James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1887

1 6 LILLYWHITE'S CRICKETERS ' ANNUAL. weather in the early weeks of term had much to answer for , but we fancy , pef- haps wrongly, that wantof enthusiasm and wantof nerve were the chief factors in producing the ill -success which was Shrewsbury's lot in 1886. The Rossall match, from the Salopian point of view, was a dismal failure , the one redeeming feature being the good fielding of the school ; in this respect the teams were evenly matched, but in bowling and batting the Shrewsbury team was obviously outclassed . Saville , the present captain , appears to have been the most useful m a nin the eleven , being well in advance of his confrères in bowling , and standing second in the batting averages . W efear there was no K e m pamongtheir number, thoughw eshouldbe glad to find ourselves mistaken. Tonbridge has fallen from the high place in the cricket world which it has heldduring the last few seasons . This was inevitable , for while it is possible by the exercise of the greatest perseverance to turn out respectable teams from year to year, none but the largest public schools can even hope to have a strong eleven every year, and even their teams vary very muchin quality . At smaller schools this variation is moremarked, the swell being so m u c hmorea " Triton a m o n gminnows" at the small school thanhewouldbe at the large. TheTon- bridge boys were beaten byBrighton and Dulwich, but though beaten they were not disgraced , their struggle against the Brighton eleven being especially credit- able , and they would seemto have been a fair average team. Kingin batting a n dBakerin bowlingwerethe pick of the basket. TheUppinghameleven were a very fair lot , though they did not approach thewonderful standard of the days of Lucas , Steel , and others . Their fielding wasjust whatit should be, smart and safe , and it wasto this that their victory over Repton was mainly due. The other school match, against Haileybury , resulted in a very easy victory for them, while only twice were their colours lowered , and oneach occasion by a very strong side . The Repton match has already been commentedon, but a further tribute of praise is due to the elder Whitwell for his share in the victory . H emanagedhis team with the judg- mentof a veteran , while his bowling was quite first -class . H e unfortunately wasdisabled , or he wouldhave proved his worth in the Rovers ' tour last sum- mer. The batting of the team was not as good as we have seen it , though J. F. Whitwell and Hemingwayshape well , and will improve, but McGregor, Hunter, and the other run-getters had not sufficient steadiness to cope with good professional bowling. In the early part of the season Hunterwas very smart behind the wicket , but as the term advanced he wentto pieces . W. F. Whit- well excepted , there was not a dangerous bowler in the team, and Stephenson will havehis workcut out to find some one to fill the place this year. Inbatting theeleven will probably be very strong , though the leaving of Hemingway, of whichw ehave only just heard , will be a great disappointment . The nthusiasm for cricket , which has been increasing every year at Well- ington , must lead to success eventually . W ecannot howeverhold the 1886 team in very high esteem, though they wontheir only school match; the gamewith Haileybury unfortunately falling through . I t is always dangerous to make excuses for a beaten team, but we are bold enough to think that the victory over Charterhouse was somewhatlucky . Whetherthis be so or not, Perkins andhis band deserve the greatest credit for their efforts during the year . The diffi- culties they had to contend with were stupendous , but instead of losing heart , they only worked the harder , and in the end they were a very fair team. Most ofthemare again available , so Wellington must be marked" dangerous " this season . W ehave spoken of difficulties -here they are only three colours were to be found at the beginning of term, the ground was in a dreadful state , and practice was impossible -not a happy outlook ! for what can be more heart- breaking than to have to get together an almost entirely new school team, and not to have the power of coaching them ! Difficulties were grappled with and overcome, and a fair eleven was put in the field . Enthusiasm is a grand thing ; wouldthat some of the Wellington enthusiasm could be instilled into every schoolboy in England, and then the future of English cricket would be assured . Thedepression which has seemed to settle over Westminster cricket has