James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

21 wonderfully good, lie has lost the power of pulverising bowling in the way he used to; in fact, now lie can almost be described as a defensive bat, and some of liis greatest feats in 1881 were in other than County matches, this is, in fact, the first jrear since he really began to be the phenomenal bat that lie is that he lias not reached a century in County matches. And this is in a dry year, and three other members of the County have scored more than a 100 runs. The discussion of the doings of unhappy D erbyshire is a sad, though an easy, task. It is seldom indeed that there is such a complete and rounded-off record as that of D erbyshire last season. Ten matches and ten defeats: a simple but melancholy tale. Before saying anything more about D erbyshire , it must be remarked that in only one match last year, and in only one in 1883, were the County fortunate enough to win the toss. Twice in eighteen matches, and this to a County that is very weak in batting and not very strong in bowling. It is difficult to say much about so unfortunate a County—only on three occasions in a year remarkable for high scoring did they succeed in getting 200 runs. The total inability of the committee to find one trustworthy bat is very strange; they are the hard muscular men of the North who form, as Mr. G ladstone says, the intellect and the thoroughness of England, and yet, though N otts and Y orkshire , neighbouring counties, bring out a strong contingent of cricketers, D erbyshire altogether fails to do so. Some promise in the beginning of the season was shown by S ugg , who formerly represented Y orkshire in a few matches, but this was counterbalanced by the great falling off in the play of Mr. D ocker , who altogether failed to maintain liis previous form. M arlow , Mr. W alker , C ropper , and S iiacklock are not a bad lot of bowlers, and if only two or three batsmen could be found, and a good captain who thoroughly understands the game, there might still be a good future for this County. It is impossible to go into the performances of other than first-class counties except in very general terms, as space does not permit it. N orthamptonshire , L eicestershire , E ssex , W arwickshire , H ants , and S omersetshire maybe classed as the second-class counties. W armickshire is fortunate in possessing the howling of Messrs. R otherham , W hitby , and B uchanan , and if Mr. M. P. L ucas could be induced to take- some part in his adopted County’s matches they would probably still further improve. E ssex has found a keen cricketer and supporter of the game in Mr. C. E. G reen ; and L eicestershire has a nucleus of professional players in K ylott , W arren , and W heeler , but they, too, want some batting, like several other counties. H ampshire has a good deal of batting in Messrs. P owell , L ongman , and L acey , and as long as they continue to play all but the first four or five Counties will probably oe tolerably successful. When the whole season is taken into gradual shifting of the various Counties, and G loucestershire is a great feature N otts and Y orkshire are always near , . Southern Counties in the shape of S urrey and S ussex is \ei} mai , and the latter have twice defeated the horny-handed sons of You kshi u l in the last two seasons. K ent defeated the A usiralians , a fe it t lat even tlie proud men of N ottingham have nut been able to do. S ussex r l account there seems to be a The decadence of L ancashire in the last two seasons’ play, the top, but the success of