James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1896

CRICKET IN 1895. PART I. C H A P T E R I . C R I C K E T IN 1895 . B y I ncog . B y common consent the cricket season of 1895 was to be one of particular and pressing interest. Nor were the predictions of the knowing ones expressed twelve months ago unwarranted. On the contrary, the winter had brought two subjects to the front, each of which was bound to invest the last year’s cricket with a special importance. The first of these was, of course, the enlargement of the field for the County Championship ; sufficient of itself to mark the summer as one of more than ordinary interest. In a lesser degree the public was concerned about the alteration in the methods for the regulation of the follow- on, if only for the reason that the chief object of the new departure wras to lessen the chances of drawn games, and, as a consequence, to make the play quicker and more attractive. There was a third incident, too, to mark the year as one out of the ordinary run, but that was the outcome of the season, and in that respect alone differed from the others. This was the institution of ji National Testimonial to Mr. W. G. Grace. The idea arose, in the first instance, from a desire to commemorate in some suitable form his attainment of his hundredth century—an achievement in every way unique. With commendable forethought the Daily Telegraph started a Shilling Fund of its own, and with such remarkable success that early in October a cheque for f iv e thousand pounds, made up of contributions from all parts of the w'orld, was forwarded as the outcome of the Daily Telegraph Fund. At the same time the Marylebone Club, it may be noted in passing, expressed its readiness to receive donations for the same purpose, and as this should reach a large sum of itself there is every reason to believe that a considerable addition will be made to the amount collected by the newspaper already mentioned. Happily the two matters in which the public took most concern in anticipation of the season of 1895 both resulted satisfactorily. Whether the amendment in the follow-on rule is going to be a settlement of a difficult question for any length of time or not remains to be seen. Many good judges no doubt supported it on the ground that any legislation to prevent a side that has gained an advantage being unduly penalised was a move in the right