SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



when he played at Crabbet Park, Mr. Blunt's 

 seat at Worth, near Crawley.* 



These old Surrey cricketers played an 

 important part in the early evolution of the 

 game. The introduction of the third stump 

 was due to Lumpy, or at least to the fact 

 that he bowled on one occasion three balls, 

 which passed between the two stumps with- 

 out, as the rules then stood, getting the 

 batsman out. It was Stock White who was 

 responsible for the increase of the width of 

 the bat. Harry Walker was the first to 

 cultivate cutting as an art. Legend gives to 

 ' Old Everlasting ' the credit of being the 

 pioneer of round arm bowling. The Earl 

 of Winchilsea was responsible for the experi- 

 ment of a fourth stump. Robinson intro- 

 duced spikes and leg-guards. Thomas 

 Boxall was the author of the first book on 

 cricket, and Daniel Day the earliest to use 

 batting gloves. 



To return to the history of Surrey cricket ; 

 about 1810 to 1815 Mitcham and Epsom 

 were among the best dubs in the county. 

 John Bowyer, John and James Sherman were 

 the mainstays of the former. In 1815 

 Epsom was strong enough to play Hamp- 

 shire, Sussex and Middlesex, the last with 

 success. Ten years later James Saunders, 

 James Gjbbett, G. Brockwell, uncle of the 

 excellent all-round player of to-day, D. 

 Hayward (whose grandson Thomas takes 

 high rank among the cricketers of the first 

 years of the twentieth century), John Bailey 

 and T. Sewell senior were upholding the 

 reputation of Surrey on the cricket field. 

 Surrey as a recognized County Eleven, how- 

 ever, really ceased to exist about 1830. 

 There are records of only some five matches 

 from 1793 to 1845. 



Fortunately the middle of the nineteenth 

 century witnessed a revival which resulted 

 in the establishment of a County Club on 

 a properly organized basis. The formation 

 of the County Cricket Club in 1845 not only 

 marked a new era in Surrey cricket, but has 

 been of immense service to the development 

 of the game generally. One of its first acts 

 was the conversion of Kennington Oval, then 

 a market garden, into a recreation ground 

 to be utilized for cricket. It was some little 

 time before the County Club became any- 

 thing like a real force in cricket. Several 

 of the best Surrey players had from stress 

 of circumstances, found employment in 

 other counties ; but the first act of the 

 executive of the new club was to find en- 



' His book, Lamherfi Cncketers' Guide, is a 

 practical treatise of no small merit. 



II 5 



gagements on the Oval, as practice bowlers, 

 for two well-known Surrey players, William 

 Martingell and George Brockwell. The 

 former, in the absence of any opening in 

 Surrey, had accepted monetary inducement 

 to live in Kent. He was persuaded to 

 return to the Surrey fold, signalising his 

 reappearance on 25 and 26 May 1846 by 

 taking 9 wickets of the M.C.C. in a low 

 scoring match. Brockwell, who was a slow 

 bowler with a puzzling delivery, was already 

 old as cricketers go, being in his thirty-sixth 

 year ; nevertheless, he did good work for 

 Surrey for some years. After his active career 

 closed he was retained at the Oval, being 

 finally superannuated and pensioned by the 

 Surrey Club till his death in 1876. In 

 addition to Martingell and Brockwell, the 

 Surrey Eleven at the end of the forties in- 

 cluded several other distinguished cricketers. 

 T. Sewell has already been mentioned ; Mr. 

 Nicholas Wanascrocht, who played under 

 the cognomen of ' N. Felix,' was one of the 

 best all-round players of his time, as well 

 as one of the most charming personalities 

 of the period on the cricket field ; J. Heath, 

 not only a safe bat, but a capital bowler and 

 good in the field ; Daniel Day, a bowler of 

 infinite resource and variety ; and John 

 Bayley, a good bat and excellent slow round- 

 arm bowler, who played in great matches 

 for over thirty years. These seven, with 

 Messrs. A. M. and C. H. Hoare, E. Garland, 

 one of the best amateur fast bowlers, and R. 

 Groom constituted the eleven which met 

 and beat Kent in 1846, the first match after 

 an interval of eighteen years. Keen rivals 

 from the earliest days, Surrey and Kent, when 

 the series of games was resumed, fought their 

 battles with fresh vigour. Their match of 

 1847 furnished excitement enough and to 

 spare, producing the first tie recorded on 

 the Oval, Kent, who had equalled their 

 opponent's score with three wickets still in 

 hand, being unable to make another run. 

 Though beaten at Lords, 1849, in the first 

 match, Surrey, with Hillyer and Box as 

 ground men, was able to meet England 

 again on even terms, and defeat them at the 

 Oval. At that time, and indeed well into 

 the middle of the fifties, Surrey's programme 

 was very small ; five matches a year was about 

 the average, and these were mostly against 

 Sussex, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Oxford- 

 shire, though on one or two occasions Surrey, 

 with the assistance of Sussex or Kent, 

 measured its strength against a representa- 

 tive side of England. 



Up to the middle of the fifties Surrey 

 cricket under the new regime, if not remark- 



67 



