A NOTED CRICKETER.

Waipawa Mail, Volume I, Issue 11, 19 October 1878, Page 3

A NOTED CRICKETER.

A Victorian contemporary notes that Vanity Fair, of July 13, has a capital fullhngth portrait of the “ demon bowler,” the name by which Mr Spofforth is known in English cricketing circles. Like previous sketches, by the same artist, of ** men of the day,” the likeness exaggerates the peculiarities of face and feature so well known here, but it falls short of caricature. In its letter-press Vanity Fair supplies the following information concerning the parentage of the “ demon bowler*’: “Born one-and-twenty years ago in Sydney, Mr Spofforth is Australian by origin and breeding, yet like all the better kind of Australians, he is not distinguishable from an English gentleman. He comes, indeed, of a good English family, being the son of the late Mr Edward Spofforth, of Howden, Yorkshire, who some forty years ago distinguished himself by accompanying Captain, now Sir George, Grey on an exjsedition to rescue the survivors of an exploring party which had ventured into the interior. He subsequently married in New Zealand the daughter of Captain McDonnell, one of the earliest settlers in that colony, established himself near Sydney, and in due course of time presented to his adopted colony the boy who has become known as the “ demon l>owler.” Mr Spofforth has been affected to the trade of banking, which he is still learning, rather than practising, in the New South Wales Bank. The love of athletic pastimes, which has been imported from Home by the Australian colonies only to be increased and improved upon, seized him at an early age, and from his school days up he has been known for his quick eye, true hand, and good judgment as a bowler. He is withal of excellent manners, modest, and diffident, and has become a favourite with all who have known him in England. One of his sisters married a brother of Lady Lyttleton, whose step-sons are considered by the Australian cricketers to be the finest batsmen they have encountered since their arrival in England.”