James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1885

4 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. remembered that last year was Emmett's nineteenth season in the Yorkshire eleven , and taking this into account , his figures m a yfairly be characterised as extraordinary . Peel, when a real chance was afforded him, was of great service as a bowler , and there was altogether little , if any, fault to be found with the out-cricket of the Yorkshire eleven . Hunter's wicket-keeping was one of its very best features . All round , Pilling or Sherwin would be accounted as superior , but in taking fast bowling the Yorkshire stumper is really without a rival . Surrey, like Yorkshire , lost four of the matches in which its eleven were engaged with what are knownas first -class Counties . Of this list seven were won, five drawn, on the whole equally , and four were lost . In some respects they were very unlucky . Illness prevented Henderson , the young professional whohad shown such excellent promise on the occasion of his début in 1883 , from playing , and Jones , whoreappeared in the eleven after a long absence of ill-health , failed to come up to the formhe had shownas a bowler just previous to his retirement in 1882. In batting the eleven was particularly strong , and as Mr. C. E. Horner was fortunately able to give uphis time to the service of the County, after the first few matches , his bowling supplied a very great want in the Surrey eleven . His consistent success was indeed of very great value to the County, and more than one of their victories was in a great measure due to his skill with the ball . Mr. W. W. Read, though, as was to be expected , hardly up to his brilliant record of 1883, was at the head of the batting tables , and in this department the team generally upheld their reputation , with the one exception of Mr. Roller , who, if not quite so reliable with the bat, rarely failed to be of service in bowling . Maurice Read, too , though he played some good innings , was hardly as safe a batsman as in 1882 or 1883 , though his average is still a very creditable one. The programme of the Surrey eleven was indeed a very heavy one, as it contained , in addition to its engagements with the first -class Counties , one fixture with the Australians and one with Essex, Oxford, and Cambridge, home- and-homematches with Hants and Leicestershire , or twenty-four matches in all . The victories of the Surrey team over Lancashire , at Liverpool , and Middlesex , at Lord's , were the result of excellent all -round cricket , and on the whole their play throughout the season was very creditable . With so manyamateurs the eleven is , of course , always uncertain ; but it is satis- factory to record the addition of two very useful professionals (W o o dand Lohmannto wit) to the team last year. The former kept wicket fairly throughout , but was of greater service as a bat , and on several occasions he played in excellent form, hitting particularly with great freedom . In Loh- mann, Surrey has a very promising young cricketer , and his form all round last season was good enough to justify the hope that he will be a very valuable acquisition to the old County . His bowling in the later matches was very effective , and as he is very fond of the game, and ready to learn , in addition to being a brilliant field , he should not only improve greatly in this department , but also in his batting , in which he should also be very useful , having already proved himself of no small abilities as a hitter . Though Middlesex lost but three matches in 1884 its card only showed ten engagements, so that the average was inferior to those of both Yorkshire and Surrey . The eleven is exceptionally strong in batting , but the bowling is still , as it has usually been, susceptible of great improvement . In this respect the County was singularly unlucky in losing , from il -health , the valuable services of Mr. C. T. Studd in the later matches, and the importance of this loss cannot possibly be over-estimated . Under these circumstances the attack was weaker than ever, and the bulk of the bowling had to be borne b yBurtonand Mr. Robertson , both of w h o mare a little expensive . Mr. C. E. Cottrell wasvery successful against the Australians and also at Canter- bury against Kent, and it is to be regretted that his help is not more fre- quently obtainable . The Hon. Alfred Lyttelton , as usual , played excellent cricket in the August matches , and he was again at the head of the batting