Cricket: Lower Wendham against Ashcombe, by Our Own Correspondent

An original newspaper report written in a nineteenth-century voice; a period simulation, not an archival document.

This report of a match between two village cricket teams appeared in a county newspaper in 1878.

The annual match between the elevens of Lower Wendham and Ashcombe was played on Saturday last upon the meadow behind the Plough Inn, kindly lent by Mr Bartram for the occasion. The weather was all that could be desired, and by noon above four hundred spectators had gathered round the ground, many of them having walked the five miles from Ashcombe with hampers on their arms.

Ashcombe won the toss and chose to bat, but found the bowling of young Thomas Treharne, the blacksmith’s son, too much for them. He took seven wickets for nineteen runs, and the whole side was dismissed for sixty-three shortly after two o’clock. A cow that had strayed on to the field from the neighbouring pasture delayed play for a full quarter of an hour, to the great amusement of the crowd, before it was driven off by the umpire with his hat.

Lower Wendham then went in, and it seemed for a time that the match would be lost, for five wickets fell for twenty runs. The day was saved by the Reverend Mr Crane, the curate, who batted with great patience for more than an hour and was not out at the finish, Lower Wendham winning by four wickets.

The players and their friends afterwards sat down to an excellent supper at the Plough, and the band of the Wendham Volunteers played until dark.

(a) How many spectators had gathered round the ground by noon? (b) Why was play delayed for a quarter of an hour? (c) Who saved the day for Lower Wendham when they were batting?