A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



bowler. The wicket-keeping for Hertford- 

 shire in 1878 was shared by Mr. G. Hanbury 

 and Rev. W. H. Mackenzie, who, thanks to 

 a valuable 76, came third in the batting 

 averages. The fielding of Rev. H. T. Wood, 

 when he could play, was remarkable. Several 

 matches were played by the gentlemen of the 

 county, but the only victory was over the 

 Incogniti. 



A much more successful season was that of 

 1879, when five victories, one draw and three 

 defeats were chronicled. By far the most 

 notable event was the double victory over 

 Sussex. At Hitchin V. A. Titchmarsh 

 captured 10 wickets for 45 runs in a match 

 in which no one scored 30 ; but the home 

 side were victors with 8 wickets to spare. At 

 Brighton the same fast bowler claimed 1 3 for 

 60, a splendid performance. The highest score 

 in the match which Hertfordshire claimed 

 with a margin of 5 wickets was a capital 

 35 not out by the secretary, Mr. C. E. 

 Keyser. Suffolk were disposed of for 27, 

 John Hughes taking 4 for 13 and Mr. 

 Herbert Pigg 5 for 13, after 4 for 16. Tom 

 Pearce made 78 and took 4 opponents at the 

 wicket. At Brentwood John Hughes sent 

 back six batsmen for 22 runs, he being in his 

 fifty-fourth year. As a rule the scoring for 

 Hertfordshire ruled small in a wet year, 1 85 

 being by far the largest total. This was 

 against Somersetshire, when Mr. H. Freeman 

 hit hard for 61. Two matches were aban- 

 doned without a ball being bowled. 



Less ambitious and much less notable was 

 the tame card for 1880, only rendered 

 remarkable by the performance of Mr. 

 Charles Pigg at Hitchin on July 29, when 

 he took all ten Northamptonshire wickets for 

 13 runs, the side being dismissed for 45. 

 The solitary large aggregate for Hertfordshire 

 was 320 v. Essex, and the largest individual 

 contribution was 89 not out by Pearce. 

 Next season double victories over Essex had to 

 be set against four defeats ; but they had bad 

 luck owing to rain at Lord's. Mr. I. D. 

 Walker made 137 and Mr. T. C. O'Brien 

 (then known merely as a big hitter for 

 Kensington Park Club) scored 89 out of 115 

 whilst in. In the home match for M.C.C., 

 Mycroft taking 5 for 1 1 and Barnes 4 for 1 1, 

 Hertfordshire were dismissed for 28. Pearce 

 scored 101 v. Essex, the only contribution 

 over 60 during the season, whilst the best 

 bowling analysis was that of Mr. H. L. 

 Butler, 7 for 28. A double victory over 

 Bedfordshire and the discomfiture of a weak 

 M.C.C. side at Hitchin by 145 runs were 

 the best features of 1882. Titchmarsh took 

 56 wickets for less than 10 runs each ; but 



the batting was moderate and the side rarely 

 identical. The scratch teams had a deplor- 

 able effect on the fielding. 



A solitary victory by 7 wickets over Suffolk 

 in 1883 had to be set against seven defeats, 

 four being with an innings to spare. Hearn 

 scored 109 in the only drawn game, the 

 return with Suffolk. Breedon proved a useful 

 medium-paced bowler ; but as may be imag- 

 ined the standard was low. The effort to 

 oppose Surrey proved too ambitious, though 

 Pearce hit ten fours in his 58. Barratt 

 claimed 13 wickets for 139, and Maurice 

 Read made 97 out of 135 in an hour and a 

 half without a chance. 



With a more restricted programme in 1884 

 the only success was against M.C.C. by 

 10 wickets. Westell however with an 

 average of 43 improved on the batting figures 

 for previous seasons. He scored 188 v. 

 Essex, and Hearn was credited with 132 

 against the same county. Curiously enough 

 an identical result was recorded for 1885, 

 the only victory being over M.C.C. at 

 Lords. The margin was an innings and 

 75 runs. Mr. Herbert Pigg scored 141 and 

 Mr. Charles Pigg 74, adding 156 for the 

 fourth wicket. The collapse of Bedfordshire 

 as a county had released Mr. H. G. Tylecote, 

 a capital slow bowler, who was four seasons 

 in the Oxford eleven, from 1874 to 1877, in 

 which year v. Cambridge he took 10 wickets 

 for 1 2 runs apiece. He signalized his appear- 

 ance for his new county by taking 7 M.C.C. 

 wickets for 42 runs. The two Harrovians, 

 Messrs. H. E. and Eustace Crawley, also 

 came into the team. The latter was one of 

 the most determined 'stone-wallers ' ever seen. 

 After getting 35 and 103 not out for Cam- 

 bridge v. Oxford in 1887, he batted for an 

 hour before he was bowled, without having 

 scored, in the four-day match of 1888, and 

 in the second innings was an hour before he 

 made one, after which he was promptly 

 bowled. In the year now under considera- 

 tion 1885 he had scored 100 for Harrow 

 v. Eton. He subsequently entered the 

 gth Lancers. His elder brother scored 

 103 for Hertfordshire v. M.C.C. Poor 

 fielding mitigated even the moderate success 

 of the bowling. Yet again in 1886 out of 

 six matches for the third year in succession 

 the one triumph was over M.C.C. at Lord's, 

 Pearce atoning for a long course of ill-luck 

 by a capital 58. Mr. Herbert Pigg could 

 only spare time to play against Hants, when 

 he proved the value of his batting with a fine 

 133. Some steady bowling by Mr. Charles 

 Pigg was the only other feature worth 

 recording. For Hampshire Mr. F. E. Lacey 



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