by A. W. Pullin
"On our voyage from San Francisco to Australia we enjoyed the distinguished company of the King of the Sandwich Islands, King Kalakaua, as far as the Islands. He had been on a tour round the world, and was returning home. The previous summer he had been in England, and some of us were introduced to him at the Oval, so that we were quite old pals. King Kalakaua called us into his cabin on board the Australia—the ship we sailed in—every mornirig in order to hear Billy Bates sing 'The Bonny Yorkshire Lass.'
"At Honolulu we had an invitation to the King's palace. The King offered our ship's captain ^300 if he would wait until we could play a match; but though Shaw and Lillywhite were quite prepared to play a game to please his Majesty, the captain would not accept the offer."
Of Peate's general performance when in Australia it is only necessary to say that he took 30 wickets at a cost of 18 -4 runs a wicket, and had a batting average of 17 -3. There was one remarkable match, however, to which special reference must be made. It was the first match with Victoria, at Melbourne, on December 16, 17, 19, and 20, 1881.
"Victoria scored 251 in the first innings, and we, making 146 only, had to follow on. Then, thanks to a marvellous innings by Shrewsbury, who scored 80 not out, we totalled 198, which left Victoria requiring 94 to win. On the last day, owing to rain, we had to wait until luncheon before we could start. We had 2 wickets to go down, and when I was bowling in practice before recommencing, old D. W. Gregory, who came with the first Australian team to England, said that if we could put on 20 more runs we should about win. We managed to do both.
"There were circumstances connected with Victoria's second innings which I cannot fully refer to. I got 2 wickets in the first over—M'Donnell and T. Horan's—for nothing. Midwinter bowled an over from the other end, and sent down long-hops to leg. The batsman missed three of them, and hit a 4 off the other. In the next over I got another wicket, making 3 wickets for 4 runs. I was hit for 3, and got the next batsman, making 4 wickets for 7 runs. Then Alf. Shaw partnered me, and opened with a maiden, following which I got 2 more wickets without a run, thus making the scoreboard read 6 wickets for- 7 runs.
"Then came in H. F. Boyle, who spooned one gently back to mid-on. He dropped it right enough. Extraordinary cricket was seen after this, for Boyle hit out at everything, and scored 43 before he was caught by Selby. The last man to leave was F. E. Allan—who also came over here with the first Australian team. In attempting a run he had got very little more than half-way across when he saw he was beaten, and he threw his bat into his ground in regular schoolboy style. Pilling had taken the bails off, and was walking away, considering the match over, when the umpire called, 'Not out!' Luckily, Barlow bowled him in the same over. Victoria were all out for 75, and we won by 18 runs.
"There was a tremendous amount of betting on the match. The bookmakers were standing up doing business as if they were in TattersalFs ring. We were due to sail to Adelaide, and it was said that in order that the match might be finished the bookmakers paid the steamship company ^300 to delay the boat three or four hours. Sam Grimwood of Halifax, who was living out there, asked me before we started our second innings what chance we had, and I told him that if the wicket performed as it did in England, no team in the world could make 100 runs against us. He then started taking all the extravagant odds against England he could, and did so well that he finished up by rushing down to the boat and presenting us with a ^10 note each. The bookmakers were very badly hit by the result of the match. Certain of their schemes failed, much to the satisfaction of most of us.
"Once in Scotland we had a lesson in the virtue of humility taught us. It was about the year 1882. We were playing a match against eighteen of Drumpellier and District, and had probably the strongest team that ever went into Scotland. When we won the toss we sent in Shrewsbury and Scotton, and thought they would have such a good long innings that we proposed to go rabbit-hunting in the adjoining woods. But we had not got to the boundary before a wicket fell. We waited and then fell another, and yet another. Finally we came to the conclusion that we had better postpone the rabbit-killing expedition, as the slaughter of our cricket reputation required all our attention; in fact, we struck a bee-line to the dressing-room and put our pads on, the rabbits getting a holiday. The whole team made 29 runs. And yet we had Shrewsbury, Scotton, Ulyett, Lockwood, Selby, Bates, Barnes, Barlow, Shaw, Pilling, and myself on the side. In the next innings Shrewsbury 'took root,' and we drew the match.
"A word as to my best bowling performance in club cricket. It was for Idle at two Feast matches. The first was a game with Guiseley, and I got all the 10 wickets and did the hat trick twice. The next was with Windhill, and I got 9 wickets and helped to run the other out. J. Tye, then playing for Notts, was the bowler at the other end, and he said if I went on in the second innings he should not bowl! I got a watch and guard for that dual performance.
"At Ripon once, in a match with the United South, they engaged Alf. Shaw and myself. With the intention of making the match last, the Riponites put on two local bowlers, who took the opportunity of getting the United South out for a very few runs. Then we went in to bat, and I got 58 in one innings and 47 not out in the next. In the South's second innings Shaw and I went on to bowl. We made the match last right enough. They gave me a seal for that performance. Some one 'sneaked' it from the dressing-room in the pavilion at Melbourne, and the Melbourne authorities gave me ^20 as compensation for the loss of it.
"You sometimes get your fingers burnt, though, in trying to make a match last. I remember a case in point, not many years ago, at Horsforth, Oxford and Cambridge v. a Yorkshire team. We were winning with ease at one time, and then slackened, with the result that Mr Tim O'Brien (now Sir Tim) knocked us all over the park, and afterwards C. W. Rock of Tasmania bowled us out neck and heels, and we lost the match.
"I must not forget to mention my great batting performance at Dewsbury against Surrey in July 1884. I scored 95. Walter Read was kind enough to carefully miss me before I had broken my duck. During the innings I hit a ball so high that the Surrey team were able to hold a committee meeting to decide who should attempt the catch. They called Diver from mid-off to mid-on to make it, as he was supposed to be the safest catcher on the side. Then when he had carefully judged it, the ball fell three yards behind him!
"In a Gentlemen v .Players' match at Lord's Mr I. D. Walker was bowling to me with his lobs. I stepped back and hit the ball round to leg for 4. In so doing I just knocked the legbail off, but I was in such a position at the time that neither umpire could see what had happened. There was an appeal to both, but each gave me not out. The wicket-keeper and others wanted me to go out, but I stood my ground until I had the umpires' decisions, when, of course, I continued my innings.
"There was a match in which A. G. Steel played for Lancashire against Yorkshire at Sheffield. As he was going into the field Tom Emmett said to him, 'I beg your pardon, Mr Steel, but you have forgotten to lace your boots.' 'Oh, never mind, Tom,' was his cool reply, 'I can get Yorkshire out without boot-laces.' He did, too; he got 7 wickets at a very small cost.
"Then at Scarborough once we were playing I Zingari. They had such a thick team that Mr C. L Thornton put himself down No. 1 and Mr J. Robertson-Walker as No. u, and the rest drew lots for positions in batting. We did very well until Mr Steel came in tenth man. He got 10o in most marvellous fashion. Sometimes he would fetch a ball from me which was very nearly a wide on the off-side right round to square-leg. A more wonderful batting performance on a sticky wicket I never saw."
Like many other old cricketers, Peate was of opinion that the practice of leaving off-balls alone is carried to excess by some modern batsmen. It is true, he thought, there are some off-balls which had better be left alone, but there are many others which batsmen like Eph. Lockwood and others would have hit merrily for 4. "In one Gentlemen v. Players' match at the Oval," added Peate, "I bowled Mr A. P. Lucas with a ball which he left alone, but which broke in and struck his off-stump. He vowed and declared th
at he would never leave another ball alone, no matter how wide it seemed to be."
What irrepressible practical jokers the old school of lighthearted devil-may-care cricketers were, is shown on several occasions in these "Talks." Peate had a few memories of their escapades. For instance :—
"We were playing in Gentlemen v. Players at the Oval, when I carelessly left my watch on the dressing-room table at the hotel, with the bedroom door open. Eph. Lockwood, passing at the time, hopped in and carefully put the watch in his pocket—for safety. When I could not find it I was under the impression that it had been 'sneaked' on the ground. Lord Harris, W. G. Grace, and others condoled with me on my loss, and Eph. Lockwood and my other pals went with me to Scotland Yard to report it. We roused all Scotland Yard up nearly, and I was busy for about a fortnight making inquiries about my missing watch. At last, when I thought I had seen the last of it, Ephraim quietly handed it over to me as if nothing had happened. He and the others had had a fortnight's quiet chuckling at my expense.
"Once a rather cruel joke was perpetrated upon the late Mr Robt. Baker of the Scarborough Club. I won't say who it was, but a certain player who did duty for Yorkshire collared his watch and portmanteau and went and pawned them. Then he invited Mr Baker, the late Fred. Grace, Ulyett, and myself to a champagne breakfast, saying that as it was his birthday he was going to do the honours. He arranged while the breakfast was in progress for the waiter to bring in the pawn-ticket and present it to Mr Baker. I am afraid poor Bob did not enjoy that breakfast."
A want of coolness off the field could never be charged against the Ulyett and Peate school of county cricketers. Witness the following :—
"We had finished a match at the Oval, and Ulyett and I went along Whitehall, and saw a tremendous crowd and strings of carriages. Mr Gladstone was in office at the time. Turning into Downing Street, we found the Prime Minister was holding an official reception in honour of the Queen's birthday. Ulyett said, 'Follow me; I'm deaf.' He walked straight past the flunkeys into the reception-room, pretending to hear nothing, and when I was spoken to I simply said, 'My friend is deaf; I must follow him.' We got right into the reception-room, and who should we see but a famous Lancashire cricketer. You should have seen the look of amazement on his face as he asked, 'What the deuce are you doing here, and how did you get in 1' 'Oh, we thought it was a place of entertainment,' coolly responded ' Happy Jack,'' so we thought we would just look in.' Having satisfied our curiosity, we walked out as leisurely as we had entered. It was just about the time of the dynamite scare, and I could not help being struck with the ease with which, in spite of police precautions, two strangers could make their way right into the heart of the Prime Minister's official residence."
George Ulyett could show wonderful coolness under very different circumstances from these, though, as the following story will show :—
"We were once driving — Bates, Emmett, Ulyett, and myself—to the Derby ground with our bags, &c, from the Derby Midland Station, when the axle of the back wheels broke in two and the body of the cab flopped to the ground. Tom Emmett jumped out in great alarm, but 'Happy Jack' put his head out of the window, and looking up at the driver in the most nonchalant way, simply asked, ' Say, driver, what are you stopping for 1'"
When Peate left Yeadon to take up his headquarters at Leeds he was presented with an illuminated address commemorative of the services he performed for the Yeadon Club from 1877 to 1890. The address sets forth that he played 103 innings with the bat for the Yeadon Club, was twelve times not out, made 88 as his highest score, and had an average of 15 '46 per innings. With the ball his work is represented by the following remarkable figures: 1408 overs, 353 maidens, 2943 runs, 521 wickets—an average of 5-64 runs per wicket. To take over 500 wickets for one club, at a cost of less than 6 runs a wicket, is a record of which any bowler may well be proud.
THE Messrs Grace were such brilliant stars in the firmament of Gloucestershire cricket that possibly other luminaries appeared to be less bright than they really were. This, at anyrate, will be recognised by practical cricketers, that Gloucester has had no better professional slow bowler than W. A. Woof, now the chief coach at Cheltenham College. It has been a surprise to the outer world why the services of a bowler of the abilities of Woof should not have been longer utilised in the Gloucestershire team. But to refer to that matter now would be to anticipate what the player himself has to say on the point in this "Talk."
William Alfred Woof was born at Gloucester on July 9, 1859, so that he is anything but an "old" cricketer in the number of his years. He is the son of a civil engineer, to which profession he was attached in his youth. The taste for cricket was developed, if not inculcated, at Bedford GrammarSchool. His first appearance in Gloucestershire cricket was as a colt in May 1878, when he took 5 wickets for 78 runs, among them being the coveted wickets of W. G. and G. F. Grace. On the strength of this performance he was engaged to play against Surrey and Sussex, but in the first game he was only called upon to bowl 20 overs, of which 10 were maidens, while against Sussex his services as a bowler were not requisitioned at all.
"Few people will know, or, if they knew, they will probably have forgotten," says Woof, "that I nearly came into firstclass cricket as a Lancastrian. I accepted an engagement at Old Trafford, and in my first game there, for M.C.C. v. Lancashire Colts, I was fortunate enough to take a lot of wickets, little Johnny Briggs being one of the victims with 'a pair.' W. G. Grace, hearing that I had improved, in 1880 secured for me a post at Cheltenham College, and thus my idea of qualifying for Lancashire came to nothing.
"Brief as was my stay up north, it was not without incident. On one occasion, I remember, I became a dragoon guard for one afternoon. The Guards were quartered at Salford, and had arranged to play a match at Macclesfield. I was enrolled for the day as Sergeant M'Pherson. In this capacity I managed to play havoc with the Macclesfield wickets. Finally a spectator gave the show away, so to speak, by recognising me and saying, 'That's no sergeant; it's Woof of Old Trafford.' This discovery raised a scene, in the midst of which the dragoons and their bogus sergeant made their way to the station, hugely enjoying the fun."
Another point that is probably not known is that though Woof made his name as a slow bowler, like Ted Peate, he was originally a fast bowler. Both of course were left-handed. Woof was actually engaged at Cheltenham, as Peate was at Manningham, as a fast bowler. The change in Woof's case was taken on the advice of Mr A. N. Hornby.
"I found," says Woof, "that I had great command of the ball, and could impart a good deal of spin to it. The result was soon seen in the reputation that I was fortunate enough to establish in and around Cheltenham. Old Jim Lillywhite at length asked Mr W. G. Grace to give me another trial in the county team. Mr G. F. Grace came up to the college ground and asked me to give him some practice, and the result was that he engaged me to play for the United South, which was then touring. My first match with this combination was at Wortley, Leeds, against a local twenty-two, on August 9, 10, 11, 1880. In the first innings I got 14 wickets, and in the second 12 wickets. Not bad for a youngster, eh 1 A few days before this the Australians (Mr Murdoch's First team) were playing Gloucestershire at Clifton, and Mr G. F. Grace pressed his captain to play me, but Mr W. G. Grace would not do so. I know that Mr G. F. was quite upset about his brother's refusal at the time, though possibly 'W. G.' was justified in not playing a youngster against the seasoned Australians. I got my chance in the Cheltenham week, and fully established myself in the county team.
"The Messrs Grace took me with them on a shooting excursion to Glossop at the end of the 1880 season. I mention the matter to recall an incident that caused some amusement at the time. I had spotted a lot of pigeons, and as the guns were about to start I made an excuse to stay behind. It was a rainy morning, and I daresay the gentlemen thought I was a fair-weather sportsman. But I had a plan of my own. I took my gun to the pigeon-resort and enjoyed myself, netting a big bag. On driving homewards at night, 'W. G.' having the rei
ns, I suddenly asked him to pull up. 'What for V he asked. 'To get my bag.' I thereupon brought out from a hiding-place the 'bag' of pigeons on which I had been engaged during the day. The escapade tickled the Graces, who had been wondering what I had been doing with myself all day."
Woof was a member of the Gloucester County team from now onward to 1892, when he was dropped. In 1886 he accepted the post of head coach at Cheltenham College, and from that time was only available for county cricket during the vacation. His work in first-class cricket is best shown by the following bowling figures. Remembering that the last four years represent vacation play only, it does seem remarkable that Woof's services were not utilised later on into the 'Nineties than they were:—
Woof's form has continued good right down to the present day. In 1898 among a number of good performances was one of 7 wickets for 28 runs for East Gloucestershire against the M.C.C., while in 1899 his bowling was described as being as good as ever it was.
"The most extraordinary match in which I took part," says Woof, "was at Nottingham on September 13, 14, 15, 1883. Nottingham were all out for 23 runs. At one time the telegraph-board showed the following remarkable figures: 0-6-0. It ought to have shown 0-7-0. The match was for the benefit of the Notts County Cricketers. Arthur Smith, who afterwards played for Lancashire, made 10, but he was first caught at short-slip by Bob Rylott. The umpire, Frank Farrands, on being appealed to, gave Smith not out, and then coolly turned to me and said, 'This match is for the benefit of our chaps, you know.' What I said I will not repeat. I have no doubt, of course, that Farrands gave what he thought was a proper decision, and the remark he made was just his little humour. The analysis of the bowling for that innings was—