James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1898

C R I C K E TIN 1 8 9 7 4 7 Wainwright , are all of them dangerous batsmen whenin the vein . They were fairly successful most of them, too , and more than once Mr. Milligan wasof the greatest service . But even with all these in the eleven the batting was somewhat of an uncertain quantity . Still , it was more in the bowling that the Yorkshire team failed . In some respects the County, it must be admitted , was unfortunate . Some of the players . owing to accident , were not seen at their very best . A ninjury about the middle of the season deprived the eleven ef the valuable services of Peel, and his bowling in particular was greatly missed . Circumstances , too , subsequently induced thecommittee to leave him finally out of the Countyteam, so that for the latter half ofthe s u m m e rYorkshirewasleft withoutits mostreliable bowler. Evenwith himon the side , as the wickets were mostly throughout the year , the bowling was hardly formidable enough to get a really good batting side out under conditions favourable for run-getting for a moderate score . Nextto Essexperhaps the mostimproved CountyEleven of 1897 wasthat of Gloucestershire . Like Essex, too , the improvementwasdue ina great measure to the fact that there was youth on the side . The veteran , W.G., showed all , or a good deal , of his old vitality , it is true, but the most noteworthy feature of the cricket was furnished by the younger men. Mr. G. L. Jessop's all -round cricket in particular stood out in bold relief . If Mr. C. L. Townsend's bowling was only a little more successful than in 1896, his batting generally was more consistent . W h e nrepresented at its best Gloucestershire had a likely lot of run-getters , even if the bowling, taken as a whole , was not of the strongest . As it happened , the veteran Roberts , considering the character of the wickets , bowled with considerable success , andwhenhe failed W.G. cameto the rescue , as hedid morethan once. Theyoung Oxonian , F. H. B. Champain , proved adecided acquisition to the side . A taking and effective batsman , he also saved a lot of runs by his brilliant fielding . There was a vitality about Gloucestershire cricket in 1897 which was quite refreshing after some recent experiences . If the Sussex Eleven did not provide quite so many sensational per- formances as in 1896, all round their cricket perhaps gave moregrounds for satisfaction . Ranjitsinhji was not in the very best of health , and as a con- sequence , thoughsomeof his performances were out of the common, the run- getting did not reach quite the same high pitch . Still , even as it was, the Sussex Eleventook a lot of getting out. Mr. George Brann in particular was at his verybest, andindeed he was quite one of the most reliable run-getters of the year. Theinclusion of Bland, whohadjust become qualified by residence , gave the team the fast bowler it had been wanting so long. W h e nthe wickethelped himhe was very effective , and in any case he added con- siderably to the strength of the side where it most required strengthening . O nseveral important occasions Sussex showed exccllent all -round cricket , notably in its double victory over Cambridge University and its defeat of Yorkshire at Brighton . Curiously enough , considering the number of first -class amateurs available Middlesexdid not winan inter -Countymatchuntil the season wasalmost over . Their first success , indeed , was in the middle of August, and their summary only showed in all three victories out of sixteen matches . On the other hand, they were actually beaten but four times , and two of these came from Surrey . Mr. Cunliffe , the Oxford bowler , was expected to be of great assistance , but he only played rarely as events proved . It was in the