James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1895

4 8 LILLYW H I T E ' TC R I C K E T E R S' A N N U A L. The difference of the wickets in comparison with 1893, will fully account for the general lowering of the figures of the batsmen of last year. The pitches , mostly, were rather in favour of the bowlers than the batsmen, with the na- tural results . Thehighest total in animportant match of 1893, was 674 by Sussex . Last year the highest aggregates were the 401 of Surrey v. Yorkshire at the Oval, and386 by the same county v. Gloucestershire . Asa natural consequence , the scoring on all sides was very muchbelow the average . In three instances a County Eleven were dismissed for less than forty . Somersetshire was disposed of byLancashire at Old Trafford for 31, five of which were extras , and Kentat Catford Bridge, by Sussex , for 35 (four extras ). Sussex also got out Lancashire at Manchester for 38-all from the bat. The effect of the generally wet wickets of 1894, was even morepronouncedonthe individual scoring . In1893, G u n n, whowas not so very much in advance of Mr. A. E. Stoddart , had an aggregate of 1223 runs for the matches in the County Championship . Last year G u n nwas again at the head of the batting table , but with considerably reduced numbers. This time his total only amounted to 851, and even then, he was exactly onehundredruns ahead of Brockwell, w h o was the second onthe list . Witheverything in their favour , the bowlers were bound to come out well . For Surrey, in all matches , Richardson took a hundred and ninety six wickets . This would have been a fine performance under the best conditions , but as he was absent from cricket for nearly a month, owing to an injury , it was the more noteworthy . Mold took 144 wickets ; Richardson 120, and J. T. Hearne 119. N o one sent down a thousand overs in Championship Matches. T h enearest approach was J. T. Hearne, who bowled 966 overs and three balls . B a dweather in the early part of the summeraffects the Public Schools more than any other section of the cricket community, for the simple reason that their season is only of brief duration . Still , while the generally wet wickets prevented batsmenfrom getting into their best form, on the other hand, they gave the bowlers a chance they rarely have. Under the circumstances , the season was not without its encouraging signs , and it came to a close with a flourish of trumpets with the completion of the Cheltenham and Haileybury match at Lord's , which Cheltenham, as most cricket students well remember, wonby one w i c k e t. Taking the schools in alphabetical order , Bradfield claims the precedence . A sfar as one can judge from the results , the Bradfield Eleven were above the average of late years . For their defeat in the Radley match, which was lost by only four runs , Bradfield had themselves to thank. Still , when they met Sherborne , they gained a victory , though luck was on their side . The bowling at Brighton College must have been very weak, looking at the figures . A. H. Belcher was a long wayahead in the batting averages , but here too the records were unsatisfactory , as only three of the side in all got over twenty runs per innings . Belcher's batting was the only noteworthy feature . Thatthere wassomethingwanting, was shownb y the s u m m a r yof the season ; tendefeatsout of twelvematches. The Charterhouse Eleven were fairly strong all round. Garnett , Fane, and one or two others , were generally to be relied upon for runs , and as far as batting went, they were a good level side . The Wellington match was off , and the only Inter -School engagement was with Westminster, who were out-played at all points . Thebowling would not compare with the batting , and the fielding might h a v eb e e nbetter. Notwithstanding their poor display against Clifton , Cheltenham had a fairly good show all round. In Champion, Jeffery , and Barrett , they had a trio of reliable run -getters . HadE. H. Stanley only been well enough toplay, they wouldhave had another good batsman, the best indeed on the side . The bowling with Stratton , Coates , and Jones , was above the average . Considering that they