James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1892

CRICKETIN 1891. 3 the wickets or in the field . If you wantevidence that their hearts are in their workyou have only got to see them under Mr. Shuter's leadership when they are thoroughly on their mettle , when a real effort is wanted. There is a certainty , too , for those who go to see them bat, that they will at least witness something that is interesting , that the cricket will be vigorous and full of life . T h e" eternal block" that has madecricket distasteful in somedistricts- it is to be hoped only to the temporary injury of the game-has never been countenanced b ythe Surrey captain . The stonewalling bat has his advantages , and in his place andat the proper time, to a moderate extent , he maybe andis undoubtedly useful. M e nof the stamp of Barlow, Hall , Scotton , A. Bannerman, andDr. Barrett , have , if they have not won many, at least saved many a match . Shrewsbury we have hardly placed in the same category , though he is one of the high priests of the order , because he is such a master of the art of batting , his variety is so infinite that one can only regret , as in the case of Gunn, that his polished style has been chiefly noticeable for reserve force . Whatevermaybe the real merits of the Surrey eleven their methods have at least , it will be admitted , proved successful . If proofs were wanting it would be easy to find themin the universal popularity of the eleven with the cricket public . If they hit, to use the expressive phrase of the rustic admirer of the game, they hit blooming hard, and if it maybe occasionally blooming high they certainly hit , and notonly onebut the majority of them, blooming hard withal . It is, in fact, the freedom, we mayalmost say the abandon of the batting that has given the Surrey eleven such a large and enthusiastic following . That they have been singularly fortunate in the possession of a captain who has never spared himself , w h ohas in his ownperson set a brilliant example of chivalry in cricket , who has played the game in the spirit in which it ou ght always to be played- of true andgenuine sport , whohas never sought or tried to gain the smallest advantage byanybut fair and straightforward merits , whohas always tried his hardest to w i n, evenwhenthere has been evident risk , rather than have the empty satis- faction of a drawngame, is only a proper tribute to Mr. John Shuter's manage- mentof the team. The confidence he has inspired byhis personality has been, in a very great measure, the making of the Surrey eleven of to-day. All round, as w ehave already said , it will bear comparison favourably with the best of its rivals . With batsmen like Abel, Mr. W. W. Read, Maurice Read, Henderson, Lockwood , Lohmann, Mr. Shuter , Mr. Key, Brockwell , Wood, and Sharpe , last of all , but by no means the least reliable at a pinch , there is little , if any, tail . O f its form in the field , too, there could only be one opinion last year- that it was consistently good , very much, in fact , above the average . This maybe safely said of the out-cricket generally . It has been urged during the last two or three years that there has been little bowling . Sharpe and Lohmann, Loh- mannand Sharpe, voila tout , we had almost written two . Granted, and what then ? Forall practical purposes they have been sufficient , and what more can be wanted? As an all -round player Lohmannhas clearly no superior at the present time. As a bowler his resource is boundless . No workis too muchfor him, no trial too severe . The force of his enthusiasm in the field is contagious , andit is not too muchto say that he has been the most important factor in Surrey's proud position of to-day. As a fast bowler Sharpe has not only proved a very great acquisition to the eleven , but his all-round cricket has been of distinct value . In Lockwood, too , the county has a bowler, to judge by his remarkable performances at the finish of last season , of w h o mmuchm a y reasonably be expected in the future . His success in the later matches of 1891 was indeed extraordinary . With an easy delivery he is much faster than he looks , and as he gets very quickly off the pitch and comes back a good deal he bids fair to be of great service . Mindful of past experience Surrey has in reserve several good youngplayers , more than one of w h o mwould be available at the present time to fill any vacancies that might arise in the team. The great want at the present time would appear to be a slow bowler, and we cannot but think thatthe chief aimof the authorities should be the discovery of a left -handed bowler whowould at least give something of a variety to the attack . Atthe