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the year in which I was born (1828) and the one in which I first took part in first-class cricket (1849) our great national game underwent many changes and improvements. Not only did some mighty names arise in the cricket world during this period of twenty-one years, but the game received the assistance of an ally who sprang up at this time, and who has done more to popularise it than even any one who actually took part in it—the Locomotive. What a change in the history of cricket has been brought about by the railways! What a countless number of matches have they been responsible for! The increase in the popularity of our great game naturally dates from the time of the introduction of the locomotive. In 1828 there was