James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion 1885

b 7 HOWLING AVERAGES. Runs Wkttf. Shavr... ••• ^tteweil ... Flowers Mills ••• ••• Barnes W. AVrigbt ... I n n s . . . . 19 ... 18 ... 15 ... 7 ... 15 ... 16 Overs. 637.1 646.2 292 90.2 297.3 352.2 M a id en s . 376 371 147 39 147 171 R uhr . 608 670 401 140 401 498 Wkts. 64 55 25 7 18 21 p e r .Wkt. 9.32 1 2 . 1 0 16.1 2 0 22.5 23.15 p e r In n s . 3.7 3.1 1 . 1 0 1 1.3 1,6 Gunn (17 overs, 12 maidens, 28 runs), bowled in two innings. M I D D L E S E X . H on S ec ., P . M . THORNTON , E 6 Q., B attbjiska R ise , S .W . f | THOUGH MIDDLESEX COULD SHOW A YERY FAIR RECORD I —four matches won, three lost, and three drawn—it cannot be said that the county enjoyed a particularly successful season. Of the unfinished games, two would almost certainly have been lost and the other one had made so little progress, that no idea could be formed of its result. At the commencement of the season the prospects were excellent, but various circumstances combined to place the team at a disadvantage. First and most serious was the illness of Mr. C. T. Studd. This gentleman, who in 1883 had been the mainstay of the eleven, played no first-class cricket at all after June, and his loss was absolutely irreparable. His batting was greatly missed, but there were other good batsmen in the team, and the most serious matter was the loss of his bowling. In the return matches, Burton was really the only bowler on the side who could for any length of time be trusted to keep up one end. Most of the other bowling was very poor indeed, and even if the County made a good score, there was a strong probability that the other side would make a still better one. Mr. C. E. Cottrell was a better fast bowler than anyone else who was tried, but unfortunately he only played in the return match against Kent at Canterbury. He would certainly have been useful in the returns against Nottingham­ shire, Yorkshire, and Gloucestershire. Another misfortune for Middle­ sex was the inab ility of Mr. A. F. Lucas to play in more than one county match. As a set off against the absence of Messrs. Studd and Lucas, however, there was the gain of a very brilliant and dangerous batsmen in Mr. T. C. O’Brien. When tried for his County in previous years, MY. O’Brien had not shown any special capacity, and it Avas perhaps the surprise of the season to suddenly find him one of the most successful batsmen in the country. To Middlesex he proved invaluable, scoring 494 runs, Avith the splendid average of 35.4. The two hundreds h it for the County during the season Avere both made by him and, curiously enough, they Avere both scored against Glouces­ tershire. The general figures of the batting averages Avill shoAv hoAv formidable Middlesex Avould be if only the boAvling could be strengthened. , , . . , , , . , Mr. I. D. Walker was always at his post, and batted Avith a consistent excellence that Avas worthy of his best days. Cricketers have heard with regret of his intended retirement from first-class matches.