James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1892

2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' ANNUAL. C H A P T E R II. C R I C K E TIN 1891. B YI N C O G, FORTUNATELYin 1891 there was no difficulty in awarding the first place in county cricket . Fortunately because the most ingenious arrangement or de- rangement of figures could produce no other result than an immeasurable preponderance in favour of Surrey . Actually leader in 1887 and 1888 , bracketed equal with Lancashire in 1889 , first by universal consent in 1890 , Surrey was indisputably at the head of the list in 1891. "About that there could be no possible , probable shadow of doubt, no possible doubt whatever." U pto the middle of August, indeed, it looked as if they were going to have a record altogether without aprecedent in the history of county cricket . Eleven matches in succession , all won, and in most cases by large majorities , it was quite within the range of possibility that the Surrey eleven would be able to go through the season not only without a defeat but free even from the disappointment of one drawngame. The proverbial uncertainty of the game, however, had to be reckoned with . The unexpected is always happening , it is said , and the unex- pected in this instance proved to be Somersetshire . Only just promoted to the rank of first -class cricket it was the good fortune of Somersetshire to defeat the eleven which had beaten the counties one after the other all along the line . Tothe credit of Somersetshire , too, be it said that the victory , as the gamewent, was the result of excellent all -round cricket , a win, fair and square , and without anyextraneous influence to decide the result . Curiously enough, in their very next match the Surrey eleven had also to go d o w nbeforeMiddlesexat Lord's, but there w a sin this case someextenuation for a reverse , which was, in a great measure, due to their having all the worst of the luck . August has of late years , as a rule , been productive of disasters for the Surrey men, and one week, as it happened, was sufficient to destroy thehopesbased on a long sequence of brilliant success . Still , Surrey's record wasonewhichhas hardly been eclipsed even if it has been equalled of late years . Withthe one exception of a draw with Sussex at the Oval, in which they had all the best of the game, Mr. Shuter and his m e nhad the satisfaction of a victorious marchin county cricket . As it was, out of sixteen matches thirteen were won. Their luck, it is true , was quite out of the common, so muchso as to have passed almost into a proverb . Whetherhe called or whether he spun the coin , the result was the same : Mr. Shuter could do no wrong. Fortune in the toss was distinctly on the side of the big battalions , until at last sceptical people began to reflect whether the Surrey captain had not been able to invent a system that was positively infallible . In sixteen matches, it deserves to be placed on record , that Surrey were successful in the toss no less than twelve times . N oone can overestimate the advantage of such continuous good fortune . Still it m a ybe urged, as a not insignificant fact , that on two of the four occasions onwhichSurrey was beaten they had not the choice of innings . The exceptional ability of the Surrey eleven as an all -round side would, however, stand the test of the most skilful analysis . Judge themby any standard the verdict would be the same. Whileother county elevens havebeen losing their hold on the public it is not too muchto say that they stand out in bold relief as the mostpopular cricket combination of the day. Noris it difficult to find the There is nothing wearisome about their play either when they are at r e a s o n.