James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1893

C R I C K E TIN 1892. 9 matches that bowlers had still to reckon with him as one of the most dangerous batsmen. W. W. Read was another who made up by brilliant successes for early failures ; his batting during the latter part of the season was quite up to his best form, and it was particularly gratifying to find him again well to the fore . Mention has already been made of Stanley Scott , H. T. Hewett, and L. C. H. Palairet , and A. E. Stoddart is the only one of really the front rank to notice . Hewett, unquestionably the best left -handed batsman of the day, wasnever at a loss against any kind of bowling , and the consistency with which he scored , no matter whatthe opposition , stamped himas one of the most brilliant specimens of the free -hitting type of batsmen. Palairet's upright and attractive style met with well -deserved success , and it does not require a vein of prophecy to predict for him & very prominent place amongthe cricketers of the near future . It is worthy of remark, too, that of the nine players who obtained over a thousand runs during the season , no less than six were amateurs . The only three professionals w h oattained to the distinction of four figures were Shrewsbury, Gunn, and Abel. A n ysupremacy that could be claimed by the amateurs last year was, however, in respect of the run-getting alone . In the matter of bowling the positions were quite reversed . Theresult of the season " as in 1891 " only worse, worsethat is to say for the amateurs . W. C. Hedley and S. M. J. Woods-both Somersetshire men, by the way were the only amateur bowlers successful enough to attain to places in the first twenty. Undersuch circumstances a com- parison would probably be odious . Still the latter would, beyond a doubt, be generally accepted as the more reliable of the two, and it is not altogether palat- able to think that the best amateur bowler in English cricket is bybirth , at least , an Australian. Lockwood's bowling was, beyond a doubt, one of the most noteworthy inci- dents of the season . Thoughalittle too muchinclined to be short at times , hewas consistently successful against all kinds of batsmen, and on all kinds of wickets . Fora bowler of his pace he gets an extraordinary amount of break on, and as he gets up very quickly , andthe ball comes back at a great rate , he is at times as dangerous abowler as it is possible to imagine . In any case he was, on public form, the best bowler of the year. Attewell , in the early part of the season , was for a long time at the head of the averages . In all , nine bowlers took over a hundredwickets . Of these nine J. T. Hearne took the largest number( 163 ), the other eight were Lockwood and Lohmann, who, curiously enough, are each credited with 151 , Attewell 144, Briggs 124 , Peel 121 , Mold 120, Chatterton 104 , and Tyler 101. Tyler's slow bowling in Augustwas an influential factor in the successes of the Somersetshire eleven . Somesensational scoring was recorded during the season in first -class matches as well as in those of minor importance . Thebrilliant performance of H. T. Hewett and L. C. H. Palairet for Somersetshire against Yorkshire at Tauntonin August, established a newrecord in the shape of 346 for the first wicket . Ithelped , too,to produce another best in the total of the innings (592), which was the highest registered during the season in first- class cricket . Perhaps the most remarkable instance of consistent scoring was supplied by the match at Chelmsford , on August 11 and 12, between Free Foresters andA. P. Lucas' Eleven . In the two days 1083 runs were scored with only fifteen wickets down, and what was more extraordinary , though only one innings anda half had been completed , there were six centuries in the match. Indeed, of the five batsmen whowere out on Lucas' side , four made over a hundred. The highest total , though, of the year was the Melbourne Club's 828 against Essendon at Melbourne in February. This innings is the best properly authenticated in Australia up to date, it may be added. Another noteworthy performance in minor cricket was on the last day of August , when Stanley tan Colmanand P. Coles put on 472 for Devonshire Park v. G. W. Morrison's Eleven, at Eastbourne , before a wicket fell .