James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

83 % bc Comities in 188 ^. NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. H on . S ec ., H E N R Y BROMLEY , Esa.» N orth L ufffnham H all , S tamford . A T THE CLOSE OF THE SEASON of 1883 there was some differ­ ence of opinion as to whether or not Nottinghamshire was fairly entitled to the position of champion county. Last season no such doubt could possibly exist. Notts’ superiority to all the other counties was unquestionable. Only bona fide county scope of this review, and of these the Nottingham men won nine and had the remaining one di'awn very much in their favour. Such a record speaks eloquently for the great all-round strength of the side. Indeed, had the eleventh place been more satisfactorily filled, the team would have formed almost an ideal County eleven. The batting, bowling, fielding, and wicket-keeping were all of a very high order. The eleventh place was taken at different times by Mills, Mr. C. W. Wright, and Mr. J. A. Dixon. It cannot be said that' any one of these three cricketers was equal to the post. Mills has not fulfilled his early promise as a fast bowler, Mr. Wright can never make runs for his county, and Mr. Dixon has not yet been able, in first-rate company, to approach the long scores which he is continually in the habit of making in local matches. The refusal of the Nottingham Committee to meet Lancashire on the ground that the latter county employed unfair bowlers gave rise to a good deal of discussion, and was not generally approved of. It was certainly a very strong measure, and was open to objection on the ground of being likely to cause a cricket schism, but as an emphatic protest against throwing, which for several seasons had caused so much dissatisfaction among cricketers, it had great value. Coming to the individual'achievements of the eleven, the most notablo point is the immense advance made by Scotton and Attewell. Having radically altered his former method of play, Scotton became the steadiest and most trustworthy left-handed batsman of recent days. Throughout the season he was of the greatest value to the County, and his selection to play at the Oval in August for England against the Australians was not more than a fitting reward for sterling merit. Attewell’s improvement was quite as conspicuous. Looked upon before last season as an all-round player of only average merit, he suddenly sprancr to the front, and was admitted on all hands to be one of the very best of English bowlers. Considering how consistent were his successes, he was perhaps badly treated in not being chosen for England in one of the three representative matches. His medium-pace bowling has not any extraordinary amount of break, but he makes the ball do something both ways, and has a capital pitch. Moreover, he has, to our mind, a considerable advantage in being medium pace and not slow. Shrewsbury was clearly the best batsman on the side, but his play, though at times