James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1888

P A R T I. A C H A P T E RI. A R T H U RS H R E W S B U R Y . R T H U RS H R E W S B U R Y stands out in bold relief a m o n gthe cricketers of to-day as the professional bat par excellence . His performances in 1887, indeed , entitle him to compare with the greatest of all living cricketers , Mr. W. G. Grace , whenhe was at his best-the highest possible standard of comparison by which to test the qualifi- cations of a batsman. Shrewsbury's batting was, in fact , one of the most, if not the most, remarkable features of a run-getting season . In first -class matches he scored altogether 1653 runs in twenty- one completed innings , giving an average of 78.15 . His average for Notts was 77.2 for eighteen completed innings . This record , as far as we know, has only been surpassed by one cricketer , and that only once , in 1876, when Mr. W. G. Grace averaged 80.10 for Gloucestershire . Shrewsbury's score of 267 against Middlesex at Nottingham on August 15 wasthe highest of the year in important matches, and, at the same time , the highest innings to his credit during a career of morethan ordinary distinction . In three successive innings at Lord's last year he madeover a hundred, and no less than six scores of the same value for his county . Shrewsbury's successes , too , have been as marked on Australian as on English grounds . Only a few weeks ago , for the English team, of which he is captain , against Victoria at Melbourne , he scored 232-the highest innings as yet recorded to an English batsman in eleven -a-side matches in Australia . Born on April 11, 1856 , Shrewsbury is in his thirty -second year . 2