James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

2 2 LILLYWHITE'S CRICKETERS' ANNUAL. flourishing condition , thanks , in no small degree , to the strenuous exertions of the cricketing masters. With Bardswell , Wilson, and six other old choices at hand it would in- deed have been strange if Uppingham had not put a dangerous eleven into the field -and, if we maybelieve their supporters , the team was the strongest that the school has ever possessed . With this verdict we are not altogether disposed to agree . That Wilson is a marvellous boy-bat goes without the saying , andwe have little doubt that, if he is not overdone , he will in the future prove himself one of the finest cricketers in England. But, Wilson excepted , we do not consider that any one of last year's batsmen is in the first flight , and, if our memoryis not at fault , more than one of the eleven in Uppingham's palmy days wouldhave madelast year's champions sing very small. Butwhat of the bow- ling ? Well, on his day, Bardswell is one of the best school bowlers we have ever seen , but that he has his off days is abundantly evident from his average , and his doings last year compare unfavourably with those of 1892 , when he was more effective and less expensive . On last year's form Wilson was the better bowler of the two, and his average of 38 wickets for less than 10 runs a-piece , is distinctly good, but we cannot believe him to be a "killing " bowler , and in bowling , no less than batting , our judgment is that last year's eleven has been slightly over -rated by its admirers . In saying this we do not for one moment wish to under estimate the prowess of the Uppinghamboys . They were an undeniably good side , and would probably have held their own with any public school eleven of the year, but, in our opinion , they were not quite of the same class as some of the Uppingham teams of the early seventies . Comparisons apart , we have a pleasant task in offering our warmest congratulations to Bards- well on bringing his long career in the eleven to so successful a close , andwe sincerely trust that his all -round excellence will win him a place in the Oxford team. Wilson succeeds him in the Captaincy , and if he maintains his form the side will be no easy one to tackle , even though the majority of last year's lot are no longer at school . Bardswell and Wilson were so unmistakeably ahead of their compeers that it seems the wiser plan to omit any mention of the rest , themoreso as, in point of usefulness , there was little to choose betweenfive or six of them. Exception , however, must be made in favour of Cowan, whose resolute batting and smart wicket -keeping mayat any time bring him to the front , and, though Stephenson has the happy knack of breeding " stumpers ," his place cannot but be a difficult one to fill . Itcanhavebeenno easy matter to succeed such a captain as Mordaunt, but that Dashwoodproved himself competent is evidenced by the great improvement whichthe Wellington boys m a d ein the course of the season. Underordinary circumstances Forbes would have led the team, but owing to his resignation the task devolved on Dashwood, whowill hold the office for this season also . A tthe first the fielding was faulty , and the outlook was not promising , but things soon mended, and out of the last five matches three resulted in victory for the school . Thegreat performance of the season was the defeat of an M.C.C. eleven , which included G. G. Hearne, Mead, and Burns, by over 100 runs, and we heard in- directly from some of the pros .' that they were immensely impressed with the play of the boys. This form was, perhaps , rather too good to be true , but none the less the victory reflects the highest credit on the team. Beard, one of the heroes of the Haileybury match, is at the head of both averages , and improved vastly on his doings in 1892. Next to him in batting stands Livesay , whomore thanfulfilled the expectations of his friends , and was, it maybe, the best bat of the lot . Dashwoodcomes third on the list , but the batting was fairly even throughout . Great things are predicted for a young bowler , Weigall byname, and it is believed that , barring accidents , success maybe looked for with some confidence this year.