James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

PUBLICS C H O O LCRICKETIN 1893. 1 5 presence of the 2 Beasleys and others may have very salutary results this year . W ehave heard good accounts of the fast left -hand bowler , Warner, and, if he and the Beasleys continue to improve , next year's Annual mayhave to tell of a season of unexampled success . Avery bitter cry goes up from the supporters of cricket at Bradfield . They tell us that it is absolutely impossible to teach the boys to play the gameso long as the ground continues in its present condition . Clearly , if the practice wickets are such as they are pictured , it is hopeless to expect to train up cricketers , or to winmatches except by some extraordinary good luck. Must this state of things go on ? Let us hope the authorities will bestir themselves , and give the cricketers a chance . It would be obviously unfair to the boys themselves to make any lengthened criticism on their doings last summer, and we purposely refrain . But this we will say that there was no lack of promising material from which to construct manya respectable batsman, that there wasa keen, energetic Captain , a competent wicket -keeper , and a bowler of more than common, skill , and that with ordinary luck they would have wonplenty of matches . As it was a solitary victory has to be placed against manya defeat , and, whatever it might have been, the Bradfield eleven , as it was, must be classed as one of the poorest of the school teams of the y e a r. Cricket at the Sussex schools was not of a very high class last year, and though Brighton turned out a better team than Lancing , it was immeasurably below the standard of past years . Belcher and Jacques were the only ones of the 1892 eleven still at school , and they were not "class enough" to inspire the others withm u c hconfidence . Hencein winning4 of their matches we consider that they did as well as could be expected , and they had the merit of being safe and smart in the field . Better things maybe looked for this year if only some bowlers can be found. Ames, who is easily at the head of the batting averages , is believed to have great natural abilities ,which another season of careful coaching ought to develop materially . Crabtree deserves w a r mcongratulations on the result of the past season. H ewas an excellent school captain in every w a y, and under his guidance the Carthusians had considerable success . The two school matches have already passed under notice , and there is no need to dwell at length on the other games. In 1891 and92 Charterhouse cricket had been noticeable chiefly for the wonderful performances of G. O. Smith. Last year no one stood out much above his fellows , and perhaps the most satisfactory feature was the conspicious success of some of the Colts , two of whomwere at the head of the batting averages . The next two on the list , Bray and Crabtree , are now at Cambridge , and it would be very gratifying to find Bray following his father's example by securing aplace in the Light Blue team. As in batting it was general usefulness rather than indivi- dual excellence that led to victory , so with the bowlers , and it is hard to say which of three or four did most for the side . There can, however, be no question that Anderton has made the greatest namefor himself , some of his preformances , especially at the beginning of the season , being quite remarkable . More than a moiety of the players are still at school , so there need be no anxiety about the future. T h e Cheltenhameleven of 1893 did not suffer so m a n yreverses as its imme- diate predecessor , though it madehistory repeat itself by winning once only out of ten attempts . The loss of the Marlborough match mayfairly be forgiven , as withBignell absent and Quinton seedy , the Cheltonfans could not be expected to showin their true light . Luck was against t h e min the Clifton matchalso , as the weather robbed them of almost certain victory . But it cannot have been luck only which caused the year's meagre record . In batting the team would pass muster. Goodjudges give a most favourable verdict on young Champain, this year's captain , and Bignell's batting was almost as effective , though perhaps not