James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1882

2 L I L L Y W H I T E ' SC R I C K E T E R S ' A N N U A L . the three Graces have shownin the remarkable position of the Gloucester- shire eleven that even an amateur team can, with proper and judicious management, not only attain the highest honours of County cricket , but hold themfirmly for years , even in the face of competitors far more favoured in manyimportant respects . A few seasons ago, and no one could have foreseen the position the Lancashire eleven nowhold as the champions of County cricket . Purists may, and with somereason , take exception to the team on the score that such a very small proportion of its strength is native . They could urge with truth that Pilling , Watson, Robinson, Briggs , andCrosslandare noneof t h e mtheproduceof Lancashiresoil , andthat five at least of the six professionals onw h o mthe eleven has to rely claim other shires as their birthplace . On the other hand, it can equally be claimed that this is merely a sentimental objection , and that as long as the laws admit, as in the interests of the gamethey do, of a residential qualification , a County is quite within its rights in strengthening its eleven as it best can, " Success it is that makesthe man, the want of it the villain ," and it is certainly a little strange that Lancashire should have escaped most of the abuse which has been so unsparingly bestowed on other shires who have ventured to utilise the residential qualification . In estimating the wonder- ful development in Lancashire cricket during the last few years , importance mustbe given to two influential factors . Thejudgment shown in the se- lection of the various players has been as conspicuous as the ability dis- played in the managementof the elevens in the field . It is rare indeed that a County can lay claim to the possession of such a really earnest Captain as Mr. Hornby, and it is not unfair to others to say that his personal interest andenthusiasmhaveh a dm u c hto do with the formation of the present reputation of the eleven. The personal influence of a Captain whoseheart is always in the game, whose attention is never off it , and who never spares himself from the first to the last ball , never for a momentgets slack , whether winning or losing , must have an immense effect in stimu- lating a team. Mr. Hornby's example certainly has done muchto win for Lancashire the nameit has deservedly wonas the best fielding side of any County in England , and it would be well for cricket generally if the same importance were attached to this departmentof the same in other shires whereit is even still often neglected . In the Lancashire team whenin its full strength there was not a weak spot in the field , and with the best pro- fessional wicket keeper of the day in Pilling , and Messrs . Hornby , Royle (worthy of a place in any eleven for his fielding alone ), A. G. Steel , Robinson , Briggs , and Watson, run getting would have been a difficulty had their bowling been very much weaker. As it was, the County, whenat its best , had four bowlers in Mr. A. G. Steel , Barlow, Watsonand Nash, all of them good enough to go in first in the best match , not to mention such useful changes as Crossland and Briggs . Bowling and fielding were undoubtedly the strong points of the Lancashire eleven of 1881. No doubt their marked ability in these two departments tended to create an impression that they were a little lacking in batting , but a reference to the season's statistics woulddisprove any such notion . Like all County elevens dependent in any degree on amateurs , they were stronger in some matches than in others . Mr. A. G. Steel's presence of course made a material difference in the strength of the eleven , but besides Mr. Hornby and Barlow , who have been the mainstayof the eleven for someyears now, there were Briggs , Robinson, Mr. Royle , Mr. Lancashire , and Watson, all of them likely to get runs , and