SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



among its opponents some of the very best 

 amateur teams. It possesses one of the 

 prettiest grounds in the country, and the 

 attention of its caretaker, F. Bowler, for the 

 last twenty-five years has made a perfect 

 pitch. 



As stated on a previous page, cricket was 

 played by the schoolboys of Guildford as 

 far back as the middle of the sixteenth cen- 

 tury. 



The Guildford Club was a ' going concern ' 

 in quite the early part of the last century, 

 but, in common with so many other cricket 

 centres in Surrey, it seems to have fallen 

 on bad times somewhere about the fifties. 

 Chiefly through the instrumentality of Mr. 

 W. Stevens, a keen local cricketer, it was 

 reorganized in 1866, with, as subsequent 

 events have proved, marked success. Among 

 the chief players in its early days were George 

 Griffith, a celebrated Surrey cricketer, T. 

 Anstead, G. Elliott, and Messrs. J. Car- 

 michael and T. Smith, all of whom repre- 

 sented the county at one time or another. 

 Dible, who played for Surrey as well as 

 Hampshire, Major Matheson, Messrs. W. 

 and J. Stevens, W. and T. Smith, S. Farn- 

 field, Denzil Onslow and R. Garth at one 

 time rendered good service. For many 

 years the club played on the ground now 

 occupied by the Cattle Market. Its present 

 home is what is known as the Guildford Sport 

 Enclosure, a beautiful ground opened in 

 1895 for the purpose of cricket, football, 

 tennis and amateur athletic sports. Among 

 the principal playing members of the club 

 since this ground was acquired are K. Chris- 

 topherson, the President, Stanley Chris- 

 topherson, the old Kent player and one of 

 the Vice-Presidents, the Captain, G. A. 

 Franks, a good all-round cricketer, K. D. 

 Thorburn, S. H. Northcott, F. Martin and 

 F. Hegtill. Guildford numbers among its 

 opponents the M.C.C. and G., the Surrey 

 C. and G., as well as the chief clubs of Surrey. 



A cricket week, too, is usually arranged 

 at the end of July. The club forms a part 

 of an Association of Clubs (cricket, football, 

 tennis, cycling, and amateur athletics) 

 formed for the promotion of sport in its 

 several branches. 



The present LEATHERHEAoClub was estab- 

 lished as the Leatherhead United C.C. in 

 1865 ; previous to that date there existed 

 two, one purely a village club, the other for 

 amateurs. Neither was sufficiently strong 

 to play matches, so the two combined, with 

 Mr. Green as Hon. Sec, and Mr. J. Chilly, 

 a wealthy tanner, President. For the 

 first fifteen years the club only played some 



" 537 



eight matches a year against such oppo- 

 nents as Ripley, Oakley, and Sharford, and, 

 occasionally, Guildford and Dorking. Since 

 1 88 1, however, when the word 'United' 

 was dropped, the club has grown by the 

 addition of residents and of players resident 

 in London and elsewhere. In fact, it has 

 lost much of its local character. For some 

 years now it has played regularly home and 

 local matches with such clubs as Dorking, 

 Epsom, Ewell, Reigate Hill, Broadwater, 

 Streatham, Byfleet, Ockley, M.C.C. and G., 

 and occasionally with Esher, Horsham, Guild- 

 ford, Sutton, Oatlands Park, Incogniti and 

 Richmond. F. Hugh Williams, who joined 

 the club in 1868, was appointed captain in 

 1870, and has held the position ever since, 

 a record we should think unprecedented. 

 The Club Ground was acquired in 1865. 

 Among its members the Leatherhead Club 

 has numbered such players as W. Greenhill 

 (Sussex), A. P. Lucas, A. C. and S. W. Catt- 

 ley, S. W. Scott, and the well-known Lucas 

 family. Leatherhead now boasts no fewer 

 than four clubs — The L.C.C., St. John's 

 School, the Rovers, and the Red, White, 

 and Blue. 



Situated on a delightful ground at Barnes, 

 the cricket of this rural annexe to the Lyric 

 club situated in Coventry Street, Piccadilly, 

 was principally managed by Mr. C. I. Thorn- 

 ton, and proved to be of the same type as 

 that of the defunct Orleans Club at Twicken- 

 ham. Against the Green Jackets Mr. C. I. 

 Thornton himself scored 138 out of 180 in 

 fifty-eight minutes, and against the Ninety- 

 third Highlanders he rattled up 60 in twenty 

 minutes, while Mr. F. R. Spoflorth claimed 

 6 regimental wickets for 2 runs. In 1890 

 the Lyric Club defeated the Australians hy 

 96 runs, but this was the only im- 

 portant contest in its brief history. 



The village of Mitcham has played a very 

 conspicuous part as a Surrey cricket nursery. 

 Mitcham Green has been the favourite 

 trysting-place from time immemorial. As 

 long ago as 1736 the records point to Mitcham 

 as one of the most, if not the most, popular 

 centre of Surrey cricket. Particulars are 

 extant of important matches on the Green 

 at Mitcham, which, with Kennington 

 Common, Moulsey Hurst and Holt Pound, 

 near Farnham, were the chief county grounds 

 of the period. How long the Mitcham Club 

 has existed really matters little. Mitcham 

 cricket was practically the Mitcham Club, 

 though it boasted no corporate form, and 

 Mitcham can trace its great players back at 

 least to the days when John Bowyer was one of 

 the immortals of cricket. A fine player, 



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