George Davidson

GEORGE DAVIDSON.-Derbyshire cricket sustained a heavy blow in the death from pneumonia on Wednesday morning, February 8th, of George Davidson . For some years he had been the best all-round man in the team, and, with the exception of William Storer, the county has never produced a player of finer powers. By reason of his superiority as a bowler, he was of greater use on the side than even Chatterton. Born on June 29, 1866, he was just in his prime, but for the illness which-following on influenza-had such a sad termination, he might have assisted Derbyshire for a good many seasons to come. Had he been associated with a stronger county, it is likely that he would have enjoyed a still more brilliant career, the fact of being so often on the beaten side having naturally a somewhat depressing effect on his cricket. It is a fair criticism to say that, though never quite the cricketer one would choose for England against Australia, he only fell a little below the highest class. He reached his best in the season of 1895 , when he was the only man in first-class matches to score over a thousand runs and take over a hundred wickets. To be quite exact, he made that year 1,296 runs, with an average of 28, and took 138 wickets at a cost of less than 17 runs each. Derbyshire had, perhaps, a stronger all-round eleven in 1895 than at any time before or since, and so well did they play that, though bad weather robbed them of victories over Surrey and Lancashire, they came out fifth among the counties. Davidson did much of his best work that year in county matches, being fourth in the batting averages and top in bowling. As a batsman he fared even better for Derbyshire in 1896 , when, against Lancashire at Old Trafford, he scored 274-the highest innings of his life. In 1898 with very little assistance, he bowled finely for the county, but his batting fell below its best standard: A man of barely medium height, Davidson had an appearance that suggested great strength both of muscles and constitution. As a batsman he combined hit and defence in no common degree, and his fast bowling was marked by a really wonderful accuracy of pitch.

LORD JUSTICE CHITTY died on February 15th, in his 71st year. He was born in London on the 28th of May, 1828. Though far better known in connection with rowing than cricket Lord Justice Chitty was in the Eton eleven, and was a double Blue at Oxford, playing in the eleven as well as rowing in the eight. As a cricketer he owed his reputation almost entirely to his fine wicket-keeping, for, according to Mr. Haygarth"s notice of him in Scores and Biographies, he had little merit as a batsman beyond steadiness. He gave up public cricket about 1851 . At Eton he excelled at football, being captain of the field in 1846.