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278 stop. The long-stopping wicket-keeper—that is, the wicket-keeper that lets nothing pass him—is a marvellous testimony to the excellence of modern grounds, the accuracy of modern bowling, and the skill of the men themselves. The sight of Blackham, standing close up to the wicket, stopping Spofforth and Palmer would have made our forefathers look on aghast. In the well-known print of the Sussex and Kent match in 1840, old Lillywhite is bowling, and he was a slow medium-pace bowler; yet, though Tom Box was reckoned the best wicket-keeper of the day, he has a long-stop to Lillywhite's bowling.

We may now try to enumerate the greater fields of cricket history. We read of the marvellous feat of Mr. T. A. Anson at the wicket, when he stumped a man off a leg-shooter of Alfred Mynn, one of the fastest bowlers of the period. We yield the place of honour to Mr. Anson for an individual feat, but it is alleged to have taken place a long time ago, and is it certain to be true? The greatest wicket-keepers since 1860 in England have been Lockyer, Pooley, Pilling, and Pinder, and we ask Plumb and Sherwin to forgive us. To discriminate between the first four is impossible; we merely remark that to genuine slows of the pace of Southerton and Peate, we reckon Pooley to have been the best that ever lived, and to the very fast, Pinder at his prime was unequalled. Still Pooley was relatively not so good to fast, nor Pinder to slow; and, on the whole, we think that these four may be put on an equality. The best wicket-keepers of old days were Mr. Herbert Jenner, Mr. T. A. Anson, Mr. W. Ridding, and Mr. W. Nicholson among amateurs, and E. G. AVenman and Tom Box among professionals. The best English amateur wicket-keeper that ever lived, in our opinion, is Mr. Alfred Lyttelton, and besides him, since 1860, there have been Mr. Leatham, Mr. Bush, Mr. Newton, and Mr. E. F. S. Tylecote.

Perhaps a word would not be out of place here respecting Mr. Blackham, the celebrated Australian wicket-keeper. When the Colonial Eleven came over in 1878, 1880, 1882, and