James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

20 equal to the best form. When the history of County Cricket comes to be written, the achievements of Lord H arris will be found to occupy a prominent place. His very large scoring has been all the more remarkable, because K ent have played the best counties, and have con­ sequently often met Avith defeat; but yet it is in those matches that Lord H arris ' s performances have been so great. Last season he secured the very large aggregate of 889 runs, and an average of 41 runs per innings—the°highest County average of the year. He avhs not Avell supported by the other members of the team. Mr. M ackinnon played but seldom, and the same must be said of Mr. C. W ilson . The great feat of defeating the A ustralians was one to make the County proud of themselves. There Avas no luck about it—it Avas a fair victory : and it must be very satisfactory to be able to say to other counties, « \y e oniy did it.” The bowling of the ele\ren, though not really strong, is much better than formerly. The great improvement shown by Mr. O iiuisto P iibrson , the consistently good boAvling of W ootton , and the useful changes of A. H earne , G. G. H earne , and H. H earne , have a ll contributed to shoAv that K ent is not to be despised in this depart- ment. Mr. K emp only took part in three matches, and a very useful man Avas thereby lost to,the County. It reems that K ent are in need of batting, and that, unlike the Southern Counties in general, they are almost better in bowling than in batting. • G loucestershire scored but one victory, and tha t Avas by seven runs. Considering the very high averages obtained by five or six members of the team, this ill success is entirely to be traced to great Aveaknoss in boAvling. Mr. G race ’ s method is so thoroughly w e ll knoAvn notv, that lie does not get many w ickets and is considerably more expensive. W oof is the sheet anchor of the team in th is respect, and has, on the whole, boivled Arery Avell, lor the County has so little change that lie Avas forced to continue boAvling after being collared, and this is always unfair to a bowler. A fter these tAvo, Mr. P age , of the Oxford University Eleven, is about the only boAvler, unless Mr. G ilbert is still to be reckoned a boAvler. Two players have made their mark this year in the persons of P ainter and Mr. G rain . P ainter had the highest aggregate of the year, and his innings against L ancashire is entitled to the highest praise. Mr. G rain is a dangerous batsman, and if he trains on looks like Gentlemen and Players form. Mr. W. P. P ullen also scored largely, and is a \rery dangerous man against any howling. This County lias been as unlucky as K ent in the losses it lias sustained of players in full vigour of play. The untimely death of Mr. G. E. G race , and the loss of M idwinter , and the professional pursuits of Messrs. M oberley and T oavnsend —all these contribute to Aveaken G loucestershire . It all tends to the establishment of one principle, namely, that if a County Avishes to establish itself permanently in the first eight Counties, it must ha\’e a nucleus of professional strength. The most eminent professional player that G loucestershire has ever been assisted by, was M idwinter , and lie can hardly be said to have learnt his cricket in England at all. The services of G regg Avere enlisted on G loucestershire ’ s behalf during the past season, hut N ottingham has furnished him ; and, with the exception of W oof and P ainter , the pro­ fessional element may be said to be almost nil. Mr. G race cannot be expected to last for ever, and though his play during last season Avas