James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1899

T H EC O U N T I E SIN 1 8 9 8. 1 0 5 M I D D L E S E X . OFFICERS FOR 1898.-President : Earl of Strafford . Vice-Presidents : LordG. Hamilton, M.P., V. E. Walker. Hon. Treasurer : V. E. Walker. Hon. Secretary : P. M. Thornton. Assistant Secretary : J. A. Murdoch. Com- mittee : Hon. A. Lyttelton , R. Henderson , G. Lee , J. Robertson -Walker , E. Rutter , C. M. Tebbut , M. Turner , H. Turner , W. J. Ford , C. I. Thornton G. F. Vernon, V. E. Walker, I. D. Walker, J. G. Walker, A. J. Webbe, W .N i c h o l s o n. O nthe formof the Eleven iu the later matches Middlesex was quite the equal of anyCounty of the year in respect of all -round cricket . The experience of the first half of the summerhardly suggested that Middlesex would come out only second to Yorkshire at the end of the season . It was not until August that they were really seen at their best . Theaddition of J. Douglas andC. M. Wells added considerably to their strength . Fortunately for Middlesex , too , Albert Trott , whocould not play owing to an injured handtill the end of June, hadrecovered his bowling completely by August. In anycase in the later matches Middlesex had an exceptionally formidable aggregation . In F. G. J. Fordand J. Douglas they had undoubtedly two of the very best batsmen of the year. Besides these there were A. E. Stoddart , P. F. Warner, R. N. Douglas, C. M. Wells, G. McGregor, with H. B. Hayman. At its best Middlesex had practically no tail . Theaddition of Albert Trott , too , gave the Eleven a second really first -class bowler as well as a batsmanlikely to be dangerous at any time. J. T. Hearnehad no superior as a bowler in 1898 , and it is high praise to Trott to say that he washardly inferior . Twosuch bowlers with a fair amount of batting would makeany side . With so manyrun-getters as Middlesex can always put into the field it has certainly little reason to fear comparison with anyCounty of the present day. Opponents. R e s u l t so f M a t c h e s . Matches played , 18 ; won , 10 ; drawn, 5 ; lost , '3. (*) H a v ebeentreated inprevious reviews. Matches W o n(10). (1) Leicestershire S u s s e x (4) Somersetshire Surrey (5) Yorkshire (6) Notts Club. Opnts. Where played . Whenplayed . 1st 2nd 1st 2nd L o r d ' s Ins. Ins. Ins. Ins. W o nb y. 347 *93 312 127 9 wkts.; * 1 wd Leicester L o r d ' s July4, 5, 6 July14,15,16 283 *377 197 203 235r; *9 wd,i.c . T a u n t o n A u g .1, 2 354 *12 221 144 10W.; *nowd Aug.8, 9, 10 293 *212 218 151 136 r.; *3wd,i.c . Leicestershire L o r d ' s Aug.11,12,13 479 160 200 Inns.& 119 runs L e e d s A u g .15,16 1 2 8 *62 142 45 8wkts.; *2 wd Nottingham Aug.18,19,20 484 1 7 11 7 7 I n n s. &136runs L a n c a s h i r e L o r d ' s Aug.22, 23 3 1 1 1 1 7161 I n n s. &3 3r u n s K e n t L o r d ' s Aug.25,26 , 27 448 187 165 Inns. & 96 runs K e n t C a t f o r d A u g .29, 30,31 213 109 109 130 83runs Matches D r a w n(5) . R e m a r k s. Somersetshire L o r d ' s M a y30,31 ,Jul 114 * N o t t s (2) Surrey L o r d ' s J u n e6,7, 8 8 12 9 2237 O v a l June23,24,25 209 *60 468 *1 wkt. d (3) Sussex B r i g h t o n July14,15, 16 Gloucestershire Bristol A u g .4, 5, 6 3 5 2 194 *35 *2 wkts. d 283 *150 357 +224 *7 wd; +7 w d,i.c . 379 *11 *n o w d Matches Lost (3). *) Gloucestershire L o r d ' s J u n e2, 3, 4 7 51 6 4114*126 8 wkts.; *2w d Lostb y. Y o r k s h i r e Lancashire L o r d ' s M a n c h e s t e r * B e e ntreated in previous reviews. June16,17,1 8 118 318 445 I n n s. & 9 r u n s J u n e27, 28,29 147 180 228 143 44 runs