closely and compactly knit. The fillies by Ely, out of Lady Blanche and Heroine of Lucknow, were a useful-looking pair, though we confess to a dislike to many of that sire's get, partly on account of their want of quality, but mainly because they have in most cases seemed to us, as yearlings, to lack freedom and elasticity of movement. Lady Melbourne's daughter by St. Albans was neat, and not without character, and the filly by Saunterer out of Ariadne an excellent specimen of what Mr. Blenkiron's horse can get; and as nearly all the 'black's' two-year olds run, if not many of them have hitherto fulfilled the high promise of their youth, we may safely predict a victorious career for this very useful youngster. We hardly liked so well the Newminster-Hepatica filly as her next-door neighbour, a very racing-like specimen by Orlando from Himalaya, the dam of Imaus, who seems bound to come to hand early and give her owner that good start, so encouraging in Turf affairs as in the ordinary business of life. Sister to Little Lady has given us another edition of herself in the St. Albans filly who owns her parentage, and a filly by the same sire out of Lady Gough is quite one of the gems of the sale, and when led into the ring, even in the dearth of sensational purchasers, will be fought for as fiercely as the fair Helen by Trojans and Greeks. The first colt we were introduced to was a useful-looking one by Wild Dayrell out of Flirt, which we hope may somehow or other contrive to break the charm of ill luck which has hitherto so closely hung around the descendants of the giant son of Ion for the great events of the year. The colt by Ely from Amazon we certainly admired more than any youngster we have yet seen by the same sire, as, in addition to his possessing an excellent share of quality, he is well made all over and looks as if he would move well, though we had no chance of criticising his action on this occasion. The St. Albans-Arrow colt we have marked A 1, and in the same category may be placed the Rosabel colt by the same sire; and as good wine needs no bush, it would be superfluous to enlarge more on their merits in the limited space allotted to us. The Lady Palmerston colt, though it does not, in our opinion, quite reach the standard of excellence attained by the lastmentioned two, is nevertheless a well-bred, useful animal, and out of a mare, too, whose produce have shown some form on the Turf. The Ely-Eulogy colt (for which, with all respect, we would suggest the name of Elegy) is a fair sample of Ely's get; and should Martyrdom not belie to-day the sanguine expectations of his friends, is sure to find favour in the eyes of those who with no error of judgment are content to follow running blood.' It will be seen by a perusal of the pedigree of the youngsters that although Mr. Scott has dipped very freely into St. Albans (and with justice, considering the really great things he has already achieved), other sires of repute have not been neglected, and no foolish ban of exclusiveness has been placed upon good blood wherever it was to be found; while the stallions now located at the Royal Paddocks have received a full share of public patronage, and the choice of sires by Her Majesty's advisers

has been ratisfied by the rapidity with which their subscriptions have filled. All the youngsters appear in good, sound health, and there is now no appearance of that ungainly neck-swelling which for some unexplained reason has heretofore disfigured so many of the juveniles bred at Hampton Court.

Fain would we linger a while in Mr. Scott's snuggery, and listen to his recollections of Old Melbourne and his still more illustrious son the peerless West;' but time warns us to be on the move, and once more we emerge from the calm retirement of the Paddocks into a world of rollicking cockneydom. The last loiterers still hang about the Palace Gardens, and the snow storm' in the avenue is falling silently to its rest, like feathers upon the velvet sward beneath. We speculate not on the ancient line of kings whose voices in yonder silent chambers have long passed away, but our talk is of the Monarchs of the Turf and the giants of old days, which ever wax greater with advancing time, even as the deeds of the past are wont to shine with more exaggerated light to posterity. The grey river seems to glide into the twilight, the last rook has cawed his farewell as he flaps lazily homewards, and soon the all-devouring Babylon enfolds us again in its smoky embrace.

AMPHION.

CRICKET.

HARDLY had the season opened when large scoring became the order of the day. Mr. E. L. Fellowes and Mr. Evetts at Oxford, and Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Pulteney at Cambridge, got over a hundred each in college matches; and Mr. Yardley made a still more successful debut in the first great trial match at Cambridge, between two elevens of Freshmen, who were captained respectively by Mr. Stow and Mr. Brune. Mr. Yardley played a magnificent innings of 154, and his old Rugby schoolfellow, Mr. Tobin, made 40. Mr. Bray, late captain of Westminster, also distinguished himself by obtaining 36. Mr. Stow's side made but a poor fight against their formidable antagonists, though Mr. Thornton, who has gained in defence without losing any of his hitting ability, contributed 66 and 17. The only other important score was Mr. Steadman, who in his second innings obtained 41. Of the many bowlers who tried their hands in this match, Mr. Wilson of King's and Mr. Bray of Trinity are the best. The Seniors' Match at Cambridge was drawn. on account of rain, but so far as it was played out it showed Mr. Preston of Caius (by far the most brilliant field at the University) to be in fine batting form, and Mr. Harrison-Ward of Jesus to be quite at home in the bowling department.

Oxford was the first to appear against professional bowling, a very strong All-England Eleven going down to give them a trial in the second week of May. The Eleven was a real North-of-England team, such as we have not seen in London for years, nor are likely

to see under present circumstances. The four Cambridge men, Carpenter, Hayward, Tarrant, and Smith; the six Nottingham men, A. and J. C. Shaw, Parr, Daft, Tinley, and Tarrant, and Emmett, the representative of Yorkshire, made up an aggregation of cricketing ability against which it was hardly likely that any University sixteen could successfully contend. But on the whole Oxford made a much better fight than was expected. They began well in their first innings, the first two men, Messrs. Fortescue and Mathews, getting 40 runs between them; but after that the wickets fell rapidly, Mr. Evetts and Mr. Göschen alone of the remainder obtaining double figures. The total was 95. We were much surprised, however, at their getting rid of their formidable adversaries for so trifling a score as 131, and we were more surprised still that Mr. Miles was the bowler who contributed chiefly to this result. He got 7 All England wickets at a cost of 65 runs. Mr. Belcher bowled well, though he was rewarded with only one wicket, but five other dark blues who essayed to bowl appear to have made very slight impression. In their second innings. the Sixteen got the very creditable number of 156 runs, Mr. Evetts, whose batting has improved wonderfully since last year, contributing 36, Mr. Göschen 26, Mr. Hill 22, and Mr. Tylecote (the hero of 404 not out,' and a great acquisition to his University) 17. All England had thus 121 runs to get to win, and had lost one wicket for 25 when 'time' was called and the match was declared drawn. On the whole, we are of opinion that this was a trial creditable to Oxford batting, which has been underrated on account of the great public prestige of several of the Cambridge batsmen. We are less satisfied with the bowling, for Mr. Miles is generally very expensive at Lord's, and, in addition, does not field well to his own bowling. Five extra men in the field make all the difference to a slow bowler, and to this we attribute his great success against All England. Immediately after this was over a fresh set of antagonists arrived to try the prowess of the Oxford eleven. The Marylebone Club and Ground sent a very strong eleven, the professionals being Hearne, Price, Wootton, and West, and the gentlemen including Mr. W. G. Grace (a host in himself), Mr. Sutton, Captain Stewart (the wellknown Winchester wicket keeper), Captain Watson, Mr. Case, and Mr. Sandford. Oxford won the toss, but made a poor stand in the first innings against the bowling of Wootton and Mr. Grace. Mr. Tylecote got 18 and Mr. Evetts 21, but no one else got into double figures. Mr. Miles did not play, and Mr. Grace treated all the best bowling that Oxford could otherwise provide with scant ceremony. Two sixers, and a multiplicity of fours and threes, helped to swell his score, which amounted to 117. Mr. Grace was, in truth, a rather severe trial to Oxford bowling. It takes a pretty good ball to give him much anxiety, and of a sort that few amateur bowlers have at their command. But it must be remembered that the other ten batsmen, most of them of a superior class, averaged little more than ten runs each. In the second innings of Oxford Mr. Tylecote and Mr Evetts again took the lead. Mr. Evetts got 31 and Mr.

Tylecote 21, and Mr. Digby added 20. But as the total only reached 124, the M.C.C. won in one innings with sufficient to spare. If the match proved nothing else, it proved that Mr. Tylecote's reputation was not exaggerated, and that Mr. Evetts, while retaining all his freedom, has acquired a considerable defensive power. We must now glance at the corresponding matches at Cambridge. The AllEngland Eleven was, with one exception, the same as played against Oxford, Oscroft taking the place of Daft. A good deal more was expected from Cambridge than from Oxford, particularly in batting, the batting strength of Cambridge being so great that it was generally believed there was a plethora of batsmen, and that there would be little or nothing for several of them to do for a year or two. Fenner's also being a run-getting ground, a large score was anticipated; but, as it turned out, Cambridge did not get so many runs as Oxford in either innings, and suffered an easy one-innings defeat. Mr. Brune got double figures in each innings, 14 and 26. Mr. Thornton followed his example with 12 and 13. Mr. Welldon (from Tunbridge School) made 15 in his first innings, but the crack bats, Mr. Yardley, Mr. Money, Mr. Richardson, and Mr. Dale, quite failed to accomplish what was expected of them on their own ground. Tarrant and J. C. Shaw, were very fatal, the Cambridge man getting 15 and the Nottingham man 12 wickets. The single innings of All England shows a long list of double figures, of which Carpenter's 73 (not out) and Oscroft's 41 (run out) are the highest. Mr. Absolom did not play, and with the remaining bowling at the command of the University it was hardly possible to get rid of such an eleven on such a ground under 200 runs. In fact, the University bowling was neither better nor worse than was anticipated, but the batting made the layers of 5 to 2 on Cambridge for the match in June look uncommonly glum. The next performance of Cambridge, against the M.C.C. and Ground, was considerably better, but this time the Marylebone Eleven did not include Mr. W. G. Grace. The professionals were Grundy, Wootton, Hearne, Price, and West, and the gentlemen were Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Sutton, Mr. Green, Mr. Onslow, Mr. Round, and Captain Watson. The M.C.C. had two innings of 109 each, or about their average at Oxford, minus the contribution of Mr. W. G. Grace, and the University got 164, and then pulled off the necessary runs with the loss of three wickets. Mr. Yardley got 65, and Mr. Thornton 21 and 28. These two gentlemen have hardly ever missed getting into double figures since the beginning of the season, no matter to what bowling they have been opposed. Mr. Yardley was so finished a batsman last year that it was scarcely possible for him to improve; but Mr. Thornton has gained immensely in defence. Contrariwise, some of the older hands appear to have gone off, though there is time for them to get into form before the great event of the year. Comparing the performances of the two elevens in these trial matches it will be seen that though on paper Cambridge is considerably the stronger both in batting and bowling, yet Oxford made the better fight of the two against the

strong All-England Eleven; while the presence of Mr. Grace in the M.C.C. match at Oxford, and his absence in the corresponding match at Cambridge, made all the difference in the results of those two encounters. On the whole we see no reason to believe that the University match will be the one-sided affair so sanguinely anticipated at Cambridge. We think that the game ought to be pretty evenly contested-always assuming, that is, that the Oxford men do not miss five catches in five minutes, as they did last year. Anyhow we are persuaded that 5 to 2 or even 2 to 1 are ridiculous odds to lay at the present time, and that those who have thus plunged will very likely repent their temerity before the match is over.

We must now look at what has been going on at Lord's. At the Annual Meeting of the M.C.C. it was reported that the Committee had made overtures to the Northern players, which, if accepted, might have 'terminated the obnoxious squabbling by which English professionals have of late years so discredited themselves and so insulted their patrons. Though there seemed a chance at one time that the liberal offers of the M.C.C. would have been thankfully accepted, the negotiations ultimately fell through, and it is clear that as long as certain well-known obstructives continue to live and retain their influence, these unseemly differences will be perpetuated. From seeing Surrey v. Nottingham once more in the Surrey programme, we concluded that matters were tending to a favourable arrangement, but we were mistaken. Well: it is disappointing, no doubt, to be hindered from witnessing the best cricket obtainable in the country; but we know who will suffer the most in the end. At the same meeting it was wisely resolved that the Grand Stand at Lord's should be purchased by the Club; and thus an undesirable monopoly, by which individual members profited at the expense of the Club generally, was very properly extinguished. The opening match of the season was between the Colts of the North and those of the South. To the former eleven Yorkshire contributed three aspirants; Nottingham, Durham, and Cambridge, two each; Lancashire and Northumberland, one each: to the latter Sussex contributed three, Hampshire two, and Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, Northampton, Worcester, and Warwick one each. The wicket was difficult and not at all in favour of run-getting, and, in our opinion, Lord's is not the ground to try colts on. Men to whom it is strange do not understand its peculiarities, and those who have been accustomed to perfectly level ground and perfectly true wickets are usually nonplussed at Lord's until they have had a certain amount of practice on it. Large scores were consequently not anticipated, and large scores were not made. The South made 77 and 83, the North 59 and 40. Potter (Northampton) made 35 (not out) for the South;-by the way, why is Northampton in the South of England if Cambridge is in the North ?-and Milward (Worcester) backed him up with 21. For the North, Veitch (Durham) made 11 and 14, and Barratt (Durham) 12. If the Colts could not show off their batting powers, they were at any rate on a

VOL. XVI.-NO. 112.

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