jealousy on the part of the northern men about the selection of H. H. Stephenson for the captaincy of the first English Eleven which went to Australia; then we had the Nottinghamshire dispute with Surrey for first place in county honours, which caused them to steer clear of meeting each other for years; and, finally, we had the divisions of the different elevens into North and South.
It was not an uncommon thing for two or three members of an eleven to combine and object to another member playing. For some reason or other, G. Atkinson absented himself from the Yorkshire team against Nottinghamshire on the 9th, 10th, and 11th July, 1863. Seven days afterwards, eight of the most prominent Yorkshire players wrote to the Honorary Secretary:
"We, the undersigned, have made up our minds that we will not play in the forthcoming Yorkshire v. Surrey match if George Atkinson plays."
It was a most unhappy position for a Secretary to be placed in; but the eight gained their point, for Atkinson did not play in the Surrey match.
The North v. Surrey match at the Oval, 3rd, 4th, and 5th August the same year, was also spoiled, owing to Parr's "combination" objecting to play. Parr, Anderson, Daft, Hayward, Carpenter, Tarrant, and Jackson were all absent, and it was not a case of their being unable to play, but that they would not play against Surrey. When England played Surrey a fortnight later, they were in the same mood, and remained in it in the North v. Surrey match, at Manchester on 20th, 21st, and 22nd August. In the latter match the North, though playing a weak team, was strong enough to win, and a certain amount of satisfaction was felt that the team should have been able to do it without the dissentient players. A lively newspaper correspondence
