James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1894

T H E I G H T HA U S T R A L I A N T E A M. 2 5 It seems almost absurd to include Edinburgh Academyamong the com- peting schools , their chances of success being , from the circumstances of the case , practically hopeless . The fiat has, however, gone forth that they are to be in- cluded, andwehave not the courage to fly in the face of constituted authority . W emaysay of their performances in last year's competition that not only did theynot succeed in winning a match, but they did not once avoid defeat . Better things m a y, perchance , be hoped for in the future , but experience tells us that noreal measure of success can be expected for a team which is entirely composed ofdayboys . Our work is done ! W efeel that in manyways we have altogether failed to do justice to our theme. But we must crave indulgence at the hands of correspondents and readers alike , and ask them to believe that public -school cricket is no easy subject , and demands far more leisure on the part of its critic thancan possibly be given by any manwho has to work for his living . So firmly are we convinced of this that we have determined that under no possible circum- stances must this review be again assigned to the same individual who, for better or worse, has undertaken the task for manyyears past . W etherefore take this opportunity of offering our most hearty thanks to our many friends who have , year after year, so unselfishly responded to our repeated calls on their generosity , andwetrust that they will continue the same kind treatment to our successor , whoeverhem a ybe. C H A P T E R I V. T H E I G H T HA U S T R A L I A N T E A M . Few, if any , of the later Australian combinations have come over to England under such promising auspices as the team which left Australia in March of last year, the first with the hall mark of a society representative of the cricket talent of the leading Colonies of Australia . The recent formation of the Australian Cricket Council provides the guarantee which has of late been regarded as essential on this side , that the cricketers coming from Australia shall have the official sanction of a properly constituted and recognised tribunal , formed partly with the object of insisting on the representative character of combinations leaving the Colonies . In this case , too, the imprimatur of the Australian Council was given readily enough. The selection of the cricketers constituting the eighth Australian team met with general , if not universal , approval . There was a little uncertainty , perhaps , on the subject of the bowling , whether there was the infinite variety whichhadbeen the characteristic of some of the previous combinations . Even then the doubts did not take a very serious form , as there was a consensus of opinion that in the other two departments of the game Mr. Blackham, the Captain , had at his disposal a combination of far above the ordinary strength . If there was one point in which it wasclaimed , even by the experts in Australian cricket , that they would excel , it was in the fielding ; that was above all doubt. Ofbatting , it must be conceded , there was plenty , with no lack of fast scorers if the wickets should happen to be really hard for any length of time. On paper the confident anticipations of their friends , both as to the run getting , as well as the run -saving capacities of the team, seemed to be thoroughly well justified . Yet, in the result , they were by no means fully confirmed . So far as the batting was concerned there was, perhaps , no great grounds for complaint . What short -comings there were must be attributed more to defects in their cricket . Thewant of variety in the attack was felt at an early stage of the tour . The bowling was muchof the same kind, what there was of it, or, at least whatwas tried . It is difficult , perhaps , for an onlooker to explain whyConingham, who