Cricket 1885

150 CRICKET j A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. hay as, isss. P U B L I C S C H O O L C R I C K E T I N 1885 . Continued from Page 132. The Rugby Eleven of 1885 will have to be made up almost entirely of new colours, as E. H. Bradby, who is now paptain, and F. D. North, are the only two colours re­ maining. With so many places to fill up, it is a little difficult to speculate on what the final composition of the team will be, more especially as tha unfavourable weather has interfered considerably with the practice. As far as can be seen at present, the batting seems likely to be the weak point of the eleven this summer. At Westminster, as many as nine old choices are left, so that there are some hopes, more especially as the ground is in better order than it has been of late, that the cricket this summer will show amaterialimprovement on the, we are sorry to say, moderate form, which has been the feature of Westminster cricket during the last few years. The two hours a day allowed for practice, though, do not appear to be sufficient for the coach­ ing which is requisite to develop promising talent, and hence the mediocrity of the general display of Westminsters recently can not be altogether a matter for surprise. A. R. Hurst is the captain, and the other old choices are C. Gibson, C. A. Sherring, A. Fevez, II. Harrison, W. R. Moon, R. R. Sandilands, P. C. Probyn, and C. E. 13arwell. The two vacancies in the eleven will probably te filled up from the following players—H. Berens, A. M. Bilfour, H. Harrison, J. Vietch, E. Man and H. Tritton, all of whom are fairly good. Like Rugby, Rossall is this year singularly unfortunate in tbe matter of old choices. Of the team of 1884 B. L. Leesmith, who is this summer captain for the second time, and F. M. Wheatley are the only members left. Despite that there are nine vacancies the Rossallians hope to have a good season, if hardly as successful as last year, when they only lost one match. Already they have done creditably, and the cricket shown against a very strong eleven of the Liverpool Club, including A. G. Steel, E. Roper, the brothers Eceles and others, was certainly hopeful. In the captain Rossall has a good bat as well as a fine field, in Wheatley a very promising slow bowler. The new material, too, is distinctly above the average, especially J. B. Wimbush, a left- handed bat, who is likely to be of use. The weak point of the team will be the bowling, which, excepting that of Wheatley, is not of a very high order. The Loretto match will be played this year on June 12 and 13, across the border; that with Shrewsbury, at Rossall, on June 23 and 24. Shrewsbury School, which out of its eleven of 1884 has supplied a very likely batsman for the Cambridge eleven in G. Kemp, will suffer from his loss as well as that of F. W. Burbury and R. T. Wilson. There are only four old choices left, though in this quartette is P. C. Ash, who was very successful with the bat last year. H. R. Miles is captain thh summer, and of tried players, ia addition to Ash, he will have W. Pryce Jones and H. Baldwin. Of the new players R. Saville shows the best all-round form, being a good slow bowler a3 well as a fair bat. Griffin, too, seems likely to be of use in the way of run-getting. In addition to this pair, Aston, Simpson, Finch and Brook all give signs of promise. Only four members of the Uppingham eleven of 1834 have gone down, and most of the best players of last season still remain. Unfortunately A . N. Clegg will be unable to play this year in consequence of an injury to his knee, so that there will really be five places to be filled up. L. Martineau, who has succeeded H. N. B. Bichardson in the captaincy, W. F. Whit- well, A. C. Lascelles, H. P. Jillard, J. F. Whitwell, and P. Castle are all left, and as the two first-named were tho most success­ ful bowlers as well as run-getters of 1884 they should be of great use this summer. The weak point of the eleven seems likely to be in the bowling and the want of a really reliable bowler has already been felt, In batting the eleven bid fair to be very strong. There are indeed several good hitters in the eleven, and, it is satisfac­ tory to note, more than one promising player coming on. The fielding on the whole is fair, though, in all probability, this will improve as the season advances. So far two matches have been played, and as both of these have been won the season has at least opened well. Though only two old choices are left at Haileybury, one of these is the most suc­ cessful bowler of 1884—J. D. F. Campbell, the present captain. He bowls slow round left with a lot of spin, and his form in the test practice at the Oval impressed more than one good judge favourably. With his exception, though, the bowling seems to be moderate, and in this department the team are likely fo be very weak. As only three members of the second eleven of 1S84 remained it was fancied that the season would be anything but successful. The early practice, though, has resulted in the dis­ covery of more than one promising bat, as well as a fair wicket-keeper, so that things look much brighter. Two school matches are in the fixtures—against Uppingham, on June 16 and 17, and against Wellington, on July 1 and 2. Bradfield College is fortunate in having six of its eleven of 1884 still in residence. E. J. Bidwell, the wicket-keeper of the eleven, is now captain. Among the other fiyo old choices are H. N. Paine, who was the mainstay of the team in bowling last year, and S. Menzies, who secured the best batting average of that season. These two are “ Caps.” Of those who played for the eleven but did not get their colours, A. B. Peile, F. Hoffmann and Crampton remain. All three are good bowl«is, though their batting capacities are limited. Indeed, weakness in batting will be the great defect in this year’s play, though, on the whole, a fairly successful season is anticipated. The last five places in the team will be hotly con­ tested. Scott,' Richardson (who played last summer in several matches, and is likely to be a useful bat), and W. Carter, have as yet displayed the best form. Carter shows great promise both in batting and bowling. Raw- linson is the ‘ ‘ coach ’ ’ at Bradfield, and Brown has also been engaged as a bowler for this year. In the opening match against Keble College, Bradfield scored 107 (Bidwell 67 not out) and 52 for one wicket (Menzies 33 not out) against a total of 274 There is every reason for hoping that Repton School will have a very fair team this season,though it i3 generally thought that it cm hardly be as strong as during the last two years. Only four members of the eleven of 1884 remain. F. G. B. Ford, who is now captain, P. Farrant, J. R. Jackson and A. M. Daniel. Ford, who is the youngest of the family, ought to be very good indeed this summer. He ia a difficult left-handed bowler, and a very stylish b i t ; like all his brothers, too, he hits wonderfully hard. The other.three old choices are sure to improve. Two of them, Farrant and Jackson, are quite young and can bowl. Outside the team there is one very promising youngster,Kelsey. He was absent from ill-health last season, or would certainly have got his colours. The rest of the material is as yet rather raw, though some of those coming on show promise. There ought to be no lack of bowling, and, indeed, in this department the Reptonians bid fair to be above the average. At Wellington College, the prospects for this season do not seem to be particularly bright. Only three of last year’s eleven are still available. H.H. Prince Christian Victor, who has succeeded E. P. Simpson as Captain, E. W. Markham, and A. Parker. Of these, though, the .two first-named were decidedly the best bats of 1884, and both are reliable run-getters. Of the new choices, Cave, Philcox, and Ward can all bat very fairly. The main defect in the last year’s cricket, though, was the lack of bowling, and this will probably be the weak point again. There are four or five bowlers of a kind, but only two, Perkins and Worthy, who can be depended on to get wickets. The fielding on the whole is good. The ground- man at Wellington is F. A. Hearne, and J. Belf of Sussex, as last year, is the profes­ sional. July 1 and 2 are the days fixed for the Haileybury match, at Haileybury, and July 18 for the annual fixture with Charter­ house, at Godalming. Only two members of the Brighton College eleven of 1884 have gone down, E. H. Cole and E. W. H. Ritchie. The latter was the most successful bowler of last year, but still, with as many as nine old choices left, the prospect of the Brightonians ought to be hopeful. In G. H. Cotterill, who retains the captaincy, they have a very good tat, as wa3 shown by his consistently higd scoring throughout last summer. G. L. Wilson, too, showed great promise, both with bat and ball, and ought to be very useful this season. Brighton College has, in its time, produced many distinguished players, and though, of late, its successes have not been very frequent, there is reason to hope there will this year be an improvement in the cricket all round. Matches have been arranged with Tonbridge, Lancing, Dulwich, and Highgate Schools, with the Marylebone Club, Crystal Palace, Oakfield and Glynde Park. G. lies, who has been at Prince’s, has been engaged as professional at Brighton for this summer. Though there are only four old choices left at Tonbridge, they include W. Rashleigh, H. Bryant, and the two fast bowlers, G. C. Hubbard and G. Hayward. Rashleigh, who had a brilliant record last ytar, scoring 705 in eleven completed innings, ia again captain. The likely new choices are, for batting, H. A. Rudd, H. L. Le Fleming, and A. R, Barwell; for bowling, A. R. Barwell, and P. T. Baker. The chief want ia a good wicket keeper, and in this department J. S. Long may with practice prove useful to the eleven; he also promises fairly well as a bat. Most of the best ad-round players in last year’s Sherborne eleven have left, and there ia hardly a chance of such a successful season as last year. There are, indeed, only two old choices remaining, though one of them is A. C. Broadbent, who showed promising form in 1884. There seem to be some likely young players, the best of whom are Brutton, Morris, Leslie, and Jaffrey. The professional at Shtrborne is Parmenter, who is really a good coach. At Dulwich College the prospects are very