James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

the game with the same enthusiasm as ever, and had reason to bo gratified at the measure of success that attended his persistent efforts to put down unfair bowling. M r . W. W . B ead was not quite so trustworthy as in 1883, but any idea that his batting had gone off was com. pletely dissipated by his wonderful innings for E ngland at the Oval. Against the fu ll strength of the A ustralian bowling, he scored 100 runs in less than two hours. Finer hitting was not seen last season. It was not to be expected that the H on . A . L yttelton would repeat his extraordinary performances of 1883. Against the A ustralians he was # singularly unsuccessful. Quite a new reputation was created by M r . T. C. O’B rien , who from being known only as a good batsman in the K ensingion P ark C lub , and an unsuccessful aspirant to the M iddle , sex eleven, proved one of the most brilliant run-getters in England. Up to a certain time he could not do wrong, but in the O xford and C ambridge match he was twice bowled without scoring, and, though he made a long score at Cheltenham in August, it cannot be said that he ever recovered his form of May and June. Few reputations advanced more during the season than that of M r . N ewham , who was the most con­ sistent run-getter for S ussex on fast wickets. This gentleman would be quite first-class if he could play better on slow gi-ound. At present he is a fast wicket batsman and nothing more. M r . A. P. L ucas was so much interfered with by domestic bereavements that he could not be • i * f expected to show his best form. His scores were very small, but E ngland owed a good deal to his fine defence at Manchester. M r . C. T. S tudd , the great batsman of 1882 and 1883, was out of health, and did not play in any first-class match after June. Nervousness seemed to affect him a good deal when he appeared against the C olonists . It is announced that M r . S tudd is going to China as a missionary, and it is to be feared, therefore, that English cricket fields have seen the last of him. At his best he was a batsman of extraordinary merit, and, taking his run-getting powers, his good bowling and safe fieldiDg altogether, he was certainly one of the most valuable men on a side we have ever had. Professional batting was maintained at a very high standard; in fact the best P layers ’ eleven at the present time would be stronger in batting than it has been for several years. U lyett , S hrewsbury , B arnes . B ates , S cotton , H all , B arlow , and F lowers form a body of batsmen very greatly to be respected. One of the marked features of the season’s cricket was the great advance made by S cotton . Abandoning his former