James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1884

Eleven is Mi. M aynard , who was not found good enough for the Cam- bridge Eleven. kuoli weakness is one of the unaccountable facts that exist in cricket. I hey have a zealous secretary and executive, and mining and manufacturing districts, usually productive of cricketers^ are found in this County, yet no U lyett or D aft springs up. • It is strange that N ottingham and Y orkshire adjoin D erbyshire , and yet no real cricketer comes to the one County, while they crowd on one another in the other two. On the easy wickets Messrs. E versiied and M aynard scored fairly freely at the close of the season, yet D erbyshire in the aggregate scored nearly 1,000 runs fewer than any other County. G loucestershire , from having been for many years at the top of the poll, has descended with a descent as rapid as that of Cardinal W olsey to the lowest rung of the ladder, and this is easily accounted for. She lost, by a sad and early death, Mr. G. F. G race , and, by desertion, M idwinter , and the loss of the latter lias completed her downfall. There are only two bowlers, for Mr. G ilbert is not, never has been, and never will be a bowler, and Mr. W. G. G race , never so successful against amateurs as against professionals, has been found out by the latter now, and the pace that runs come from G loucestershire bowling is quite a phenomenon. Mr. M oberly and Mr. T ownsend cannot play often now*, and they are not so good as they have been. Messrs. C ranston , P age , and G ilbert batted well, and W oof bowled well on the easy wickets, but one victory to six defeats is a change indeed. It is a natural consequence that the falling off of one man who entirely supported an eleven and generally scored a hundred in one innings in every other match, brings the fall of his County with him. Touching the counties of H ants , L eicestershire , S omersetshire ^ E ssex , H erts , and N orfolk , there is not the slightest reason wiiy some or all of them should not in future years reach to the highest rank of County cricket, but it is beyond the limits of the present article to discuss in detail their performances; it may be mentioned, however, that, as a rule, the amateur element is paramount, though S omersetshire has in F othergill a professional imported from the North, and K ylott and W heeler are prominent in the L eicestershire team. Finally, let all Counties imitate the vigour displayed by the Com­ mittees in encouraging young players, and above all give the young amateurs and professionals a good chance and not discard thereafter one failure. The case of A bel of S urrey is a good instance in point. The S urrey C lub played him during the season of 1882 ; he got few runs but he got experience, with the result that during the past year he has been a new player. Let that principle be strictly acted up to, and County cricket will in the future, as in the past, be the means of the constant supply of cricketers to keep up our position in the national game.