James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

23 B y K ey . A. F. E. FORMAN. t m H E MERITS OF THE VARIOUS TUBLIC SCHOOL ELEVENS I always form a welcome theme of conversation, whenever two or three cricketers meet together. Even last summer, when the Austi'alian fever was at its height, we heard many a discussion as to the respective merits of the School teams. Such discussions can never be brought to any very satisfactory conclusion, because it is absolutely impossible to prove one’s assertions. You cannot demonstrate, for instance, that Eton is stronger than Clifton, or Rugby than Uppingham, as there are no sufficient data to go upon. Hence the would-be critic has to keep his eyes and ears open, and mentally jot down the various items of interest that he may come across. From all sides we have heard the same story—a strange absence of striking individual merit in the Public School cricketers of the year, combined with a general excellence of the teams. We cannot help thinking, much as we deplore the absence of the S teels , S tudds , and L ytteltons of the past, that this general excellence ought to be a source of the utmost satisfaction. The marked superioi-ity of one or two members of a school team is often apt to spoil an eleven; the others learn to rely so completely on the “swells,” that if they fail, as even a W. G. must fail sometimes, the whole team collapses. Over and over again has this truth been exemplified, and therefore all those who have the interests of Public School Cricket at heart, will hail with delight the accounts, which we append. A further cause of congratulation is to be found in the fact, perfectly indisputable this year, that the smaller schools are gradually coming to the front, and it is quite on the cards, that in 1884, Eton and Harrow would have found foemen worthy of their steel in the boys of Tonbridge or of Repton. From both these schools, early in the season, we heard rumours of very strong teams, and certainly then- later performances more than confirmed what we had been told. It is true that schools of this stamp do not, as a rule, meet such powerful opponents as their larger and better known brethren, still we have little hesitation in saying that in R asiileigu and C ochrane were probably seen the two best performers of the year. It is no part of our purpose to draw comparisons, invidious sometimes, untrustworthy always, between the different schools; rather we would state the subjoined facts, and leave our readers to draw their own conclusions.