James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1890

LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' ANNUAL C H A P T E R II. C R I C K E T I N 1 8 8 9. B YI N C O G. THE remarkable performances of the Nottinghamshire eleven , up to the end of July, formed the principal theme for discussion amongcricketers throughout the summer. Commencingwith a decisive victory over Sussex at Nottingham they kept the public interest at fever heat for a time by win after win, and, indeed , their record up to the middle of July was one of continuous success , altogether without a parallel , we should fancy, in the history of the game. Surrey , w h o h a dshownsuch excellent all-roundcricket in 1888, as well as Lancashire, w h o were quite in the forefront the previous year , were both beaten by unmistakable majorities , and at one time Notts could claim anunprecedented feat , having w o n all its first six matches by a single innings . U pto this time there did not appear to be the smallest chance that it wouldfind a rival or rivals to dispute its claim to the premier position , a preferable term, in our opinion , to that which is often given and not altogether aptly in some cases-the championship . The wet wickets of August, however, had a very detrimental effect on some of the principal members of the Notts county eleven , and muchof the gilt of their early success was removed by the friction of later failures . The first defeat in the August Bank Holiday match at the Oval, seemed to demoralize the team to a certain extent , andthere was in the subsequent engagements a noticeable lack of the mutualconfidence whichh a dcontributed so m u c hto the succession of victories in June and July. The eleven , who had proved irresistible so long as things were going fairly well for them, whentried more severely under influences not so favourable , were found wanting. The cricket lacked the certainty and solidarity , if we may use such an expression , which was such a conspicuous feature whenthe county was, to use a commonphrase, in luck, and the season , which hadbegun in such glorious style , ended ingloriously with a defeat . Still , the comparatively disappointing show of August to the contrary not- withstanding , the record of the Nottinghamshire eleven was, on the whole, one reflecting the greatest credit on the members of the team, one and all. For nearly two-thirds of the season , Gunn, Barnes, and Shrewsbury continued to score largely with unfailing regularity , in fact , like the king , neither of the great trio of batsmen could by any chance do wrong. Gunn's success met with no break, and his masterly cricket was as conspicuous at the end as it had been at the commencementof the season . The same thing could not be said either ofBarnes or Shrewsbury, and the former, in August, was a mere shadow of his former self . His failure , it is needless to say, had a very prejudicial effect on the team generally , and the batting , which hadbeen so consistently good, lost most of the reliance it hadpreviously presented . Thewet wickets had the effect , of course , of putting first and second -rate batsmen very muchon the same level , and we are quite prepared to admit that had the grounds continued to be fairly favourable for run-getting to the last , there would have been, in all probability , no one to question the proper candidate for the premiership . As it was, under the system onwhich the positions of the various counties have been determined duringthe last twoor three years , Notts was bracketed first equal with Lancashire and Surrey . A principle , of course , if it is to be of any use at all , must be accepted without qualification , and to be consistent there is no other alternative than to admit , allowing that each of the three counties named were fairly