James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1890

1 8 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. the truth of our statement will be only too manifest . Theywere playing on their ownground, against a team whowere disheartened by manydefeats , and yet, though they wonthe toss , and madea good score , they proceeded to throwthe matchawayby bad bowling, and fielding that was even worse . As a rule the bowlingwasvery fair , andthere was plenty of it , but on that unlucky daynone of themwere " on the spot ." Perhaps they had a presentiment of the catch- dropping epidemic that was to follow ! There wasone redeeming feature in the match, and that was Oliver's batting . H ehad been dead out of form all the term, but had the good sense to select the great matchof the year for the display of his real abilities . H e and Street were the only two whoin any w a ydid themselves justice in this inglorious match . Let us nowturn to a pleasanter themeandnotice the good points of the eleven . The bowling, as wehave said , was very fair ; Gifford was perhaps the best , though Street could keep upanend, andthe youngsters , Powell and Gregory, showed considerable promise . Gregory improved wonderfully during the term, and was expected to do great things this year, but he has gone into business , so the expectations will probably never be realized . Street is at Oxford , and maydo well there , but he certainly did not fulfil the promise of '88 . H ebats in nice style , however, and got a good m a n y runs, andso did Blaker, whois a resolute hitter , whenonce set . Gifford , Blaker, Powell, and others will be in this year's team, and, for the sake of their many supporters , we sincerely trust they will not prove a disappointing lot . Thebest eleven since '83 is the verdict which their supporters have passed on the Winchesterteamof last year, andw e see no reasonto cavil at the verdict . Theywere well captained , could play an uphill game with great spirit , had plenty of bowling and six or seven run-getters , while their fielding wasalways good, and against Eton positively remarkable . Possessing such qualities as these , w e can readily believe that the praise which has been bestowed on them was fully deserved . The Eton match brought out all their good qualities in a very high degree. After an innings each the balance against themwasconsiderable , but, instead of losing heart , they piled up a long score at their second attempt , and then, bysome of the best out-cricket ever seen, got rid of their opponents , a strong batting side , for a paltry 64 ! Inthis gameCase surpassed all his previous efforts , and Little played a couple of good innings , but F. Leveson-Gower's 85 wasthe longest and perhaps the best innings of the match. These performances were of great merit, it is true , but we have no doubt that it was the glorious fielding which will cause this match to be remembered for years to come. Against the old Wykamists the boys scored largely -Case , Richmond , and Hill being the chief contributors -but we think that, the Eton matchexcepted , their best performances were against the Butterflies and I Z. In each case they had a strong side against them, but Hill's bowling settled the question , and in the twomatches he took 14 wickets for 8 runs apiece , and the school wontwo brilliant victories . Once, and once only, did the team " cometo grief ," and that in the early part of the season , and then they suffered an overwhelming defeat at the hands of an eleven of Oriel . It would be easy to say a good deal about the individuals of this eleven , though we believe their excellence was collective rather than individual , but we must rest content with remarking that Little seems the most likely to earn agreat namefor himself . H ewas a first -rate wicket -keeper , and will probably get his " blue,” if his hands can stand the work. Boger, Hill, and E. M. Leveson -Gowerwere the crack bowlers , Boger being most reliable , but there were others whocould get wickets , and the only noticeable fault wasa too great sameness of style . However, they got sides out, and cheaply too , as the analyses show us . W ehave incidentally mentioned most of the lead- ing batsmen, but Barker has been omitted , and he was quite as successful as most of those w e have named. Boger is nowcaptain , and he will indeed be lucky if he can commandas good supporters as those who followed his predecessor to victory in 1889 . Thereought notto be any difficulty in arranging the Scotch schools in order of merit , as all the leading teams take part in the contest for the Championship , and the matches are arranged on the American Tournamentsystem, by which