James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

P U B L I CS C H O O LCRICKETIN 1893. 1 3 C H A P T E R III. P U B L I CS C H O O LC R I C K E TIN 1893. B Y THE R E V. A. F. E. F O R M A N. The Season of 1893 will not, we think, be remembered with very kindly feelings by the Cricket Authorities at our various public Schools . Never within our recollection was the task of getting playable wickets so difficult a one, and it was only the copious use of the water cart that made Cricket a game in which boys could take part with any degree of safety . No doubt the long-continued drought did not make itself so unkindly felt everywhere , but complaints about grounds are very general , and about practice wickets almost universal . That it was not a favourable season for the development of the rising talent seems to be the common opinion of our correspondents , and it is an opinion in which we entirely acquiesce . The younger boys were, of course , the greatest sufferers , and w ecannotbut fear that the ill effects will be moreor less evident for someseasons to come. Happy are those Schools whose funds admit of a staff of workers sufficiently large to keep all parts of their playing fields in thoroughly good order . W emust not now pause to consider the possibilities of future years , our task is with the past , and about it there is much to be said . Let us first of all glance hurriedly at a few of the most notable incidents of some of the School contests , the full scores of which appear , for the most part, in other pages of the A n n u a l . The matches at Lord's first claim our attention , and of these the time- honoured struggle between the representatives of Eton and Harrow naturally has theleading place . Somewhatearly in the season information reached us as to the probability of a reversal of the form of the past few years . The prediction was fulfilled to the letter , and everyone must allow that, fielding excepted , the light -blue was indisputably the better team . In some respects the match was wanting in the interest and excitement usually associated with these contests . The weather , no doubt , had something to do with the general feeling of depression , but , whatever excuses we offer , it cannot be denied that the long stand at the beginning of Eton's innings was, from the spectator's point of view , unutterably dull . Still it was this stand which practically won the match, and wehave no right to blame Meeking and Egerton for their patience , indeed they were, with Harrison , the heroes of the day. The second of the matches at Lord's differed entirely from the one we have just been discussing , and we doubt whether any previous contest between Rugby and Marlborough has, from first to last , been so full of interest . There were some long stands on either side , but the batting was never dull , the fielding was up to the mark, and the advantage resting now on one side , now on the other , madeit a delightful game to watch. There were some really good individual performances , Nicholls , for instance , playing , at the critical moment, with all the skill and patience of a veteran . But, perhaps , the palm must be assigned to Mortimer, whose failure to reach the coveted century for the second year in succession was a disappointment to friends and foes alike . The rival captains distinguished themselves greatly , and at one period Rhoades bowled with con- siderable success , but in the end the batsmen held the upper hand, and, not-with- standing Nicholls ' dismissal from the very last ball of the match, we consider that the drawwas as even as drawcanbe. W ecannot dwell on the incidents of the third of the Lord's matches , but , with the remark that its finish was as close and exciting as could be wished , pass to the consideration of some of the other school matches . Chief of these , in public importance at all events , must be reckoned the one between Eton and Winchester .