James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1893

PUBLICS C H O O LC R I C K E TIN 1892. 1 7 school matches with comparative ease , and once only really came to grief ; Christopherson , for the B.B.s , disposing of seven of themfor twenty-four runs. Theyhadto lower their colours to the M.C.C. , Hamilton's batting , andthe pro . bowling , proving rather too good , but Bannon's innings of 42 not out in this gamewas, perhaps , the best individual performance of the season . Inpoint of average Bannonstands second , the pride of place being occupied by the hard hitter W o o d, nowat Sandhurst , whowas also one of the regular bowlers of the team, andmustbe rated as a very useful cricketer . Baiss , of w h o mmuchhad been expected , did not do himself justice with the bat, but he worked hard for his side , and set an excellent example , while his wicket -keeping was very much above the average . H eis nowat Oxford, and will prove a good college cricketer , if nothing more. Theprospects for this summerare distinctly promising . Thoughbeaten byTonbridge it would seem that the Dulwich eleven deserve aplace in the list of " fortunates ," for this was their only loss in school matches , andthe balance is undoubtedly in their favour. Theydid well in their other engagements too, thanks to the possession of a couple of capital bowlers , who wentthrough the season without once having an innings of 200 scored against them. Thebatting of the teamwas not marked by any striking individual ex- cellence , but it wasfairly sound throughout , and four or five of the side were consistent scorers . Douglas will have the bulk of the old eleven to help him, and they ought to do well again , great things being predicted for the youngster Jackson, whose early appearances made a very favourable impression on the schoolauthorities. Bedford play four school matches , the wins and losses in which were equally divided. W eknowso little of the quality of three of their four opponents that w ecanbut guess of the real form of this school team. Suffice it to say that they werebadly beaten by the Dulwich boys , and we should judge that their cricket has not as yet reached a very high standard . It is hoped that the presence of the old Surrey crack , R. Humphrey, will do a great deal of good, and on the face of it there seems no reason why, from their large number, a really good teamshouldnot bechosen. It wouldbe pleasant to hearthat the school wasas famous for cricket as it is at football . Of last year's eleven Kendall wasfacile princeps , being at the head of batting and bowling averages alike , but very probably weshall not hear muchmoreof him, as he has already joined the ranks o fbusinessm e n. In their ordinary matches the Brighton boys , under the leadership of Collins , madea muchbetter show than in '91 , running such strong teams as the South Saxons , M.C.C. , and Authentics as close as 12, 9, and 8 runs respectively . Against Dulwich they collapsed unaccountably , and in the Tonbridge match threw awayany chance of success by ridiculously bad judgment. However, they beat Lancing easily , and wona couple of other games, so the season cannot be pronounced an entire failure . Without question they ought to have done better, and we fear that for the failure their captain was, in a measure, respon- sible . Hewas keen enough . but lacked judgment in the management of his men, whilehis personal wantof success at the outset hada dispiriting effect on his colleagues . Towardsthe end of term he played a succession of fine innings , and is as easily at the head of the batting , as his successor in the captaincy , C. G. Smith, is of the bowling averages . Collins is no longer in England, so it is idle to speculate as to what he mighthave done in the larger world of cricket , but it appears he has left a serviceable lot behind, who ought to worthily uphold Brighton's reputation . Great efforts are being made to improve the cricket at Radley , but, as long as thepopularity of rowing is so marked, the numberof cricketers must be very limited , andthe wonderis that the gameflourishes at all . But that it does so is undeniable , and, all things considered , Radley has had her fair share of useful m e n. Last season there were two or three whomight be placed in the " useful " class, while the present captain , Webb, is worthy of somewhat higher praise , a n dought to do very well this year. There is also every prospect of a capable side,provided that the newblood reach the expected standard , andCurtis can 3