James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annaul 1897

1 2 0 L I L L YW H I T E ' SC R I C K E T E R S' A N N U A L. M I D D L E S E X . OFFICERS FOR 1896.-President : Earl of Strafford . Vice-Presidents : LordG. Hamilton, M.P., V. E. Walker. H o n. Treasurer: V. E. Walker. H o n. Secretary : P. M. Thornton. Assistant Secretary : J. A. Murdoch. Com- mittee : H o n. A. Lyttleton , R. Henderson, G. Lee, J. Robertson -Walker, E.Rutter, C. M. Tebbut, M. Turner,H. Turner, W.J. Ford, C. I. Thornton, G. F. Vernon, V. E. Walker, I. D. Walker, J. G. Walker, A. J. Webbe, W .N i c h o l s o n. MIDDLESEX cricketers had no reason to complain of the results obtained b ythe Countyeleven . Their record was not, perhaps , as good as it appeared onpaper. Theywere only beaten three times , it is true . On the other hand, luck favoured them to no small extent in the unfinished games, three of which were drawnin favour of the other side . Still , in its full strength Middlesex would be very difficult to beat . In batting they were exceptionally strong , it goes without saying . With Sir T. C. O'Brien , Messrs . Stoddart , Hayman, McGregor, J. Douglas , F. G. J. Ford, A. J. Webbe, H. Bromley- Davenport, Rawlin, and Hearne, the batting would be irresistible . Asit was, Mr. Douglas was only able to play at the end of the season . Messrs. Fordand Wells , whose bowling was again of great value , were only available then . Last year the eleven were unfortunate in losing Mr. H a y m a n, whose leg gave w a ywhenhewas batting with great success , and prevented him playing for therest of the season . A badfinger , too, kept Mr. McGregorafter a time out of first -class cricket , andhis place at the wicket had to betaken bythe Cantab, - Mr. E. H. Bray. The chief features of the season were the fine batting of Sir T. C. O'Brien and Mr. Stoddart and the bowling of J. T. Hearne. Considering the amount of work he did , Hearne's performances were remark- able , andhewas quite the best bowler of the year. In August Mr. J. Douglas batted with great success , so much so as to emphasise the regret that he cannot play regularly . Opponents. R e s u l t so f M a t c h e s . Matches played , 16 ; won, 8 ; drawn, 5 ; lost , 3. MatchesW o n(8). Somersetshire N o t t s Gloucestershire (1) Surrey L a n c a s h i r e Club. Opnts. Whereplayed . Whenplayed . 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Lord's L o r d ' s L o r d ' s M a y25, 26 J u n e4,5 J u n e18,19,20 J u n e25, 26 June29,30 ,J1 July27,28,29 Aug.13, 14,15 I n s. I n s. I n s. Ins. W o nb y. 386 179 106 Ins. & 101runs 2 2 7 9 01 2 0 7 4 1 2 3r u n s 450 143 230 Ins. &77runs 108 268 4 5 126 205runs 223 *221 250 193 4wkts.; *6 w d 335 *43 101 274 9 wkts.; *1wd 229 356 153 236 196r ; *8 w d, in.cl O v a l Manchester (2) Sussex Brighton Lancashire L o r d ' s K e n t L o r d ' s A u g .27,28,29 206 287 181 163 149runs Matches Drawn(5) . R e m a r k s . (*) K e n t Tonbridge June15,16, 17 186 *32 257 277 *3 wkts. d (3) Somersetshire T a u n t o n A u g .3,4, 5 289*100 248 257 *5 wkts. d (4) Yorkshire B r a d f o r d Aug.17,18,19 263 332 363 *143 *1 w k t . d (5) Notts... Nottingham Aug.20,21,22 283 127 360 *7 wkts. d (*) Sussex L o r d ' s Aug.24,25,26 166 *44 163 +120 *2w d,in.cl ; +2wd MatchesLost (3) . Lostb y. Y o r k s h i r e L o r d ' s Surrey L o r d ' s M a y21, 22, 23 July20, 21 384 142 381 *147 10w; *n o w d 1 5 9 8 3 3 0 0 Ins. & 5 8r u n s Gloucestershire Clifton A u g .6,7,8 279 231 343 *170 6wkts.; *4w d (*)H a v ebeentreated in previous reviews .