James Lilllywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1880

5 8 LILLYWHITE'S CRICKETERS' ANNUAL. otate eis i bogio4 ) Middlesex v. Gloucestershire.amar xda od now zosi Lord's , June 9, 10 , 11 , 1879 . bliros atodt to enla Under ordinary favourable circumstances , it was generally expected that this , the first meeting between the two counties , would have given rise to sensational scoring . Both elevens were exceptionally strong in batting , and equally neither could be said to be possessed of bowling at all formidable for tried batsmen . It was boldly stated that three days would not suffice to com- plete the game, and the return match at Clifton showed that such arguments werenot fallacious . O nthe present occasion , however, the state of the ground precluded any play on the first day, and rain as effectually stopped it on the third , so that there were only a few hours left for the game on the second afternoon . Under the circumstances , therefore , it was not surprising to find small scores where large ought to have been the rule , and altogether in the matchonly 220 runs were scored for twenty-five wickets . Thegamewas drawn. Middlesex, 41 and 109 (for five wickets ) ; total , 150. Gloucestershire , 70.201 W .G. Grace(1st InningsMiddlesex) Steele (Middlesex ) O v e r s 2 0 - 2 25-3 M a i d e n s 1 0 1 6 R i m s W i c k e t s 1 6 2 2 5 (5) Middlesexv. OxfordUniversity. (12 a side .) Lord's, June19, 20, 1879. m u l t Middlesex was only poorly represented , and the Oxonians profited by the weakness of the bowling to which they were opposed to make perhaps their best show of the season . Mr. Vernon (54 and 26) was chief scorer for Middlesex , and Oxford -thanks to Mr. Heath ( 61 ), Greene (38), and Hare (38 not out) -- did a good performance in getting the 181 runs required to win, for the loss of only four wickets . Oxford won by seven wickets . Oxford , 113 and 182 (four wickets ) ; total , 295. Middlesex , 158 and 135 ; total , 293. Mr. Henery (Oxford 1st Innings ) O v e r s 3:3 M a i d e n s R u n s W i c k e t s 3 1 2 (5) Cambridgev. Oxford. Lord's , June 30, July 1, 2, 1879 . As far as ordinary calculations can be made to foretell the result of a game at cricket , it is certain that the universal opinion in favour of an easy victory for Cambridge was fully justified . It is true that the Cantabs were as a lot hardly up to the standard of their predecessors of 1878 ; but there was good reason for estimating them as in every way better than their opponents . The Light Blues had certainly more than one of their old choices obviously out of form, but from first to last there was not a manwho could not be accounted as likely to make a fair score , and in bowling they had an immense superiority . The Oxonians had as usual to labour under the disadvantage of a bad ground , this year rendered much worse by the copious rains , while in addition their best bowler , Mr. A. H. Evans , owing to the schools , had not enjoyed the same opportunity for practice , having to be absent from most of the trial matches . There were manyindeed who deemed Oxford to have an outside chance with Mr. Evans in anything like the form he showed at Lord's in 1878, but he was never really dangerous at any point of the game, and Mr. Jellicoe , the slow left -handed bowler , on whomthe Dark Blues relied , proved as great a