James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1895

CRICKETIN 1894. 4 3 Sheffield . All the same, Surrey was the only County that did beat Yorkshire , andif if there is muchvirtue in an " if "--the first match against Kent, which was never even begun, and the return with Somersetshire at the end of the season could have both beenplayed out, Yorkshire might have had the better record of the pair. Had Mr. Ernest Smith been able to play oftener , the scoring probably , would have been a little larger , and his batting might have been very useful at Sheffield , when Surrey were victorious . Still , this was the only occasion on which he could have affected the result to be of anyuse to York- shire, andat the best, the estimate of his services is only assumption. ThoughMiddlesex beat Surrey , and handsomely , in the return match at Lords the relative records of the two Counties show a wide dissimilarity . Considering the undoubtedexcellence of the all -round cricket at Mr. A. J. Webbe's disposal ,the result of the season was very disappointing . Nor is their failure easy of explanation . Mr. T. C. O'Brien only played in half the number of innings that Mr. Stoddart did, andhis partial absence was naturally agreat loss to the batting . Mr. Stoddart , though he scored , as it was, more runs than anyone in the eleven, was naturally not seen on the bowlers ' wickets generally prevalent , to the same advantage as in the previous season . Theunlucky accident too, at Brighton , in the middle of the season , seemed to have a prejudicial effect on Mr. A. J. Webbe's batting , for he never recovered the formhehad shownin the earlier matches. Middlesex, w h o lost five matches in all , were beaten twice by Yorkshire , but in neither case , with very much to spare . In batting , of course , Middlesex were undeniably strong , andMr. R. S. Lucas , whohadonly been occasionally tried in previous years , showed such a marked improvement, that he was permanently accepted in the eleven . Phillips too, on at least two important occasions , exhibited unexpected resources as a batsman. In bowling J. T. HearneandRawlinhad to do the greater part of the work, and did it well beyond a doubt. Still the want of a really good change was sorely felt every nowand then . After the Inter -University Match, Mr. L. C. V. Bathurstof the OxfordElevenwasintroduced into the eleven, and with success . His bowling is just what Middlesex want, and to judge by his success with Lord Hawke's Teamin America, subsequently , if he is likely to play regularly , he maybe of great use. Their out-cricket is still the weakness of the Middlesexeleven as it has alwaysbeen. Kent's record was perhaps even more dissappointing than that of Middle- sex. The double victory over Middlesex and Lancashire in the Tonbridge week, was of itself sufficient to stamp the eleven as a formidable all- round side . T h e ybeat Surrey too, at Catford Bridge, but luck had a gooddeal to do with the result . Late in the season, whenthe Countywas able togetupits full strength the eleven werecuriously enoughunsuccessful . TheRev. W .Rashleigh played several fine innings , as did Mr. H. C. Stewart , and the only re- gretis, that twosuch excellent batsmenare not available for the wholeof the season. Mr. J. R. Mason was not so successful as in the previous year, and lack of practice prevented Mr. W. H. Patterson from playing up to his old form. Against these failures , however, maybe placed the marked improvement of Mr. Weigall, w h oproved to be one of the mostconsistent batsmenin the eleven. O fbowling , Kent had plenty of the same sort of pace, and the variation of a good fast bowler would have been of great use. A ttimes they were not so well supported as they might have been, and, indeed , bad fielding was accountable for morethan one defeat through the season . Kent's six victories , it may be added, includeda doublew i noverLancashirea n dGlocestershire. I n The earlier matches afforded little hope that the Lancashire Eleven would have anything like a satisfactory record when the season was over. A s it was, though they only lost one match after the end of J u n e, the summaryof the year gave small cause for satisfaction . the latter part of the season their all round cricket was decidedly above the average . Somersetshire , Gloucestershire , Sussex , Middlesex , Notts . , were in turn all beaten, and the only disappointment during the latter part of the