James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1892

1 6 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. so muchin favour of the bowlers , that the boys never had a chance of showing their powers until they appeared at Lord's , and then , it must be allowed , they didwell . After losing five of their first six matches , manypeople began to doubt their strength , but then came three good victories , and wethink wemaysafely say that they were at least up to the average in batting power. Bosworth -Smith, adiminutive player , heads the averages , and proved the mainstay of the side , and as he is still at Harrow maybe expected to be very good this year . Next to himon the list comes Pope , a cool and determined , though somewhat lucky , bat, and then follow a quartette of very dangerous men-Bevington, the hero of Lord's , Barlow , Anderson , and Paine . If the batsmen suffered from the heavy ground, the bowlers seem to have profited , and Pope's analysis , considering the calibre of his opponents , is wonderfully good . Anderson , though not so deadly nor so inexpensive as his captain , hada great deal of work to do and did it well. R o m eandPaine were the only others who were often requisitioned , and Rome's deceptive delivery was at times fatal even to the best batsmen. W eexpect to heargreat things of him this year, as he showed exceptional promise with bat as well as ball . The great disappointment of the year wasRudd, whowasnot suited by the wetwickets , and did little or nothing, and was, if w e remember right , left out of the team at Lord's . In fielding the boys were quite up to the mark, indeed the season was characterized by a succession of the most brilliant catches , Bevington being the special star . Pope and Bevington are now in residence at Cambridge , and we shall be surprised and disappointed if they do not enhance their school reputations bysomedoughty deeds atFenners . Ander- son unfortunately is not at either University , but , wherever he maybe, he ought not to be lost sight of, as he was certainly one of the best all -round menonthe side . This year Harrow are expected to do well , as at least five of the old choices are available , and there is an abundant supply of promising material from which to pick the recruits . W eare m re or less in the dark as to the merits of the Lancing boys, as w e haveheard very little about them, and our remarks, being founded on somewhat uncertain data, must be taken for what they are worth. The successes of the yearwereconfined to a couple of victories , and of the remaining matches four were lost , and one , that against Brighton College , drawn. Tonbridge again proved too good for them, and so far as we can judge , the team was not a dangerous one, though far more successful scorers than their immediate predecessors . The pick of the team were Hallward , a pretty bat and excellent field , E. Slocock , a consistent scorer and fair wicket -keeper , and Rix, whose lobs proved of immense service to the side . Rix and Slocock are still at school and, with two or three of their old associates to help them , should make a fair show this year . Greatthings had been expected of the Malvern boys before the season began. Theteam contained nine old choices , some of w h o mhad shownreally good form in the previous summer holidays , while they were lucky enough to have a captain whohadalready led them for two seasons . With such undeniable advantages it is no cause for wonderthat enthusiastic Malvernianslookedforwardto last summerwith considerable confidence . Thelonged -for event was a victory over Repton. Often and often during the last twelve years the Malvern boys haddone so well in their earlier matches that the hopes of their supporters hadrisen high, only to be dashed to the ground by a hopeless failure in the Repton match, and it really seemed as if some evil genius was present whenever they were called upon to meet their Derbyshire rivals . One thing is abundantly certain , they seldom were seen at their best in this match, and as a rule were badly beaten. Hencethe victory over Repton, the first since 1878, was the more welcome, and its effect was so marked that the team were twice as good after as they were before the match. W ehave spoken thus fully of this game, because webelieve it is regarded as the event of the Malvern season , and not because it was in itself themoststriking victory of the year. Against M.C.C. the eleven were seen at their very best , their score of 350 for 3 wickets , with Pickett , Wootton, and others opposed to them, being little short of phenomenal , and, judged on this form , they were far and away the best team the School has ever had. The three