THE ALL ENGLAND ELEVEN.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 756, 22 November 1876, Page 3

THE ALL ENGLAND ELEVEN.

As the All-England Eleven have now arrived in the colonies, the following sketch of each player, taken from the Australasian, will be interesting :

Thomas Armitage is a native of Yorkshire, and about thirty-one years of age. Ho has played for his county, and is described as being a very serviceable man in all departments of the game. He can bowl roundarm. medium pace, and with that stylo of delivery is very straight, but of late years be has devoted his attention to slows, or “lobs.” as they are called in England, and at the present time he is the best trnndler of slows in the old country. Against Surrey recently he secured six wickets for 20 runs in the first innings, and seven for 26 runs in the second. He is also a splendid batsman, and an excellent field anywhere.

Henry Char) wood, born at Horsham, Sussex, about thirty years of age, is one of the freest and most dashing professional players in England. Ho hits well on both on and off sides, and has a wonderfully • strong defence all round, • He has never been in better form than during the past two seasons. Ho is also a good field, Thomas Emmett, aged thirty-four, is a native of Yorkshire, and one of the most effective all round cricketers in England, His forte, however, lies in the howling department. He is a very fast left-handed bowler, at times a little off the wicket, bat

when on the spot he is almost unplayable He is also a Jgrand field and a determined hitter. The result of the past two or three seasons has shown that Emmett is one of the best batsmen of his county. Andrew Greenwood, who will be remem bered as having been one of Grace’s eleven, who visited Australia about three years ago, has lost none of that fine batting form he exhibited when here, Lilly white's Annual says of him:—“One of the best professional batsmen in England, plays thorough cricket, and is a good field ; had the best batting average of the professionals of 1875,” Allan Hill, about thirty years of age, a Yorkshireman, and the best fast.bowler at home He bowls very straight and has an easy delivery, with a good break, He can also bat well, and is very smart in the field. Altogether he is one of the most serviceable players that has donned flannel for his county, Henry Jupp, of Surrey, who came out to Australia with Grace’s eleven, is still reckoned of the best batsmen of the day. He is possessed of an unlimited supply of patience, and has a wonderful stubborn defence. Of late years he has obtained more freedom in hitting and cutting. He is a sure field, a safe catch, can either longstop or keep wickets, and, in fact, cannot be put out of his place anywhere in the field. James Lillywhite, jun, another of those ‘players who came out with W. G. Grace, is too well known to need any special mention. He is a very fine left hand, round, mediumpace bowler, who never tires. He is in grand bowling form now. He hits well, and generally comes out with a score. Edward Pooley, a native of Surrey, aged about thirty-four years,'is one of the chief attractions of the eleven. He is acknowledged, on all hands, to be at the present moment the finest wicketkeeper of the day, being particularly effective in taking the leg balls. He is as active as a cat behind the wickets. He is also a splendid batsman, with tremendous hitting powers, being able to score from any bowling. Alfred Shaw, of Nottingham, about thirtyfour years of age, is the best bowler of the day. Lillywhite says Alfred Phaw has no equal. To quote from “ Lilly white’s Annual of 1876”—"In the first place, his accuracy of pitch is surprising, even when one recalls the wonderful certainty of pitch possessed by many of his rivals. Secondly, he possesses to perfection the art of delivering the dropping ball, by which, of course, I mean a ball tossed higher in the air and eminently deceptive to batsmen ; in the case of the majority of bowlers, a most dangerous ball to give to a player quick on his legs, though generally a successful manoeuvre when Alfred Shaw is the operator. Thirdly, and what contributes most to his success, is the extraordinary facility with which he adapts his bowling to every new batsman he has to meet, discovering almost intuitively the weak points in his defence. In addition, he has, of course, great break and continual variety of pace, but these are arts common to all good bowlers, though not possessed by others in such a marked degree. , . One of the very best cricketers of the day gives it as his opinion that ‘Shawon a wet day is unplayable, and on a dry day one oug t to play very carefully, and try and tire him out with singles, waiting for the hit till the loose ball comes, though such luxuries are few and far between.’ ” As a fieldsman he is at times brilliant, and always sure and reliable. He is a wonderful safe catch, and is, perhaps, the best short slip of the day, his return of the ball being as quick as lightning. As a batsman he is a resolute hard hitter, and as a judge of the game he has no equal. Alfred Shaw, outside the cricket field, by his urbanity of manner, is a wonderful favourite. James Southerton, another who came to the colonies with Grace, is still one of the best bowlers of his style iri England, and can get runs when they are most wanted. John Selby, of Nottingham, the youngest man of the twelve, is a very improving player, being a fine bat against all kinds of bowling, and an excellent field. He showed fine cricket in 1875, and proved himself one of the best professional cricketers of the day. G. Ulyett is one of the best all round professional players in the United Kingdom, and a very valuable acquisition to his county, Yorkshire. He is a very good bowler, with a high delivery, a sterling batsman, and a splendid field. It will be seen from the above team tt at its principal strength rests in the bowling department, but taking the Eleven all round it is universally acknowledged to be one of the finest professional elevens ever got together in England. There is plenty of batting in it, and it cannot be surpassed for fielding. “Incog,” in Land and Water, writes as follows :—“ According to programme, the Englishmen expect to play twenty five matches during their stay in the Colonies, and a notion of the sums demanded for each engagement by Mr Bennett, who is acting as agent in Australia for the principal on this side, can be gathered from a communication that has reached me, wherein it is stated that £BSO, in addition to the payment of all expenses, was asked for a three days’ match at Brisbane. On the 13th November the twelve are due to arrive at Adelaide, and on the 15th—rather early after a long voyage—they are, according to the Sydney Mail, to play their first match at Adelaide. A week afterwards they are to make their first appearance at Melbourne, and then on to Tasmania, playing at Launceston and Hobart Town. On Boxing Day they commence their moat important engagement against Victoria on the East Melbourne ground, and on the Friday and Saturday following they have been secured for Geelong. On New Year’s Day they begin a three-days’ match at Ballarat, and from thence they visit in turn Ararat, Stawell, Beechworth, Wangaratta, Albury, and Wagga Wagga. Their next move is to Sydney, and then to New Zealand, in which they expect to make a stay of seven weeks. This brief notice of their prospective arrangements „will show that they will have their hands full enough during their stay. According to the London dailies of yesterday, their return to London is stated for the middle of May, but it will l>e about the 12th of the following mouth before they regain England, so that English cricket will be perhaps a little late next season. The following particulars of the three twelves that have previously visited Australia will no doubt be interesting. The date attached to each shows the day of arrival:—

H. H, Stephenson’s Twelve, Melbourne, December 14th, 1861 —Matches played 12, won 6, drawn 4, lost 2. H, H, Stephenson (Surrey), Muriie (Surrey), Lawrence (Surrey), Bennet (Kent), E, Stephenson (York-

shire), Mortlock (Surrey), Oaffyn (Surrey), Iddison (Yorkshire), T, Sewell jun (Surrey), Griffith (Surrey), T. Hearue (Middlesex), Wells (Sussex). George Parr’s Twelve, Williamstown, December 17th, 1863—Matches played 16, won 10, drawn 6, lost 0. G. Parr (Notts), Carpenter (Cambridge), Jackson (Notts), Anderson (Yorkshire), A. Clarke (Notts), Lockyer (Surrey), Csesar (Surrey), E. M. Grace (Gloucester), Tarrant (Cambridge), Oaffyn (Surrey), T. Hayward (Cambridge), Tinley (Notts). W. G. Grace’s Twelve, Melbourne, December 13th, 1873 —Matches played 15, won 10, drawn 2, lost 3. W. G. Grace (Gloucestershire), G. P. Grace (Gloucestershire), Lillywhite (Sussex), F. H. Boult (Surrey), A. Greenwood (Yorkshire), M. M'lntyre (Notts), J. A, Bush (Gloucestershire), E. Humphrey (Surrey), W, Oscroft (Notts), W. R. Gilbert (Gloucestershire), Japp (Surrey), Souther ton (Surrey).