James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1884

48 Wo say this simply in justice to the other school teams of the year, and not in the least to disparage T onbridge ' s performances of last season, for we think thev would have won most matches played against good teams - t h e y certainly had all the best of it in a struggle against a fairly stron'V MC.O. team—but their success would hardly have been so conspicuous had the teams opposing them been of a higher class. R ashleigh was by far their best bat, combining w ith a good style admirable scoring powers: his average of 43 for twelve innings speaks for itself, and i f lie shows due improvement next year he should be jig out of the common as a school batsman. X jk F lem ing and A. O. H ubbard were both accredited from time to time with long scores, and W est , the captain, besides showing considerable promise as a bats­ man. was a fairly successful bowler. The last named has matriculated at Oxford, and we shall watch his career amongst the representatives of more famous schools witli interest. The only really good bowler of the team was G. H ubbard , and even he was at times uncertain. Still an analysis showing the capture of 41 wickets at a cost of 325 runs must be pronounced as decidedly good. The blot in the play of the team was their fielding, which, except in the case of M arshall , was inferior: bad fielding in a school team is inexcusable, for excellence is always to be attained by scrupulous care and practice. Eight of last year’s team will again do battle for the school next summer, including R ashleigh , L e F leming , and A. 0. and G. H ubbard , and with such a nucleus the eleven should have a great future before them. A t a ll events, Jet us hope that their play will not be marred by bad fielding—an evil contingency which early attention and.persevering practice cannot fail to avert. W ellington has once more vindicated the wisdom of the suggestion oo which prompted the relaying of their ground, referred to in these pages last year. The plan has borne fruit, not only in a much improved school team, but in the firmer hold which the game has, as a seeming result, taken in the school. That the match last year between W ellington and C harterhouse could not be finished must be a matter oi regret, for so far as it went it was of a most even nature, and promised an exciting finish. The other school match w ith H a ileyburv , which would also in our opinion have produced a close struggle, was for unavoidable reasons abandoned: the old rivals w ill no doubt meet with all the greater zest next year. W ellington possessed a very likely bat in O roome , and it is a matter for congratulation that his services will in all probability be available for them for some time to come. His play was unfortunately much marred by a self-confidence which gave signs of degenerating into carelessness; but i f he can nip this fault in the bud lie should develop into a first-class player. Prince C hristian V ictor , who is also still staying on at school, proved himself a correct hat and a useful bowler, and generally gave good promise for the ^ ., , , „^ ^ gone to Oxford, often con- tnbuted runs, and M ilner (their captain)—who is now at Cambridge— was a successful bat, and a bowler of more than ordinary merit. The fielding of the team throughout, especially in the case of B unbury and opiller , was particularly smart. A novel feature in the cricket nstory oi the school was the introduction, last season, of compulsory ci icket on half holidays. The result of the experiment w ill be interesting 0 ^ ne thing is certain, viz., that from the cricketer's point of view I