Macnaghten's House Cricket Summer Half 1912 by George Ll Davies

[Nicholas]

All material presented by kind permision of Mrs Laura Duguid and the Provost and Fellows of Eton College

The cricket of my tutor's this half has on the whole come up to our expectation.  The juniors perhaps hardly did as well as they might, playing ( ) and winning ( ).  But they showed keenness and fielded well.  Baillie is a very promising bowler, and should do well, having two more years as a junior.  Grahame-Stewart and Brirely were the best of the bats. 
The house eleven started by drawing Stone's, a weak house.  Them they beat by an innings and 240 runs - a record for my tutor's.  C.H. Lawrence and Gull each passed their third half century and Cartwell took a seventy.  In the next match against Byrne's we only led by 10 on the first innings.  Napier, a wet-bob, making 50 for them.
Next day we had a gloomy lunch, with 6 wickets down for a hundred.  But Lawrence ma came to our rescue with a very fine century, and we eventually won (owing perhaps to more than our fair share of luck) by 250 runs.  This took us into the ante-final, where we met Mr Booker's.  Out ourselves for 100, we dismissed them (owing to a glorious 7 for 12 on the part C.H. Lawrence, who at times was almost unplayable) for a mere 49.  Following on, they set us 32 for a victory, which we gained with 7 wickets in hand.  By winning these matches my tutor's were in the final: and here fortune, hitherto always smiling, turned her back on our endeavours. 
To begin with Davies lost the toss, a crime of which he had not before been guilty.  Going out to field we dismissed our opponents, Mr Somerville's, for a paltry 131.  Going in ourselves, not alas! without a certain jubilation, we failed to improve on this score, only notching up 131 ourselves.  Their second endeavour, Lowther, resulted in no more than 182, and we were left with a very fair chance of victory.  But it was not to be.  Going in with an hour to play, and a very bad light, we lost 6 wickets for 38.  Our tail, under better conditions next day, saved us from utter ignominy, bringing our score to 81.  And so we lost the cup by 101 runs.  In conclulsion, I think it only fair to say that Somerville's would have beaten us in almost any conditions, although I think that if our second venture had begun under less cloudy circumstances, the margin by which we lost would have been decidely smaller.  Last of all, I must congratulate my tutor's on their fielding in the final, which could not, by any possible means, have been better.
George Llewelyn Davies
July 1912