Cricket 1893

S ep t 14 , isos OBIOfcSTs A WEEKLY RECOBD OP THE GAME, 413 T h o u g h just of late there has been an absence of official intelligence respecting the proposed visit of a South African team to EDgland next year, the moving spirits on the other side have not been idle. Indeed, in a letter received as late as Tuesday last, the hon. sec. of the South African Association informs me that he was, at the time of writing, hard at work in the task of discovering the possibilities of a side thoroughly representa­ tive of South African cricket. In a week or so I shall no doubt be in a position to give information of a more definite charactcr. this is how the wily Interviewer of the Scarborough Post drew him the other day. I c a n ’ t say whom I regard as the best bats­ man in England, the top lot are so close to­ gether. Gunn and Shrewsbury are two very fine bals—Stoddart is brilliant—and Jackson I think is as good as any of them. Some of his offstrokes are magnificent, and his driving and cutting are as good as anything I have seen. But Grace is as good as any of them yet—he always scores against us. The best bowler? I think little Johnny Briggs is the best—either he or Peel on all wickets. Of course, on a fiery wicket Richardson and Lock­ wood would come off, but I place the two I have as you have here about Richardson and Lock­ wood—but I may say that I believe them to be scrupulously fair.” T h e records of first-class cricket even this season, which has been all in favour of the bat, have failed to show a much better per­ formance in the way of fast scoring than that achieved by the two gentle tappers, C. E. de Trafford and Ernest Smith, at Hastings last Tuesday afternoon. "When the two amateurs got set, they punished the Southern bowling, of which by the way there was perhaps hardly T H E Y O R K S H IR E E L E V E N ( The Premier County Team of 1893;. WAINWRIGHT TUNNICLIFFE HUNTER MOORHOUSE ULYETT MR. F. S. JACKSON LORD HAWKE (CAPT.) MR. A. 8ELLERS PEEL BROWN MR. E. SMITH HIRST From a photograph by E . Hawkins & C o, Brighton I f the axiom that lookers-on seethe most of the game be accepted as true in things oricketal as in other matters, the views of J* M‘C. Blackham, the captain of the Australian team, by virtue of his ripe judgment and ex­ ceptional experience, on anything connected with the game of which he has been such a distinguished exponent, ought to be of particu­ lar value. Ergo, his opinions on the relative merits of English cricketers, with all the best of whom he has been in opposition at one time or another, are bound to have weight. And named first. Mold, I think, is a belter bowler than either of the Surrey pair, and Hirst is a very good one. The best allround man? That’s a difficult question. Grace was the best we ever knew, but I think Briggs, Peel, and Jackson are about the best to-day. They all bowl and bat and field well. Stoddart is also amongst them. The best grounds I have ever placed on have been the Sydney ground and the Old Trafford. Blackham’s opinion on the subject of unfair delivery, too, will be of interest. “ We went thiough that same outcry as to unfair delivery as much as there should have been, so merci­ lessly that runs were made at quite an abnor­ mal rate. As many as 254 were scored in an hour and three-quarters, so that runs were got during their partnership at the rate of two and a half a minute. T h is is a record to which my memory at all events cannot find a parallel in an important match of late years. The conditions on the Central Ground at Hastings are of course all in favour of the hitters, with a hard wicket