James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1893

6 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. N o one, looking at the quality of the material at the disposal of the execu tive of the KentClub, could fail to be disappointed at the poor showmadeby the county last summer. All told , Kent could place an eleven in the field capable , at all events , of holding its ownin the matter. of run-getting . But the disadvantages of an eleven dependent to any great extent on amateurs re- ceived practical illustration in Kent's case . There was a general uncertainty about the constitution of the team which could not fail to have a prejudicial effect . G. G. Hearne was apparently shunted a little too precipitately ; at least , whenhe reappeared in the eleven late in the season , his batting was of the greatest value to the side . The batting , which has always been Kent's chief strength , was in this case one of its weakpoints . Unfortunately , professional duties prevented W. H. Patterson's presence in the eleven till August, and then he was powerless to compensate for other failures . Alec Hearne's batting , though, was uniformly good, and his consistent scoring was one of the most noteworthy incidents of the year . In some respects , it must be owned, Kent w a s sadly out of luck. N o one could have foreseen that F. Marchanta n d C. J. M. Fox, two of the most reliable batsmen of late years , would have both beenhopelessly out of form as they were last season ; so muchso, indeed , as to justify their exclusion in a few of the later fixtures . The failure of two such experienced batsmen could hardly be met by the introduction of any untried men. Kent had not a few young players of more than ordinary promise . Of these perhaps the most prominent were W. L. Knowles , of the Plaistow C.С. , J. Le Fleming , the old Cantab , and H. C. Stewart , of the Blackheath Club -any one ofw h o mwould be sure to render a good account of himself against the best bowlers if he had an opportunity of getting used to first -class cricket . And yet it was not only the batting of Kent that was susceptible of improvement. O nthe contrary , the out -cricket was, if anything , less reliable . Martin , who haddone a good deal of bowling with the English team in South Africa during the winter , was apparently suffering from an excess of cricket . In any case , except in a few notable instances , he certainly did not make such use of the ball , andhis bowling lacked the devil it once possessed . Thesame remarks would apply , in some measure ,to Walter Wright . Always a good length , he was not so difficult to play , and did not require such careful watching. In only one respect did Kent's out-cricket produce anything very noteworthy . This was the bowling of Walter Hearne , who showed himself to be possessed of judg- mentas well as precision , and, in fact , proved himself to be such a really good batsmanas to justify the belief that he will take a place in quite the front rank in the very near future . The introduction of J. J. Ferris , the Australian cricketer , on the due com- pletion of the two years ' probation required to establish a residential qualification , didnothavethe immediate effect it was hoped in giving new life to the all- round cricket of the eleven. His introduction to Gloucestershire's eleven was curious enough , as the first ball he received (Lohmann's ) bowled him off his legs - a nominous commencement , and, in a great measure , a forecast of a run of ill -success . His bowling , which it was rightly thought would prove of such assistance to the team , was a considerable disappointment , and it was mostly as abatsman that he showed to advantage . Still , it maybe safely urged that his show last year was anything but anindication of his real form, and there is every reason to believe that his all -round cricket will be of material assistance to the Gloucestershire eleven . As it was, in bowling Gloucestershire was ex- ceptionally weak. Increasing years and weight , have staled to a great extent , the variety of W. G. Grace's bowling , which has not the same terrors , even for inexperienced batsmen , as of old . In addition , he was not able to play on several important occasions , owing to a strain , so that his bowling was lost more than once when it was badly wanted . Generally the out -cricket was not of a very high class , it must be admitted . Woof's left hand apparently has lost a gooddeal of its cunning , or batsmen have got used to his style , which is much the samething . Murch, though effective at times , is hardly the class for a first bowler in a county eleven . Roberts was left out of some of the earlier matches ,