James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annaul 1897

T H EUNIVERSITIESA N DP U B L I CS C H O O L SIN 1 8 9 6. 2 0 5 M I N O R S C H O O L S . ArnoldHouseSchool, Chester.-Matches played ,12; won, 5; drawn, 1 ; lost , 6.-H. T. Thompson (captain ) : Reliable bat, with sound defence and some good strokes on the leg side . Bowls with judgment . P. F. A. Morrell : Free hard-hitting bat andhard-working field . J. G. F. Nicholson : Dangerous bat, scoring heavily when set. Excellent wicket -keeper . A. Richmond: Stylish bat. Smart field . W. A. Dutton : A promising but unlucky batsman . Good field , and fair change bowler. A. Malkin : A useful bat, with very poor style . Energeticfield . R. Singlehurst : A n excellent young bowler, full of promise. Poorbat . A. T. Watts : Capital field in the country . N obat. E.T.H.Hughes : Bowlswell at times , but is slack in the field and weak at batting . M. Moody : Tries hard at anything ; mere slogger . H. S. Dickson : Plays in good style , butseldom gets runs . Fair point . Thompsontook 50 wickets for 237 runs (4.74 per wicket) ; Singlehurst , 48for 274 (5-70 per wicket) ; Dutton, 14 for 124 (8.85 per wicket). C h a t h a mHouse, Ramsgate.--Matches played , 14; won, 7; drawn, 1 ; lost , 6.-G. Smith (39-2 ), captain : Good all -round cricketer ; as a batsman combining strong defence with exceptional punishing powers. Fast bowler andsafe field anywhere. J. Warden (25-2 ) : Thoroughly sound and reliable bat, and though rather a slow scorer rarely failed to makeruns. Themost reliable field in the team. H. Backus (19.7 ) : One of the best cricketers the school has produced for manyyears . Bats in very taking style , his off -strokes being especially well -timed ; bowling right -hand medium with an off -break he has kept up one end practically in every match. Goodfield . E. Rivaya (9.7 ) : Very steady bat with rather cramped methods , but showing great improvement onhis formfor the preceding year. Goodfield andfair change bowler. K. Fraser (8.1) : Muchimproved as a batsmanand field , but will do evenbetter whenhe gains more confidence . H. Harris (7.6 ) : Bowls medium, varying his length and pace with judgment , and breaking slightly both ways. A sa batsmanadopts strictly defensive tactics . J. Backus (5.6 ), secretary : A muchimproved cricketer , rendering valuable assistance to his side on several occasions , but requires more confidence in himself . Madea most capable secretary . G. Cobden (5-5 ) : Ahard hitter anddangerous fast bowler, especially on a bad wicket , but somewhat erratic . A nexcellent field , saving his side m a n yruns . L. Hubble(2-5) : Chosen chiefly for his bowling . As abat rather uncertain . Goodfield . C. Pratt : Fair bat and field . Didnot play often for the first eleven. G. Warden (10) : One of the most promising cricketers in the school . A good bat, with excellent defence and remarkable power of resource for so young a boy. Played frequently for the first eleven . Good field a n dsafecatch. Blundell's School , Tiverton .-Matches played , 14; won, 8 ; drawn , 2; lost , 4. A. D. Hickley (20) : Agood bat with free and pretty style ; cuts well and scores rapidly whenset. Slow bowler with break both ways. Neat field andsafe catch . A. J. Hook (26), captain : Hasmuchimproved since last year, and is nowa really good bat, with sound defence and goodhitting powers. Has played manyfine innings , and contributed largely to the success of the eleven . Amuchimproved field . H. A. Tute (10) : Asa bat hashardly fulfilled thepromiseof last year. Scores freely whenwell set , but is weakin defence . A s a wicket-keeper is far above the average . V. A. Coaker (11) : A free and rapid scorer whenonce set ; rather nervousat starting ; has hardly maintained his form of last year . Good field . F. G. Spring (12) : Amuch improved bat ,