SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



Thompson's aggregate for his whole period in 

 the county until 1905 is 751 wickets for 

 10,479 ™"^) o"" '"^ ^'^'''" '4- '^""^ P^*^ wicket, 

 whilst he scored 5,174 runs in 144 innings, 

 averaging over 35. 



It was in 1903 that second-class champion- 

 ship honours were obtained, only two defeats 

 being sustained, whilst in 1 904 the county 

 showed an unbeaten record. Beside the two 

 professionals Messrs. W. H. and H. E. 

 Kingston, with Mr. T. Horton and Mr. 

 G. A. T. Vialls, were the chief run-getters, 

 and when it has been said that out of 36 

 possible points 30 were obtained further 

 eulogy is needless. 



The first year after promotion furnishes a 

 severe criterion, but Northamptonshire had 

 no reason to be dissatisfied with the result of 

 1 905, as Derbyshire, Somersetshire, and Hamp- 

 shire were below the new comers, who gained 

 victories over the last-named county and Essex, 

 and suffered eight defeats. It was in the 

 former success that Mr. C. J. T. Pool scored 

 the only century, no, and, with an aggregate 

 of 664 and average of 36, he headed the 

 averages, Thompson coming next. In bow- 

 ling the latter took 75 wickets for 16 runs 

 apiece. East being again his only notable 

 supporter. The future of the cricket of the 

 county is most promibing. 



The Town Clues and Cricket. — The 

 earliest town cricket club which has left any 

 mark in the annals of local cricket was the 

 old Nene Club, named after the river which 

 winds its way at the bottom of the meadows 

 in which the players had their ground. The 

 meadows were called the Old Cow meadows 

 and being, like the race-common, the pro- 

 perty of the freemen of Northampton they 

 were the historic playing-grounds of the towns- 

 people. As the Nene Club grew in impor- 

 tance it transferred its quarters from these 

 low-lying meadows to the racecourse at the 

 farther end of the town. After several years 

 of success the Nene Club was discontinued 

 and the Northampton Town Club took 

 its place, being indeed a continuation of the 

 former under a new name. From the Town 

 Club emerged the County Club as it exists 

 to-day. Following the Nene Club, and 

 coming after it as clubs distinct from the 

 Town Club, were the Britons and the Morn- 

 ing Star. These clubs also commenced in 

 the Cow meadows, and to their efforts as 

 their prosperity increased Northampton owed 

 its first possession of a private and enclosed 

 ground, the only one with the exception of 

 the county ground that it ever possessed. A 

 pavilion was erected and the ground thoroughly 

 turfed, and for some time it looked as though 



on their ground Northamptonshire cricket 

 might eventually find a habitation. It was 

 badly situated however, and had none of the 

 run-getting qualities of the racecourse, and in 

 time it went the way of so many of the 

 cricketing enterprises in Northampton. A. 

 Chester captained the Britons for years, and 

 W. Pitts the Morning Star. Then came the 

 Alma, which included local professionals, and 

 after the Alma the Enigmas, a purely amateur 

 combination, which for three years carried off 

 the Town Challenge Cup offered by the 

 County Club authorities. The Catholic 

 Cricket Club, their great rival in the com- 

 petition, comprised the professional talent of 

 the town, and struggled hard to wrest the 

 honours away from the Enigmas, but the 

 latter eventually won the cup outright. When 

 the Enigmas dropped out, which they did after 

 a few years of splendid success, the Temper- 

 ance became the leading local club, followed 

 closely by the Star and the Excelsior, all of 

 which are in existence at the present day and 

 take part in the Town and District League 

 Competition, a style of contest which has 

 quite superseded the cup battles of old. It 

 serves the same purpose, and is certainly with- 

 out some of the objectionable features so 

 noticeable in cup matches. 



The above represent the principal local 

 clubs during the rise and progress of North- 

 amptonshire cricket, although there were of 

 course innumerable others, some scarcely in- 

 ferior in skill and renown, attached in many 

 cases to the religious organizations and large 

 business establishments. 



On 24 June, 1880, the Australians de- 

 feated eighteen of Northampton by 8 wickets, 

 although the home side had the assistance of 

 Messrs. G. F. Grace, Jupp, and Emmett. 

 The totals were not large because Mr. F. R. 

 SpofForth took 17 wickets for 67 runs. But 

 it is rare for an eighteen to be dismissed for 

 48. Numerous other interesting features 

 deserve to be recorded. For Shire v. Town 

 on 27 August, 1863, Mr. H. E. Bull, on 

 the winning side, went in first and carried 

 his bat through each innings, making 63 out 

 of 145 and 77 out of 136. Abington House 

 School in 1876 had Messrs. J. P. Kingston, 

 F. W. Kingston, C. Pigg, and H. Pigg in 

 its eleven. Mr. J. P. Kingston, who scored 

 144 against Mr. Dunn's eleven almost en- 

 tirely by leg-hitting, averaged 59 for the 

 season of 1877 ; whilst in 1874 Mr. C. Pigg 

 bowled 81 overs, 34 maidens, capturing 24 

 wickets for no runs, yielding the remarkable 

 average of 4' 14 per wicket and 4*4 per inn- 

 ings. For Loughboro' Grammar School in 

 1876 Mr. G. J.^Gulliver averaged 71. On 



391 



