James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

25 'z s* k A l A 8 L >. 1 JiJ c v:' 1 Hi a: 3? 5 : v« as I n »v d d f f r good form, when handicapped hy a bad hand, lie will probably develop into a first-rate cricketer. O ates , W atson , and W. H. D ent played the game thoioughly, but Y oung , though not a large scorer, was the most trustwoi thy bat, and his two not-out innings against jKton were of the greatest seivice to liis side. B amsay and C. JL 1) ent were a capital pair ot school bowlers, and B uxton , with his puzzling delivery, proved an excellent change, and at Lord’s was especially successful. In the held, W. II. D ent and K indeusley appeared to great advantage, while the rest of the team were generally to be depended on, A newly laid ground was certain to play badly in a hot season like 1S81, and the W inchester ground assuredly did play badly, but this is not enough to account for the team’s weakness in batting, which unfor­ tunately was very noticeable. J ones and W atson were a good pair to open tlie innings, and generally did their part well, J ones being a really good bat againt last bowling, but when they were gone there was no one who could be relied on for runs ; indeed, H kmmerde , a fluky hitter, was as likely to score as anybody. The batting was certainly very poor, but as certainly the bowling was distinctly good. S wayne did not howl as well as had been expected, he was not as steady as in tlie previous year, still he did good service, his average of 15 runs for 32 wickets reading very fairly well, when the calibre of his opponents is taken into consideration. N ictiolls , too, bowled with success, and for the first few overs was probably the best bowler in the team. T albot , another slow bowler, had not so much work to do, but got his wickets very cheaply, and C oles , a fast bowler of the bumpy order, was at times effective The fielding of the team deserves a word of commendation—it was smart and clean as Winchester fielding almost always is, and N tcholls at point was quite first-rate. Six of the team, including J ones , W atson , and N icholls , are staying on for another year, so there is every prospect of a successful season in 1885. We hope it will be so. R ugby had the reputation of being a very strong batting team before they came to London—hence their miserable failure against Marl- borough was as unexpected as it AvaxS disappointing. ^On their other performances we should judge them to have been decidedly above the average in batting, as there was little or no “ tail to the team, but their bowling was wretched; they had only one bowler woithy of the name in H ighley and he, though steady, was certainly not deadly. C oles was by far the best bat in the eleven, and some of his peifoim- ances, notably his 94? against the M.C.C. at Lords, weie full of nu 1 it. B arbour and M ott were the most successful of the others, though U ariuson (Captain), B rabby , and Bow den -S mith at times did good The fielding* throughout was good, and we hope that some service. he fielding ........ ©~ bowling talent may be unearthed when the coming season begins. I'Eaivr a t>Tx»Ai?nnnrr Pleven seems to leave deserved moie success tin vn it gained. It could only boast of one victory, over its old rival Rugby, and yet there were two or three very fair men, some of w 10 m ay 1 l undoubtedly come to the front in the future. There cam be n o doubt tha t flip foo rn vara a r>nt SO strOllO* US 111 the pieVlOUS 3 Tell. Buck 'A Ds steady bowline Avas sorely missed, Avliile as batsmen both lie and Q uinton were probably superior to anyone in last year s eleven. C n eales however, is very likely to develop into .__ •v l ? • J flnp to one long innings against inferior average is 111 a great measuie clue to -* ^ 5 t> »