James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annaul 1897

T H EC O U N T I E SIN 1 8 9 6. 1 3 7 peculiar , and,as it was,Englanddid fairly well to make145. Jackson's 45 was an exceedingly fine innings . W h e nthe Australians went in Darling and Iredale forced the gamewith great judgment, and75 wasup before a wicket fell . Hearne's splendid bowling , however , worked a complete change , and so complete that the nine remaining wickets only added 44. Atthis time the wicket wasplay- ingvery queerly , and Trumble's bowling was so difficult that the majority of the England side could do little . The exception was Abel , and as the ground wasplaying his 21 was a very good performance . Thoughthe Australians had only 111 to get to win, under the conditions that prevailed their chances were doubtful . Richardson bowled one over , and W. G., the English captain , finding the wicket did not suit him, changed him for Peel. This move assured England's success . Peel, whonever got his length in the first innings , bowled admirably, and, helped by excellent fielding , the Australians were out for 44, of whichthe last man, M'Kibbin, contributed 16. In the matchHearnetook ten wickets for 60, Peel eight for 53 runs. Trumble's 12 wickets for the Australians cost 89 runs. England wonby 66 runs . The score is given in Australian matches, page44. S U S S E X . OFFICERSFOR 1896.-President : T h eEarl of Sheffield . Vice-Presidents : Earl Winterton, Viscount Gage, Lord Leconfield , Henry Harben, W . H. Campion, Lieut. Col. Wisden, C. J. Lucas. Treasurer : W. G. Ashby. Committee-East Sussex : H o n. C. Brand, S. Beard, Spencer Austen Leigh, Rev. W. D. Parish , W. H. Loder, W . Keen. West Sussex : A. C. Oddie, H. E. Harris , W.Smith, W. Napper,A. F. Somerset, C. Farmer. Brighton : H. Cooke, E. A. Smithers , F. Ravenhill , C. H. Smith, A. J. Cullen , H. F. de Paravicini . Secretary : W.Newham, County Cricket Ground, Brighton. IF for nothing else , Sussex cricket in 1896 would have been memorablefor the truly extraordinary batting of K. S. Ranjitsinhji . He was quite the most successful batsmanof the year, and his seven hundreds for Sussex along way surpassed any other individual record for the year in the same class of match. His average was over 58 runs , and it seems a pity that such remarkable talent wasnot better supported . Not that the Sussex batting was otherwise weak. O nthe contrary , there was reasonable certainty of high run-getting on a good wicket with Mr. Newham, and later on Mr. Fry, as well as Marlow, Bean, and Killick . Mr. Brann, unfortunately , owing to an injury , was not able to play in the latter part of the season , and his batting was naturally missed . A great addition to the batting strength was found in the young professional Killick . Though only twenty-one he played with all the confidence of a veteran, andhe bids fair to develop into avery fine left -handedbat. Inbowling Sussex are still wanting. Tate and Parris on certain wickets are likely to be dangerous , but on pitches in good condition by no means deadly . Mr. J. C. Hartley, of the Oxford Eleven, cameinto the eleven after the Inter -University match, andmetwith fair success .