James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1893

P U B L I CS C H O O LCRICKETIN 1892. 1 1 followed by other Malvernians , it m a ybe in the present year, at all events before manyyears have elapsed . Malvern cricket has been steadily improving for some years past, and for the last two seasons the eleven there has been exceptionally strong , and Latham's exploits ought to encourage his old school- fellows to still further effort . A similar result may reasonably be expected at Bath, but our knowledge of things Bathonian is at present very limited , and w e cannot but fear that the loss of the " presiding genius " m a yhave told unfavourably on the cricket spirit of the place . W ehope w e are m i s t a k e n. A few more words of generalities will , perhaps , be allowed , before the more direct object of this article is discussed . The reader mayexclaim , in a more or less contemptuous tone , why surely we might be spared these refer- ences to county and 'Varsity cricket in a paper which professes to deal with the gameas played at our public schools . The contempt m a y be well- founded, the sneer m a ybe deserved , but it cannot be altogether senseless to try and rouse enthusiasm amongthe boys of to-day, by calling their attention to the mighty deeds of those whowere but yesterday , so to speak, in a similar position to themselves . It would be useless , it maybe, to try now to conjure with the, to us, household names of Mitchell , of Green , of Yardley , of Ottaway , perhaps even of Walker or of Harris , but surely no boy lives so entirely in his ownlittle world as to take no interest in the doings of a Woodsor a Palairet , a Jackson or a Fry. He may not knowthat Hornbyand Webbewere once Harrovians , or that Steel learnt the rudiments of cricket at Marlborough ; he maynot know that Hewitt owes much of his success to the training he received at the famous School -on-the-Hill ; but that WebbeandHornby, Steel and Hewitt are still objects of admiration to our schoolboy cricketers is, to our mind, indis- putable . It is well it should be so ; it is well that the rising generation should realise to the full that the honours for which they long so eagerly can never be theirs , unless they are willing to submit to the same self -discipline which has already brought their predecessors to the front . Withregard to discipline , we cannot help feeling , from the reports that havecome to hand, that there is not enough of it, at all events in the lower games, in manyof our schools at the present time. It is ridiculous to expect good fielding in our school elevens , if boys are allowed to be slack and careless in their younger days . It is not that there are no good individual fieldsmen nowadays, they are to be found in almost every team, but what is wanted is general soundness rather than individual brilliancy , and this cannot be had unless constant attention is devoted to the lower games. It is deplorable to hear, year after year, the same tale-a side , full of keenness and energy , beaten simply because some of its membersnever tried to field until they were within hail of the school team. This tale need never be retold if only some energetic individual in each school will makeit his work to conscientiously supervise the gamesamongthe smaller boys . General fielding apart , our account this year is singularly free from censure . Whatever the causes may have been, there is no doubt that there were an unusually large numberof somewhat exceptional performers at our schools last season . Someof them are already at the Universities , and, it need hardly be said , their careers will be watched with intense interest . Others are still at school , and it is to be hoped that another year's experience of school cricket will result in a pronounced advance , and that no one will allow himself , nowthat he has w o nhis spurs , to degenerate through slackness or self -conceit . Prominentamongthose nowat the 'Varsity we should place the two Wyke- hamists , Lewis and Leveson-Gower. Lewis has already madea great namefor himself , and, if reputation and past performances go for anything , ought to be absolutely certain of his " blue." Leveson-Gowerdid not make the improve- ment that had been expected , but he had a most successful season , andhadit not been for a serious illness in the spring , would very possibly have been the champion batsman, as Lewis is unquestionably the champion wicket -keeper , amongthe public -school boys of 1892..