The First Fifty Years of Shanghai Cricket (Pt 2)

2nd part of the same 1914 North China Herald article. Note that Gentlemen should really not play in the heat which clearly explains the Leisure’s regular mid season slumps. It was a (Major) Turner that started the Interport games. The Bokhara tragedy…… I wonder if the stained glass window is still here.

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Hot Weather Recess

In 1888 Mr W.H. Moule who may all the Cricketing Deities long preserve made his debut. With him was found a most worthy partner, Orman, who with Old Moule (A.J.H) complied one of our local records, 305 for 2: Orman making 117 and Moule 102. That same year saw the first match with the Recreation Club, and the season’s record includes a score of 139 by Mr D W Crawford. Only once is it that the heat stopped a game actually begun: that was in ’89. But after a May-June season, it was custom for some years not to play any more matches till September.

It was in ’89, too, that Hong Kong came up once more to renew the old Interport games. There had been none for 23 years, yet at the dinner there were three men who had played in the first match, Hearn, Starkey and Price. The second of these made 99 for Hong Kong in ’66. The weather was wet for the renewal, but Shanghai won. Orman was in form that year and had two or three centuries to his credit. Crawford too, on one occasion, complied 115 not out, and R Crusoe likewise won centurion honours. One bowling feat should certainly be recorded here, although the incident occurred in Interport cricket in Hong Kong, when Mr C Barff captured 7 Singapore wickets for 5 runs. That is an even better average of V.H Lanning’s 8 for 10 of later date, against Hong Kong on our own ground.

The Bokhara Year

When we come to the nineties it would seem almost as though we were talking of yesterday, for amongst the early great performances of those days we find an innings of 101 played by Mr T Wallace, and discover that in the same year the Recs beat the Senior Club. St Croix comes into notice with a century and was even better appreciated for his bowling. In ’92 Hong Kong beat us badly, 439 to 163 and 139, but we won on the return match in the autumn of the same year, when Capt Dunn, notwithstanding the supposed excellence of the team he had brought, said they were outplayed in batting, bowling and fielding. That was the terrible “Bokhara” year. Major Turner who came up as Umpire with the visiting team had been instrumental in getting the up the first match in 1866. The Hong Kong team was of course given the usual enthusiastic send-off and the report in our columns closed thus. The vessel dipped her flag again and again, Dr Lowson tooted his horn, and the Shanghai Cricket Week was over. When the Bokhara catastrophe occured on her way to Hong Kong, but two of the team were saved, Dr Lowson and Lt Markham. The vessel was a total loss, only 23 lives were saved. Our Cathedral contains a stained glass window of the many good lives that were lost.