shandy-gaff, sherry, or claret, and soda are the most thirst-quenching, the lightest, and the cleanest to the palate. The latter consideration is a great one on a hot day at cricket. In a long innings the heat and the dust are apt to make the mouth very dry and parched, and a clean drink is especially desirable.
As a rule a 'Varsity captain has not much difficulty in selecting the first eight or nine of his team—there are usually that number that stand out as far and away better than all the others—but the last two or three places often cause him the greatest difficulty. There may be two or three men of the same merit fighting for the last place, inflicting sleepless nights and anxious thoughts on the captain. He cannot make up his mind, and possibly remains undecided till the very week before the big match. A Varsity team owes half its strength to playing so much together. Every man knows and has confidence in the others, and every man's full merits and the use he may be to the side are understood by the captain; consequently, the sooner the whole team is chosen the better.
Now let us briefly discuss the considerations that should guide the captain in the choice of his team. And perhaps the simplest and best way will be to assume that a captain has to choose the best team in England (our fictitious captain making the twelfth man on the side). The first thing he must do is to choose his bowlers, and, as we have said above, these must be the best four he can get, each one different from the others in style. He wants a fast bowler to begin with; he has Bowley of Surrey, and Ulyett of Yorkshire, and Pougher of Leicestershire, and that is about all. If he is a wise man he will choose Bowley, as being the fastest, and straightest, and best. This is No. 1. No. 2 must be a good left-hander; and, now that Peate is not seen as much as he used to be in firstclass matches, this is a difficult thing to get. Wootton of Kent is a very good slow bowler, but not quite good enough; so our captain should fix on Briggs of Lancashire, who is the best of the lot in this particular style of bowling. No. 3—a medium-pace right round-arm bowler—is next wanted. No captain can
