James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1884

8 The draft of the Laws of the Game, as revised by the M arylebone Committee, is printed at the end of the Companion. The altora*.*__ proposed are mainly in form and wording; the spirit of the game has been strictly borne in mind, and there is a great gain in clearness and arrangement, whilst the provision for running a bye—omitted from the present code—and one or two similar minor points have been dealt with satisfactorily. The Committee have earned the thanks of all lovers of the game, for their work has not been light or easy, and they have done it thoroughly well. Some few alterations may yet be made, as the draft has been submitted to all the leading cricket societies in the world for approval, and perhaps the A ustralians may have a suggestion or two to make during their forthcoming visit. The tour of Mr. B ligh ’ s team in Australasia, reported in subsequent pages by one of the members, maj’’ be considered a success; and perhaps had M orley not injured himself so much as to lose all the sting of his bowling, the great match against A ll A ustralia might have resulted in E ngland ’ s favour, and the much-talked-of ashes of English Cricket have been brought home in a P. and 0. steamer. In Cricket, however, as in other matters terrestrial, one has to deal with hard facts, not with possibilities; and the fact remains that the combined strength of the Colonies defeated Mr. B ligh ’ s Eleven by four wickets. Of course we all know —A ustralians as well as ourselves—that several members of Mr. B ligu ’ s team would never have gained a place in a representative Eleven in England, as Mr. A lfred L yttelton , Mr. A. P. L ucas , and U lyrtt * could not be left out, but this has nothing to do with the match as played. The best team that could be got together to pay a visit to Australia were sent there, and under these circumstances we must not quarrel with our representatives, nor advance excuses when there is no need of them. Our Eleven were beaten, and yet it appears to be admitted that, had they only accepted one half of the chances which Jk they declined, they would have won the match. Scarcely an English Eleven that has visited the sunny South but has returned with a woeful tale of catches missed. Undoubtedly the brightness of Australian skies, and the wonderful transparency of the atmosphere to which English fieldsmen are quite unaccustomed in their native land, may be set down as accounting for some of the mistakes so frequently made by our repre­ sentatives ; but some of the chances missed by members of Mr. B ligh ’ s Eleven could not be excused thus, and yet it cannot be denied that a