undefeated 72 out of a second innings 172 only to see his colleagues succumb to Tom Goddard and Charlie Parker as Gloucestershire challenged for the title. At Bristol in 1932, Chapman defied Goddard and Parker in making 76 out of a total of 167 but Freeman struck back with seven for 37, earning his side a lead of 73. Whit Monday was lost to the weather and on the final day, Kent, seeking runs quickly, lost two wickets for 55 before Woolley and Ames joined forces for a decisive partnership, adding 153 before the declaration at 208 for two. Gloucestershire, set 272, could do little against Freeman (six for 59) and Kent got home in style. The match was also notable for a double failure by Hammond, who was dismissed for 8 and 17. Revenge was inevitable. In August, the Canterbury fixture ended on the second day after Hammond, 136 in 95 minutes had inflicted severe punishment on Freeman: 18-0-135-3, Parker, Goddard and Reg Sinfield wreaking havoc among the Kent batsmen. The crowd thirsted for entertainment and those enterprising captains Percy Chapman and Bev Lyon arranged an extra game which was a forerunner of limited overs cricket. Gloucestershire made 194 and Kent 201 for five, Woolley scoring 86 in half-an-hour. By the dry summer of 1933 Mead was 46 but he showed no sign of letting up. Hampshire ended the season with three counties below them, Kent with only two above them but form counted for nothing at Southampton when the counties resumed their holiday fixtures for the first time since 1930. Kent were dismissed for 299, Ames retiring hurt on 69 after sharing a partnership of 123 for the fourth wicket with Bryan Valentine. Mead then dominated Whit Monday. He gave a faultless display for just over five hours, hitting a five and 23 fours in 198. Hampshire made 468 and then some fine pace bowling by the tall Oswald ‘Lofty’ Herman (10-199 in the match) left Hampshire needing only ten runs to win. Neil McCorkell, a wicket-keeper-batsman unlucky to be in competition with Ames, held six catches in the game. The days of the musical chairs nature of the holiday fixtures were numbered. Kent faced Gloucestershire in 1935, Charlie Barnett’s hundred at Bristol being emulated by Ames and Woolley, Kent winning by six wickets. They also won at Canterbury in a game played during a very hot spell. Hammond made 163 and Goddard took ten wickets for the visitors but they collapsed in their second innings and Kent got home by 60 runs. Hampshire drew both their matches against Gloucestershire in 1934 and had the worst of a rain-affected draw at Taunton in 1935. The return at Southampton was also inconclusive, although Mead, after an unbeaten 94 in the first innings, registered his 150th hundred in the second. Freeman and Woolley remained prominent in the series until the ends of their careers, in 1936 and 1938 respectively. Woolley and Mead made hundreds in the Whitsun fixture of 1936, when Fagg scored 257 (39 fours) in a match which produced 1,108 runs for three completed innings. Kent, the Championship leaders at that stage, made 502, Fagg, first in and last out after being missed when eleven, sharing a second wicket partnership of 211 with Woolley. Hampshire got away to a flyer in reply, Dick Moore and McCorkell beginning with 126 in 90 minutes before Moore left for 67. McCorkell was trapped in front by Freeman for 99 but Mead went on to 126. Herman, with seven for 59, bowled Kent out for 137 on the final day but there was not enough time for Hampshire to go in again. Ames was granted the Canterbury game in 1937 for his benefit and a year later, following a Hampshire victory at Southampton, a collection was made as part of The Record Holders 89