James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1883

4 L I L L YW H I T E ' SC R I C K E T E R S ' A N N U A L. consistently brilliant . In bowling , Shaw, Morley, and Flowers hadto do most of the work. Barnes shewed a great falling off as a bowler ; and Flowers wouldhave had a much better average but for his ill success in later matches. Morley was bowling with great effect when he broke down, and but for his accident , he wouldhave had an exceedingly favourable record . Alfred Shaw's accuracy was as conspicuous as ever, though, perhaps , there is not quite as muchworkon the ball . Out of 926 overs he bowled, there were 539 maidens. Yorkshire had, byno means, the record which one might have expected from the reputations of the majority of its eleven . Out of sixteen matches, nine were won, and five lost . Its victory over Notts , at Sheffield , was an excellent performance ; but the cricket in some of the later matches was certainly not up to the best standard , and its defeat byKent, in the closing engagement of the year, was hardly creditable to the eleven . In bowling , Yorkshire was undoubtedly strong . In Peate , it had, without exception , the best bowler of the day. Bates , whowas not altogether in the best of health , was more expensive than heretofore ; and Hill's delivery had evidently lost someof its old effect . Ulyett, though , cameout with signal success as a fast bowler in Hill's stead ; and whenever the bowling was at all in a knot, Emmett showedthat he has still very few superiors , especially whenthe wicket in any w a yfavours the ball . InPeel, the County has a young bowler , likely to train on and be of great use ; though the extreme similarity of his delivery to that of Peate will , as far as Yorkshire is concerned , militate , at least for the present , a little against his chances . In bowling , Yorkshire wanted little improvement; but in batting , their form was as it has been for the last few years , at times , singularly unreliable . Lockwood was much out of health during the season , or he would have had a better record . As it was, he played some very fine innings , notably , against the Australians , and during the Scarborough Festival ; but he was not seen at his best . Bates , too , was hardly as successful ; and neither Grimshaw nor Hall came up to expectations . Emmett'sbatting was, at times , very useful ; but by far the best figures were those of Ulyett , whoscored nearly four hundred runs more than any batsman in the County. Towards the last he was rather out of luck ; but in the earlier matches his batting was very powerful , and some of his innings , brilliant . Mr. Hawke, of the Cambridge University eleven , took part in eight matches, and with some success . Hisbatting is likely to be of some use to the County. Middlesex suffered considerably fromthe prevalence of heavygrounds during the season . W h e nrepresented at its best , it had an extraordinarily strong batting side ; but its strength in this respect was, on most occasions , neutralised b ythe condition of the wickets . The eleven , with the best of the luck, beat Yorkshire, at Lord's ; but were beaten with a corresponding amountof ill -luck in the return ; and their four remaining victories , out of eleven matches , were over Southern shires . Theywould, with only a second -rate team, in all prob- ability , have beaten Notts , at Nottingham , had time allowed ; but otherwise the season was comparatively a failure . Theywere not always , the inevitable rule withAmateurteams, able to get their best eleven ; and they were unfortunate innot being able , except in the earlier matches, to secure the aid of Mr. A. J. F. Ford, whose bowling would have materially strengthened their weak point . Messrs. I. D. Walker, A. J. Webbe, and T. S. Pearson alone were able to play in all the eleven matches on the programme; but they were all , fortunately , in goodform. Mr. Webbewas at the head of the batting averages ; and in batting , the figures of Middlesex are better than those of any other shire . The bowling, though, was still an evident source of weakness. Burton was very useful throughout , and Mr. C. T. Studd , when he was able to play ; but neither's figures are, in any way, to be compared with those of some of the best bowlers of the North . Of reliable changes there was a great scarcity , and the want of a fast bowler was severely felt . Mr. Robertson was so heavily punished in the earlier matches , that he retired ; but his successor , Mr. C. M. Tuke, was hardly an improvement , and the fairness of his delivery was open to the gravest doubts.