James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

1 2 LILLYWHITE'SC R I C K E T E R S' A N N U A L. up his scientific cricket , during the latter part of the summerhe was as muchin evidence as ever, and in the end he was in the first rank with an average of nearly 41 for 39 completed innings . In front of him were Gunn, Mr. A. E. Stoddart , and Mr. F. S. Jackson, in the order named. During the greater part o ftheseasonit w a sa close race b e t w e e nG u n na n dMr. Stoddartfor the h o n o u r of the first place . The finish , too , was as exciting ; in fact , Gunnonly wonon sufferance by a small fractional advantage . In different styles the two batsmen played admirable cricket throughout the summer. Gunn's careful style was of course hardly so attractive as the more lively methods of Mr. Stoddart , whose batting , to use a phrase of Andrew Lang, applied some few years ago to a batsman of the punishing order , the Hon. E. Lyttleton ,to wit, was essentially the " champagne of cricket ." Mr. W. G. Grace particularly in the representative matches and against the Austrailians , shewed most of the skill and judgement which has kept him for a quarter of a century and more without a peer among batsmen. One of the most notable advances of the year was that of the Cambridge Captain , Mr. F. S. Jackson . Possessed of any amount of pluck and nerve, he proved himself throughout the season to be thoroughly safe for runs against every kind of bowling . Anewreputation in first -class cricket was made by the Winchester Captain , Mr. J. R. Mason. With every advantage in height and power , on the excellent form he showed for Kent in the later matches , he shouldm a k ehis m a r k. Considering how the pitches favoured the batsmen in all parts of the country during the season , the bowlers might well have fared muchworse than they did. In some cases the figures were better than could reasonably have been expected . It wasmost unfortunate for Walter Hearne, as well as for Kent, that he should have broken down about the middle of the summer, just whenhe was apparently inhis very best form. Still his average for more than 300 overs was good enough toprove of what he would have been capable had he kept sound to the finish . Thegenerally hard wickets told with fatal effect on some of the fast bowlers . Lockwoodwas incapacitated in Surrey's later matches, and Mr. S. M. J. Woods, as well as Shacklock , were nothing like so dangerous as of old. Richardson , on the other hand, more than fulfilled his promise of 1892, in fact , on public form he was, if not quite the best , at all events very nearly the best fast bowler of the year . Mold would have run him close , no doubt in public estimation , and the latter was particularly successful for Lancashire throughout . Taking into account the general excellence of the wickets , the slow bowlers cameout very creditably . Peel and Wainwright did a lot of work, and with the most satisfactory results for Yorkshire . Briggs too, shewed little or no falling off . Perhaps the most noticable performance though after all was that of J. T. Hearne, whonowthat Lohmannis out of active cricket , it is to be hoped only for the time, really is the hardest worked bowler of the day. Altogether Hearne deliver- ed upwards of seventeen hundred overs , a number far in excess of any of the other bowlers , and his record of 212 wickets at an average cost of less than 16 and a quarter runs was worthy of the highest praise , taking into account the wicketso n w h i c h eh a dto bowlas a rule. The chief disappointment of the older bowlers was W m. Attewell who seemedto havelost a gooddeal of his sting . A tthe sametime it mustbe owned that he had to bear the brunt of the bowling for Notts . without any great or con- sistant support . On the other hand, several bowlers added considerably to their reputations in 1893. Hirst , the young Yorkshireman, who was discarded after a short trial in 1892, won a regular place in the county eleven by the consistant success of his fast bowling . Brockwell , of Surrey , too , has developed into one of the most useful bowlers of the day. Anewreputation wasmadeby Mr. C. J. Kortright , of Essex, whose very fast delivery was attended with remarkable results on more thanone important occasion . Another interesting incident in the year's cricket was the continuous success of the Sussex " lob " bowler Humphreys. The utter in- ability of so manyof the leading batsman to play his under -hand slows might well point a moral to the managers of other elevens in urgent need of greater variety in their bowling . red shut