Cricket is a strange game; and its vagaries are part
of its attraction. For a recent example of the fallacies of form the recent University match is worth recalling. On 'the records of both teams the result was in Cambridge's "hands before the first _ ball was bowled. Sheppard and May in particular, it seemed, could be counted on for more runs than any other two out of the twenty-two players. Yet Oxford won, and fully deserved to win. Sheppard made 23 and 42, May 30 and 33. That kind of un- expected result, it may be said, is particularly common in Univer- sity matches. But see what happened immediately the match was over. May and Sheppard both went to play for their coun- ties and piled up runs in every match, May reaching the climax with 138 in his first Test Match. This week he heads the batting averages, with Sheppard the only other amateur. in the first ten. J. J. Warr, the Cambridge captain, fifth in the bowling averages, is the only amateur in the first sixteen. Yet Oxford win at Lord's. A great game, and fascinating.
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