Page:Jubilee Book of Cricket (Second edition, 1897).djvu/370

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348
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY CRICKET.

all day and every day, it will be seen that there is at least no dearth of opportunity for the Cambridge undergraduate.

Among the Cambridge clubs, first and foremost stands the Quidnuncs, with their colours of dark blue v/ith a very narrow gold stripe. It is essentially a University club, limited to fifteen members in residence, and those the cream of Cambridge cricket. All "blues" practically belong to it, while the rest of the club is composed of men who have either been tried for the University or who have nearly attained that honour. The subscription is nil; there is no club-house or club-room, and no matches are played at Cambridge, as no side could be found to offer any reasonable opposition; but numerous teams of Quidnuncs, in residence and out of residence, play against the different public schools and various garrisons and regiments. Needless to say, the opposing side is wise to provide itself with plenty of batting and bowling. The "Perambulators" is also a University club, and its numbers used to be limited to twenty-five members in residence, who pay no subscription. The colours are dark blue and dark green, with a narrow intermediate stripe of white. It is recruited solely from the older public schools—Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Winchester, Charterhouse, and Rugby—and plays matches against various colleges. A match, once very popular, and partaking of the nature of a trial-match, used to be played with the "Etceteras," a club once limited in numbers like the "Perambulators," and recruited from the other big schools, but this match has now fallen out of the list. The raison d'etre of the "Etceteras" is identical with that of the "Perambulators," and the colours are sufficiently smart—broad stripes of magenta and black, separated by a narrow stripe of white. The "Crusaders" is a similar club, though not confined to any schools. They too wander from college to college, seeking whom they may defeat, and can generally secure a strong side. The numbers are limited to 75, and the colours are bright blue and black in broad stripes, separated by a narrow line of white. The "Magpies," with an appropriate uniform of black and white, originated in Trinity Hall, whose colours the club has adopted, with slight modifications of arrrangement; but outsiders are also elected to it, as is the case with the "K.T.L." Club, generally known as the "Kettles," which had its origin in Trinity. Perhaps the most popular club nowadays is the "Hawks"—the colours are a bright shade of brown with a narrow stripe of yellow; but, unlike the clubs enumerated before, it is also a social club in a quiet way, with its club-rooms, where