James Lillywhiite's Cricketers' Annual 1874

C H A P T E R III. T H EC O U N T I E S I N1 8 7 3. IMPROVEMENT , or at least absence of fluctuation , in the North, and general decadence in the South. Such is the cry of the Counties in 1873. Gloucester- shire , it is true , still occupies a place second to none , but the veteran Counties of the South have fallen into a low estate , and southward altogether cricket is under a cloud . Call it the revenge of time , or the natural ups and downs of a game, uncertain at its best, or make any excuses that you mayplease , there is still the same stubborn undeniable fact , that the supremacy remains as firmly rooted in the North as it has done nowfor manya year. Middlesex , somemayargue, can still beat Yorkshire , but Middlesex plays under advantages knownto few other Counties in never leaving its owndomains, and in the scarcity of its matches , which enables it always to be well represented . Nottingham still holds the pride of place without a defeat , though the second match with Yorkshire looked very far from assuring whentime put an end to the game. Yorkshire , at the commencementof 1873, seemed to have lost much of its ancient vigour , but the last months of the season altered the look of affairs altogether , and the huge County proved as formidable , if as ponderous , as ever . Lancashire , too , showed itself composed of sterling stuff , especially with two such bowlers on its side as William McIntyre and Watson, though it had twice to succumb to Yorkshire , and once to Kent. Cricket has fled Northward, and bowlers in the South are of priceless value , or, at least , would be, if there were any likely youngsters training on for this purpose . In Sussex , there are James Lillywhite and Fillery , and in Surrey, Southerton and Street ; very muchof Southerton , and very little of Street . Kenthas Willsher , nominally retired , and Croxford , and Mr. Lipscomb, and Mr. Coles , and Mr. Stokes, andany other who maybe able to play in a certain match, as well as unfettered by any of the little cliques that seem to reign paramount in the County of Hops. A bad look -out truly , with perhaps only one bowler among themall worthy of the term of first -class , but still an array of stern unpalatable facts . In the interests of County Cricket , let us hope that another season will see a genuine revival in the South , and that the weight between the two divisions of the country will be more evenly balanced . At present it seems as if Gloucestershire and Notts were at the top of the tree ; Yorkshire one branch lower downthe trunk ; Lancashire and Middlesex perhaps one point removed ; and Kent, Surrey, and Sussex a few feet from the base . D E R B Y S H I R E . Vice-President , Mr. E. M. OFFICERS FOR 1873.--- President , Hon. W. Jervis . Wass. Committee , Messrs . H. Bateman, W. G. Curgenven, W. Coyney, of . S. Richardson , U. Sowter, J. Smith , T. H. Smith , P. Wallis , G. Williamson . H o n. Sec., Walter Boden, Derby. "At present , County Cricket is but poorly supported in Derbyshire ." Such is theopinion of one of the leading cricketers of Derby. W ehadhoped otherwise , and that the enterprise of the executive in 1872 would have enlisted hearty support , " But the Committee are determined to make a great effort for next year (74), and the result of the match against Nottinghamshire will perhaps put a little more life into the Club ." This is an official intimation , and we