James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1876

35 the grammar-school at Little Pedlington has a right to be enrolled as a public school with Clifton and Marlborough, but if its representatives come to the fore nothing can hinder its cricket advancement. These conclusions must, of course, be taken cum grano mlia, because the children of richer parents educated at Eton or Westminster are more likely to appear in the cricket arena than their poorer contemporaries. Still we can devise no other means of gauging excellence, and like condi­ tions influence success in other and higher spheres. We will proceed, therefore, to see how the schools have been represented in these several arenas. First and foremost of all cricketing honours must be reckoned that of having been chosen amongst the Gentlemen of Eng­ land at Lord’s or the Oval. We mean no offence to the new fixture that finds a place in Mr. Prince’s programme, and when circumstances allow of a representative eleven opposing the Players on that beautiful ground, the match will prove of equal interest. At present the engagements of amateurs take them from town at the time of this match, and the Brothers Grace are backed up by a more or less scratch team. Still the enterprise has not been without advantage to cricket when such men as Mr. Cotterill, of Sussex, and Mr. ltenny-Tailyeur, of Cheltenham and the Royal Engineers, have made their debut against the Players. The com­ petition for places in these matches must of necessity be so great that the exclusion of good cricketers is a certainty, and as the decision of committees at Lord’s and the Oval (if, as a rule, correct) cannot be infallible the existence of a third match, wherein hidden talent may be acknowledged and developed, wrill clearly serve the interests of cricket. But we are digressing from our subject matter, and must plead an excuse for so doing our unwillingness to ignore the claims of Prince’s to foster first-class cricket, without giving the special reasons which make it impos­ sible to consider the eleven that have hitherto contended there against the Players as representative. Amongst the Gentlemen who played at Lord’s we find nine public school men associated with Messrs. W . G. and G. F. Grace. Of these, the two Captains of Oxford and Cambridge, viz., Messrs. Ridley and Longman, and Lord Harris, learnt their cricket on the Eton playing fields, whilst Harrow was equally represented by Messrs. I. D. Walker, A. N. Hornby, and A. J. Webbe. Air. Francis alone sustained the famous Rugby name, and Mr. Bush that of Clifton, whilst Mr. C. E. Green is undoubtedly the founder of good cricket at Uppingham. A t Kennington Oval, Messrs. F. E. R. Fryer and George Strachan took the places of Lord Harris and Mr. Green, being respectively Harrow' and Chel­ tenham men, the latter a cricketer whose patience and earnestness may well be a model for his old school to imitate. Mr. E. F. S. Tylecote, an old Cliftonian, was selected to keep wicket. We may add that the old Harrow' crack, Mr. C. F. Buller, was chosen both at Lord’s and the Oval on account of his magnificent and unimpaired batting powders, but an accident unfortu­ nately kept him from playing. Thus we have the significant fact before us that if the two best men are by common consent Messrs. W . G. and G. F. Grace, ihe remaining nine Gentlemen of England all hail from the great schools. Those conversant with the cricket world know that a fair field and no favour is on the whole the motto of both M.C.C. and Surrey Clubs, and w ill be enabled to estimate the immense advantage which well taught players have over those who