James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

C r icke t in X 88 A. A R E V I E W OE THE SEASON. B y the E ditor . MpHE CRICKET SEASON OE 1881 was remarkable for the visit of I the fourth A ustralian team, and also for the extraordinarily favourable character of the weather. We may take it that our bad summers reached their worst in 1879, when on seven Mondays not a ball could be bowled at Lord’s. Since then we have gradually got better again, and last season we enjoyed a summer which had certainly not been equalled in this country since 1868. The A ustralians , whose previous experiences of our climate had been far from favourable, were simply astounded at the change, and towards the close of their trip Mr. M urdoch observed in joke to the writer of this article, that he took back all the disagreeable things he had ever said about English weather. The season was in every sense a memorable one, and the only serious fault we have to find with it is that there was too much cricket. Whatever may be urged against the visits of A ustralian cricketers, they seem to have become an established institution, and we are certainly of opinion that when it is known at the December meeting of County secretaries that the Colonists are coming in the ensuing summer, some limit should be put to the ordinary fixtures. So long as the Colonists can send us over a team equal to that of last summer or 1882, their matches, by reason of the keener rivalry involved, will always put domestic cricket somewhat in the background, and those av I io have the arrangement of our County and other matches should in future bear this fact in mind, and act accordingly. Unquestionably the abundance of cricket last season had a prejudicial effect upon the representative matches against the Colonists. Only in two or three instances were Ave able to put against the A ustralians the very best elevens at our command. Eor instance, the return match between the P layers and the A ustralians at the Oval was spoilt by the County fixtures arranged for the same dates, and there were numerous instances of leading amateurs being quite unable to spare time when they were desired to play. Perhaps the most notable case of this kind was that of ♦