SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



Northamptonshire would long ago have 

 attained first-class honours had the county 

 possessed a town with nearly a quarter of a 

 million of inhabitants, how much more enthu- 

 siastic would have been the character of 

 Hertfordshire cricket had a thousand spectators 

 ever watched a single match ? 



In 1 88 1 a suggestion was made that a 

 challenge cup be provided, to be annually 

 competed for by various clubs in the county. 

 The subject was at various times brought up, 

 but not very favourably received, although in 

 1882 the Rev. F. W. Gall ' offered to pre- 

 sent a cup to be competed for temporarily, 

 until a handsomer one should be provided.' 

 Nothing further appears on the club minutes 

 in connection with the matter until February 

 23, 1885, when the draw for the challenge 

 cup took place, eight clubs having entered for 

 it. In the minutes for the general meeting 

 for December 7, 1885, is the following : 'It 

 appearing that the institution of the county 

 challenge cup was somewhat informal, it was 

 resolved that the county club should take over 

 the same into its own hands.' Though there 

 is difficulty in tracing any cup-ties in 1885, 

 the trophy went to Potter's Bar, whilst in the 

 following year Watford proved victorious. 

 In the minutes of the general meeting held on 

 December 6, 1886, it is stated that 'con- 

 siderable dissatisfaction has been expressed 

 with regard to the umpiring in the cup-tie 

 matches.' The competition was continued 

 in 1887, for it is stated that the honorary 

 secretary, Mr. Charles Pigg, was authorized 

 to pay a certain sum to the umpire in the 

 Redbourne v. Watford cup-tie match, when 

 the prize belonged to Hemel Hempstead. 

 The cup was won by Redbourne in 1888, 

 1889 and 1890, when it became their abso- 

 lute property. The competition has never 

 since been revived. 



For many years Mr. Charles Edward 

 Keyser, of Derry Hill House, Bushey, was 

 honorary secretary to the county club. He 

 was an old Etonian who graduated at Cam- 

 bridge. In 1884 he was succeeded by Mr. 

 H. Freeman, who resigned in favour of 

 Captain Beresford Baker, who in turn vacated 

 the post, which was then filled by Mr. Charles 



One of the pleasantest memories of Hert- 

 fordshire cricket were the charming matches 

 at the Node, Welwyn, where during the 

 season strong wandering clubs are met. In 

 1871 a most exciting contest was played 

 against the Incogniti. The match was played 

 on July 27, the ' Incogs ' scoring 171. 

 The match seemed a certain win for the 

 visitors, but on Mr. C. F. Reid, the last bats- 



man on the side of Node, joining Mr. H. E. 

 Baker, the bowling of the Incogs was fairly 

 collared, scant respect being paid to the trund- 

 ling of Messrs. C. J. Brune, G. Law and P. V. 

 Turner, the two Node batsmen winning a 

 splendid contest for the home side by 27 runs 

 for the loss of but 9 wickets, Mr. C. F. Reid 

 carrying out his bat for a sterling 64, while 

 his vis-a-vis, Mr. H. E. Baker, was undefeated 

 at 21. Mr. C. F. Reid is father-in-law to 

 the well-known Oxford University and 

 Middlesex amateur, Mr. E. A. Nepean. Mr. 

 C. F. Reid was an ardent member of the 

 Free Foresters. In the Annals of the Free 

 Foresters, published in 1895, appear several 

 amusing annotations from the pen of Mr. 

 Cecil Reid. 



With reference to club and village cricket 

 within the county in recent years, Dr. Earle 

 Norman, after much inquiry, found that the 

 particulars he could elicit were so meagre 

 and at the same time so spasmodic and unreli- 

 able that no regular account could be com- 

 piled, few scores being preserved, and in those 

 omissions being more conspicuous than avail- 

 able information. 



HAILEYBURY CRICKET 



Haileybury College was founded in 1862 

 and incorporated in 1864. During the first 

 years of the school's existence no match was 

 played against another school, and it was not 

 until 1866 that a fixture was first arranged 

 against Wellington College. From that time 

 to 1900 the match has been played regularly, 

 and the record stands : Matches played, 31 ; 

 won 7, lost 1 8, drawn 6. The last three 

 consecutive games have been won, the last in 

 1 900 being one of the most interesting of the 

 series. On going in to bat the second time 

 Haileybury were left 330 runs to get in three 

 hours and a half ; these were knocked off for 

 the loss of 4 wickets in two hours and a 

 quarter, E. C. Smith and E. C. Hodges both 

 scoring over 100. The only other century 

 scored against Wellington seems to have been 

 C. Gurdon's 152 in 1872, when Haileybury 

 won by an innings and over 300 runs. 



In 1868 an additional school match was 

 arranged against Uppingham. In this fixture, 

 which became an annual one, the School has 

 had very few successes, the wins standing at 

 3 as against 14 losses, while 3 have been 

 drawn. In the last two years good games 

 have resulted, but fast wickets have made the 

 scoring too high for a definite conclusion to 

 be arrived at. 



Since 1893 a third match has been played 

 at Lord's against Cheltenham. For the first 



379 



