A HISTORY OF SURREY 



ably successful, had maintained a fairly high 

 standard. But difficulties arose in the 

 internal economy of the club, with the 

 result that the very existence of the Oval as 

 a cricket ground was imperilled. The rela- 

 tions between Mr. W. Houghton, in whose 

 name the lease of the Oval had been originally 

 taken, and the management of the club had 

 latterly not been of an amicable character. 

 By 1854 ^^ open rupture obliged the club 

 to adopt strong measures, and it was decided 

 to play no more matches at the Oval for the 

 time being. It was not tiU the licence of the 

 tavern was actually lost that this measure 

 produced its effect. At last Mr. Houghton 

 retired from the management, and the club 

 was able to acquire a direct lease of the 

 ground. Even then the continuance of the 

 club was by no means assured. Adoption 

 of the suggestion of the late Earl of Bess- 

 borough to. create a few life memberships 

 relieved it of debt, and the dissolution which 

 at one time had appeared imminent was 

 avoided. 



For a few years after this crisis the eleven 

 had an almost uninterrupted career of 

 success. William Caffyn, one of the most 

 skilful of all-round players, as well as the 

 most graceful, had already made a name for 

 himself, as also had Lockyer, greatest and most 

 artful of wicket-keepers, in a different line ; 

 Julius Cssar had also made a reputation in 

 only a slightly less degree. By this time, 

 too, a quartette of exceptionally fine amateurs 

 had come, or were coming, to the front in 

 Messrs. F. P. MiUer, a versatile all-round 

 cricketer and a captain of unfailing resource ; 

 F. Burbidge, a sound bat, safe under any 

 conditions, and a fearless and active point ; 

 C. G. Lane and E. Dowson. In addition 

 were H. H. Stephenson, Surrey's Stephenson 

 as he was familiarly called, another fine all- 

 round player, William Mortlock, George 

 Griffith, Tom Sherman, and others who did 

 Surrey service at the end of the fifties, and, 

 most of them, well through the sixties. 

 These were the men who mainly contributed 

 to Surrey's successes of the period, and no 

 less than nine of them were members of the 

 eleven which played England, and beat it 

 by more than an iimings. Until the early 

 sixties Surrey, whatever their successes in the 

 Inter-County Matches, found themselves 

 equal to the task of playing England on even 

 terms. So far their other opponents had been 

 Notts, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, 

 Sussex, and latterly the North of England. 

 In i860 they again met England, this time 

 without definite result, though the county 

 had the best of an unfinished game. Just 



before this, new fixtures had been arranged 

 with the two Universities ; the latter in those 

 days were allowed sixteen men, so it is not 

 surprising to find that Surrey was generally 

 unsuccessful. Material improvement in the 

 condition of the club warranted an extension 

 of the match list. Mr. William Burnip, who 

 had succeeded his twin brother John as 

 Honorary Secretary in 1855, utilised the 

 opportunity to revive the Yorkshire match ; 

 and this with Notts, Cambridgeshire, Kent 

 (another revival after a brief interregnum), 

 Sussex, Middlesex, and the Universities 

 represented Surrey's programme in the 

 commencement of the sixties. A few years 

 later Hants reappeared, playing fourteen 

 men for a time ; a match with Lancashire 

 was arranged somewhere about 1865. 



At this period a trio of fine players 

 appeared to reinforce the county team. 

 These were H. Jupp, T. Humphrey and 



E. Pooley, who were followed a year or two 

 later by James Southerton. These four bore a 

 large share of the burden of the work towards 

 the end of the sixties. Their appearance 

 was the more opportune as for a time there 

 was unmistakable retrogression in Surrey 

 cricket. The players who had brought the 

 county to quite the front rank under Mr. 



F. P. Miller's captaincy had all aged at once, 

 and the executive had not foreseen the 

 necessity of a reserve of capable youngsters 

 to take their places. The Surrey eleven 

 went from bad to worse, till in 187 1 they 

 just escaped a season of unbroken failure, 

 their single success in sixteen matches being 

 won by one wicket. The natural effect of 

 this deterioration was a steady reduction in 

 the membership. The cares of office, more- 

 over, had been weighing with increasing 

 heaviness on Mr. William Burrup, and at 

 the end of 1871 he found it advisable to give 

 up the position of Honorary Secretary which 

 he had filled with credit for eighteen years. 

 On Mr. Burrup's retirement the executive 

 of the County Club wisely decided to appoint 

 a paid secretary. The growth of the club 

 and the necessities of Surrey cricket had 

 rendered it imperative to appoint some one 

 who should be able to devote his whole time 

 and energy to the interests of the club. The 

 choice of the committee fell on Mr. C. W. 

 Alcock, and on 6 April 1872 the minutes of 

 the club record his election as secretary 

 in succession to Mr. William Burrup. During 

 his tenure of office from 1855 to 1872 that 

 gentleman had done energetic and good 

 work. It was on his initiative that Notts, 

 Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire and 

 other counties were induced to come to the 



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