James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1889

PURLIC SCHOOL CRICKET IN 1888. 1 1 hewould never have acquired , had all his early batting been done on perfect ground. W ehope this opinion of ours maybe verified by some of the school- boys of last year's teams , and that in them the Gentlemen mayfind some of those recruits of w h o mthey are just nowso urgently in need. Let us turn nowto a somewhat closer examination of school cricket during thepast season . Ournumerous friends have supplied us with a mass of informa tion, andw ewould gladly reproduce their remarks in extenso , did wenot fear , Mr. Editor , that we should bring downyour wrath upon us, and should be reminded that we were requested to write an article , and not a book, on the subject of school cricket . W etake this opportunity of thanking our cor- respondents for their kindness and promptitude in answering our inquiries , and assure them that one of the chief pleasures we derive from this , our annual task, arises from the fact that we are sure of one letter in the year from old cricketing friends , from w h o motherwise circumstances might entirely separate us. Atone of disappointment pervades the communications of most of our friends this year, but as this is chiefly due to the weather-a subject on which w ehave already enlarged , somewhat too freely perhaps we will spare our readers all unnecessary repetition . W ecannot however forbear from saying that the boys of Rugbyand Marlborough have just grounds for complaint , seeing that their match did not even have a beginning ; while Wykehamists may surely grumble that time robbed them of certain victory over their Etonrivals . Others of the inter -school matches were left in an undecided state owing to the weather , but we propose to notice these when dealing with individual teams . Thequestion nowsuggests itself , Canwe find any " stars " amongthe boys of last season ? This question weunhesitatingly answer inthe affirmative . Charter- house possessed in their captain a player of exceptional excellence ; indeed he is said to be the best m a nthe school has ever produced . W ehave been told by those whoought to know, that his bowling was often quite first -rate , andas he is agood up-standing bat as well , Streatfield's future career will be watched with intense interest . Certainly Carthusians owe him a great debt of gratitude ; their victories were in the maindue to him, and, bysecuring seventy -two wickets at a cost of five runs apiece , he has already established a reputation , which w e hope the coming season will only tend to enhance. Jackson , of Harrow, is another player of whomrumour spoke very highly , but he fairly astonished friends and foes alike by his mighty deeds at Lord's . Heis still a schoolboy , and our hope is that during the ensuing summer he may confirm the good impression which he has already made. At Lord's he received most valuable support from Hoare, whosucceeded in securing the coveted " century ," and it is apardonable exaggeration to say that these two wonthe match for their side . O fthe two webelieve Jackson to be the better , but we must be careful not to underrate Hoare's powers, as one only of the century -getters in the big match has failed to cometo the front afterwards , and wedo not yet despair of seeing Watsonwear the dark blue, and, if he does , weshall expect him to make it warmfor the Cambridge bowlers . I nScotlandtherew e r et w ocricketersw h ostoodout far abovetheirc o m - peers . It is impossible to form anyjust estimate of their ability , but webelieve that w eshall not be far wide of the mark if we declare that Jardine , of Fettes , and Woodhead, of Loretto , are almost on a par with the best of their Southern rivals , and of these two Jardine is indisputably first . It is very hard to know what to say about the Eton captain , Bromley-Davenport. He is essentially a dry-wicket cricketer , and his later performances last season were most disap- . pointing . W ehad been led to form a very high opinion of his capabilities , and it wascommonlybelieved that as long as he waswith them the Etonboys would prove far too strong for any other school team. These hopes were somewhat rudely scattered to the winds, for on the sodden turf he could get neither wickets nor runs . Givena fine season , he will no doubt show very different form this year, andit is quite on the cards that even the redoubtable Jackson mayfind in hima foemanworthy of his steel . Yate-Lee was the deus ex machina of the Eton eleven , not a very correct bat it m a ybe, but such a useful one, always getting