James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1886

PUBLICSCHOOLCRICKETIN 1885. 1 3 last three years amounts to 102. Rugbeians must be glad that they have seen thelast of him! Meyrick-Jones ' batting afforded an amusing contrast to that of his captain ; in the Rugbymatch for instance , he made 70, while his partner made 17. H e is , no doubt, a dashing bat, a good field , and fair bowler ; but we do not think he is likely to grow into as good a m a nas either Lazenby or Kitcat . The former plays in really good style , and is especially dangerous on the off -side , his cutting and off -driving being very fine ; at cover-point his fielding was brilliant , though he lacks the true cover-point return . Kitcat , whois captain this year, did very well for a newchoice , and if he will learn the lesson of patience is sure to succeed . W eare afraid hehas a hard task before him, as there are nine vacancies to be filled up. However, in Browning he has an able coadjutor , as his wicket -keeping was morethan respectable , and he showed every sign of improvement. In bowling the team was very weak, witness the second innings of the match at Lord's . Hayhurst , on whom the chief part of the work fell , was fairly straight , and with a wicket to help him, might almost be termed dangerous . Taken as a whole, the eleven m a ybe described as above the average in batting and fielding , but their weakness in bowling kept themout of the first -class . 6 6 TheRepton eleven of the past season was but little behind its immediate predecessor in point of merit , though it would be impossible to find two teams more essentially different . In the previous year there were five batsmen at least , who were always likely to make good scores , but in 1885 Ford was immeasurably superior to any of his confreres . The best of the remainder , to judge by performances , being Jardine and Agar, both new choices , and both likely to train on. O fFord's batting it is difficult to speak too highly. W e never remembera boycricketer who combined defence and hit in so marked a manner. There is a grand future before him if he continues to play thegame," and avoids reckless hitting . Except in the last match, which was played at the end of term, whenthe boys were utterly stale , the teamdid not fail to " show up " well , though they were often pitted against strong opponents ; but their success was due far more to their powers of attack than of defence . The bowling was undeniably good. Farrant , until crippled by an unfortunate accident , was very destructive , while Ford's trundling has already received commendationat our hands. I n addition to these there was some " change " of more than average merit . Given good luck , Kelsey is sure to prove a " nasty " bowler, and Jackson, on his day, was as good as any of them. The two disappointments of the year in the batting line were Kelsey and Farrant-the latter did not improve a bit . H ewill very likely get runs in a wet season , but will never be a sound bat. Of Kelsey we have great hopes ; at the nets he showed splendid form, but partly from nervousness , partly from badluck (he strained his back in the height of the season ) he did notd ohimself justice in the matches. T h efielding of the teamwas, o n the whole, very fair , and the outlook for the coming season is distinctly bright . Theprospects of last season at Rossall did not look very rosy , for only two old " colours " were left . Nordid their misfortunes end here, for their captain , Lee-Smith, was unlucky enough to injure his knee, and was unable to take the field until the season was half over. The loss of a captain is a most serious one, and it evidently becomes more serious still whenhe happens to be the only one of the team who has had any experience of foreign matches. Everyexcuse then must be madefor the failure of the past year, and we are glad to hear that six of the team will be available this season . If, therefore , careful attention is paid to practice , we look forward to seeing Rossall once more among the stronger public_schools . Of their two school matches the results were strangely different . Loretto proved far too good for the Lanca- shire boys , while Shrewsbury fell an easy prey to them. W emight add that in the Shrewsbury match the school played its full strength for the first time, and the value of the captain's presence was evidenced by good management of the team, as well as b y a fine individual score of 60. H e was, no doubt, the best m a nin the team-a good slow bowler, safe field , and, when in