James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1892

1 2 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' ANNUAL. the contrast becomes far more pronounced when schooldays are over , and w e canrecall to mindmanya m a nwho failed to redeem his early promise , simply because he could spare neither the time nor the moneyfor necessary practice , after he had once gone up to the University . This must always be the case , and however deeply friends mayregret that their particular protegés are left behind in the race for distinction , it wouldbe positively idiotic to urge anyfreshman, whose future depends on his place in " the schools ," to attempt to compete with his more privileged rivals in the matter of matches and practice . It would be as bad as urging a m a nwith an allowance of £200 a year to give champagnebreakfasts in order that he might gain a place in the so -called " best set . " All this is so self -evident that it mayseem utterly absurd to mention it here, but w edo so because we wish our remarks to be guarded from misconstruction . N o one likes tobeset downas a fool or a mere partisan , and yet manya man, after an honest endeavour to find out the true merits of the boy cricketers of the year, has been ruthlessly snubbed for having dared to suggest that Jones, of Llananedd, let us say, was a player of infinite promise , because in after life the said Jones has never even wonhis " blue ." And yet the criticism was probably quite correct , and Jones ' non-appearance at Lord's could easily be accounted for if all the facts of the case wereknown. In the following pages praise and blame are awarded, and w e beg our readers to believe that in no case have we been prompted either by partiality or malice , but that our workhas been done with a singleness of purpose , and in the hope that our feeble efforts maycontribute , in some measure at all events , to the welfare of the dear old game. Andnowlet us turn to the various school teams, which, according to our usual custom, we place in alphabetical order. W ehaveheard very good reports of one of the Bedford boys , and from his doings for his county weshould judge Sewell to be a really promising cricketer . Unfortunately , he is an army candidate , so it is not likely that he will have many further opportunities for steady practice . Forhis school he did great things , and it was chiefly due to his fine all -round play that the eleven has such a good record to show. Thethree school matches were wonwith plenty in hand, and in more than one of their other efforts the boys proved themselves a very fair side . In the coming season more than half of last year's team will again represent their school , and, though the services of Sewell will be greatly missed , the improved standard of cricket ought to be maintained . Bradfield , with six old choices , in addition to their captain , might reasonably haveexpected to do well, but it cannot be said these expectations were realized . Seven defeats , including both school matches , makes but a sorry record . It wouldseem that the bowling was very weak, and was not redeemed bysmart- ness in the field . Reiss was the best of the bowlers , but on the Sherborne ground proved quite harmless , and did not get a wicket . Indeed, the side generally were completely outplayed by the Dorsetshire boys, the only one to distinguish him- self being Barnes , and the ten wickets defeat does not unfairly represent the respective merits of the two teams . Apart from the Sherborne matchBarnes wasdisappointing , and was not nearly so successful as in the previous year, but in justice it should be stated that, owing to more important duties , hehad very few opportunities of practice . Smyth, the captain , of whomwe spoke favourably in the 1890 ANNUAL, was one of the golf victims , and did not improve on his earlier performances . Still we should judge him to have been the best bat on the side , his only rival in the matter of runs , Shea , though a brilliant hitter , being rather short of defence . Shea's improvement, however, was most marked, as in one season he jumpedfromthe bottom to the top of the average list , and he is said to haveplayed really good cricket at times . Five of the old eleven are nowat school , and they will have to do their level best if the results of the late school matchesare to bereversed this year. Theaccounts of the Brighton cricket of last year have rather a mournful ring about them, as out of the dozen matches only two were won. Thefailures wereprimarily due to the want of a second bowler . Jupp's slows were as decep- tive as ever, and at times , notably against Dulwich, he was almost unplayable ,