James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annaul 1897

P U B L I CS C H O O LC R I C K E TIN 1896 P A R TI. C H A P T E R I. P U B L I CS C H O O LC R I C K E TI N 1 8 9 6. B YP. F. W A R N E R, T H Eseasonof 1896w a san almostideal onefor school cricket. F o rweeks the weather was fine , and as a consequence scoring ruled high. Of course a few grounds were to some extent affected by the drought, but on the wholethe schools had no cause to complain of the pitches prepared for them. Especially was this the case in the Etonv. Harrowmatch, abetter wicketthanwasprovided on that occasion being seldom seen at Lord's . Whichwas the best eleven of the year is a question one often hears asked , and the answer to it is by no means easy . Still , from what we have heard , andjudging by results and the calibre of the sides opposed to them , we have no hesitation in awarding the palm to Uppingham. They were a remarkably powerful batting team, while they possessed two really good bowlers, and a wicket-keeper of the highest class . Winchester and Cheltenham had remarkably good sides also , but both of these were in our opinion inferior to Uppingham. Westminster , despite their defeat by Charterhouse , had a capital team, a remark which likewise applies to Malvern. Repton, for once in a way, were deplorably weak, there being no Palairet or Fry amongst them. Taking the teams as a whole , the season of 1896 produced several boys who are likely to be heard of again , viz . , Taylor and Parkes , of Uppingham; Pilkington and Lubbock, of Eton ; Vibart and Dowson, of Harrow ; Rowe and Gibson , of Winchester ; Champain and Barrett , of Cheltenham ; Foster , of Malvern ; Wilson , of Rossall ; Kingston , of Blair Lodge ; Wilson , of Rugby ; and many others . This list m a yseem never ending, but at the risk of being tedious w emust point out to our readers that the schools are the nurseries of future amateur cricket , and that , maybe, several of the boys who are mentioned in this article are destined to appear in Gentlemenv. Players and Oxford v. Cam- bridge . Maythere not be an embryo Stoddart or a Woods, a Palairet or a McGregor, amongstthe players mentioned in these pages ? A n dn o wlet us turn to the various school teams.