was a remarkable exhibition of terrific hitting by Mr Thornton for the Orleans Club against the Merchant Taylors' School. A total of 300 runs was scored in the first two hours, and of this figure Mr Thornton claimed a modest 193.
A year afterwards, playing for the Lyric Club v. Green Jackets, the great hitter amused himself by knocking up 138 runs in fifty-eight minutes off his own bat. When he was bowled the score was 180, as the result of the first hour's play. A little later, also for the Lyrics, in a match in which Messrs Spofforth and Murdoch took part, the leviathan scorer actually made 104 runs in 38 minutes, hitting the ball seven times out of the ground. It is a matter of regret that .there is no record of the adjectives used by the heartbroken bowlers on these occasions.
That the bowlers did make remarks at times the following incidents, which Mr Thornton recalls, will show :—
"Playing once with the Messrs Walkers' team at Southgate against the Free Foresters, Mr David Buchanan was treated by me rather roughly. As a matter of fact I felt in very good form, and showed it by knocking up 185 runs. When I was at last dismissed, Mr Buchanan, with a sigh of relief, remarked, 'Now we shall have some cricket.' The famous old Cantab, in his day the best amateur slow bowler in the country, did not like having liberties taken with his bowling. Who is the bowler that would?
"The late Hon. Robert Grimston once felt hurt at the way in which I treated the bowling of a Harrow boy named Dawes. My cousin, Mr Percy Thornton, M.P., popularly known as 'Friday' Thornton, had asked me to go down to Harrow to play in a match against the school. The result was that I got about 120 in an hour. Mr Grimston was furious, and vented his feelings with the remark, 'It's all through that silly fool Friday bringing him down.' Evidently the incident was cherished at Harrow, for I was not again invited to play there until six years ago.
"The late H. H. Stephenson, when a coach at Uppingham, also did not like to see the averages of any of his best bowlers spoiled by liberty-taking batsmen. I once played against the school team with an eleven taken down by the late Mr I. D. Walker. Mr Walker and I were in together, and I scored 60, while he made a few less. The following day Stephenson presented Mr Walker with a bat. 'What have I done, Stephenson?' said I. 'Haven't you got one for me too?' 'No,' was his severe reply; 'Mr Walker plays cricket,-—you don't.'
"At Prince's ground on one occasion I remember hitting F. M. Buckland four times out of the ground in one over in a Middlesex v. Oxford University match. He said nothing, but looked volumes. There was another match in which I hit Vernon Hoyle out of the ground on three successive deliveries. At the fourth ball he bowled a grub, remarking, 'No one shall ever say he hit Vernon Royle four times out of the ground in one over!'
"One night, at the Ranelagh Club, Bonnor was dining with me after a match in which I got 120 runs and hit a ball into the river, which was 135 yards (measured) away. Mr Bonnor said, 'You think you can hit hard, but I have a sister in Australia who can hit as hard as you.' I replied, 'Why not bring her over here and marry her to Louis Hall, and combine the two styles?' When in Australia in 1891 I was asked by a man at lunch on the Melbourne ground if this story was true. This shows how tales travel."
An illustration of the risk run by asking strangers to play in a match may next be given. "At Oakham, in 1872, I strolled on to the cricket-ground just before a match was about to commence between the Rev. H. Munro's team and Oakham School. I was unknown. Mr Munro's team being shorthanded, I was asked if I would play. I didn't mind if I did. In the first innings I scored 35; in the next I made 188 not out of a total of 210 scored off the bat. The next highest scorer to me got 10, while extras numbered 16. I was only -batting about two hours, and hit the ball out of the ground thirteen times. The Oakham School bowlers had established my identity before the match came to an end. As for me, I don't think I ever enjoyed such a delightful afternoon in my life."
Mr Thornton has sent a ball out of three sides of the Oval —a feat not attributed to any other cricketer—and on one occasion he hit three successive 4's over the grand stand next to the pavilion, hits which certainly were worth 6's, though they only counted as 4's. One hit at the Oval, off James Lilly white, was of such a character—a low swimming hit with a long bound—that W. Mortlock, who was acting as umpire in the match, told Mr Thornton it deserved to win a match itself. There were also two hits at Canterbury, measured by Mr Thornton himself, and off one of them the ball was picked up in the hop-garden, the distance being 152 yards.
In spite of the fact that he constantly played against the fastest bowlers in England, Mr Thornton disdained the use of pads. Why 1
"The reason," says Mr Thornton, "is that I found pads interfered with my running, and after leaving Eton I discarded them altogether. I have used oak guards inside my trousers sometimes when I have had a bruised shin, and I remember that in the first match that George Ulyett played in on Prince's ground he broke one of the guards in half with one of his d
eliveries. I pulled out the pieces and gave them to the umpire, Allan Hill.
"I at one time used to bat without gloves also, but in later years I had to use one glove. I did not use a pair, for the two seemed to interfere with my freedom of action. The reason I began to wear one glove—always on the left hand— was that C. K. Francis, when a boy at Rugby, broke one of the bones in that hand. In May 1890, when 'Sammy' Woods bowled the whole of our side out at Cambridge—the match was the University v. my England Eleven—he bowled a nail off my hand as well as my wicket; while in the same year 'Terror' Turner, when I was not wearing a glove, broke the top joint of the first finger of my left hand."
Will Oscroft has referred to an incident in which he was struck on the head by Mr Thornton when practising at the nets. Mr Thornton confirms the account of the accident, and adds that he was always exceedingly careful when practising at the nets to make onlookers stand at a safe distance. "I had the greatest horror of hurting anybody," says Mr Thornton, and in a tone that no one can mistake.
One naturally asks if Mr Thornton ever injured a bowler with his hard hitting. "So far as I can recollect," replies Mr Thornton, "nothing of a really serious nature ever happened. I was told, when I was in Australia, that Southerton used to say he often lay awake at night wondering what would happen to him if I drove the ball straight back to him. But he never told me that himself, and I never gave him the opportunity of finding out what would happen; in fact, it was rarely that I drove a ball quite straight back to the bowler. Once when playing at Harewood I had a ball from a bowler named Linfoot, which I sent back to him hard and straight. He had just time to put his hand to his face to save perhaps a broken nose, but even then the blow was hard enough to send him sprawling. I was much relieved to find he was none the worse for the accident."