James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1886

C R I C K E TI N 1 8 8 5. 3 for so accomplished a batsman, despite that he was indebted mainly for his superiority over Gunnin the average to his big score of 224 (not out) against Middlesex at Lord's . All round the Nottinghamshire Eleven was especially strong, and indeed its uniform excellence in every department has been the great secret of its unexampledsuccess during the last two seasons. S o m e critics have taken exception to the position generally accorded to Notts, on the ground that it neither metLancashire nor Kent-either of w h o mwould haveproved a very formidable antagonist . There is muchto be said in favour of such an argument ; but no really conscientious analyist of public form could fail to come to the conclusion that Notts had really the strongest claim to be considered the best county of 1885 . Yorkshire cricket last summer, though in manyrespects equal to the standard of its neighbour , was at the same time lacking in the consistency whichmarkedthe play of the representatives of Nottinghamshire . The victory of the Yorkshiremen over Notts on the Trent Bridge Ground was one of the mostcreditable achievementsof a s u m m e remarkablefor the general excellence of its countycricket . T h ebrilliance of this and other good performanceswas considerably dimmedby the defeats Yorkshire suffered on its own ground at thehands of Kent and Middlesex respectively , in both of which matches it did not showto advantage at any point of the game. It mustnot be forgotten , too, that more than one of the drawngames ended anything but favourably for the eleven ; and, indeed , had only time allowed the completion of the fixtures against Notts at Sheffield , Kent at Canterbury, and Derbyshire at Derby, the record of the Yorkshiremen at the end of the summerwould have pre- sented , in all probability , a very different aspect . A sit was, the summaryof the yearwas certainly not altogether so satisfactory as might have been expected from the cricket the eleven showed in the earlier fixtures . Ulyett's accident interfered , it m a ybe fairly argued , with the prospects of the teamin a certain degree , and the severe sprain of his ankle not only prevented him batting withhis wonteddash, but incapacitated him altogether from bowling during a great part of the season-an unmistakeable loss to his side , judging from his success in 1884, and also from the form he showedin the return match withSurrey at the Oval at the end of August. Peel, who hadbeen so extra- ordinarily effective during the winter in Australia as a bowler, unfortunately for Yorkshire, too, failed in anyw a yto maintainthe reputation he hadgained there ; and Peate, though his figures are very good, was hardly as deadly as he had been in previous years . In manyrespects , however, the season showed no small amount of promise. F. Lee's batting was one of the best features of Yorkshire cricket in 1885 , and he fully established , by his consistently good batting , a right to a foremost place among professional players . In Preston , too , Yorkshire has a youngster who will , with the benefit of more experience in good matches, makea namefor himself as an all-r o u n dcricketer. O n paper, there was little to choose between Surrey and Lancashire , though the latter played less matches , and, in consequence , had not quite as severe a test as the very heavy programme carried out bySurrey with, on the whole , satisfactory results . Considering the amount of work they had to do, the all-round cricket of the Surrey Eleven throughout the summer was deserving of the highest praise . They were , so far , fortunate in being able to secure the services of most of their players as a rule ; but, on the other hand, luck was muchagainst them in the middle of the season , and they not only lost theservices of MauriceR e a dandMr. W .E. Roller-each a great loss-but wereplaced at a considerable disadvantage in having for some time no really capable wicket -keeper , owing to an injury to Wood's hand, which compelled t h a tusefullittle all-r o u n dcricketerto standoutof severalof thefixtures. Thephenomenal performances of Mr. W. W. Readwith the bat tended verymuchto the success of the Surrey Eleven. H e was in fact the mainstay ofthe side , though , on a fast wicket , the batting was very strong , and even to very nearly the last m a nthere were batsmen likely to make a fair score . The в2