James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

PUBLICS C H O O LCRICKETIN 1893. 2 3 It is withinfinite regret that w e have once moreto chronicle a disastrous season for Westminster. T w ovictories only in the series of 12 matchesis but a dismal record , and is madethe more dismal by the fact that the non-success was partly due to the want of judgment displayed by the Captain . It was not that Sherring was wanting in energy , but he seemed unable to manage his bowling with any degree of skill , and the results , notably in the Charterhouse match, weremostdisastrous . Fisher was the chief sufferer , and we are assured that hadhe been handled sagaciously he would have done extremely well . As it is his analysis is , for a first season , distinctly creditable , and has conjured up visions of future triumphs in the minds of the manywell-wishers o fWestminster cricket , and this the more because , on occasions , he also shewed batting ability of nomeanorder . Onlast year's form Fisher mustbe given the first place for all- roundworth, and next to himw e should put the other bowler, Shearme, whose success with the ball was but little less than that of Fisher . The general batting was feeble and uncertain , Sherring , who again stands at the head of the list , making no advance , while his most able coadjutors , Severn and Cox, scored but fewruns, the character of the season being taken into account . The outlook for thecoming campaign cannot be reckoned very bright , though if Fisher , Severn , andothers live up to expectations a more pleasing comment will be written when a u t u m nc o m e sr o u n doncem o r e. The Winchester eleven has been described as a " one-m a nteam," a descrip- tion w e are not at all willing to endorse .. Everyone knows that Masonstood out far above his fellows , but may we not reasonably say that his superiority wouldhave been very pronounced had he belonged to any one of 23 other teams, whose doings form the subject of this sketch ? It is quite a work of superero- gation to descant on Mason's merits , as the public trials , to which he was subjected in the holidays , shewed him to be one of the most useful members of the Kent eleven. It is enough to say that at school he surpassed even his own record of the previous year , though , unfortunately for the Wykamists , he was, for him, com- paratively unsuccessful in the Eton match . With Mason to lead them it was confidently hoped that the Winchester boys would be as strong as ever , andtheir early doings only tended to increase this confidence . Presently things went wrong, andbythe time the eventful day arrived they had unmistakeably trained off, fielding only excepted . To account for this decline is by no means easy . W a sit due to over confidence , begotten of those early triumphs to which we have referred ? Wasit that, in their eagerness to bring their team to perfection , their mentors had overworked the boys ? W a sit that Masonwas in the eleven , andthat the others thought that he would win the match for them, whatever their o w nshortcomings mightbe ? W ecannot give a satisfactory answer, and further speculation is superfluous . W ehave already noticed Rowe's successful debut at Eton, andas he has manyyears before him he maydevelop into a second Mason. Stephens was really the second best manon the side , andhe, Rowe, and Hendersonm a yall be classed as good school bats . Several of the others did well at times , and had the bowling been up to the markthey would, with their fine fielding thrown in, have won a very high place in our imaginary list of merit . Butthe bowling cannot be considered otherwise than weak. Mason was far and away the best , but he could not perform miracles , and after a long innings , naturally lost muchof his sting . His vis -a-vis , Gibson, though he has natural abilities , is too dependent on circumstances to deserve very high praise , and the others were not worth much. On the prospects of 1894 we shall not hazard any remarks , but it needs no prophetic power to foretell that it will be no easy matter towinthe Eton match, even though it is played on the homeground. W eare glad to be able to add a short summary of the doings of the Scotch boys, our information being mainly derived from a kind friend , whohas the peculiar advantage of being able to speak of the doings of the various teams from