James Lilllywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1880

4 4 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. cult to explain the general ill -success of the eleven , whowere only able to win twoof their ten engagements , with one drawngame. In August the county, it mustbe admitted , was in no wayfairly represented ; but even with its full strength early in the year , Kent could make little headway . The colts ' match at Lord's introduced the committee to a very promising young professional , E. O'Shaughnessy , who proved invaluable as a slow round -arm bowler , and , later on, another very useful acquisition in the same line was found in Bray, a medium-pace bowler with a considerable amount of spin . Lord Harris and Mr. Frank Penn both upheld their reputation as batsmen ; but Hor. Ivo Bligh , Mr. Absolom, and Hearne, were out of luck, and neither Messrs . A. Penn, Foord -Kelcey , nor Hearne , proved as successful as usual with the ball . Sussex , though weakening its programme by the insertion of home and home matches with Leicestershire and Herts , out of its eight engagements showed a most discouraging summary of only one victory , one drawn game, and six reverses . Mr. J. M. Cotterill is in full practice at Edinburgh, and has now, to all intents and purposes , given up cricket , so that , in all proba- bility , Sussex will not be able to utilise his services in the future . The execu- tive has been besides unlucky in not being able to secure the assistance of some other amateurs qualified to play ; and, indeed , Sussex has had of late to pass through a trying ordeal , what with the sudden collapse of some of its old pro- fessionals , and the impossibility of procuring the help of the best amateurs in the county . A bare victory over Kent by 11 runs at Tunbridge Wells was the one gleam of light in a dark season ; but if good wishes can aid in the restoration of an ancient shire , the Sussex authorities have reason to be satisfied on that score . Charlwood's ill -success was surprising , and indeed the batting of the eleven , with a very few exceptions , was weak in the extreme . James Lilly- white was bound to be successful with the ball on the heavy wickets ; but Messrs. Greenfield , who was also not up to his old batting form, and A. Smith both showed a great falling off in this department, and the only sign of promise came in the person of Mr. A. Sclater , a fast bowler with a high delivery , who was fairly successful towards the end of the season . Derbyshire's records were only a trifle more encouraging than those of Sussex , though the former's engagements were undoubtedly of a higher class . The two victories of the Derbyshire eleven , highly deserving of praise as they were, took the public a little by surprise , more especially after the successive defeats suffered in the three opening engagements of the year . A double re- verse , at the hands of both Lancashire and Notts , completed the programme of six matches, and the show in both meetings with the latter was certainly in- glorious . To Derbyshire , indeed , belongs the distinction of the smallest score of the year , and its total of 16 in the first innings , against Notts at Nottingham , has never been surpassed only once , we believe , equalled -in a first -class match . In William Mycroft and Hay, Derbyshire can boast of two bowlers equal to any couple of professionals in a county team ; but in batting it might probably be classed as below any shire in England . Foster , who has improved greatly with more defence , and might be well worthy of a trial in London , played some very fine innings ; but Platt's was comparatively out of form , and there was no one else now at all approaching first -class . The altogether unplayable condition of the ground at Lord's was very much to be regretted , as the programme of the Marylebone Club was not only un- usually lengthy , but exceptionally attractive , including more than one novelty . In turn , M.C.C. and Ground opposed all the leading counties , excepting only Middlesex , Gloucestershire , and Surrey ; and in all the match list showed , in T