James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1892

L O R DH A W K E ' ST E A MIN A M E R I C A. 2 5 Still the writer will at once say that not only (in his opinion ) was the Phila- delphian eleven vastly superior to any other encountered , but that there wasvery little to choose between them and our representatives . Wewere , of course , at somedisadvantage owing to the conditions of climate and temperature , whilst thepace of the ground bothered us not a little . Yet even if this is taken into consideration , the fact remains that we were fairly anddecisively beaten in the first encounter , and that, too, through no fault of the fielding , which was as good as could possibly be wished . A bowler like Nepean would , I fancy , have proved very deadly to the Philadelphian batsmen, but after a good start had beenmade, they played Woodswith an amountof confidence and ease which was all the more extraordinary from the fact that throughout the rest of the tour he w a svirtually never collared . In Patterson the Philadelphians possess un- doubtedly the finest batsman and best all -round cricketer in the States , one, too , w h o, with a little experience of first -class professional bowling , would take a high place even amongst England's greatest batsmen. These, with Bohlen, R. D. Brown, Scott , and Crawfurd Coates , who are all sterling good batsmen, to assist , it is evident make a side that want a deal of getting rid of, and if only their out-play were equal to the skill they show with the bat, they would give a goodgameto almost any amateur side that could be got together . In the second match, though, fortunately for us, we were able to turn the tables . The wicket, I a mconvinced , was suffering from an overdose of the watering -pot, and with this and a poor light to help him the Cambridge fast bowler fairly " rattled " the Yanks. Withhonours thus easy , there would have been intense excitement over a third game, but the match could not conveniently be arranged , and so with the warmest feelings of gratitude for the hospitality we had met and the most pleasant recollections possible of our week's sojourn there we left the Americanhomeof cricket . I have dwelt at some length upon our doings in Philadelphia because that city is almost the only one in the States where the gamehas really taken a firm hold, and where even baseball itself has to take a second place . That cricket will continue to improve and flourish there is certain , a n dif thevisit of L o r dH a w k e ' st e a mh a sor willh a v ein the futuretendedto create there a more widely -spread interest in our great English pastime , no one will more greatly rejoice therein than each memberof our party. But what shall I say of the other matches ? That they were each and all thoroughly enjoyable from a social point of view goes without saying : that they were pro- ductive of really good cricket it would be absurd to pretend . As I mentioned above , native cricket is at present of by no means a high class , and though at Boston we mettwo good bowlers in Wrightand Chambers, at Chicago a capital all -round player in Dr. Ogden, at Toronto a more than useful batsmanin Boyd, andat Ottawaadashing cricketer in Bristow , the form as awhole wasbutmediocre . It is noteworthy , moreover, that nearly all of the above-mentioned players learnt their cricket in the old country . It must not be imagined , though, that the game is notprospering at the towns I have named, or that it is in any danger of coming to anuntimely death . Withso manygood and keen sportsmen as there are on the big continent such a contingency is almost impossible , and yet for the pre- sent-nay, for some good few years to come-our Americancousins must fain admit that , whatever their superiority in all else , on the cricket field they have yet to learn fromus. It wouldbe ungracious to conclude these few lines without a word of thanks and praise to our captain . The trouble he took to arrange matters satisfactorily for all (no easy thing either , with eleven exacting and luxuriously -inclined indi- viduals to consider ) was enormous. Still he mayrest assured that it was not under-estimated , and that when next he takes another cricket trip to the States he and his confrères will meet with even more hearty a welcome, if such be possible , than was accorded the Englishmen in the autumnof 1891 . The following were the membersof the team : -LordHawke(captain ), Lord Throwley, Hon. H. Milles , H. T. Hewett, S. M. J. Woods, K. J. Key, G. W . Ricketts , C. W. Wright , C. Wreford -Brown, K. McAlpine , J. H. Hornsby, G. W.Hillyard . 2 3