In all these branches there have been notable cricketers in the Britannia, nor must the Engineer officers be omitted—of whom more anon.
One of the earliest matches recorded in the magazine is Officers v. Cadets, on May 10th, 1884, of which the score is as follows:—
| Officers. | |
| Lieut. Thomas, retired | 102 |
| Mr. Finlay, c Johnson, b Nugent | 2 |
| Captain Bowden-Smith, b Nugent | 0 |
| Lieut. Stokes, b Nugent | 10 |
| Mr. Aldous, c Johnson, b Collins | 2 |
| Mr. Lane, b Collins | 0 |
| Com. Bainbridge, not out | 44 |
| Mr. Braithwaite, b Nugent | 0 |
| Sergeant Meakin, b Nugent | 0 |
| Mr. Mason, b Nugent | 4 |
| Mr. Langmead, c and b Nugent | 0 |
| Extras | 1 |
| Total | 165 |
| Cadets. | |
| Nugent, b Meakin | 11 |
| Collins, b Meakin | 0 |
| Grenfell, c Bainbridge, b Meakin | 3 |
| Johnson, b Meakin | 36 |
| Brock, b Meakin | 7 |
| Gurner, c Bainbridge, b Meakin | 2 |
| Domville, b Braithwaite | 21 |
| Margesson, b Thomas | 7 |
| Loring, not out | 10 |
| Vivian, c Bowden-Smith, b Thomas | 8 |
| Murray, b Meakin | 0 |
| Total | 105 |
Lieutenant Thomas, who was a mighty batsman, magnanimously retired after making his century, or the juniors would have come off with a worse beating; he and Captain Bainbridge, it will be noticed, made 146 between them out of 165. Cadet Nugent appears to have been a deadly bowler, and had the assurance to bowl his captain for a “duck.” This feat, however, fades into insignificance compared with that of a stalwart midshipman in the Channel Squadron some years earlier who, with a tremendously hard square cut, knocked the Admiral off his legs at point, and sent him limping off the field!
Matches with various clubs and schools in the vicinity of Dartmouth recur, of course, many times: the balance of victories is greatly in favour of the Britannia. The professional Underwood, whose name appears so many times in the scoring sheet, was there for a long time, and did excellent service, both in coaching the cadets and in winning first eleven matches, frequently making a long score and taking his full share of wickets.
The following are some among the chief matches played in 1884:—
May 17.—Britannia v. Engineer Students: Britannia, 121; Engineers, 94.
May 21.—Britannia v. Newton College:
Newton College, 93; Britannia, 119 (Cadet Bentinck on this occasion carried his bat through the innings for 38, Captain Bainbridge making 37).