James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1890

PUBLICSCHOOLCRICKET IN 1889. 1 5 newblood might prove trustworthy ; fears , lest a dearth of bowlers might block thewayto success . Fortunately the hopes wonthe day. One of the trio , Fry. didmorethan could possibly have been expected of him; indeed , he was one of themostconsistent scorers the school has ever had, as his average of 36, with a highest score of 74, demonstrates . Asecond of the trio , the younger Palairet , improved wonderfully in defence , could be depended on for runs, and was a brilliant field anywhere. The captain , though " off colour " for some weeks, played two or three grand innings , notably one of 119 not out against Lincoln Lindum, which was a perfect display of sound defence and resolute hitting . Hisbowling, too, was most useful , though his great success against Malvernled himto try too manytricks in the subsequent matches . H eis nowat Oxford , and, given a little luck, is almost sure to increase his reputation . These three werein a class by themselves , but most of the others could get runs , and the record of the season does not do justice to the merits of the team. Twoof the drawngames were moral victories , and in two of the defeats the balance against themwasvery slight . Marshall and Bowstead were the best of the newhands, andthe former ought to be really good this year. Horton played extremely well against Malvern , but otherwise was rather a failure with the bat , his fielding at mid-off , however, was almost perfect . To sum them up, we should say they werea good level lot , with plenty of batting power, but rather short of bowling, andw edoubt if the most wasalways madeof what there was. They were far too strong for Malvern , and would probably have scored a comparatively easy victory at Uppingham ; but the most noteworthy performance of the year was thehouranda half's stand by R. Palairet and Fry, on a difficult wicket , against Spofforth's bowling . Seven of the team are still at Repton, a not unmixed advantage by the way, and, though a large measure of success maybe hoped for, w emustrememberthat the two best bowlers are gone, and the promise in this line is not great , so success will not be attained without the most strenuous efforts. Rossall started the season with a captain and one other old choice only , and didnot expect the team to be very strong . The results of the summer's play must therefore have been gratifying to their supporters , as the two rival schools , Malvern and Loretto , were defeated . Thefight in either case was a close one ; still , the matches were won, and that , after all , is the great thing . Three other victories were gained during the term , and the contest between success and failure ultimately resulted in adrawnbattle . The most striking characteristic of the year's cricket wasthe success of the bowlers andthe com- parative failure of the batsmen. Didw enotrememberthat the samefact has been noticeable in the Rossall statistics of previous years , we should at once jump to the conclusion that a second P. H. Morton had been discovered . Whateverm a ybe Marriott's future , it cannot be denied that he bowled wonder- fully well last summeron manyoccasions , and against Loretto his ten wickets ✓cost69 runs only. Goodwinstands first in both lists , but he did so little bowling that it wouldbeunfair to compare himwith Marriott in this branch of the game. Luckilyfor Rossall G o o d w i nw a sat his best in the school matches; at Malvern he practically wonthe gameby scoring 72 and 15, while in the Loretto second innings hewasput on to bowl, more or less as a last resource , we believe , and took 5 wickets for 7 runs ! Of the rest we do not knowmuch, nor can we offer anyreliable hint as to the probabilities of this year, and we refuse to take a leap inthed a r k. W h e nspeaking of the prospects of Rugbyin the last numberof the Annual, w e little thought that Dixon and Rutter would again be found in the school ranks, andw efelt that Nicholls wouldhavea hardtask before h i m. H o whard his task would have been wecan nowrealize , for , even with Dixon andRutter , the Rugbyeleven of last year was far from successful . The best performance of the year wasin a scratch match against a mixed eleven of past and present Harrovians , when. with Dixonaway, the Rugbeians secured a creditablo draw, their opponents being anundeniably strong side . In this matchNicholls put all his previous performances in the shade by knocking up a brilliant 95, while