James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1890

1 6 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. Whitting secured six wickets at a very trifling cost . Leaving this game out of the question , wethink that the Rugbyboys showed at once their worst and their best side at Lord's . Their first innings was a miserable fiasco , but, that over , theteam did well . Dixon's bowling was most effective , and his batting most praiseworthy , the more so as he was very far from well. Whitting played with confidence and success , and Rutter and Warnermadea prolonged stand . The fielding too was most plucky and determined , and they never once lost heart , though deprived of Dixon's bowling in the second innings . W efully believe thebetter side won, still the luck was certainly against the Rugbyboys . Of the eleven Dixonwas indisputably the leading m a n; in bowling he wasfar more destructive than in the previous year, and though his batting figures showa marked decline , we should judge him to have been one of the best school cricketers of the year. Nicholls is entitled to second place in the order of merit , butWhitting and Warnerdid well , and are likely to do better this year. W e rejoice to hear of the appointment of Emmett as permanent professional to the school , andhope that his sterling qualities will restore the prestige of Rugby cricket , and raise the standard to that of the palmydays of good old Diver. A tlast the good time has come,and wecan honestly say that Sherborne had an eleven worthyof its best days. At the beginning of the year wewere told that the material was of great promise , and that the most was madeof it is evident fromthe fact that the teamwon9 of their 11 matches, and did not once suffer defeat . Great credit is due to Painter , the newprofessional , whoseems to have instilled enthusiasm for the gameinto the school generally . Praise must also be given to the school captain for his energy and good judgment, and also to the eleven as a whole for their perseverance in practice . In speaking of a team of this kind we must be careful not to rate them too highly , as their opponents were not always very formidable , and they had the great advantage of playing all their matches on their ownground . Even with this reservation theeleven mustbe pronounced areally good one. Morres and Leigh-Clare were goodschool bowlers , and there were some changes to fall back on ; six or seven of the side proved safe run-getters , and the fielding of the whole lot was clean and sound. Inbatting Jacob and Delmé-Radcliffe stood out far above the rest , and trustworthy authorities assert that they were both very muchabove the average , and that they maybe looked to to do great things in the future . Sherborne's great wantnowis a matchwith some school of their ownsize and character , andw ehope that one will soon be arranged . The Clifton match has been dropped , for a time at all events , and, much though we sympathize with the Shirburnians for not having had the chance of showing their powers against their old rivals , in a year whenthey would probably have scored an easy victory , w esincerely trust the match will never be revived . W eare convinced that it hada demoralising and disheartening influence on Sherborne cricket , and our belief has been strengthened by the fact that the improvement in the school cricket synchronises with the dropping of this match. W emayconclude with the hope that Painter's ardour maynever diminish , and that he mayhave the pleasure of coaching manymore teams as good as the one of 1889 . Notwithstanding the presence of six old choices in the team , the Shrewsbury boys did not give nearly such a good account of themselves as in the previous year . In '88 they escaped defeat , but last season they suffered four reverses , and scored only two victories . Nevertheless from what we have heard , they must not becondemnedas an altogether badside ; several of them could get runs , and, as far as averages go, this eleven would not compare unfavourably with its prede- cessor . Thecaptain must have been a very fair bowler , and the general fielding was, if not brilliant , at all events dependable . Howthe team will fare this year wecannot say, but wedare not predict any great success , as only one of the old handscanbeutilized . Novery good report has reached us of the Tonbridge team of last season . Theaverage scoring was fair ,but the results of the match list were, at best , disappointing , as only two wins can be shown against seven losses . The two drawn gamesmaybe said to cancel , though awin against Lancing would have more