James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1891

1 2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. value of such tuition can scarcely be over-estimated . Manyof us acquired the rudiments of the game at the teaching of kindly mentors like these , and nobody can deny that all interested in cricket owe a very decided debt of gratitude to those whothus voluntarily give the benefit of their experience and example to young players who have not yet lost the capacity of learning . W ehear at times with muchregret of elevens who have, with that omniscience which is incidental to youth, and extends to other subjects besides athletics , neglected such advice , have practised carelessly , and have eventually utterly spoiled them- selves . Such culpable recklessness needs no comment, andadmits of no excuse . W eneed only reiterate the necessity of school captains impressing upon their subordinates the value of experienced advice , and, if he is a captain worthy of the name, they will listen to him enunciating so obvious a truism . Certainly noneof our young amateurs can complain that his cricket training nowadays is being overlooked . Indeed , from some quarters we hear it said that there is a danger, whatwith professional bowlers and voluntary counsellors , of boys being over-coached . Theresult of this too careful instruction is that one finds a set of mere batting machines , playing forward straight enough, but not watching the ball . Slow and difficult wickets find such exotic batsmen at sea , for, while they are too conscientious to slog , they find the mechanical forward stroke disastrous , and so they are unsuccessful . Considerations like these m a y be valuable as a hint to too rigid coaches , if it be needed , that natural ability should not be fettered with over -accurate maxims, nor genius hampered by too manyrules of thumb. But their chief importance lies in their exemplification of the statement , which we believe to be true , that difficult wickets , while in onew a ythey reduce batsmen to more or less of a level , by putting a premium on recklessness , do yet, among boys, separate the gifted batsmanfrom his fellows . Perhaps , therefore , a long spell of hot weather and dry grounds is , as a test of merit , not altogether an unmitigated boon. The really good cricketer is not simply a fine weather player . N oresumé like this would be complete without some passing allusion to the curious reversal of public form witnessed in the leading public school fixture of the year. Etonhad only one memberof their 1889 eleven left at the beginning of the season , and whenGosling , this veteran , was snatched awaylike the solitary ewe lamb, they were left , captainless , to face a strong lot of Harrovians with eleven boys whohad never played at Lord's . They had just previously escaped a beating byWinchester owing to rain , so everything seemed against them. But the result of their match against Harrowsurprised every one, for they fought so sturdily as to have rather the best of adrawn game. Only MacLarendid anything worthy of notice for Harrow, who disappointed their supporters a good deal ; the luck was not in their favour, and their out-cricket wasrather weakfor an eleven with so good a reputation . Wetweather did its utmost to ruin the match, and prevented any play on the first day, but Eton deserve praise for upsetting , in whatcricket there was, all predictions as to their calibre. In summarizing the general play of the various schools , wecannot find that anyeleven in particular established a conclusive right to the title of champion. N oschool hadan untarnished career of triumph, and manyof the sides which were good on paper failed to some extent whenthey got into the field . Harrow hada strong team, although their most public display was, unfortunately , their least imposing one ; and Winchester , Marlborough, Clifton , and Wellington wereall goodelevens . Eton had only a moderate lot , andwere a great many points weaker than Winchester ; Rugby were too uncertain to be really dangerous, and Charterhouse were poor. Cheltenham's weakness in bowling wasdetrimental to their success , but Sherborne , Shrewsbury, and Repton had very fair seasons . O nthe whole, although there were a few unusually good players about , the standard of school elevens was rather below the average last season . Someof the teams had sadly little to commendthem. It is a mucheasier matter to pick out a few " stars " for special notice . A m o n gthe boybatsmen of recent years A. C. MacLarentakes a very prominent