James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annnual 1881

CRICKET IN 1880.177.111 1 3 г Lancashire ought to have an eleven second to none, but some of its amateurs are a little unreliable , and the scoring of the teamthroughout the season was not particularly high, suggesting a slight weakness in the batting department. Mr. Absolomwas abroad, and Kent accordingly missed one of its most reliable players , but the county showed up fairly well , winning five and losing three of its ten matches . Luck was certainly against the eleven during their northern tour early in June, butin the two last months of the season the records only show one defeat out of six matches; not a bad average. In the two drawngameshonours wouldhave been divided , but every credit is dueto the eleven for the excellent show they madeduring the season , and nowthat LordHarris is gradually gathering together a companyof young and promising professionals , there is every likelihood of good times for Kentin the future . Owing to illness George Hearne's services were un- available in several of the matchesbutwithsuchbatsmenas L o r dHarris, H o nIvo Bligh , Messrs . FrankPenn, R. S. Jones, andW.H. Patterson , to rely on, there is always the nucleus of a strong batting side ; and the result of the opening match at Canterbury, when Thirteen of Kent, beat a fairly strong Eleven of England, shows of what good stuff the County teamare made. The victory over Yorkshire , at Maidstone too, wasthe result of excellent cricket , and on several occasions the Kentish Eleven showed smartness in the field which might well have been imitated by some other Southern shires . Lord Harris was as usual the batting mainstay of the team, andhis average , only a fraction less than that of Barnes of Notts, and apoint under that of Mr. W. G. Grace, shows a great improvement on that of the previous year. Mr. FrankPennwas muchbelow his average of 1879 but Mr. R. S. Jones, H o n. Ivo Bligh , Messrs . Patterson and Mackinnon, all comeout well, and Mr. Bligh's fine second innings against England at Canterbury, fairly wonthat matchfor the Kentish Thirteen . Mr. Foord- Kelceywas unable to play in more than three innings , andhis fast bowling wasmuchmissed. Fortunately Mr. Cunliffe was able to give more time to countycricket than in previous years , and his bowling, which resulted in 52 wickets for Kent at an average of less than thirteen runs , showed a great improvement on any of his former records . George Hearne seemed to have recovered a little of the spin he had apparently lost , but O'Shaugh- nessy's slow round-arm delivery was muchmore costly than on his first appearance, and Bray, whosesuccess when he suddenly awoke to fame in 1879, produced such a flourish of trumpets, had to be placed on the list of probationers . Mr. Alfred Penn only played in two innings to the great loss of the county,but a very useful youngster turned upin Wootton, a fast left- handbowler with a high delivery who came off with considerable effect especially in the opening matchof the Canterbury week. Yorkshire cricket has of late been a little difficult of comprehension or at least of explanation , and the form shownby the eleven wasat times almost irreconcilable . On their two engagementsit was a very close thing betweenYorkshireand Lancashire. Honourablea m e n dw a sm a d efor the doubledefeat by Derbyshire in 1879 by two decisive wins over that county ; andthe Yorkshiremen deserve every praise for their brilliant victory over Notts, at Sheffield , the one reverse suffered by the latter shire during the season . Still of the fourteen matches played only five were wonagainst four lost , and this can hardly be called a summary befitting a shire with opportunities as has Yorkshire . Lockwood, Emmett, Bates , and Ulyett , all did good service with the bat, and Grimshaw, a colt , proved a decided