James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

8 England should not he absolutely got rid of. We sincerely trust that there w ill he no going back on this important question, f0P the permission of throwing could not but have a most disastrous effect upon the well-being of the game. The thanks of all true cricketers are due to L ord H arris for his energetic and persevering action in this matter. L ord H arris also deserves credit for having called attention to the fact that the bats in general use exceeded the legal width. How general this abuse had become was made evident by the fact that nearly all cricketers appeared last season with bats that had been shaved down to the proper size. The new Cricket Code, published by the M.C.C. in the summer of 1883 was submitted to a special general meeting in April, and one or two alterations were carried. L ord H arris introduced a new rule to strengthen the hands of the umpires in ensuring fair bowling, and in the matter of one-day matches the regular custom of deciding on the firs innings, where only one innings each had been completed, received legal sanction. The M.C.C. used to adhere to the old plan of only deciding a match when it was absolutely played out, and so every year large numbers of their one-day engagements were left drawn. The G entlemen and P layers ’ match at the Oval lost a great deal of its interest through the weakness of the amateur eleven, and the P layers gained a very easy victory. At Lord’s, howevei', both sides were strong, and a really splendid match resulted in a victory for the G entlemen by six wickets. The chief feature of both matches was the ** V 41 L a . * exceedingly fine batting of U lyett and M r . W. G. G race . U lyett ’ s performances have never been equalled by any professional. In these matches he scored 134 at the Oval, 94 and 64 at Lord’s: in all, 292 runs for three times out. His success was the more remarkable, as up to this time he had been batting with very moderate results. M b . G race ’ s scoring was not quite so large, but he, for three times out, made 211. His second innings of 89 at Lord’s, on a breaking-up wicket, was quite Ivortliy of him, and he and M r . S teel fairly won the game. The O xford and C ambridge match resulted, in accordance with general expectation, in a handsome victory for O xford . Once or twice during the game the Light Blues looked to have a good chance, but after luncheon on the second day their batting collapsed entirely. O xford had incompai’ably the better eleven, and would not have lost one match