140 The Pytchley Hunt, Past and Present, [chap, iv 



of the club, and tlie Hon. Sec/s (Mr. Roger Kynaston) 

 approach, armed with, book and seductive smile, was a 

 cause of frequent '^ shift of seat/^ and other mild tricks 

 of evasion. In the days now referred to, when ^'Will 

 Caldecourt/^ the well-known underhand bowler, was 

 invited to give an opinion as to the powers of Mr. " So 

 and So " as a cricketer, he would occasionally reply, 

 " Well, sir, as you ask me, I should say that he could 

 bat about as well as anybody's sister." This was 

 about the form of the brothers "George and Billy '^ 

 Payne, respectively ; but it did not prevent the cricket 

 ground at Sulby from being frequently enlightened with 

 village matches. The one in which they themselves 

 occasionally took part was the annual one between Sulby 

 Hall and the " Town and County Club." 



Always going in the two last wickets, the performance 

 was a ti^at to see, and scarcely less to hear. If by some 

 good chance the bat of either came in contact with the ball, 

 go where it might, both set off to run, bound to score or 

 die ! A collision usually took place about midway be- 

 tween the wickets; whereupon expletives forcible and 

 rapid were wont to fly from the elder brother, urging a 

 hasty retreat on the part of his fellow-batsman. His 

 legs being all too short for the emergency, he rarely got 

 home in time, and then followed loud self-reproaches from 

 the '^ not out " cause of the catastrophe. Should a catch 

 be held or a good hit accidentally be stopped by either 

 brother when out in the field, the congratulations from 

 each to the other were highly diverting. 



For the County Club, almost entirely composed of 

 Northampton tradesmen, the match against Sulby was the 

 event of the season. The eleven with whom it had to 



