Outside the inner circle of athletic enthusiasm here, there lie several sports which merely arouse the interest of men from certain sections of the country who have been identified with them before entering on their college course. If defeated, these men are greeted with a "Well, what else could you expect?" If victorious, the general expression is, "what difference does it make? its only such and such a team." In the face of such inertia it can be understood how hard it is for men to keep up energetic practice, and how it often happens that the practice does not amount to much.

Cricket is a sport which has always been in somewhat this position here, and it is probable that the feeling among the players that it didn't affect the University much whether they won or lost, has been responsible for many Harvard defeats in the past. Last year there were a number of exceptionally good and enthusiastic cricketers in college, and the result was that the game had a temporary boom, occupied the minds of a number of men throughout a longer preparation than usual, and finally ended the season with a clean record of victories. This year the example has been followed yet more conscientiously in regard to the training, and the success of last year has had the effect of bringing out some raw material. The team, however, has been much hampered by the loss of several of the '97 eleven, and could hardly have been expected to come up to its standard. As a matter of fact though, they have done remarkably well, have defeated several strong elevens, and gave the champions a close rub on Monday. They have had to compets with colleges where cricket occupies a much more prominent position than it does here, and we would ask that they be given credit for their efforts.