James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1882

C L I C K E TI N 1881. 1 5 County cricketer , was carefully noted. That the plan was an excellent one was proved beyond a doubt to the entire satisfaction of its promoters , and it is , we believe , the intention of the Surrey Committeeto repeat it on even a larger scale during the coming season . For more than a fortnight the wickets were pitched every afternoon at the Oval, and every Colt , whatever his pretensions , was invited to attend, the only essential being that he should prove his qualifications for the County . Fair remu- neration was given to every aspirant for the loss of time involved in his stay at the Oval, which was dependent on the amountof promise he exhibited , and those who were regarded as the more likely were retained during the whole period of test practice with a view to the remedyof any faults in their style of batting , for the necessary hints to improve their bowling or fielding . The outcome of the scheme was at least the elimina- tion of someutterly incapable youngsters , whose only credentials were ill- advised testimonials from partial friends , fromthe regular Colts ' matches of the year, and as a natural consequence the youngsters whowerechosen to take part in the Colts ' matches were a more even lot , with muchmore cricket inthemthan any of the teams that have done duty in the samecontests of recent years . Yet, in spite of an evident improvement in the general tone of the Colts , it must be admitted that the formwasat the best second rate, andit is hardly likely that any of themwill train on into a Read or a Jones . Richards and Wingfield were both tried , the former as a bowler, the latter as a bat , but neither of them showed promise enough for a lengthy trial , and Abel and Catfarey , whowere, all -round, perhaps , the pick of the Colts , are both so small that it is doubtful whether they will be of any use. T h e announcementthat Mr. A. P. Lucas had undertaken to act as Captain of the Surrey eleven was received with general satisfaction , but unfortunately the hopes excited by that piece of intelligence were not fulfilled . The brilliant batting shown by Mr. Lucas in August caused his absence from the County to be the moreregretted , but as he only took part in five out of fourteen matches , Surrey cricket did not derive so muchadvantage from his help as had been anticipated , and his secession from the team was the more noticeable when his acceptance of the Captaincy is taken into considera- tion . In his absence it can hardly be said that the Countywasever properly represented , and the failure of the attempt to find young professionals likely to train on necessitated , in default , recourse to amateurs , several of whom were tried . A fast bowler , likely to be of use as a change , was found in Mr. Parfitt , whosends the ball in at a good pace, and at times gets a con- siderable break from the off , but except Messrs. Roller , an old Westminster boy, whocan bowl a little and would bat well with more care , and Pontifex , no one lent material aid , and none were quite up to County form , though some scored fairly whenthe bowling was not first -rate . The appointment of Mr. W. W. Readto the assistant secretaryship of the Club enabled the eleven to have the full benefit of his valuable services , and with better practice than he had previously had, he added considerably to his high reputation , rendering invaluable service to the County throughout the year . Jupp began the season so badly that the place which he had so worthily filled for sixteen years was at last filled up, and Potter and Blamires , both of whose bowling had shown a decided falling off , were also supplanted , as was Richard Humphrey, whose health has of late years interfered consider- ably with his prospects . Mr. John Shuter always gave the County zealous support , but failing to score as heavily as in previous years , he lost heart ,