James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

19 about the only one in England just now, and many a time has his bowling been of rare service. The success against the C olonists and Y orkshire was ^ai o'dy owing to his lobs, and it was in these two matches that oussex brought off their best performances. Mr. N ew - hams batting was one of the features of the season, for he scored veiy laigely against the two crack, counties of N otts and Y orkshire . 31r. W hi i feld has batted soundly and well, and has managed the Eleven with good judgment. To sum up, the success of S ussex during the past season is very gratifying to those who were tired of the unrivalled supremacy of the Northern Counties. The improvement in Southern cricket is the more satisfactory when the decline of (G louces ­ tershire , once the Champion County and yet in the South, is taken into consideration. The A ustralians are such a good sort of standard to measure the capacities of the various Elevens opposed to them, that it is important to remember that K ent , a Southern County, was the only County Eleven that defeated them, and S ussex the only other County that scored a moral victory over them. L ancashire has sadly fallen from its former high estate, and it is in batting that its decline is most marked. The crack batsman of the year, Mr. A. G-. S teel , played only eight innings for his County, and the loss to them on this account is difficult to estimate. Mr. R oyle was also seldom able to appear, and Mr. H ornby is no longer the batsman that he formerly was, while he has also showed a fatal inclination to drop catches. B arlow frequently scored during the past season, but his average for his County was the absurd figure of 9. Messrs. H. B. and E. E. S teel have both showed promising form, and B riggs has greatly improved and is also one of the best fields in England. The bowling of B arlow has been the best feature in Lancashire cricket, and has been excelled by no other bowler in England. An injury to C rossland ’ s arm deprived the County in a great measure of the benefits that come from great pace, whether it is howling or throwing. There is much need of new blood, and an Eleven which should i*epresent the County in every match, and we have little doubt but that there are hatching various N ottingham and Y orkshire players that will be of service in future years. There are rumours of the promise shown by a young N otts professional named P rice , son of the well-known \\ alter P rice ? It is said that Mr. H ornby is going to leave off first-class cricket, and if so a cricketer who has done wonderful feats for his County will have disappeared. His energy and his constantly playing for his County have been most praiseworthy, and under his management L ancashire has borne a great part in County Cricket, A L ancashire man cannot have the same pride in his County’s success as a Y orkshire man or N otts man; there must be a great surging of the feeling of esprit de corps when men born and bred in the place meet together and win a mutch. The hired men of L ancashire , no doubt, get to be keen themselves, but there must be a dilteience to what bond inhabitants feel themselves. . . . K ent has been very unlucky in losing several men from ill-health. In th e prime of their career Messrs. P enn and B ligh were fit for any eleven of England; both have been quite lost to their County for the past two seasons. The loss of two such players is impossible to gauge correctly. Mr. T ylecote also has vanished—another cricketer almost