James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1883

C R I C K E TI N 1 8 8 2. 3 cameto anend. A tthe commencementof the season , Mr. Hornbyhadhardly recovered from a severe injury to his arm, received during the winter ; andhis comparative ill -success seemed to affect the eleven generally . Morethan one seemed to have lost a little of their form, but fortunately the decadence was only momentary, and in the purely Countymatches Lancashire showedalmost , if not quite , as bold a front as in the previous year, whenits claims to the Cham- pionship , were indisputable . All its last seven engagements ended in victories ; andthe season was brought to an end with a flourish of trumpets , by a brilliant win over a very strong batting eleven of Middlesex . Mr. Hornbyand Barlow again bore the brunt of the run-getting ; andthe latter was at the head of the bowling as well as the batting averages . Mr. Hornby, on the whole , did not play quite as good cricket as in 1881 ; towards the end of the season his batting wasas effective as of old, but the propensity to hit was a little moremarked. H ecaptained the eleven throughout with great skill . Barlow has never been moreuseful . His defence , if at times alittle too pronounced , was extraordinary . Three times he carried his bat throughout the innings , twice oddly against Notts. Mr. A. G. Steel only played in six matches . H eplayed a very fine , second innings against the Australians ; but, on the whole, his batting wasnot quite as good as in 1881. Robinson was a little out of luck during the early part of the season ; otherwise he might have been very near the head of the batting averages. A sit was, he was fourth on the list , and in the August matches against Southern bowling his hitting was of great assistance . Mr. Taylor only played in the later engagements against some of the weaker opponents of Lancashire ; and his average is, therefore , of less intrinsic merit . Mr. Royle, when he did play, shewed sound cricket ; his form was, if any- thing, better than he hadpreviously shown. Anew amateur was introduced into the eleven , for the Southern tour, in the person of Mr. C. Haigh. H e madea very promising debut against Gloucestershire , with a score of 80, got by free hitting ; he did little afterwards , but the ground was hardly in his favour . H ebids fair to be of use to the eleven . Crossland proved a useful batsman; more so indeed than he was generally accounted . H eplayed some very serviceable innings , and was, at times , a very difficult wicket to get at the last . In bowling . Lancashire was the strongest of all the Counties . It had five bowlers in Mr. Steel , Barlow, Crossland , Nash, and Watsonall first -class . Mr. Steel was a little more expensive than heretofore ; but the rest were all singularly successful . Crossland's action still continues to trouble those who believe in a strict adherence to Rule 10. Fair or unfair , he was the best fast bowlerof the year ! Notts , at the commencement of the season bade fair to again occupy the foremost place in County Cricket . The renewal of friendly relations with the secessionist professionals brought the eleven once again to its full strength ; and the excellent form shown by Shaw, Shrewsbury , Selby , and Scotton , during the winter , in Australia , was eminently suggestive of a brilliant season . Outof twelve matches only one was lost ; and this record is the more satis- factory , considering that in some respects , the County was out of luck . Morley, owing to an injured foot , was not seen at his best in the later matches ; and this disappointment wasgreater from the success which had marked his delivery in the earlier engagements . Shrewsbury , too , who had never shewn himself in better batting form, was unable to play toward the last , in conse- quence of ill -health ; so that the eleven , in their later engagements , were never quite seen at their best. In some respects , though, the cricket was disap- pointing ; Selby was much out of form; Butler and Gunn, neither of them played up to their early promise ; otherwise there was little to which exception could be taken . Oscroft , at times , showed his old powers of hitting , as did Alfred Shaw, the latter , notably in the return with Middlesex . Scotton's batting was a considerable improvement on any previous form ; and Flowers , though most of his best innings were early in the season ,had a good average . Barnesagain proved himself the most successful batsman of the year ; twice he scored over a hundred runs in an innings ; his batting was, throughout , в 2