James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1882

1 2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. two of the three drawn games were left decidedly in their favour , the third fairly even , the Yorkshiremen had every reason to be proud of the successes of last year . A careful analysis would place them very little below Lanca- shire , and in two of their three defeats at Manchester by Lancashire and Gloucestershire at Sheffield , they were without the help of their most dangerous batsman , Ulyett , their best fast bowler , Hill . Their first meeting with Lancashire at Sheffield , as was to have been expected , produced a singularly exciting game, and as manyas fourteen thousand persons were present on Bramall Lane Grounds on the opening day. Fromthe first ball to the last , the play was very interesting , but the Yorkshiremenhad much the worst of the wicket, owing to the rain at the close ; and this , with more than one mistake in the field , cost them the match. The County was singularly unfortunate in losing the very valuable help of Allan Hill , who strained himself in a match against odds, andwas unable to play after the defeat by Lancashire at Sheffield . His loss was the more annoying, as his previous successes proved that his fast round-arm bowling, the perfection of neatness and ease in delivery , had quite recovered the accuracy and spin which used to characterise it, and on public form he was, the time of his breakdown , certainly the best fast bowler of the year. More than once , for the want of a reliable change of any pace , it looked , especially towards the end of the season , as if the eleven were likely to get into what is knownas a bowling knot. Ulyett's accident prevented recourse to his arm; Rawlin, though straight , was very harmless , and after Bates and Peate, there was no one but Emmettof any real value . Yet these three were, as things went, quite sufficient to carry the team triumphantly through the latter part of the season . Peate's bowling was simply extra- ordinary . The persistency with which he pegged away on the blind spot of a batsman, the almost total absence of balls that could with safety be hit , were a fortune to Yorkshire , and whenever Bates was hit, Emmetthad a happy knack of coming on, always , too, with the greatest success . There wasstill a tail in the batting , though Peate developed unexpected powers in this department ; but Ulyett , E. Lockwood , Emmett, Bates , Hall and Grimshawwere a dangerous six to get out, and H. Lockwood, whose absence from the teamhad been a great source of surprise , showedby the success of his hitting on his reinstatement that the committee acted very unwisely in leaving himout. Fielding , perhaps, was the only point in which exception could be taken to Yorkshire cricket last year . At one time smart- ness in the field was one of the great characteristics of Yorkshiremen,but on several occasions during the summertheir display was careless , in the closing match against Sussex at Brighton , positively slovenly . Gloucesters ire uffered severely by the loss of uch a fine all -round player as the late Mr. G. F. Grace, and on the whole, its summarywas hardly so encouraging as that of the previous year . Out of ten matches , exclusive of the two with Somersetshire , four were won, two lost , and four drawn; but two of the victories were over Surrey, and in two of the draws the close was certainly not in favour of Gloucestershire . Neither Middlesex nor Yorkshire were represented by their strength when they were beaten , and more than once during the year the eleven went sadly to pieces when an effort was required . The rain during August interfered considerably with the scoring , but some fine cricket was shownin a few individual cases . Mr. W. G. Grace, though his bowling has got more expensive , as it has lost some of its work , was again at the head of the batting tables . His average ,