A HISTORY OF SURREY 



whose names are put down for the game are 

 present ; (3) in reporting to the captain of 

 the School Eleven at a meeting held to dis- 

 cuss their games at the end of the afternoon 

 the names of those whom they think deserv- 

 ing of a move into a higher game. In this 

 way, including the games of all grades, nine- 

 teen different games are in progress at the 

 same time, some having necessarily more than 

 eleven a side. On other days in the week 

 matches accordmg to forms are substituted 

 for the ordinary half-holiday games. This 

 is, of course, contrary to the usual practice 

 of schools, but the reason is found in the day- 

 boy element, which is far greater than at 

 most schools, the number of day-boys 

 compared with that of the boarders being 

 in the ratio of nearly six to one; it has 

 been found that form matches make an 

 excellent substitute in every way for House 

 matches. 



The system of the holiday games having 

 succeeded up to the present time, it has been 

 thought that even more interest might be 

 produced by arranging form matches on the 

 half-holidays worked on the system of league 

 matches. This system was tried in 1901 for 

 the first time. The change has been sug- 

 gested, especially with the idea of improving 

 the standard of cricket outside the first few 

 elevens. 



The number of the school first eleven 

 matches has gradually been allowed to fall 

 to eight yearly fixtures. When a match is 

 being played there must be a certain number 

 of boys for whom there is no space to play, 

 so in the interests of the school generally the 

 matches of the first eleven are made as few 

 as possible. 



Four schools are now played regularly 

 every year, all one-day matches ; these are 

 Tonbridge, Bedford Grammar School, 

 Brighton College, and St. Paul's; and the 

 result of all the matches against these schools 

 gives up to the time of writing a balance 

 of I in favour of Dulwich. Tonbridge 

 have won 14 as against Dulwich 9, and i was 

 drawn. Probably the most remarkable 

 match played with Tonbridge was one in 

 1884, in which W. Rashleigh for Tonbridge 

 played a magnificent innings of 203. With 

 Bedford, Dulwich leads by i, having gained 

 8 victories and suffered 7 defeats, 4 being 

 dravra matches. The chief match of note 

 played against Bedford was one in 1886, in 

 which W. G. L. Wyld and C. O. Cooper each 

 scored a century in the same innings, the 

 only occasion on which two centuries on the 

 same side in one innings have been scored 

 on the College ground. Against Brighton 



Dulwich has been more successful, for 

 though suffering defeats in 1885-6-7, during 

 which years the Brighton team included such 

 magnificent cricketers as S. M. J. Woods, 

 G. H. Cotterill, G. L. Wilson and N. C. 

 Cooper, it has altogether won 10 out of the 

 16 matches played. There was one drawn 

 match in 1895 ; each side in its first innings 

 made 131, and, time forbidding second 

 innings, the match remained a tie. In 1896, 

 on the Brighton ground, a most exciting 

 match ended in a win for Dulwich, who, in 

 the fourth innings, after a very hard and 

 tiring day's play, went in to get 136 in an 

 hour, and hit off the runs in fifty-five minutes. 

 Dulwich has played St. Paul's School nine 

 times, winning the first 5 matches and losing 

 the last 4. 



The first old Alleynian to gain distinction 

 in first-class cricket was the late Major W. 

 G. Wyld, who, whenever his military duties 

 allowed, played regularly for Surrey. In 

 regimental cricket, both at home and abroad, 

 he was a most prolific scorer. M. P. Bowden 

 played as a regular member of the Surrey 

 eleven for some years. As a schoolboy 

 he was a beautifully free batsman, and 

 though his style, when he found himself in 

 first-class cricket, certainly became less free, 

 he proved himself indispensable to the 

 county, combining as he did with his batting, 

 splendid fielding and wicket-keeping ability. 

 In this last capacity he was chosen to play 

 for the Gentlemen against the Players. A, 

 W. Dorman, a left-hand bowler with a nice 

 easy action, obtained a place in the Cam- 

 bridge XI of 1886. Capt. A. P. Douglas 

 played occasionally for Surrey ; but, having 

 served nearly all his time abroad, he has 

 appeared very seldom in first-class cricket. 

 R. N. Douglas, C. M. Wells and J. Douglas 

 all obtained their ' blues ' at Cambridge in 

 their first year, and played regularly for the 

 University. Both C. M. Wells and R. N, 

 Douglas played for Surrey during and 

 after their three years at Cambridge ; and 

 both, with J. Douglas, have since played 

 regularly for Middlesex during the month 

 of August, and have all been chosen to play 

 for the Gentlemen against the Players. 

 C. M. Wells in 1893 had the best bowling 

 average, counting those who took at least 

 50 wickets during the season, whether of 

 gentlemen or professionals, and he has the 

 distinction of having made the largest in- 

 dividual score ever made in a county match 

 by a Middlesex batsman. His analysb in 

 1893 shows that 73 wickets fell to him at a 

 cost of just over 14 runs each, and his great 

 score of 244 was made against Nottingham 



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