"He stood up to Fairbairn's bowling not at all badly." "Shouldn't wonder," said Game, whose prejudice was stronger than his judgment, "if Fairbairn bowled down easy to him on purpose; they're awfully thick, you know." "But I didn't bowl down to him easy," replied Bloomfield; "and he cut me for two twice running." Game could not answer this argument, and was bound to admit a worse man might have been put into the odd place.
"It's a pity, though; they'll be so jolly cocky, all that set, there'll be no enduring it.

I only hope our fellows will do most of the scoring to-morrow, and not leave them a chance of saying they won the match for us." Bloomfield laughed.

"Not much fear of that," said he; "but if they did, I suppose you'd sooner beat Rockshire with their help than be thrashed ?" Game was not quite sure, and said nothing.
One might have supposed that an occasion like the present, when the picked eleven Willoughby was to play the picked eleven of Rockshire, that there would have been no place left for party rivalry, or any feeling but one of patriotic ardour for the victory of the old school.
But so deeply was the disease of party spirit rooted in Willoughby that even this match came to be looked on quite as much as a struggle between rival houses as between the school and an outside team.
The discovery was made that the eleven consisted of five schoolhouse players, five Parrett's players, and one Welcher.

More than that, the ingenious noted the fact that the two best bowlers of the eleven were Bloomfield and Fairbairn, one from each house, who could also both field as wicket-keepers when not bowling.

And the two second bowlers were Game and Porter, also one from each house.