A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



showing that he captured eighty-eight wickets 

 for less than 10 runs each, his great feat being 

 v. Nottinghamshire at Cheltenham, when he 

 actually captured seventeen for 89. The giant 

 Australian, Midwinter, appeared under the resi- 

 dential qualifications. He was a steady bat, good 

 out-field, and effective medium-paced bowler. 

 It had been anticipated that he would assist the 

 Australians in 1878, but when he was preparing 

 to play for them at Lord's the brothers Grace 

 arrived and took him in a cab to assist Glouces- 

 tershire at the Oval. He returned to Victoria 

 in 1882, and came with the 1884 side to 

 England. Unfortunately, misfortune ultimately 

 affected his brain, and he died insane. His first 

 appearance at Lord's was for Gloucestershire 

 and Yorkshire v. England in July, 1877. 

 In this match 'W. G.' made 52 and no, and 

 'Mr. A. N. Hornby 105 and 33 not out. 



The first coming of the Australians being the 

 date of modern cricket, it is suitable to mention 

 here the connexion Gloucestershire amateurs 

 have had with Colonial teams. But first it may 

 be interesting to give the achievements of the 

 Graces up to this period for their county, when 

 thirty-three victories could be set against seven 

 reverses : 



W.G. 

 G. F. 



E. M. 



Dr. E. M. Grace went with George Parr's team 

 to Australia in 1863 ; Mr. G. F. Grace in 1873 ; 

 Dr. W. G. Grace in 1873 and with Lord Shef- 

 field's side in 1892; Mr. J. A. Bush and 

 Mr. W. R. Gilbert in 1873 ; Mr. O. G.- Rad- 

 cliffe in 1892 ; Board in 1897 ; and Mr. G. L. 

 Jessop in 1901. 



It was a well-deserved compliment to select 

 all three Graces to play for England in the first 

 test march at the Oval, and it will be remem- 

 bered that Dr. W. G. Grace scored a superb 

 152. Altogether in these pre-eminent fixtures 

 he has obtained 934 runs in twenty-nine com- 

 pleted innings, with an average of 32, his highest 

 contribution being 170 at the Oval in 1886. 



Mr. J. Cranston represented England on the 

 same ground in 1890, scoring 16 and 15, innings 

 far more valuable under the circumstances than 

 many a century. Mr. G. L. Jessop has scored 

 245 in seven complete innings, the chief per- 

 formance being, of course, his stupendous 104 

 at the Oval in 1902. 



Dr. W. G. Grace has represented the Gentle- 

 men on every occasion until 1905 that they 

 have been pitted against the Australians, and he 

 has played for M.C.C. on eleven out of fourteen 

 occasions. He also captained the fine eleven 

 that Lord Sheffield selected, as well as twelve out 

 of the fifteen matches played by the South 

 against them. Altogether in this country his 

 average against the Australians is 35-94 for an 



aggregate of 4,329 in 121 completed innings, 

 whilst his 158 wickets have cost 3,281 runs, 

 yielding an average of 2O'i2i. Mr. J. A. Bush 

 kept wicket for the Gentlemen in 1878 and 1884 

 against the Australians, and Messrs. E. M. and 

 G.F. Grace and W. R. Gilbert played in 1878, 

 Messrs. A. H. Newnham and O. G. Radcliffe 

 in 1888, and Mr. G. L. Jessop in 1905. For 

 M.C.C. and Ground against the Colonials Woof 

 played in 1884, Board in 1896 and 1899, 

 Wrathall and Mr. C. L. Townsend in 1899. 

 It may be added that Gloucestershire twice beat 

 the Australians (on both occasions in 1888) and 

 have been defeated twelve times. 



Reverting to 1878 the best feature was a 

 clever victory over Lancashire on a soaking pitch 

 by five wickets, Dr. W. G. Grace and Mr. W. 

 R. Gilbert bowling unchanged, and Mr. G. F. 

 Grace contributing 73 not out. Next summer, 

 Somersetshire was met as a minor county, and 

 had to field to an innings of 411, the champion 

 and Mr. F. Townsend both running into three 

 figures, though Mr. A. H. Evans was bowling. 

 Dr. W. G. Grace was far ahead of his comrades 

 in that wet summer, most of the side playing 

 with a conspicuous absence of their old dash, 

 but he averaged 54 for 709 aggregate, and took 

 76 wickets for 12 runs each, whilst the rest did 

 very little indeed. It was notable that the 

 defeat sustained at the hands of Nottinghamshire 

 on the Cheltenham College ground was the 

 first ever sustained by Gloucestershire at home 

 since the institution of the club. 



The excellent slow bowling of Woof materi- 

 ally assisted the eleven in 1880, and though 

 handicapped by the lack of a wicket-keeper of 

 any pretensions whatever, Gloucestershire showed 

 fine cricket in August, with ' W. G.' in marked 

 superiority to the others. Decisive improvement 

 on the whole season was however shown in 

 1 88 1, when six victories were set against two 

 defeats, but seven defeats against two victories in 

 1882 reversed this. Shaw and Morley sent 

 back the Westerners for 49, and a rattling game 

 with Lancashire ended in an adverse margin of 

 13 runs in an aggregate of 901. Indeed, it was 

 marked weakness in the batting after the Graces 

 and Midwinter had been disposed of which 

 accounted for much of the balance on the wrong 

 side. The Australians compiled 450 at Clifton, 

 Mr. T. Horan making 141 not out. The only 

 first-class county beaten in 1883 by Gloucester- 

 shire was Lancashire, and this had to be set 

 against six disasters. The feature in the Mid- 

 dlesex engagement was the enormous partnership 

 of 324 runs compiled by Hon. Alfred Lyttelton 

 (181) and Mr. I. D. Walker (145), the total 

 being 537. Dr. W. G. Grace was in great 

 run-getting vein, and Messrs. Cranston and 

 Moberley also made centuries. Mr. W. W. F. 

 Pullen, a big hitter, by this time was in the side, 

 and so was Mr. H. V. Page a keen, useful 

 cricketer in every department. Mr. J. H. Brain 



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