TOURNAMENT REVIEW: 1876 VARSITY SERIES
Early July saw the final few league games played at both universities, including a bizarre situation in Cambridge where Trinity’s home field was unavailable for their final game against Queens’ and with no alternative date available, they were obliged to forfeit home advantage for the game. It did not affect them however, as Trinity took the win 5-3. With those games out of the way, it was time for the Varsity Series to begin in Oxford. Strangely, neither team was using the star pitcher who had dominated all the major statistical categories during the season – New College’s Mark Kirkup for Oxford and James Gulliver of Clare College for Cambridge. Family commitments meant that Kirkup had travelled home and was not selected, while Gulliver was selected but had concerns over an injury and asked not to be called on to pitch. Fortunately, both teams had strong second choices, with George Jackson of St John’s getting the nod for Cambridge and Worcester’s Cecil Hamilton chosen for Oxford.
Cambridge made a slow start when, with two out in the first inning, Edwin Wakeling of Trinity recorded the first hit of the game and then advanced to second on a throwing error. The next man up, Tom Burrows of champions New College, drove him home to give Oxford the lead and for a long time it looked as though that would be enough for the win. Cambridge managed four hits, each in a different inning, but were never able to move a man beyond second base through the first eight innings. Oxford too could not get another man past second but with that narrow lead, it seemed to matter little. In the ninth, pitcher Hamilton got the first man out but then hit Jesus College’s Edwin Tapper with a pitch to give Cambridge a baserunner. St John’s man Sydney Fuller then added a two-base hit and Cambridge suddenly had runners at second and third with only one out. Hoping to force two outs in one play, Oxford decided to allow James Aldhouse of Clare College a free pass to first, but came to regret that decision. Next up was catcher Robert Humphries of St Catharine’s, and he produced a three-base hit which scored all three runners and turned the game around, putting Cambridge on top 3-1. Allan Hearle of Queens’ came in to pitch for Cambridge in the ninth and after allowing a hit to Tom Burrows and seeing him advance to third with two outs when a pitch evaded catcher Humphries, Hearle regained his composure to record the final out. Cambridge had a 3-1 win and a chance with home advantage in the second game to take the series for the first time in three years.
In the second game, pitching was again dominant for much of the afternoon as nobody scored until the seventh inning. Tom Burrows again started things with a two-base hit and having moved himself to third, came in to score when Timothy Keightley of Christ Church followed up with another hit. With Keightley on third base and one out, Magdalen’s Samuel Seavers hit a ball deep enough into the outfield that Keightley was able to come home after the catch and extend the lead to 2-0. At this stage Cambridge did not even have a hit in the game, but in their half of the seventh found two and had runners at first and third with two out and Emmanuel’s Albert Daykin batting. Unfortunately for Daykin, he didn’t get to face a pitch as Robert Humphries strayed too far from first base and was thrown out to end the inning. In the eighth, Trinity’s Jonathan Orton started the inning for Cambridge with a three-base hit having replaced Daykin in the line-up, and Enoch Jackson of Gonville and Caius brought him home with another hit to cut the deficit to 2-1. Jackson made it to third base with two out, but Queens’ Matthew Gardner could not bring him home. Cambridge got a runner on first in the ninth inning but could advance him no further, their chance had gone in the eighth and Oxford held on to win 2-1 and tie the series at one game each.
As reigning champions, Oxford called the coin toss for home advantage in the deciding game and called correctly, meaning that the teams headed back to Oxford for the third game. On this occasion, everything seemed to go right for Cambridge. Pitcher Jackson was almost untouchable, not allowing Oxford a baserunner until a two-base hit from Timothy Keightley in the fifth. By that point, they had also done considerable damage with the bat as pitcher Jackson had driven in the first run of the game in the second inning, before scoring himself on a hit from Sydney Fuller. Jackson again produced with the bat in the third, driving in another to make the score 3-0, before Oxford crumbled in the fifth. A careless pitch from Hamilton let James Aldhouse score from third to move the score to 4-0, then with runners at second and third a hit from William Lloyd of Gonville and Caius brought home two more. Oxford’s single hit in the fifth was not the start of a comeback, as that proved to be the only time all day that they had a baserunner. For good measure, Cambridge added a home run from Emmanuel’s Ernest Duerden in the eighth and quickly confirmed their success, taking the game 7-0 and the series 2-1. Both universities have now won the series four times in its eight year history, although Oxford have a slight edge in individual games at eleven wins to nine. Unsurprisingly, George Jackson was named as Best Pitcher, having played well throughout the series but particularly in his one-hit shutout in the deciding game. Best Player was given to Tom Burrows in a losing effort for Oxford.
