James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1876

41 bowler, was instrumental in winning more than one match, and his CO wickets, obtained at an average of eight a piece, must be considered excel­ lent, considering that most of the bowling was done at Uppingham. PIis break back astonished the Haileybury boys, who lost 15 of their wickets to him for 80 runs. Uppingham wron this match and the one with Iiepton with the greatest ease, and it clearly would have been a good match between their eleven and that of any public schoo l; but the batting was not strong enough throughout to place them in the high position occu­ pied in 1873 and 1874. On ihe other hand, fielding improved all round, and the future prospects remain unclouded. Of D. Q. Steel, the Captain, it remains to be said that he is a grand batsman,, and if school form be any ^uide for University success, his place in the Cambridge Eleven is secure. Superior in natural power to Patterson or Lucas, he is a useful slow-round arm bowler and painstaking field. His place will indeed be difficult to till at Uppingham. The Uppingham Captain's performance for his school at Lord’s v. M.C.C remains on record as an evidence of the defence to first- class bowling w'hich to excel a young player must possess, and allowing for luck it cannot be denied that to remain at the wickets for two hours when Morley is in good form, is, to say the least of it, a competent test. Mr. Steel may be said to have won the M. C. C. match for Uppingham. As bearing upon Uppingham cricket generally, we must not forget to place on record the remarkable feat of Messrs. Lucas and Patterson, wdio obtained no less than 238 runs in two hours at Tooting, and at a time when such a number was required to win the match, which was, we need hardly say, looked upon as hopelessly drawTn by both friends and foes. This may be said to have been the feature of this year’s Uppingham Hovers’ tour. The Harrow Wanderers never started for the North with so strong a batting eleven as this season, and won all their matches but one with the Leeds Clarence, wrho, strong in bowling, profited by wet wickets. The Eton Ramblers are still to the fore, and their matches are looked forward to by all the Clubs they play with, although, when Mr. Mitchell, the Lubbocks, Lyttletons, and the pick of present Etonians happen to work together, woe ujion the unsophisticated yokels who lose the toss. Canterbury did not pass by without the usual gathering of Public Schools men, and amongt the youngsters Tyssen there proved that his Harrow form was no mistake. We are on the whole of opinion that School Elevens have improved since last year. There has been better fielding seen, and batsmen who last year showed promise have for the most part trained on. We can scarcely recall a year in which four such batsmen as the Hon. A. Lyttleton, D. Q. Steel, H. R. Webbe, and Heath have gone up at once to the Universities from Public Schools; the former two being entered at Cambridge and the latter twro at Oxford. That bowling has been quite what it should be we can scarcely allow, but still the direction has not been altogether sacrificed to pace, and Captains of elevens have began to find out what can be done writk moderate bowling if it only be well backed up by fielding. Haigh Brown of Eton, Evans of Clifton, and Ackroyd of Uppingham, should, we fancy, be placed in a class by themselves, as regards Public School bowders of 1875, but Cunlitfe, of Rugby, and Stewart of Harrow7, have obtained wickets by keeping fairly straight throughout the season. Stubbs, of Clifton, has been from time to time dangerous on account of his pace, and the same may be