Cricket 1885

“ Together joined in cricket’s man ly toil.”— Byron. Re(TlBtered?or^Trin8mU9k)'aIbrotd. THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 1885. P B I O B W I L L I A M A L F R E D W OO F . S carcity of bowling has done much, during the last few years, to prejudice the chances of Gloucestershire crticket, In batting, the County has always been strong, even though throughout its short career it has been indebted in a very great measure for its success to the excep­ tional talent of one particular family. Recent experience, though, has shown that while the last few seasons have been fruitful enough to produce several young batsmen above the average of County cricket, they have only resulted in the discovery of one bowler who has been of real and continuous service. It may, perhaps, be considered a hopeful sign of further fruits of the same kind that the one professional trundler whom Gloucestershire has been fortunate enough to introduce of late years is of native production and growth. W . A. Woof, who was born in Gloucester, on July 9,1859, is consequently now within a few weeks of the completion of his twenty-sixth year. Apprenticed to en­ gineering, at Grantham, it was only on the death of his father that he took to the pursuit of cricket as a profession. His first engagement was at Stubbing- ton School, near Farebam, in Hants, in 1878, and it was while there that he had to play for the Gloucestershire Colts. Though not as yet nineteen years of age he performed with no small credit against the County eleven, taking if we remember rightly, five wickets at a cost of fifty runs. His play on this occasion evidently impressed Mr. W. G. Grace favourably, for he took part in the two earliest fixtures of the Gloucestershire programme of 1878, His first show for the County was against Surrey, at the Oval, but neither there nor on the Sussex County Ground, at the commencement of the following week, j had he much of a trial, and, indeed, in the two matches he only bowled ten overs. The season of 1879 saw him engaged on the Old Trafford Ground, at Manchester, and it was not until the following summer, when he became professional to Cheltenham College, that he really became thoroughly identified with Gloucestershire cricket. His services to the County during 1880 were very valuable, and he took part in eight of the eleven matches on the programme with great success, Becuring 23 wickets at an aggregate cost of 346 runs, or an average of just over filteen runs. The death of Mr. G. F. Grace, towards the end of this summer, deprived Gloucestershire of one of its most reliable bowlers, and Woof’s help was tho more needed. He had, indeed, with Mr. W. G. Grace and Midwinter to bear the brunt of the attack for Gloucestershire during the next two years, and, on the whole, with satisfactory results. Though more expensive in 1881 than in the previous year, he did several good performances wic i tbe ball. Altogether he secured forty-seven wi kets, and of these eight were taken in the first innings of Lancashire, at Cli ton, at a cost of seventy runs. After two summers at Cheltenham College he was promoted, we should fancy through Mr. W. G. Grace’s interest, to a place on the staff of ground bowlers at Lord’s, which he joined in 1882. His first show for the Marylebone Club was attended with success, and in the match against Kent, at Lord’s, early in the summer he bowled 48 overs for 57 runs and ten wiekets. The later matches on the Gloucestershire programme found him in excellent form, and, on more than one occasion, his bowling contributed in a great measure to the success of his county. One of the most noticeable achievements of the Gloucestershire eleven in 1882, was their hollow defeat of Yorkshire at Cheltenham, and in this match Woof was seen to great ad­ vantage, being creditedwith nine wickets at a cost of 66 runs. During the season of 1883 Woof was suffering from an injured hand and was consequently not seen at his best. This accident handi­ capped him severely during the latter part of the season, and was the more annoying as he had previously been bowling with great success. For tho South, in the Whitsuntide matoh, at Lord’s, he took five wickets in the first innings of the North at a cost of 35 runs. This, though, was soon followed by a better performance on the same ground, and it was entirely his bowling at the close of the match with Notts— he took the last wickets for only 15 runs—which gave Marylebone a most creditable victory by 41 runs. Despite that the wickets during the summer of 1884 were gener­ ally in favour of the batsmen, Woof’s records as a bowler were very creditable. His figures for Gloucestershire were not so good as for the Marylebone Club, but he was, i must te