James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1895

C R I C K E TIN 1894. 4 7 particularly useful . The comparative failure of Mr. Kortright's fast bowling in contrast with the previous year had a good deal to do with the shortcoming of the Essex eleven, but not all . The want of another reliable bowler was sorely felt at times, and the out-cricket was susceptible of improvement beyond a doubt . Hampshire's omission from the list which gave promotion to Derbyshire , Essex, Leicestershire and Warwickshire , wasat the time severely criticised , and the mistake was most forcibly illustrated by Hampshire itself . The remarkable scoring of the Hampshire team in August was really one of the curiosities of the season , and the record of their later matches would of itself well repay perusal , if only for the fact of the revival of cricket in the County w h e r eit first grewandflourished . W h a tCounty cricket there was outside the first class Counties was fairly overshadowed by the public interest in the Championship. Still there was no lack of good material even amongthose whowere not numberedamongthe best . Cheshire , in particular , had a brilliant record , the distinction of the only unbeaten County during the season . Ofthe rest , a brief mention will be enough. Hertfordshire , Bedfordshire and Worcestershire were all played, and, moreover, beatenby the second eleven of Surrey , which, by the way, has gone through the last threeseasonswithouta defeat. Buckinghamshire is making a new ground at Aylesbury, which is sure to have a beneficial effect on the consolidation of its cricket . Lincolnshire and Staffordshire have not been particularly in evidence , to say the least of it . D u r h a mand Northumberland in the far North are able to place a fairly strong eleven in the field . In the Westthere is even greater development , and as far as onecanjudge, Devonshire means in time to have a side capable of showing really good all -round cricket . Theeffect of the great pressure of County Cricket of late years has been to reduce the interest in the representative matches which used to give relief to the ordinary fixtures . Eventheimportance of Gentlemenv. Players has been seriously discounted by the superior attractions of the County Championship . A sit was, the two matches showed very different results . Thanks, mainly to a very fine performance by Abel, who carried his bat through the innings , the Players hadall the best of the match at the Oval, andthough the Gentlemenhad all the worst of the wicket , hadlittle or no chance of saving the game. The Gentle- m e nhad a better side at Lord's , and by wayof a contrast , things went entirely in their favour throughout . Mr. F. S. Jackson's brilliant all round cricket had verym u c hto do with their success . If only for one incident, the matchwill be memorable in the history of the game. The credit of it belonged to Messrs . Jackson & W o o d s, w h obowled unchanged throughout both innings of the Players . Thenature of the achievement will be understood , whenit is stated that the feat has been only three times recorded in the match between Gentle- m e nand Players . The Oxford Eleven fully justified the general opinion that they would, barring accidents , win the Inter -University Match, and with ease . Therecord of the Cambridgemenduring the season had been one of disaster , only relieved by two successes , and their later trial matches in particular , only confirmed the prevalent impression that they were very much below the standard of a University team . W h a tluck there was, as it happened, went to the stronger side , and inwinning the toss , the odds on Oxford increased proportionately . Theresult of the game fairly bore out the public feeling . D eBrunton's batting was the chief feature on the side of Cambridge. Fry, the Oxford captain , showed cricket equal to any at the match, and his score of a hundred not out, in the first innings , if a little tedious at times , was none the less an excellent display of judicious and watchful cricket . But it was the out-cricket of Oxford, as was expected , that turned the scale . In Bardswell and Bathurst they hadtwo bowlers distinctly superior to anycouple in the Cambridge Eleven. In the matter of fielding , too, comparison w o u l dhavebeenall in their favour.