SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



also received his first trial. He was an attrac- 

 tive bat and beautiful field, who attained some 

 distinction, but will always be memorable for an 

 appalling series of disasters, going in first for 

 Oxford v. Cambridge and for the Gentlemen v. 

 Players on both metropolitan grounds and in his 

 six efforts getting only two runs. Nicholls, who 

 appeared in a few fixtures as an amateur, was 

 the bowler who subsequently rendered such 

 yeoman service to Somersetshire. 



A victory by 7 runs over Lancashire alone 

 redeemed 1884, when Gloucestershire fielded 

 out to totals of 464 (to which they responded 

 with 484) 404, 388, 314, and 301. Painter, 

 an aggressive bat, now thoroughly justified the 

 persistent trial he had received, but the rank and 

 file were very weak. Mr. F. M. Lucas in 1885 

 compiled the first individual score of 200 ever 

 made against Gloucestershire, while Dr. W. G. 

 Grace carried his bat through a total of 348 v. 

 Middlesex, of which his share was 221. In 

 1886 county matches were played both at 

 Gloucester and Moreton-in-the-Marsh. At Not- 

 tingham, after Gloucestershire had accumulated 

 321, Nottinghamshire retorted with 343 for 

 only three wickets. Woof bowled finely against 

 the Australians, claiming 7 for 32. Mr. O. G. 

 Radcliffe first came into the side. At his best 

 he was a careful capable bat and a fair change 

 bowler. Mr. H. Hale, an Australian, of the 

 Cambridge eleven, took part in most of the 

 fixtures with only moderate success. Middlesex 

 at Clifton won by the bare margin of a wicket 

 in 1887 after a splendidly contested match, but 

 there was no seriously successful feature for the 

 Westerners in a disastrous year except the superb 

 batting of Dr. W. G. Grace, who in county 

 fixtures alone scored 1,405 runs with an average 

 of 63 ; the finest of all his great efforts for 

 Gloucestershire. Roberts, a willing fast bowler 

 destined to perform an enormous amount of hard 

 work, made his first appearance, so did Mr. A. 

 H. Newnham, a soldier whose bowling was not 

 of first-class order though given exceptional 

 opportunities in a year when the amateur attack 

 was at its worst. Another soldier, Mr. W. 

 Troup, subsequently proved a valuable bat. 

 Better results characterized 1888 and Dr. W. 

 G. Grace, without repeating his phenomenal 

 work of the previous summer was once more 

 the batting mainstay of the side. The double 

 victory over the Australians caused genuine 

 elation, against which had to be set totals against 

 Surrey and Lancashire of 48, 39, 48, and 56. 

 The opening of the county ground at Bristol 

 happily inaugurated 1889, the feature of which 

 was the return of Mr. Cranston, who scored 

 643, with an average of 29. Again in 1900 he 

 was second only to ' W. G.,' making a wonderful 

 152 at Dewsbury, where Gloucestershire won 

 by 84 runs after being 137 behind on first hands. 

 The veteran Dr. E. M. Grace made scores of 

 96, 77, 78, and 69, remarkable for a man who 



had reached the zenith of his fame seven-and- 

 twenty years before. Disasters followed in 

 1891, when the only cheerful feature was the 

 capital wicket-keeping of Board, who presently 

 developed into a lively bat. His excitable dis- 

 position perhaps prevented him from becoming 

 quite so famous as his rattling services merited. 



In the middle of June, 1 892, the renowned 

 Australian Mr. J. J. Ferris became qualified, but 

 proved a complete failure as a bowler, whilst his 

 stolid uninteresting batting in no way compen- 

 sated for his falling off with the ball. After a 

 few seasons his connexion with the county 

 lapsed almost without comment. Dr. W. G. 

 Grace was still far ahead of those he led, but 

 three new batsmen deserve mention. Mr. S. 

 A. P. Kitcat, whose appearances have been inter- 

 mittent and who, despite a cramped and inelegant 

 position, watched the ball very closely ; Mr. R. 

 W. Rice with every advantage of style never 

 became as good as his correct play warranted ; 

 Captain Luard, a capital bat, was also a smart 

 field. 1893 was depressing, but at its close, a 

 Clifton schoolboy, Mr. C. L. Townsend, (a son 

 of Mr. Frank Townsend) with leg-break, took 

 twenty-one wickets for 21 runs each. This 

 materially lightened the burden of Roberts and 

 Murch, but in 1894 he failed to come up to this 

 standard, the one hopeful sign being the trial 

 given to Mr. G. L. Jessop. 



Of this phenomenal cricketer, it is perhaps the 

 truth to say that no more terrific hitter has ever 

 scored off the best bowling with such punishing 

 power. Possessing every stroke, he literally can 

 ' knock the stuffing ' out of the finest attack, and 

 a catalogue of his achievements would occupy 

 pages." Magnificent in the field, he was at times 

 a decidedly dangerous fast bowler. When he 

 became captain he infused into what was often 

 a nebulous and scratch team something of his 

 own energy, and often bore the burden of the 

 side on his own shoulders. Like so many of the 

 greatest cricketers, he never knew when he was 

 beaten, and so long as he was at the wicket he 

 was capable of saving the most hopeless match. 



1895 was a year of great achievements for 

 Gloucestershire. It displayed the marvellous 

 renaissance of 'W. G.' who actually scored 

 i ,000 runs in May, and had an average of 50 

 for his county for an aggregate of 1,424. On 

 17 May v. Somersetshire he scored his hundredth 

 hundred, making 288 out of 463 in well under 

 six hours, this being his second century in a 

 fortnight, and in one week he made 500 runs. 

 At Manchester Mr. Jessop took five wickets for 

 13 runs ; but the feature of English cricket that 

 July and August was the wonderful bowling of 

 Mr. C. L. Townsend, who took 129 wickets for 

 12 runs apiece on all sorts of wickets : sixteen 

 for 122 v. Nottinghamshire, eleven for 36 v. 

 Yorkshire, twelve for 87 v. Sussex and thirteen 

 for ill v. Nottinghamshire being prominent 

 performances. 



39 



