James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1889

P U B L I CS C H O O LCRICKETIN 1888. 1 5 one--indeed , as our correspondent says , it is doubtful if any other school eleven of the year could show so long and consistent a tail . H o wgood the two swells are w ecannot easily say ; they were tritons amongminnowsat Lancing , but w e mustwait another year before we can decide whether their excellence was com- parative or real . Gresson is nowat Oxford , and has already madehis markon the football field , and, from what we can hear, it is by no means impossible that hem a yearn distinction in manybranches of athletics . Fromwhatw e saw of the Malvern boys we should say that they were a better lot than usual ; the fielding was good, the batting very fair , and the bowlers were straight and kept a fair length , while there was none of that sameness which has characterized the Malvern bowling of the last few years . W emusthowever confess that we thought that more than one of the actions wasdistinctly open to criticism , and Malins especially will have to be on his guard, or he will very soon be pulled up by the umpire . The results of the season , we must confess , were woefully disappointing ; as long as things went well, the cricket was often good, but, if once collared , they went to pieces altogether . Manya chance of success was foolishly thrown away by reckless running between the wickets , and the average of " runs -out " was disgracefully large . For these failings the captain was, we are told , largely responsible ; individually they were more than a fair team, Hansard, as a bat, being quite good; but, as a whole, they lacked cohesion , and seemed to have no confidence either in themselves or one another . Thematchwith Rossall led to a close fight , butagainst Repton, though theystarted well , anutter rot set in afterwards , andin theendthey were easily beaten . In this annual struggle the Malvern boys are seldom seen at their best, and it would enhance the interest immensely if they could succeed in defeating their old rivals during the ensuing summer. So far as we can gather Marlborough will be able to place seven old hands in the field this year, and if all goes well they ought to have a good season before them. Cunninghamehoweverwill not be available , and as he was by far the best manin last year's team, he will be greatly missed . H ewas the one really good manthey had, and the eleven of '88 cannot be termed a strong one. Thefielding was safe , but byno means brilliant . Hill and Robinson were a pair of very fair bowlers , and Cunninghame might be depended on as a change , but there was no variety ; and, though manyof the side could bowl, wem a y truthfully say there was no real change : and then the batting was rather poor, though there is every promise of better things . W o o d,the captain , is a powerful hitter , but has not muchdefence ; he was unfortunately disabled for the last three weeks of term, and could not play at Cheltenham, and the eleven suffered verymuchfrom the absence of their proper leader . As captain he was always most energetic , and we hope he mayreap his reward this year. Marlborough boys are sadly handicapped by the wantof proper space ; the lower grounds are distinctly bad, and the result is that youngsters get discouraged , and lose interest in the game; hence there arises a general slackness , which cannot fail to tell unfavourably on the cricket of the school . Addedto this there is but little supervision , and boys get no attention until they are within hail of the eleven . Under conditions such as these , Marlborough cricket can never be really good ; a Steel mayappear from time to time, and there m a yoccasionally be a strong team,butthe general excellence can never be such as wemight reasonably look forin a schoolof suchvastn u m b e r s. Oundle cricket is always associated in our minds with the name of A. Μ. Sutthery , and, while talking one day of the marvellous scores which he was amassing in the Hastings district , a friend told us that he had heard of an Oundleboywho was likely to prove a worthy successor of the old Cantab, and to keep the nameof Oundle before the public for some years to come. H o wfar these prognostications are likely to be verified remains to be seen ; but we believe that by scoring 102 and 307 in one match, each time being not out, Beresford has established a new record . He also scored 225 not out against the Old Boys, so that it is evident that he has plenty of cricket in him; however he was not a consistent scorer by anymeans, and if he is to come to the fore at