James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1898

CRICKET IN 1897. 5 3 The W.G.began rather badly , but finished up like the stayer he has always shown. Inproof of the consistent character of his batting it is worthy of remark that though his average reached 39 his only really high score was his 131 for Gloucestershire v. Notts. Thelargest numberof runs obtained in a first - class fixture during the season was 1,207 in Surrey v. Sussex , at the Oval, onM a y20. Twice in addition the aggregate exceeded 1,100 runs. Altogether there were 132 matches in the First - Class Counties Champion- ship . Of this numberit maybe remarked 83 were actually played out , so that there was a large balance of 49 left unfinished . Of the 83 completed 46 ended in favour of the home side , which would not argue any very great advantage from the mere fact of playing at home, certainly not as much as has been at times represented . It will be of interest to the curious to know that the option of closing the innings was exercised in 22 cases during the season . Inseven of the 22 cases the result was successful . Derbyshire and Lancashire were the only Counties against whom it was not enforced , Leicestershire the only one which did not enforce it . Ayear rarely passes without a flying trip of English cricketers across the seas in one direction or another . A very powerful combination , under the commandof Mr. A. E. Stoddart , is at the time the " Annual " is published worthily upholding the reputation of English cricket in Australia . As they were leaving England another English team was just returning home from a short tour in the United States . It consisted entirely of Amateurs. and was under the captaincy of Mr. P. F. Warner. of Middlesex fame . With Messrs . F. G. Bull , G. L. Jessop , and F. W. Stocks , there were three thoroughly reliable bowlers , and as events proved the teamwas quite enough for all purposes . In batting , too , the side was fairly strong , and indeed it was sufficiently strong for the requirements in respect of all -round cricket . As it happened , only one defeat was sustained , and that was from the Gentle- m e nof Philadelphia in the first of the two matches played. In this case the margin against them was only one of four wickets , and even this would in all probability have been converted into a victory if the fielding of the English eleven had been anything like up to its usual standard . The West Indies have latterly become a happy ground for English cricketers in the winter months. Last spring two teams were touring there , the one got up by Mr. A. Priestley , the other by Lord Hawke. That these doublevisits are advisable no one will contend, and in this case a little diplomacy or mutual tact might easily have prevented the simultaneous appearance of two elevens in the Islands . As it was, both parties -composed exclusively of amateurs , by the way-were fairly strong . Both, too , did well, Mr. Priestley's side playing 16 matches , with ten wins and five defeats ; LordHawke's14, with nine victories and two losses . Mr. A. E. Stoddart's all-round cricket contributed chiefly to the successes of Mr. Priestley's combination . Altogether he made six hundreds during the tour , and, in addition to an aggregate of 1,079 for 20 completed innings , took 104 wickets at an average cost of only 7.85 . The chief feature of Lord Hawke's tour wasthe consistently good batting of Mr. P. F. Warner, whose 156 was the highest innings of either team . In one respect both teams were of accord- that West Indian cricket had received , and was receiving , a considerable fillip by the periodical visit of English Amateurs .