SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



1883 W. Hearn played a three-figure innings 

 of 109 against Suffolk, and in 1887 contri- 

 buted 105 v. Northamptonshire, and 167 

 v. M.C.C. 



In 1877, Herts at Lord's on May 24, 

 25 played a capital match with the Maryle- 

 bone Club, the visiting county winning by 

 25 runs ; but in the return match at Royston 

 Heath in June the same year the tables were 

 turned, M.C.C. being victors by 98, chiefly 

 owing to the fine trundling of Rylott and 

 Mycroft, who took 12 wickets for 60 runs. 

 Titchmarsh claimed 6 for only 16. 



Mr. W. G. Grace took an eleven to 

 Bishop Stortford in June of 1877, and tried 

 conclusions against Herts, the home county 

 suffering a severe defeat by 239 runs. Messrs. 

 G. F. Grace, C. Pigg and W. R. Gilbert all 

 reached the half century, and the last-named 

 with the champion bowled unchanged. For 

 the vanquished, John Hughes, aged fifty-two, 

 took 7 wickets for 182, and W. Hearn 

 made 47. 



The match with Essex at Hitchin the 

 same year was marked by the clever trundling 

 of Titchmarsh, who captured the whole of 

 the wickets in the 1st innings of Essex for 

 33 runs, and five in the 2nd for 44, Herts 

 being victorious by an innings and 64 runs. 

 At Brentwood too in July Essex were met 

 and again defeated, this time by 9 wickets. 

 Herts had 165 runs to get to win in the 2nd 

 innings. T. Pearce was first in, and carried 

 his bat for 87, the runs being actually hit off 

 by Pearce and Hearn for the loss of only one 

 wicket. Bedfordshire too suffered defeat at 

 the hands of Herts twice this year, the Bed- 

 fordshire home match at Turvey Hove being 

 won by 109 runs, while in the return played 

 at Mr. W. Heathcote's seat, Shepalbury, near 

 Stevenage, the victory was exactly 100 runs. 

 Titchmarsh and the veteran Hughes bowled 

 finely, the pair dismissing the visitors for 28 

 only in the ist innings, Titchmarsh claiming 

 6 wickets for 14 runs, while 'Old John' 

 secured 4 for 8. 



The era of modern cricket dating from 

 1878, that date is convenient for a fresh 

 estimate of the Hertfordshire side. The full 

 team played nine matches, according to 

 modern estimation of county fixtures. Vic- 

 tories were obtained over Suffolk (by 244 

 runs) and Essex in home engagements, and 

 with M.C.C. at Lord's. The returns with 

 the two counties were unfinished, and the 

 premier club won a small scoring game at 

 Royston. A draw with Bedfordshire at 

 Hitchin was followed by a very keen contest 

 at Luton, which ended in terrible defeat, 

 Hertfordshire being set 39 runs to win and 



being dismissed for 36. On first hands they 

 had led by 1 08 runs, thanks to the batting of 

 Mr. H. G. S. Hughes, who scored 99 out of 

 178 while in, and W. Hearn who made 75. 

 Their second effort only lasted seventy 

 minutes, T. C. Brown taking 5 wickets for 

 13 runs, catching the veteran J. Hughes off 

 his own bowling at the close. An even draw 

 with Somersetshire completed the programme, 

 Mr. E. Sainsbury making 105 for the western 

 county. The best recorded bowling for the 

 county was v. Essex, when J. Hughes took 

 7 wickets for 9 runs, and in the season he 

 captured 71 for n runs each. So little of a 

 bat was he at the age of fifty-three, however, 

 that in sixteen visits to the wicket his largest 

 score was 6. Valentine Adolphus Titch- 

 marsh, not yet a professional, took 53 wickets 

 for 678 runs. Tom Pearce headed the bat- 

 ting with an average of 28 for 462 aggregate, 

 and that good cricketer William Hearn trod 

 close on his heels, besides fielding better than 

 any one else on the side. By this time 

 Edwin Goodyear had dropped out of the team 

 and was coach at Elstree. Of the amateurs 

 the best and most reliable were Messrs. 

 Charles and Herbert Pigg, who for years were 

 the mainstay of Hertfordshire cricket. Mr. 

 Charles Pigg never obtained his colours at 

 Cambridge, but he was a useful slow round- 

 arm bowler and a hard-hitting bat. So far as 

 first-class cricket was concerned after this date, 

 his only appearances were for M.C.C. v. 

 Cambridge University, and his aggregate in 

 various years was 183 with an average of 

 i6'3, whilst his three wickets cost 83 runs. 

 Mr. Herbert Pigg had a more prominent 

 career. He had played for Cambridge v. 

 Oxford in 1877, though with no success. 

 But in first-class cricket he subsequently scored 

 248 runs with an average of 2O'8, his best 

 innings being a fine 59 for South of England 

 v. Australians at Hastings on September 17, 

 1886. On this occasion he took 8 wickets 

 for 125, though severely punished by Messrs. 

 J. M'llwraith and J. McCarthy Blackham. 

 He had much to do with the formation of 

 the Hastings Festival, and was chosen in the 

 first Gentlemen v. Players ever contested in 

 the district (September 16, 1899). On this 

 occasion he had a large share in the remark- 

 able victory by I wicket, for besides scoring 

 35 just when runs were badly wanted, he 

 followed up his successful batting by some 

 capital bowling, taking 7 wickets for 55 runs, 

 though he derived some assistance from the 

 state of the ground. His complete analysis 

 from 1878 in first-class cricket was 28 wickets 

 for 482 runs, averaging ij'6. He was a free 

 firm-footed hitter and useful fast round-arm 



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