James Lillywhte's Cricketers' Annual 1884

C R I C K E TI N S C O T L A N D . 3 1 anentire rearrangement of the old rules has been so persistently urged in the Annual, that I shall be pardoned if I express m yown personal satisfaction at theresult of the agitation . It wasnever the idea even of those who objected to the old rules that any fundamental changes were required . Their contention was, that the rules in existence were not only incomplete , but ambiguous, and that they were alto- gether behind the age. Thenewcode will, in fact , be merely an amplification of the old, to suit the requirements of modern practice , and the opportunity givenbythe Marylebone Club for the thorough ventilation of the new draft will , no doubt, be fully utilised . 7 C H A P T E R I V. C R I C K E TI N S C O T L A N D . CRICKET, we regret to say, cannot be called the national game of Scotland , andthis m a ybe accounted for by the physical characteristics of the country. It is essentially a " land of the mountain and the flood ," and one cannot con ceive a combination more likely to prevent the development of good cricket . Thegamehas, therefore , had a great deal to contend with in Scotland , and it is really very creditable to the Scottish nation , that they have done so well in cricket as they have. W ewould not for one momentsay that Scottish cricket is as good as English , but what we would say is, that it is a great deal better thanour Southernneighbours believe. In Scotlandw ehaveno club like the M.C.C. to take an undisputed lead in cricket matters ; but, in 1879 , the Scot- tish Cricket Unionwas established with the following objects : Firstly , to encourage national cricket in Scotland ; Secondly , to select teams to represent Scotland in any matches of an International kind, which might be arranged ; and, lastly , to be a court of appeal for all questions connected with Scottish cricket. For two years the Unionwas supported by all the principal clubs , but last year some of the chief clubs-notably the Grange-withdrew their support , and the Unioncertainly lost by those desertions . In 1882, the Unionarranged a match, eleven a side , against the Australians , and although the Scottish eleven were easily defeated , they were by no meansdisgraced . In the cricket season just concluded , only two matches were arranged by the Union, namely, the AnnualInter -City match between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the match between the Northand South of Scotland . This year, for the first time since the Inter -City matches were started , Glasgow won-a result partly due to the fact that they put a better team into the field than they ever did before , and partly to the fact that the Grangewere playing Liverpool on the same days . Thus Edinburgh was trying conclusions on the same days against two other cities , each of which was twice her own size , with the result that she beat Liverpool , but was defeated byGlasgow. In the North and South match the South scored an easy win, and, unless the North improve, they are likely to be beaten for some time to come. W eought to mention that Edinburgh and Glasgow players are excluded from this annual match, the South team being chosen from that part of the country south of the North British Railway line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the North team from that part of the country north of this line . The Union, we believe , tried to get on a match between Scotland and Lancashire , bat the Lancashire committee could not find suitable dates . A n