James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1888

4 2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. Whereplayed . Ballarat M e l b o u r n e Sydney B a t h u r s t Orange Y a s s B o w r a l . C a m d e n Sydney Narrabri A r m i d a l e . OrangeDistrict (22) YassDistrict (22)... BowralDistrict (22). CamdenDistrict (22) Against. Ballarat (20) Australian Eleven AustralianEleven BathurstDistrict (18). Result. W o n D r a w n W o n D r a w n D r a w n W e t,n oplay D r a w n D r a w n C o m b i n e dT e a m W o n NarrabriDistrict (22) D r a w n ArmidaleDistrict (22) D r a w n N e w c a s t l e NewcastleDistrict (18) D r a w n Singleton Singleton District (18) D r a w n Sydney N e wS o u t hW a l e s L o s t Sydney C o m b i n e d T e a m W o n M e l b o u r n e Victoria W o n M e l b o u r n e E.M.C.C.(15) D r a w n S a n d h u r s t SandhurstDistrict (18) D r a w n Adelaide South Australia (15) D r a w n C H A P T E R V. T H EG E N T L E M E N O FC A A D AI N E N G L A N . T H EVisit of a t e a mof C a n a d i a na m a t e u r sw a stheoneextraneousattraction of an otherwise purely English season . Aparty of Canadians hadcome to Eng- land some years before , but they were in no wayrepresentative of the cricket of the Dominion, andit was partly , no doubt, to remove the not altogether favour- able impression created by their predecessors that last year's outing to the OldCountry was undertaken . The moving spirit throughout the arrangements was Mr. G. G. S. Lindsey, the Hon. Secretary of the Toronto Club, and to him essentially belongs the credit of a most enjoyable and, in most respects , successful trip . Fromone point of view there was good reason for congratulation to those w h oare interested in the development of Canadian cricket . The team was in the highest sense Canadian, every memberwas in fact a native of the Dominion. Themain object of the tour was of course to get practical acquaintance with English cricketers and English grounds , and to profit by the example of the pick of English players . So far, the first visit of the Gentlemen of Canada was eminently successful . Theyfound, during their earlier fixtures , a material differ- ence in the pace of our grounds bycomparison with those to which they are accustomed at home, and were undoubtedly not seen to proper advantage in consequence . As they began to get more used to the fast wickets prevalent during last summer , however , their plalay showed a marked improvement , and there was abundant evidence that there was plenty of goodmaterial amongCana- dian cricketers , capable of being moulded into the proper shape . Looking at the bare results of the matches alone , it would appear as if there wasno great reason for congratulation . Of the nineteen engagements , five were won, and if only five werelost , morethan one of the nine drawngameswouldin all likelihood , if finished , have helped to swell the list of reverses . At the same time , looking to the fact that this was the first attempt , on any ambitious scale , of Canadian cricketers to shape their play on the model of the best exponents of the game, the tour mustbe regarded as a distinct success , and w e feel sure that the outcome of this , under the circumstances , venturesome experiment will be not only a great development of the gamein Canada, but a decided improvement in the general style of cricket . It is not our intention to enter into any lengthy details to illustrate the doings of the various membersof the team, or to enter into any