James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1885

6 L I L L Y W H I T E ' SC R I C K E T E R S ' A N N U A L. Australians at Canterbury , and as he is very young there should be a good future for himas a cricketer . H e gets a great deal of workout of the ball , and with more experience and greater commandof the ball ought to be very dangerous . A tonetime it looked as if Gloucestershire was not going to wina match in 1884, and indeed their one success , against Lancashire at Clifton , was only gained by a bare majority of seven runs. The brilliant show madeby the eleven in their later matches . particularly against the Australians , at Clifton , showedhowstrong they were in batting , at least whenfully represented . The performance of Messrs . Brain and Pullen , as also of Painter towards the close of the campaign , were quite out of the common, and sufficient to show whatpromising material the County has in some of its younger players . It is in its bowling that Gloucestershire most sadly wants an infusion of strength ; andanother really capable professional to help Woofwould work a wonderful change in the fortunes of the County. Mr. W .Grace was handicapped con- siderably by an injury to his hand, and later on bya severe strain to his leg . These, though, only served to makehis excellent displays with the bat the moreremarkable , and his batting throughout the season was quite up to his verybest standard . Butfor Woofthe eleven would have fared very badly in their out-cricket ; and as it was, their show in this respect was the worst of any County of the year . In estimating Woof's figures , though , it must be remem- bered that he received very poor support from the other bowlers , and the generally hard wickets on which he had to perform , should also be taken into account. TheDerbyshire eleven were even more unfortunate than the representatives of Gloucestershire , and not one of the ten matches in which they figured , ended favourably . Theywere singularly unlucky in never once being able to w i nthe toss, and such a continuous run of ill -fortune. was boundto act prejudicially on the cricket of a team not in the best state of organisation . Someexcuses , therefore . could be urged in extenuation of their wantof success , though it must be admitted the cricket is still susceptible of very great improve- mentat every point . T w onewyoung players were introduced last year likely tobeof use in Sugg, who played for Yorkshire in 1883 , and Shacklock , who bowledwithsuccess in a matchon theTrentBridgeGroundat the close of that season . Sugg batted with considerable success , and gives every sign of being ofgreat use in this department. Shacklock , too, showed prominently with the batonmorethan one occasion as well as with the ball , and with care he ought to make a good all -round cricketer . Mr. Cochrane, of Repton School , was also tried in the eleven at the end of the season , and acquitted himself creditably both in batting and bowling . The Derbyshire executive is going the right w a y towork, in its determination to bring forward young players , and there is every reason to hope that next year will see an improvement in the cricket of the Countyeleven. The Hampshire eleven . though not successful in the more important fixtures on the card , showed on the whole better cricket than for some seasons past. In two instances , against Kent and Somersetshire , their scoring was muchabove the ordinary , and their innings of 645 against the latter at Southamptonis the largest , with one exception , the 650 of Surrey against Hampshireat the Oval in 1883, madein an Inter-Countyor important match in England. Hampshire has more than one young cricketer of promise , and were it able to secure a really good bowler or two, wouldsoon regain muchof its old prestige . Leicestershire hardly showed quite the same form as in 1883 , and its cricket altogether was not so promising as that of Essex, which, under the energetic guidance of Mr. C. E. Green, and favoured by its position on the skirts of the metropolis , seems to have more than one likely youngster w h om a yhelp to bring it to the front . A m o n gthe other shires Norfolk, Herts , Cheshire , and Northamptonshire , can all turn out good elevens , and there are nowvery few Counties in England unable to boast the possession of a centralclub.