Page:Jubilee Book of Cricket (Second edition, 1897).djvu/342

320 3. After 1845 Oxford began to look up again. She had at this time a great bowler, very fast round-arm, Mr G. E. Yonge, whose performances are thus recorded:—

Also 1845 saw the first appearance of a great family of Oxford cricketers, the Riddings, three brothers, all good in batting and fielding. The eldest, Mr C. H. Ridding, who played from 1845 to 1849, was a famous long-stop as well as a good bat, and when we remember the large number of byes that had been let in the earlier matches from the state of the grounds, and perhaps from the erratic nature of the bowling, when we are told that in 1844 Mr Marcon of Oxford bowled so fast as to require two long-stops to keep the byes under, and when we think of the importance of having a first-rate long-stop to the bowling of Mr G. E. Yonge, we cannot but feel the value of Mr C. H. Ridding. From his time byes begin to diminish. The second brother, Mr A. Ridding, who played from 1846 to 1850, for his batting and fielding was a useful man, scoring double figures in all his five matches. The third brother, Mr W. Ridding, who played in 1849, 1850, 1852, 1853 (being prevented by illness in 1851), was a famous wicket-keeper as well as a good bat. Old lovers of the game speak with enthusiasm of the time when Mr W. Ridding was wicket-keeper, and Mr C. H. Ridding long-stop behind him; and they were both played for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord's in 1849. In these improved circumstances Oxford won in 1846 by 3 wickets, in 1848 by 23 runs, and in 1850 by 127 runs. In this last match, the last ever played at Oxford and away from Lord's, Oxford had not only two Riddings, but also two Coleridges, who together got 93 runs, and secured 11 Cambridge wickets. Mr C. Coleridge played two years, 1849 and 1850, and scored 109 runs, with an average of 27·1. From 1846 to 1851, then, Oxford and Cambridge divided the honours, each winning in alternate years.

4. From 1852 to 1858 Oxford began to go ahead. Three years in succession she beat Cambridge in one innings; in 1852 in one innings and 77 runs; in 1853 in one innings and 19 runs;