James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1889

1 2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' ANNUAL. runs whenthey were most wanted , and we shall be at once surprised and disap pointed if he does not makea namefor himself at Cambridge. Itis not often that w e are so rash as to pronounceanyone school team superior to all others of its year, but we must confess that the Cheltenham eleven seems to us to be fairly entitled to the proud title of champion of 1888. W em a y bewrong, but all will agree with us in saying that their captain , Champain, was a cricketer of undoubted ability . With more experience he would have proved a most valuable addition to the ranks of Gloucestershire , but unfortunately he has gone to Sandhurst , and so will practically be lost to the greater world of cricket . Leese , the Winchester captain , wehope to see again , as his performances during last season stamp him as a more-than -ordinary cricketer . Asuccessful captain andconsistent scorer , he carned glory for himself and his team, and for his father's sake , as well as for his own, we wish him all luck in the future . Doubtless there are others whoare worthy to be mentioned in this introductory sketch , but we question whether they were of the same calibre as those wehave named, andwe mustpress on to a more minute scrutiny of the respective teams, in the hope that , byfollowing this course , we maynot overlook any performers or perform- ances that ought to be chronicled in these pages . Thedoings of the Old Bathonians during their summertour prove that Bath College has become a really good nursery for Westof England cricket , and, with H. F. Fox to look after them, we maybe sure that everything will be done to maintain the comparatively high standard which the school has rather suddenly reached . The felt want is a match with some other school of their ownsize , and w ehope that arrangements maysoon be madewith one or other of their neigh- bours . There were three good performers in their last team-Ross, Wilson, and Smyth. Ross is going to Cambridge, and with luck ought to makea fair bid for the coveted " blue." Smyth, now at Balliol , is a left-handbowler, with high action , and on a sticky wicket is really dangerous , but wedo not judge him to be as good a performer as Wilson , who bowls fast and straight , and " comes " bothways. H eis still at school , and mayfairly be expected to do great things this year. If wewere able to judge of the merits of a team simply by a careful study of statistics , our task would be a fairly easy one , and we should at once declare that Bradfield possessed a capital eleven last year. But we have to bear in mind thevarying natures of grounds, and even more of opponents , and any estimate based on averages only, would lead us into very false conclusions as to the respec- tive merits of public school teams. Thus much however mayfairly be stated in favour of the Bradfield boys , that two of their number, Dale and Tapsfield , werevery useful both with bat and ball , and that in G. Smyththey had a most promising batsman, with fine defence , though as yet rather lacking in hitting powers. Dale and Tapsfield are no longer at school , nor is their hard-working andhard-worked bowler, F. D. Smyth, but the other Smythand four or five of the rest are still in the ranks , and the team ought to do well this year. W ehavedoneour best to obtain sometrustworthyinformation about the Brighton boys , but without success -our letters remain unanswered ; and as any remarks of ours would be founded almost entirely on hearsay , we forbear from saying anything about the team. W eare the more sorry to have to adopt this course, because w e haveheard that'someexcellent cricket w a sseen on the Brighton ground last summer. Streatfield's wonderful doings with the ball have already been alluded to in these pages, and it was chiefly owing to his all -round skill that Charterhouse can show such a favourable record . Buthe had some very valuable supporters , and the team as a whole was certainly quite up to , if not above, the average . Theywere badly beaten by a strong Broadwater contingent , but on all other occasions acquitted themselves with credit , and by easily winning their two school matches m a ybe said to have done all that was wanted. Their triumphs however did not end here, as I Zingari , Kensington Park, the Butterflies , and the O. C.'s all fell victims to their prowess ; while in the two drawnmatches the balance was n the school's favour. Price , Gatehouse, and Rayner were the captain's best