James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

P U B L I CS C H O O LCRICKETIN 1893. 2 1 the first place , thanks to the drought , the net practice was almost useless , then Painter was oftentaken awayby County engagements , and finally the one to whom all were looking as the hero of future triumphs was not available . Andso it was that, with little or no helpful practice the eleven had to take the field without its proper captain . It is true that Powys did all that boy could in his unexpected position , but Joy's experience , not to mention his bowling , would probably have turned the scale in more than one of the five defeats , and we think Shirburnians deserve great commiseration . But it is no use to speak of the " might have beens," what we have to do is to deal with actual facts . These facts tell us that Stephens was far in advance of all his colleagues as a batsman. At first he was rather out of luck, but when once in formhe scored prodigiously , for instance in three consecutive innings he compiled no less than 322 runs ! Dixonand Powys must be ranked next , though Laurie would very possibly have wonsecond -place had fortune not declared so unkindly against him. Perhaps the most satisfactory feature of the season was the dis- covery of the two bowlers , Holberton and Radford, whose averages in such a run-getting year , are morethan respectable , while it is also pleasing to hear that the general fielding was good, and that Prichard earned special distinction for his brilliant efforts " in the Country." No more must now be said , but it cannot be out of place to conclude with the hope that , though Painter has departed , 1894 maysee a still further improvement in the cricket of the School . The loss of Raikes and Burrough , who for manyyears had been the stay of Shrewsbury cricket , could not but be severely felt , and we are of opinion that the results of the past season must be regarded as eminently satisfactory . Asa bat Alexander madegiant strides , and in aggregate of runs , no less than in average , surpassed any Salopian of late years . Rose must also have " come on" very much, and he and Alexander combined , scored far more runs than the other nine men. Thebowling figures are fair , the two above namedwith Cramer-Roberts and Salt , doing most of the execution . Whetherthe team, as a whole, deserves to rank high in point of merit we are rather doubtful , as they would almost certainly have beenbeaten byRossall , and failed signally against the M.C.C. But this much m a ybe said in their favour , they wonmore victories than their predecessors , and, as a rule , proved more than a match for the elevens that were brought against them. Alexander will have further opportunities of shewing his skill on the Schools ' ground , and we shall be muchinterested to see whether 1894 has even greater triumphsin store for him. Tonbridgepossessed a capital all-round team, whichafter the first 2 or 3 matches seldom failed to do itself justice . It proved far too strong for Brighton and Lancing , and, in a small scoring match, showed itself the superior of Dul- wich. W edo not consider that either Brighton or Lancing were of sufficient strength to test the calibre of the Tonbridge boys , and we prefer to base our esti- mateof their worth on their doings against rival clubs. In these matches, n o less then against the Schools , Bannon scored with extraordinary regularity , while against the M.C.C. he played a grand innings of 153 not out. H ewas in- disputably the best of the batsmen, but there were several others who were more or less consistent scorers , while Clarke must be rated as a very dangerous man. Hisinnings of 184 against Blackheath , though not by any means faultless , was, in some respects a wonderful display . Heand Hill are nowat Cambridge , while Hartley has gone to the sister University , and of the trio we expect Hartley , a good all -round cricketer and perhaps the best of the bowlers , to make the most stir . Of the other bowlers Bodywas, at times , positively deadly , and Hubbard and Carlton were not to be despised , so it will be seen that in attack the team wasfar from feeble . Bannonwill lead the eleven again , and will have to find a good manyrecruits to fill the vacant places . In this he should not have any serious difficulty , as we are assured that the general cricket of the school is in a