James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1892

8 LILLYWHITE'S CRICKETERS ANNUAL. life . Singularly enough , too , Mr. W. H. Patterson , who has not a superior w h e nthe wickets are difficult , was comparatively unsuccessful . Kenthad, un- deniably , a good batting side with Messrs . Marchant, L. Wilson , Rashleigh , Fox, Patterson , and Alec Hearne as the backbone. Perhaps the best feature of the season after all was Martin's bowling . Though, like every bowler , he was at times a little expensive , on the whole he had a remarkable season . Just under a h u n d r e dwicketsat a cost of a trifle overthirteenrunss h o w sconsistentsteadi- ness . It is a question , however , whether he was not a little overworked . The fears that the severe injury to his thumb in the previous year would affect WalterWright's bowling were to some extent realized . His pitch , 'tis true, was as accurate as ever, but he seemed to have lost a little of the devil in his bowling . Eventhen, though , he was of great service in keeping up the other end to Martin. A s a bowler, Alec Hearne has always proved so effective , particularly in an emergency, that one is inclined to wish he were less useful in other depart- ments. Still , even as first change , his figures were more than creditable . A s a matter of fact he took altogether forty wickets at an average cost of about six- teen runs . Mr. Marchant, whocaptained the team in the early matches , scored consistently , and his hitting was, indeed , one of the the best features of the season . O n eof the worst, perhaps , was a noticeable uncertainty at times in the field . Droppedcatches were the cause of more than one reverse . Theexperience of Somersetshire's earlier matches led to the belief that the executive hadbeen a little over sanguine in seeking promotion into the magic circle of first -class counties . Such opinions were , as it happened, a little too pre- vious . At the commencement of the season the eleven were not in anyw a y representative , and failure was not altogether a surprise . Butwhen the team did get together they proved beyond a doubt their capacity as an all -round side . Theirmemorable victory over Surrey at Tauntonwould have of itself sufficed to justify their elevation into first -class cricket . Still , it was not their only vic- tory-on the contrary , Gloucestershire were beaten twice , Kent and Yorkshire each once, so that their record for a first year was distinctly creditable . As far , too, as one can judge from present appearances the outlook is very hopeful for a timeat all events. Therewasa fear that Mr. S. M. J. W o o d swasreturning to his homein Australia , and it was currently reported that he would take part in the representative matches in the Colonies against Lord Sheffield's team. That he is remaining in Englandwill be good news for outside the limits of Somerset- shire . The loss of so enthusiastic and exceptional an all -round player would be a great blow to English cricket . Evenif it has not a batsmanwhocanbe called strictly first -class , Somersetshire possesses several very likely scorers , of which Messrs . L. C. H. Palairet , Challen , and Hewett are the best specimens . In Mr. Woods, of course , it has a bowler of quite the front rank, and on certain wickets Nichols and Tyler are both sure to be effective . Still the wantof another good bowler is at present a weakness in their out -cricket . This should be supplied , at all events to some extent , in Mr. W. C. Hedley, of the Royal Engineers , if , as it is stated he will , he should be available for next season . A n dwhatof the renaissance of Sussex ? Well, to our mind, there could be nothing more gratifying to the general public . It was not a little strange that , just as a certain section was questioning the old county's right to retain its place among the first -class counties , such a marked advance should have taken place in its all -round cricket . Nor is the explanation difficult to find . Though the batting was weakened by the loss of Quaife , who, having made up his mind to qualify for Warwickshire , was discarded by the Committee , there was a marked improvement in the general tone of the team, which hadits natural effect . The out-cricket , more particularly the fielding , which had been responsible for some, at all events , of the ill -success which had attended the county of recent years , instead of being defective , became generally reliable , and the result of the change wasa marked increase of confidence in the side generally . In batting , Sussex has mostly , even in its worst days , been able to make a fairly good show . And though last year Mr. Newhamwas not by any means in his best form the eleven provedthemselves , on the whole, to be fair run-getters . Bean's consistent success