James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1888

1 8 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. year, andif he has the opportunity , he will demonstrate the truth of our asser tionthis season. Thehopes of Loretto were very high at the beginning of the season , for they h a donly three vacancies to fill ; but there were fears too in the mindsof some of their supporters . W eare sorry to have to say that their hopes were dashed to the ground, the fears more than realized . A wicket -keeper could not be found, the bowlers were almost useless , and even the batsmen were disappoint- ing. Woodhead, for instance , hardly confirmed his reputation , though it should be added that on several occasions , notably in the Fettes match, he played down- right good cricket . W emust bear in mind also that the Loretto boys were seriously hamperedby an accident , which prevented Tomlinson, their excellent coach, from bowling to themfor nearly a month, at the most critical time of the year. Therefore , while congratulating Fettes on their numerous successes , we must express our sympathy with Loretto for a disappointing season , which we are inclined to believe was not altogether due to their ownshortcomings . One wordmore. W ehave spoken of the failure of Loretto bowlers , but more than apassing wordof praise is due to D u n, whose " lobs " were wonderfully success- ful , as his average clearly shows. W h yis not a " lob " bowler more often seen in our school teams ? If at all good, lobs are almost always successful in school matches; they succeed whenother bowling is harmless , and w e consider that every school captain ought to use his utmost endeavours to secure a " lobster " for his eleven , remembering that there are many very fair batsmen , especially among schoolboys , whoare complete victims to a " lob. " Therewasa most exciting matchbetween Merchiston and Loretto , the latter winning " on the post " by six runs ! In '86 it maybe remarked Loretto w o n by two runs ! So there must have been somethrobbing of hearts on both occa- sions . Theother schools , with the exception of the Academy, were beaten both b yFettes and Loretto, and there is but little doubtthatthese twoteams were thebest of the year, with Fettes easily first . O u rtask is done, andit only remainsfor us to thankour friends , one and all , for the trouble they have taken in supplying us with statistics , and, what is more valuable still , for giving us their ownviews on the merits of the various elevens . W efeel that wehave not done justice to the theme, but we would crave the indulgence of our readers , and remind them that they cannot have the faintest idea of the difficulty of such a task as ours , unless they have had per- sonal experience. NOTE. Since writing the above we have received most valuable notes about theEtonEleven, and weregret extremely that we are unable to include them in this article . W etrust that the powers that be at Eton will forgive our remarks ontheir team, and believe that they were madein perfectly good faith . C H A P T E RI V. T H ET E N T HE N G L I S HT E A MIN A U S T R A L I A . SINCE the first party of English cricketers visited the Colonies , twenty-five years ago, under the leadership of the celebrated Surrey professional , H. H. Stephenson , the game has made rapid strides , not only in Australia , but in the Old Country . The now world -renowned refreshment contractors , Spiers and Pond,were then just developing a reputation as caterers in Great Britain . It was, unless weare mistaken, the late Mr. Frederick Pond who first originated the idea of introducing a team of English players to the cricket grounds of Australia . His talents for organization , as was subsequently proved in amore extensive field ,