nothing of this kind. Matches were indeed few and far between. It was not only difficult for spectators to get from their homes to the scene of action, but difficult for players as well. We find many records in the old books of "absent o" being placed to the name of a player, owing to his not arriving in time to bat. I myself have had to walk many a mile before a day's cricket in my early years. At the time I was born cricket may be said to have flourished principally in the south of England, with the exception of a circle in the middle of the country comprising Leicester, Nottingham, and Sheffield. In the South, Kent and Sussex were the two most powerful counties, and the matches played between them created a vast amount of interest. Hampshire (the cradle of cricket) did not at this period possess such a monopoly of fine players as in former years, still they had a few first-rate men in their ranks notwithstanding.
When one considers the difficulties of travelling from place to place in those days, it will readily be seen that the arranging of an attractive season's programme in the few leading centres of cricket was no easy matter. When one county could not meet another on equal terms they played one or more "given men" from another county. This custom was kept up till a much later period. Another way of equalising two elevens was to "bar" a celebrated batsman or bowler. Up at Lord's an eleven of
