Obituaries in 1894

FREDERICK WILD, the well-known Notts cricketer, died in February. Wild was born on the 28th of August, 1847, and was thus in his forty-sixth year at the time of his death. He first gained a place in the Notts eleven in the year 1868, and played regularly for the county down to the end of the season of 1879. Very little was seen of him in Nottingham matches in 1880, but his services were called into frequent requistion during the schism of 1881. With that season his career as a county cricketer closed, but he retained his position on the ground staff at Lord"s as long as he lived. At his best, Wild was certainly a first-class batsman, and he would probably have enjoyed still greater success than he did if the death of Biddulph had not compelled him to become wicket-keeper to the Notts eleven. The injuries to his hands that he was constantly sustaining handicapped him considerably in batting. He was in particularly good form about 1872, during which season he played an innings of 104 for Notts against Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge. This was the first hundred ever scored for Notts at Nottingham, but, curiously enough, Selby, in the same innings, made 128 not out. A collection was made for the two players, Selby receiving seventeen pounds and Wild thirteen. Another fine performance of Wild"s was in the M.C.C. and Cambridge University Match at Lord"s in 1877, when he largely helped to win the game for the Club by scoring in the last innings 104 not out. Wild was, perhaps, never a first-rate wicket-keeper, but in this match between the M.C.C. and Cambridge he did an extraordinary piece of work which is constantly referred to in the Pavilion at Lord"s, stumping Alfred Lyttelton in the most brilliant fashion on the leg side from W. N. Powys"s fast bowling. It is also worthy of note that he was a member of the Marylebone Club team in the memorable game with the Australians, on the 27th of May, 1878, which ended in one day, and established the reputation of Australian cricket in England.

E. TURNER, a well-known Melbourne cricketer, died in Victoria in January.

G. BULL ( Northamptonshire) died April 24th.

CHARLES JAMES ERNEST JARVIS ( Harrow and Norfolk) died July 5th. Mr. Jarvis was born at King"s Lynn, Nortfold, on the 14th August, 1859, and appeared in the Harrow eleven against Eton at Lord"s in 1876, 1877, and 1878. In the last-mentioned year he had the satisfaction of being captain of the winning side. He took a very keen interest in cricket in his native county, and his death in his thirty-fourth year was greatly regretted.

WILLIAM SCOTTON ( Notts), who died by his own hand on the 9th of July, was born on January 15th, 1856, and was thus in his thirty-eighth year. For some time previous to his tragic end he had been in a very low, depressed condition, the fact that he had lost his place in the Notts eleven having, so it was stated at the inquest, preyed very seriously upon his mind. Scotton played his first match at Lord"s for Sixteen Colts of England against the M.C.C. on the 11th and 12th of May, 1874, scoring on that occasion 19 and 0. He was engaged as a groundman by the M.C.C. in that year and 1875, and after an engagement at Kennington Oval returned to the service of the M.C.C., of whose ground staff he was a member at the time of his death. His powers were rather slow to ripen, and he had been playing for several years before he obtained anything like a first-rate position. At one period of his career, however, and more particularly during the seasons of 1884 and 1886, he was beyond all question the best professional left-handed batsman in England. In 1884 he scored 567 runs for Notts in thirteen matches, with an average of 31.9; in 1885, 442 runs in fourteen engagements, with an average of 22.2; and in 1886, in county fixtures only, 559 runs, with an average of 29.8. Though he several times made higher scores, his finest performance was undoubtedly his innings of 90 for England against Australia at Kennington Oval in August, 1884. The match, as cricket readers will readily remember, resulted in a draw, Australia scoring 551 and England 346 and 85 for two wickets. In England"s first innings Scotton went in first, and was the ninth man out, the total when he left being 332. During a stay of five hours and three quarters he played the bowling of Spofforth, Palmer, Boyle, Midwinter, and George Giffen without giving the slightest chance, and but for his impregnable defence it is quite likely that England would have been beaten. Up to a certain time he received very little assistance, but when W. W. Read joined him, 151 runs were put on for the ninth wicket. Against the Australian team of 1886 Scotton played two remarkable innings in company with Mr. W. G. Grace, the two batsmen scoring 170 together for the first wicket for England at the Oval, and 156 for Lord Londesborough"s Eleven at Scarborough. Scotton"s score at the Oval was only 34, but at Scarborough he made 71. Scotton paid three visits to Australia, going out with Shaw and Shrewsbury"s teams in 1881, 1884, and 1886. In the three tours he averaged respectively in the eleven a-side matches, 20.8, 17.3, and 10.13. Few left-handed men have ever played with so straight a bat or possessed such a strong defence, but he carried caution to such extremes that it was often impossible to take any pleasure in seeing him play.

MAJOR THOMAS KNOX HOLMES, who died on the 14th of July at the advanced age of eighty-five, did not take any active part in cricket, but he was in close touch with the game. As a member of the Old Stagers" Dramatic Company he was regularly seen at Canterbury during the Cricket Week.

T. J. D. Kelly ( Victoria) died in Melnourne in July. Mr. Kelly played for Victoria for many years in the Inter-Colonial matches, and was regarded as by far the best fieldsman at point Australia has yet produced.

W. D. LLEWELYN ( Eton, Oxford University, and Glamorganshire) died from the effects of a gun accident on the 24th of August. Mr. Llewelyn was born on April 1st, 1868, and his tragic death in his twenty-sixth year caused a painful shock to his many friends both on and off the cricket field. Mr. Llewelyn did not perhaps at Oxford realise all the hopes entertained of him when he was at Eton, but he was an exceedingly good bat, as those who saw him play in the University match of 1891, when he alone among the Oxford eleven made any stand in the first innings against S. M. J. Woods s terrific bowling, will not need to be told. He played for Eton against Harrow in 1886 and 1887, and for Oxford against Cambridge in 1890 and 1891. For Eton against Winchester in 1887, at Eton, he scored 124 and not out 41, his side winning the match by nine wickets.

RICHARD PARSONS, a gentleman well known on all the chief cricket grounds as the representative of Messrs. F. H. Ayres and Co., died on August 24th.

J. GRAHAM, who kept wicket for Cambridge University against Sussex at Brighton in 1892, was drowned in Norway on the 26th of August, 1893.

W. P. LOCKHART died in the latter part of the summer. In his time Mr. Lockhart was the best amateur wicket-keeper in the North of England. He was born at Kirkcaldy, N. B., on October 15th, 1835. He never appeared at Lord"s, but in 1859 he was one of the Gentlemen"s eleven against the Players at the Oval.

JOHN MEE FULLER, who died, we believe, in July or August, was born in London on December 4th, 1835, and during a short career in public matches enjoyed a good reputation both as a batsman and longstop. He appeared for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord"s in 1856 and 1858. He played for Cambridge against Oxford at Lord"s in 1855, 1856, and 1857, among his contemporaries at the University being Mr. Joseph Makinson, Canon McCormick, the late Mr. T. W. Wills, who afterwards played such a prominent part in cricket in Australia, and the late Mr. R. A. Fitzgerald, for so many years the secretary of the M.C.C.

Canon Cazenove, who died in August while playing lawn tennis, performed an extraordinary bowling feat at Oxford on the 5th and 6th of May, 1853. Playing for the Undergraduates of Oxford against Oxfordshire, he obtained no fewer than sixteen wickets, securing all the ten in the first innings of the county, and six in the second. Five of the ten wickets were taken in one over, the umpire inadvertently allowing an extra ball. Canon Cazenove was born at Clapton in Middlesex on February 12th, 1833, and played for Oxford against Cambridge at Lord"s in 1851 and 1852. He was a round-arm bowler of medium pace.

ARTHUR L. MADDOCK, the cricket representative of the Nottingham Guardian, and for several years past a familiar figure on the Trent Bridge ground, died on October 12th, aged thirty-seven. Mr. Maddock was at one time a member of the Notts Castle Club.

A. D. DUNLOP, a well-known Scottish cricketer, who represented Scotland against Surrey at Kennington Oval in 1892, died in November.

FREDK. CRABTREE, a young wicket-keeper who appeared in one or two of Yorkshire"s less important engagements last season, died at Nelson, Lancashire, on November 28th. He was in his twenty-seventh year, and had been wicket-keeper for the Nelson Club for three seasons. He had formerly been engaged as a professional at Saltaire.

HENRY WRIGHT, who since 1866 had been custodian of the Bramall Lane ground, died at Sheffield on November 28th, having on the 15th of the same month completed his seventy-first year. Though a familiar figure to all cricketers who have visited Sheffield, Wright, as an active player, was unknown to the present generation. His name will be found in the Sheffield Club team as far back as 1843. He represented North against South at Lord"s in 1855, and once during his career had the distinction of being chosen for the Players against the Gentlemen. In his day he was a fairly good bat, a tolerably successful bowler, and an extremely fine field at point. During his long connection with the Sheffield ground he won the regard of all with whom he was brought in contact.

THE REV. WILLIAM LAW died in December, 1892-too late for the fact to be noted in last year"s WISDEN. Mr. Law was a excellent cricketer both at Harrow and Oxford University, and had the distinction in 1874 of captaining perhaps the best fielding side that ever represented Oxford. He was born at Rochdale in Lancashire on April 9th, 1851, and was thus in his forty-second year at the time of his death. His untimely loss was mourned by a large circle of cricket friends.