James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1887

P A R T I . C H A P T E R I. T H EO X F O R DE L E V E NO F 1 8 8 6. PBUBLIC opinion in the early part of last summer predicted , and with confidence , that the Inter -University match of 1886 was a certainty for Cambridge. The result showed that in this case public opinion was out in its reckoning . In fact the Oxford eleven showed at every point to much better advantage than was expected , and their victory was an extremely creditable one. The match,-thefifty -second of the series -too, will be memorable above the best of its predecessors if only for one bright particular performance . Until last year the largest numberof runs made by either Oxford or Cambridge before a wicket fell was 152, the result of the joint efforts of two Cambridge batsmen, Messrs . H. W. Bainbridge and C. W. Wright, in 1885. This record , good as it was, though , pales before the brilliant achievement of Messrs . K. J. Key and W. Rashleigh , on July 6th of last year. Commencingthe second innings of Oxford these two batsmen put on 243 runs before a wicket fell . The history of cricket contains very few instances of a more successful stand in matches of anyimportance , and the Oxford eleven of 1886 deserve all the credit of an exceptional exploit . Of the fifty -two Inter - University matches played up to the present time , Oxford has , we may add, won twenty -four , and Cam- bridge twenty-six . 3