some years when he was one of the very finest all-round cricketers
in the country, was A. G. Steel (b. 1858), equally brilliant as a batsman
and as a slow bowler; and other names memorable in Lancashire
cricket were R. G. Barlow (b. 1859), whose stubborn batting
was a striking contrast to the rapid run-getting of Hornby and the
perfect style of Steel; John Briggs (1862–1902), whose slow left-hand
bowling placed him at the head of the bowling averages in
1890; John Crossland (1853–1903) and A. Mold (b. 1865), both of
whom were destructive fast bowlers; J. T. Tyldesley and R. H.
Spooner, both among the most brilliant batsmen of a later generation;
and W. Brearley, the amateur fast bowler.
Middlesex, like Kent, has been better served by amateurs than professionals. Indeed, with the notable exceptions of J. T. Hearne, who headed the bowling averages in 1891, 1896 and 1898, and of the imported Australian A. E. Trott, few professionals of high merit are conspicuously associated with the history of the county cricket. Trott, in 1899 and again in 1900, performed the previously unprecedented feat of taking over two hundred wickets and scoring over one thousand runs in the same season. And in his “benefit match” in May 1907 at Lord’s he achieved the “hat trick” twice in one innings, taking first four and then three wickets with successive balls. But if there has been a dearth of professionals in Middlesex cricket, the county has produced an abundance of celebrated amateurs. In addition to the Walkers and A. J. Webbe, the metropolitan county was the home of the celebrated hitter, C. I. Thornton, and of the Studd family, who learnt their cricket at Eton and Cambridge University. C. T. Studd, one of the most polished batsmen who ever played cricket, was at the same time an excellent medium-paced bowler, and his brother G. B. Studd is remembered especially for his fielding, though like his elder brother, J. E. K. Studd, he was an all-round cricketer of the greatest value to a county team. Sir T. C. O’Brien, who made his reputation by a fine innings for Oxford University against the Australian team of 1882, sustained it in the following years by many brilliant performances for Middlesex. A. E. Stoddart for several years was the best run-getter in the Middlesex eleven; and W. J. Ford and his younger brother, F. G. J. Ford, were conspicuous among many prominent Middlesex batsmen. In more recent times the Oxonian P. F. Warner (b. 1873), both as captain and as batsman, did splendid work; and B. J. T. Bosanquet, besides assisting powerfully with the bat, became famous for inaugurating a new style of curly bowling (“googlies”) of a very effective type.
A glance at the table given above shows the high place occupied by Surrey in the past. Surrey county cricket can be traced as far back as 1730. Pycroft observes that “the name of Surrey as one united county club is quite lost in the annals of Surrey. cricket from 1817 to 1845.” But before that date two of the most celebrated cricketers, William Lillywhite and Fuller Pilch, had occasionally played for the county, and so also had James Broadbridge (1796–1843) and W. Lambert (1779–1851). Kennington Oval became the Surrey county ground in 1845, the property being leased from the duchy of Cornwall; and in the years immediately following the county team included H. H. Stephenson (1833–1896), Caffyn (b. 1828), N. Felix, and Lockyer (1826–1869); among a later generation appeared such well-remembered names as Jupp, Southerton, Pooley and R. Humphrey. After being champion county in 1873, Surrey did not again attain the same position for fourteen years, but for the next ten years maintained an almost uninterrupted supremacy. The greatest credit was due to the energetic direction of J. Shuter (b. 1855), who kept together a remarkable combination of cricketers, such as W. W. Read (1855–1906), Maurice Read (b. 1859), George Lohmann (1865–1901), and Robert Abel (b. 1859), all of whom were among the greatest players of their period. Lohmann in 1885–1890 would alone have made any side famous; and in the same years when he was heading the bowling averages and proving himself the most deadly bowler in the country, W. W. Read was performing prodigies of batting. No sooner did the latter begin to decline in power than Abel took his place at the head of the batting averages, scoring with astonishing consistency in 1897–1900. In 1899 he made 357 not out in an innings against Somersetshire, and in 1901 his aggregate of 3309 was the largest then compiled. The Oxonian K. J. Key was another famous batsman whose services as captain were also exceedingly valuable to the county. An almost inexhaustible supply of professionals of the very highest class has been at Surrey’s service. W. Lockwood (b. 1868) became almost as deadly a bowler as Lohmann, and Tom Richardson (b. 1870) was the terror of all Surrey’s opponents for several seasons after 1893. Richardson took in all no less than 1340 wickets at the cost of 20,000 runs. Tom Hayward (b. 1867), nephew of the renowned Cambridge professional of the same name, succeeded Abel as the leading Surrey batsman, his play in the test matches of 1899, when he averaged 65, being superb. During the following years his reputation was fully maintained, and in 1906 he had a particularly successful season. Key was followed in the captaincy by D. L. A. Jephson, but the county did not in the opening years of the 20th century maintain the high place it occupied during the last quarter of the 19th. It possessed some excellent professionals, however, in Hayes, Hobbs and Lees, and the season of 1906, under the captaincy of Lord Dalmeny, showed a revival, a new fast bowler being found in N. A. Knox, and a fine batsman and bowler in J. N. Crawford.
Several of the celebrated cricketers of early times already mentioned as having played for the Surrey club were more closely associated with the adjoining county of Sussex, whose records go back as far as 1734, in which year a match was Sussex. played against Kent, the chief promoters of which were the duke of Richmond and Sir William Gage. One of the earliest famous cricketers, Richard Newland (d. 1791), was a Sussex man; and James Broadbridge, W. Lambert, Tom Box, and the great Lillywhite family were all members of the Sussex county team. Lambert, in a match against Epsom, played at Lord’s in 1817, made a “century” (one hundred runs) in each innings, a feat not repeated in first-class cricket for fifty years; and the occasion was the first when the aggregate of a thousand runs was scored in a match. Broadbridge played for Sussex in five reigns, while Box (1808–1876) kept wicket for the county for twenty-four years without missing a match. Notwithstanding this distinguished history, Sussex never attained the highest place in the county rivalry, and for a number of years towards the end of the 19th century the left-handed batting of F. M. Lucas (1860–1887) alone saved the county from complete insignificance. A revival came when W. L. Murdoch (b. 1855), of Australian celebrity, qualified for Sussex; and at a still later date the fortunes of the county were raised by the inclusion in its eleven of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, afterwards H.H. the Jam of Nawanagar (b. 1872), the Indian prince, who had played for Cambridge University. Ranjitsinhji’s dexterity, grace and style were unrivalled. He scored 2780 runs in 1896, averaging 57, while in county matches in 1899 his aggregate was 2555, with an average of 75. Even this performance was beaten in 1900 when he scored a total of 2563 runs, giving an average for the season of 83. In all matches his aggregates were 3159 in 1899, and 3065 in 1900. Not less remarkable was the cricket of C. B. Fry (b. 1872), who came from Oxford University to become a mainstay of Sussex cricket, and who in 1901 performed the unparalleled feat of scoring in successive innings 106, 209, 149, 105, 140 and 105, his aggregate for the season being 3147 with an average of 78. In 1905 his average for Sussex was 86, but in the following year an accident kept him out of the cricket field throughout the season; and in 1909 he transferred his services to Hampshire.
If Kent and Middlesex may be described as the counties of amateurs, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire should be called the counties of famous professionals. Between 1864 and 1889 Nottinghamshire was champion county twelve times Notts. and the county eleven was as a rule composed almost entirely of professional players, among whom have been many of the greatest names in the history of the game. Richard Daft (1835–1900), after playing as an amateur, became a professional in preference to abandoning the game, scorning to resort to any of the pretexts by which cricketers have been known to accept payment for their services while continuing to cling to the status of the amateur. William Oscroft (1843–1905) was one of Nottinghamshire’s early batting heroes, and in Alfred Shaw (b. 1842) and F. Morley (1850–1884) the county possessed an invaluable pair of bowlers. William Gunn (b. 1858), besides being a magnificent fielder “in the country,” was an exceptionally able batsman; but his performances did not equal those of his greater contemporary, Arthur Shrewsbury, who in six years between 1885 and 1892 headed the English batting averages. Shrewsbury’s perfect style combined with inexhaustible patience placed him in the front rank of the “classical” batsmen of English cricket. Of the batsmen nicknamed “stonewallers,” who at one time endangered the popularity of first-class cricket, was W. Scotton (1856–1893); and among the other numerous professionals whose cricket contributed to the renown of Nottinghamshire were Barnes (1852–1899), at times a most formidable bat; Flowers (b. 1856), always useful both with the bat and the ball; W. Attewell (b. 1861), a remarkably steady bowler who bowled an abnormal number of maiden overs; Mordecai Sherwin (b. 1851), an excellent successor to T. Plumb (b. 1833) and F. Wild (1847–1893) as wicket-keeper for the county; and among more recent players, J. Iremonger (b. 1877) and John Gunn, both of whom proved themselves cricketers worthy of the Notts traditions. J. A. Dixon (b. 1861), one of the few amateurs of the Nottinghamshire records, was for some time captain of the county team; and he was succeeded by A. O. Jones (b. 1873), a dashing batsman, who in 1899 was partner with Shrewsbury when the pair scored 391 for the first wicket in a match against Gloucestershire.
The history of Yorkshire cricket is modern in comparison with that of Surrey, Sussex or Kent. The county club only dates from 1861, and for some years the team was composed entirely of professionals. But though Yorkshire attained the Yorkshire. championship three times during the first ten years of the county club’s existence, thirteen years elapsed after 1870 before it again occupied the place of honour. In the ten years 1896–1906 Yorkshire was no less than six times at the head of the list, this position of supremacy being in no small measure due to the captaincy of Lord Hawke (b. 1860), who played continuously for the county from his university days for more than twenty years, and whose influence on Yorkshire cricket was unique. But before his time Yorkshire had already produced some notable cricketers, such as George Ulyett (1857–1898), who headed the batting averages in 1878, and who was also a fine fast bowler; Louis Hall (b. 1852), a patient bat; and another excellent scorer, Ephraim Lockwood (b. 1845). William
