2 1 hit they look on all sides to see who is going to run after il instead of going themselves, and that generally for ten runs they may make they lose (ifteen. It. is easy enough, it may be nrged, to call attention to such matters, but not so easy to snggest practical remedies for the abuses. It is the average '* that spoils many a young cricketer, and the little encouragement given by clubs in the shape of rewards for meritorious bowling or lidding, that lr. tended to develop batting in comparison with the other two essent ial bra: ch< of cricket. Most of tho bowling has been done of late by the old hands ; by men who have to bowl almost all day and travel almost all the night. It n this monopoly, the little rest it affords to a certain overworked few who have to do most of the bowling, that has caused the notion of the superiority of tho bat over the ball. For myself I beieve that bowlers are as good and as many as ever they were, and that it is to other reasons that is due any ap­ parent decadence of bowling. If bowlers were to play in a lesser number of matches, if they were ablo to go fresh into a cricket-field, instead of in most cases stalo, and only impressed with a desire to get through an odious task as soon and with as little difficulty as possible; if our best professionals had a chance of showing their enthusiasm instead of having it all worried out of thorn by the high pressure of modern cricket, the game would be im­ proved and the race of professionals considerably improved. Let counties draft into their elevens no one who is not able to bowl a fair longth ball, no one wTho goes into tho field with. an inclination to let any one rather than himself do the work, no one who is not tolerably safe with a ca tch ; let the committee, of the principal county clubs offer premiums for good bowling and fielding as well as for long scores, and the result will be a sensible advance in professional cricket, which is, after all, the backbone of the game. There was one well-known face missing during the season of 1876. For some time past it had been rumoured that Mr. R. A. Fitzgerald, tho secretary of tho Marylebone Club, had been ailing, but few were aware that his illness was so serious. It was hoped that a thorough change, a trip to a warmer climate, would restore health that had been much shattered bv over application to work ; and the wish was father to the thought, not only among those who were personally acquainted with him, but among hun­ dreds who knew him only by reputation, that tho spring of 1876 would see him again at tho post which he had so long and so worthily held. Occasional intelligence of a favourable character confirmed the hopes, but relapses were as frequent, and at length it was found that his resignation of the secretaryship must take place in the absence of any chance of permanent recovery. It would ill befit one claiming to record the events of a season to allow to pass unnoticed tho retirement of one who for years occupied such a representative position among cricketers as did Mr. Fitz­ gerald. No man did more to uphold the dignity of his position, no one had a better sense of what was duo to or became the body which he practically guided, than the ex-secretary of the Marylebone Club. I t may be that to some he was at times a little brusque of manner, that he was apt to be hasty and needlessly sensitive ; but he never forgot, nor did he ever neglect, the responsibilities of his office. In his care, it may safely be said that tho honour of the Marylebone Club was thoroughly secure. In Ifim cricket had ono of its most enthusiastic supporters, one of its best friends, and in his hands tho highest interests of tho game were in safe custody, as no one had a better or clearer notion of what the aim of cricketers should 1 x 3 . To say that the Marylebone has lost the best officer that it has ever had, will not, I hope, be deemed a reflection on his predecessors nor discourage those who have to wear his mantle in the future. During his reign Lord's