in 1893, and greatest of all McDonnell against a picked eleven of the North on a mud wicket in 1888, when he scored 82 out of 86, but on each of these occasions Bannerman was batting the other end; he was always a slow player, and when in with hitters hardly tried to score. But I can remember an innings of Jessop in Gentlemen and Players when F. G. J. Ford was in the other end, and it is hardly too much to say that contrasting the two hitters, Jessop made Ford look comparatively a slow player. The reason why such hitters may be classed among the heroes of cricket is because not only is it necessary to have a wonderful eye to be able to hit like this, but the match is never safe for the opposite side till the hitter is out. No captain appears willing to run the risk of declaring the innings at an end till to make the runs or to get the side out is practically an impossibility. The hitter strikes a terror that carries a tremendous moral effect with it. In a few minutes after he has gone in both bowlers and field may have become completely demoralised, and the captain have lost his head. Lastly—and this is perhaps the most important point of all
