James Lillywhiite's Cricketers' Annual 1874

3 4 former , the first was won and the second drawn in their favour ; while against the West they had to endure a draw in the first and a defeat by eight wickets int h esecondcontest. The two meetings between the Gentlemen and the Players were unfortunately in no way to be termed successful . The batting of the Players was weak enough to spoil everything , and the Amateurs were far in the ascendant . It is true that the first encounter was somewhat of a mere local attraction , as it was against sixteen of Lasswade and district , and won easily ; but the match at Glasgow could not be designated as aught but a veritable trial , and here the Amateurs had all the advantage , though the game was drawn . The Gentlemen made 116 and 224 (Mr. J. P. Tennent 52, Mr. J. Craig 52 and 53, not out ), and the Players only 85, and 81 for seven wickets ; so that the issue can readily be imagined . Amongthe Schools , Loretto defeated Trinity College (Glenalmond ), and also Merchiston , although in the latter there was only the bare advantage of one run ; and, at the second time of asking , Merchiston had the best of the bargain . Merchiston and the Edinburgh Academyboth showed praiseworthy form, and Fettes College and Craigmount merit commendation, among others w h o mspace will not permit us to mention. Thenthere were the visits of the English clubs , the most pleasurable records of all to those whohave at heart the thorough development of the game. The Marylebone Club visited Scotland , and that fact of itself should be sufficient to stamp the season of 1873 with a red letter . By this time any one who has read anything of cricket knows well that the premier club of England does not do things in a niggardly fashion , so that its entry into Scotland was not unexpected , though welcome enough to all . The match with Perthshire ended in a draw; but that with the West of Scotland Club was never in doubt, and the Englishmen won with consummate ease . None the less , the visit will give a stimulant to Scottish cricket , and do moral good in abundance, whatever de- tractors maysay to the contrary . Local contests , after all , do not excite more than local interest , and cricket has tended rather to the cosmopolitan of late . The Birkenhead Park Club, old favourites by this time, came over, were seen , and, what was more important than all , were conquered . It is true that, in their match against the Glasgow Caledonian , the gamewas drawn; but then they had hardly the best of it, as, in their second innings , the Caledonian made 271 runs, with only seven wickets down, Mr. J. P. Tennent 87 and not out. Against the Grange Club, the Englishmen were less successful , as they were defeated at Edinburgh ; so that, on the two contests , Scotland had a certain balanceto hercredit. Three matches were played by the United South of England Eleven in 1873, fairly divided in point of honours . The Englishmen defeated Eighteen of the Grange Club at Edinburgh by 16 runs ; were vanquished by Twenty-two of Aberdeen,; an intermediate meeting against Twenty-two of the Northern Counties at Inverness resulting in a draw. Thechampion cricketer , Mr. W. G. Grace, was there ; and that was quite enough, even if the cricket itself were not of a very high order . Of individual prowess there was no lack, as the season was favourable in every way, and the scores were prolific . Indeed , in point of aggregates , the campaign was eventful enough, as Mr. T. Chalmers, in seventeen innings , reached 843 runs , an average only seven short of 50, and a feat that manyan English cricketer might envy. Others follow , but at a long interval , for the (