John and James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1882

28 Tin* tact is that the fielding of the team, though very fair still, is not general application of the truth, even where cricketers are concerns) I U V W i i / I ' l l _________ ____1 ___I K . __________1 ______ A. I l i ^ h those _ . ngland. The ‘ Doctor” is, as of yore, ever useful and determined: he continues to think and boldly to declare that something abnormal has occurred in the order of things when the hall hits the wicket so amply guarded by that waving hat and that impervious leg. Y orkshire ’ s performances were also very fair, equalling, we think of G loucestershire ; but if we except G rimsiiaw and H unter , the former a resolute hack-player and off-hitter, the latter a very promising wicket-keeper, no new talent lias been developed in the County. It is however, wonderful to see how gallantly E mmett , among the old players, sustains his own high reputation and the true old Yorkshire spirit. This may lie as truly said of U lyett and L ockwood , who both did splendid service last season. T eate is now perhaps the best bowler in England; but it would be very well for him to remember that A. S haw , when at his best, never thought it beneath him to field with the utmost care. It cannot he said, indeed, that the younger generation of Y orkshire cricketers exhibit the spirit which to this day distinguishes men like E mmett , A. H ill , and U lyett . B ates and P kate have done brilliant tilings on emergencies, as, for instance, in the M iddlesex match at H uddersfield ; hut there is not that indomitable cheerfulness seen when things are going badly which certainly used to be evident in almost every man in the Y orkshire teams of a few years ago. The analysis of A. H im proves clearly enough of what use fast bowling can still be when grounds are hard, and it is a matter of very great regret that he had the mis- fortune to be incapacitated from playing at the height of the season. The achievements of M iddlesex were not such as might fairly have been expected of that gallant County. By a strange fatality every one of the four matches played by the full representative eleven was marred by heavy rainfall. This was of course most serious to an eleven whose batting strength was equal, we think, to that of the best of any County team for years past. It has been said that gunpowder makes all men alike tall, so wet wickets undoubtedly make all batsmen alike short, that is, in results. On the other hand, the bowling of M iddlesex , without Mr. E okd , who was ill, was so weak, that advantage could not be taken of the bad wickets which succeeded one another in so melancholy a fashion. Mr, C. T. S tudd is a first-class charuje bowler, but his style is not so well adapted to heavy as to hard wickets, and his strength is scarcely equal to keeping up an end for a whole innings, after he has himself been scoring largely. C larke ’ s howling has apparently been affected by his duties at Harrow. There he is expected to afford learners good opportunity of hitting as well as of defence. In the north the first part of tin's duty seemed to linger in C larke ’ s mind, causing some bewilderment to his assoeiates in the field, Captain AYVbb was declared exhausted after swimming across the Channel, and not even the spirit o f Mr. II obertson was able to expel natural fatigue