James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1886

4 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. practice obtained in the early part of the season proved of great advantage in accustoming the various members of the eleven to each other's play , which was, too , no mean factor in their success . O nthe whole , although some dis- appointment was felt that the promise of the first three months of the season wasnot fulfilled at the close , the Surrey authorities had every reason to be thoroughly satisfied with the fine show made by the eleven . Certainly no teamwasfollowed with keener interest during the summer, and I venture to think that nothing of late years has given more real satisfaction to real sports- m e nthan the marked improvement which has been manifest in Surrey cricket during the last few seasons . A n dno mention of this subject would be com- plete without an acknowledgment of the debt which Surrey owes to the keen cricketer whohas captained the team nowfor several summers. Loyal and faithful to the county when it was comparatively poor both in players and resources , Mr. John Shuter has worked with untiring zeal to improve the eleven , and no one has more fully earned the gratitude , not only of Surrey m e n,butof every one interested in the better class of cricket . TheLancashire Eleven , considering that they were never able to put quite their full forces into the field , have no reason to be dissatisfied with the results of the season . O nthe contrary , though the absence of any fixtures with their old opponents of Notts detracted from the importance of their pro- grammein comparison with those of many of the other leading shires , their all-round cricket was sufficiently good to justify an award to Lancashire of a foremost place among the counties of the year. In analysing the perform- ances of the Lancashire Eleven last summer, it must be considered that they wereonly able to claim the services of Mr. A. G. Steel in only two matches ; of Mr.VernonRoyle in but one; and that, in addition to the wantof a reliable fast bowler , owing to the disqualification of Crossland , they had, owing to Pilling's ill -health , to improvise a wicket -keeper to take his place a task not easy of accomplishment at any time, muchless in a sudden emergency. The lack of a capable wicket-keeper , it must be admitted , interfered materially with the chances of the county on several important occasions , and its representatives were to a great extent weakenedby the absence of a stumper who, whenin good health . had no superior , if any equal . Aconsiderable amount of feeling was rather unnecessarily introduced into the discussion which resulted in the temporary discontinuance of the Lancashire matches by the executive of the Notts Club ; but there is every reason to believe that both managements are desirous of renewing diplomatic relations , and it goes without saying that the reappearance of the old fixtures between Notts and Lancashire will be warmly approved by all lovers of County cricket . Thoughin morethan one respect Lancashire was unfortunate last summer, there was no lack of promise ; on the contrary , there is more than one youngster coming on likely to be of use, and, with its best eleven , the county would hold its own with any shire . A s it was, considering all the circumstances , the fact that the eleven only lost three out of the seventeen matches played was a very encouraging proof of the abundance of good cricket at the disposal of the executive . The most notable feature of 1885 wasthe marked advance of Briggs as a bowler. Until his Australian trip , Briggs had hardly been tried at all in the departinent , and even then his success wasonly partial . Last summer, though, he proved himself to be a bowler of really great merit, and possessed of considerable judgment, as well as ability to get a lot of work on the ball , he is sure to rank very high among the best trundlers of the day. Despite the well -grounded rumours that Mr. Hornby had signified his intention to retire from the county , he was still , to the satisfaction of all cricketers , able to take charge of the eleven with all his old success ; and, although the report is again busy that he is anxious to give up the office , in the interests of the county he has, by his personal energy , mainly helped to raise to a foremost position , it is earnestly tobehoped that he will continue to give it the benefit of his valuable manage- m e n tin the field .