James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1898

C R I C K E TIN 1897. 5 1 TheInter -University matchproved to be the good thing that was ex- pected for Cambridge. Oxford had perhaps the best bowler of the two Elevens in F. H. E. Cunliffe , and there was an outside chance of course that hemight turn the scale to some extent . But in point of real quality Cam- bridge had undoubtedly very muchthe more dangerous side , and public form wasvindicated by their comparatively easy victory . Oxford , as a matter of fact, were out-classed and beaten by an eleven superior at all points . T h ematches between Gentlemen v. Players both found the Players triumphant . But their success at the Oval certainly was not calculated to afford themthe same gratification as that in the second fixture at Lord's . In the former case the eleven which did duty for the Gentlemen was very far from representative , and the result was a foregone conclusion fromthe start . Theconditions at Lord's were quite different . There , with the one exception of Mr. N. F. Druce, whowasunable to play, the Gentlemen were as strong as they possibly could be, and a good fight they made of it . Theywere beaten , itis true, but only by 78 runs , and, considering that the Players in winning the toss got all the best of the wicket , they deserve high credit for the plucky up-hill game they played . Thefinish ofthe Etonand Harrowmatch wasvery similar to that of the previous year , though the positions of the schools were reversed . In 1896 , aswell as in 1895 , it fell to Harrow to have to play out time to avoid defeat . This time it wasEton'sturn to have to resort to tactics of asimilar kind, and with the samesuccess that had attended their opponents in the two previous years . The general impression was that Harrow was the stronger in bowling andhardly inferior to the Etonians in batting . Inthe result the estimate was fairly confirmed , and on the whole it mayfairly be claimed for Harrow that they were the better side . Eton had previously , it maybe remarked , been beaten by Winchester , and on their own ground . All the same there was little in the match, and Winchester had, as it happened, rather the best of a bowler's wicket . The other Public School matches at Lord's ended , too , very m u c hin accordance with the general anticipation . Rugbyjust latterly has ont been at all strong, but Marlborough this time found themselves hardpushedto win, and, as it happened, nearly threw awaythe match. Cheltenham , as the result proved , were quite out-classed by Haileybury . TheCaptain, A. H. D u Boulay, andF. M. Luceboth showed up fairly well with ball as well as bat. They were , however , the exceptions , and at all points the Haileyburians were immeasurably the better side . Thevisit of the Philadelphian teamcameas a pleasant relief onthe press and bustle of the County Championship . In the matter of ill -luck the visitors hadmoreperhaps than their fair share in respect of the actual cricket as well as in injuries to players . In meeting the first - class Connties the Philadelphians undertook a very arduous programme , with little or no hope , of course , of anygreat amountof success . Yet, in spite of the difficulties under which they laboured , the results were certainly more encouraging than other- wise. To say that they played the game thoroughly was only in keeping withthe traditions of Philadelphian cricket . Still , it is pleasant to be able to record that the tour was socially a success as it wasfrom a cricket standpoint . Theinjury whichkept the captain , G. S. Pattersou , out of so manymatches wasagreat loss to the team, as it wasa general subject for regret to English cricketers . Still , the results of the tour must have been on the whole satis