James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1876

CHAPTER VII. PUBLIC SCHOOL CRICKET IN 1875. B y P, M. T hornton . Hon. Sec. Middlesex County Club. I t is difficult to discover a test upon which to estimate the relative strength of cricket elevens. Difference of ground forms a bar to statis­ tical calculation, which is far greater than many cricketers are aware of, and most of the critics allow. For instance, we have perused several ablo essays upon the subject under consideration ; and in course of the writer’s argument, have discovered that many of his conclusions are based upon the batting and bowling averages which have been placed at his disposal. Now we will appeal to the experience of amateurs who in wandering elevens are in the habit of testing Eton and Harrow before the great school match. Take the Zingari, for example, as the oldest and most influential. Can the team that has disposed of the school at Harrow for under 100 runs an inn­ ings, and has with equal bowling strength and the same fielding been unable to get an innings at Eton, can their captain (even if he be the able and perspicuous M.C.C. leader) say with any confidence that he has spotted the probable winner, or got anything more than a doubtful and unreliable line ? Special observation might lead him to more valuable conclusions, built upon style of play or strength and age of the elevens ; but a man who saw the score in next morning’s paper would, we contend, have no idea of the chances at Lord’s. Again, the peculiar nature of the ground at Upping­ ham renders it exceedingly difficult to arrive at any comparison with Bugby, Eton, or Cheltenham. At the former school not only is the pitch level as a billiard table, but lacks the pace which is such a valuable help to bowlers, and is natural to most grounds in the middle of summer. Steady play must be rewarded at Uppingham, and if scores are large confidence is gained, but a study of the averages might mislead. Another difficulty besetting the unravelment of school performances con­ sists in estimating at due worth large and consistent scoring at schools distant from London, and on to whose grounds the M.C.C. has not yet sent a team. Beyond the ken of Eton Ramblers orHarrow Wanderers, maybe local fame has exaggerated cricket which has remained untested by competent opponents. On the other hand, popular interest in a jpeat event like Eton and Harrow' may attract undue attention to cricket which is so prominently under the popular eye. It has occurred to us whilst wading through the mass of information that kind friends have sent us from all parts of the land, that we are enter­ ing upon an endless task if justice is to be done to each individual school, but that a stage does exist whereon is reflected some at least of the excel­ lence which pertains to solid merit, and that such a stage is to be found in Gentlemen v. Players matches, the University Elevens, and lastly, to a certain extent, in County Cricket. It may be a matter of opinion whether c 2