James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

1 6 LILLYWHITE'SCRICKETERS' A N N U A L. so polished as Champain's . Of the rest Stanley , Quinton, and Manners were the most successful , though the majority were likely to score , and in this depart- mentof the gamethe team was quite upt othe average . Bowling and fielding were, it must be allowed , weak spots . Quinton was no longer the Quinton of 1890 and 1891, and the only real bowler on the side was Stratton , who was especially destructive in the later matches . Coates did well at Lords , but was not generally effective , and on the fast wickets Champainwas easy . W ehave said that the fielding was a weak spot , but exception should be made in favour of Bignell , Manners, and above all Stratton . Wicket-keepers had a hard task last season , and Edmondsonwas one of those who suffered not a little from the fiery wickets . Against Clifton (the wicket was slow ) he shewed up well , and it maybe he is more competent than his doings led people to suppose . H o wmanyof the above will support Champain this year we do not know, so, avoiding rash specula- tions , we will simply wish Champain a larger measure of good fortune than has been Quinton's portion during the last two seasons . From Cheltenham to Clifton is an easy transition . If we were to judge of the respective merits of the two teams from the play in their unfinished match we should be compelled to put the younger school in the lower position . Judged, however, by general performances Clifton had the better side , even though the success of the season was so largely due to three individuals . But Grace, Towns- end, and Curtis are a rare good trio , a trio that any school would have found it hard to match. Grace and Townsend are more or less public property , and no cricketer can have forgotten the sensation which young Townsendcaused by his success against Surrey. Hewas, there can be little doubt, the best boy bowler of the year, and those who have faced him tell us that under certain conditions of ground he is almost unplayable . He and Grace practically did all the bowling last year, and for the school Grace was no less effective than his partner . In batting Grace made a tremendous advance , and we sincerely trust that , if only for his father's sake , his play at Cambridge will be of such quality as to win him a place in the 'Varsity team. Townsend has at least one season more at school , as has Curtis , and it will indeed be strange if the Clifton eleven is not again formidable . Curtis , the present captain , is a fine boy bat, and with another year's coaching ought to be extremely good. Of the destinations of the others w ehave heard nothing , but this really matters little , as we should not judge that any one of them is , at present , of sufficient calibre to make his mark at either of the Universities. The fame of the two Dulwich bowlers spread far and wide, and during the holidays we were more than once asked whether Edwards and Jordan were bound for either of the Universities . This wasa question w ecould not thenanswer. W en o wlearn that Jordan is at Oxford, but whathas becomeof Edwardsw e cannot say. There can be no question that they were a very good pair of bowlers. Almostall the workof the season fell to their lot , andtheir efforts were largely instrumental in winning victories for the school . Wherever Edwards maybe he ought to be looked after , as his analysis is quite out of the common. So too was Jordan's , and we shall be much interested to see how he fares at Oxford. Apart from these two bowlers there was nothing very striking in the eleven , though Douglas was a thoroughly useful batsman, and a painstaking and capable captain . Heworked hard to improve the lower games , and has left some good material behind him, so, even without the two crack bowlers , Abbott ought to be able to get together a very respectable side . Whetherthey will turn the tables onTonbridge remains to be seen, but, from all accounts , they ought to have a fair chance of repeating their victories over Brighton and St Pauls, and perhaps overB e d f o r d. Manyyears have passed since the Eton boys scored so manytriumphs in the same summer. To win the " Ladies " and the two school matches is a piece of