James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1878

PART I. C H A P T E R I. THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE ELEVEN. No MORE suitable frontispiece could be furnished for any work on cricket than that, which through the kindness of Mr. Grace, adorns the pages of the sixth number of our Cricketer’s Annual. Indeed, the doings of the Glouces­ tershire Eleven serve to illustrate what can be done in cricket by the example of one man followed with vigour and energy, assisted materially by the esprit de corps of the whole playing team, as well as the working committee. The eight years of the existence of Gloucestershire, a County that brought to light an Amateur eleven at a time when the two great Northern Counties shared the supremacy of County Cricket, represent a dis­ tinct epoch in the history of the game. Its first venture was against Surrey, at Durdham Down, on June 2, 1870, and, in noticing its doings up to the pre­ sent time, we shall have to add that its last match was against the same Shire, finishing on the 1st of September last. Surrey was the only County that Gloucestershire had to meet in 1870. but the .Surrey team were then somewhat effete, and their double defeat was followed by an easy win over M .C.C. and Ground, by an innings and eight runs. Their three victories in 1870 induced the Gloucestershire Committee to add to their encounter with Surrey a home and home contest with Notts, and of the five matches in 1871 three were won, one drawn, and one— the return with Notts— lost. The next season found the resources of the County developed to such an extent that Yorkshire and Sussex were added to the list of its opponents, and of the eight matches only one was lost, the memorable encounter at the Oval, when Surrey won, after a very exciting struggle by only one wicket. In 1873, owing to a dis­ agreement,the matches with Notts were not included in the Gloucestershire fix­ tures, but the season was eventful, as not one of the six meetings ended un­ favourably. A defeat by .Surrey at the Oval opened the campaign of 1874 somewhat inauspiciously, but again this was the only reverse of the year, and it is worthy of remark, that up to this time, out of twenty-eight matches, only two had been lost by the County Eleven. A dark cloud hung over the com­ mencement of the following season, which found Notts once again among the opponents r fGloucestershire. A ll the four out matches against Surrey, Sus­ sex, Yorkshire, and Notts were productive of reverses, though three victories and one favourable draw in the returns gave a slightly more promising appear­ ance to affairs at the end of the campaign. 1876 was Mr. W . G. Grace’s year, and thanks to his truly wonderful scoring the Gloucestershire Eleven carried everything before them. That season Mr. Grace was able to show an extraordi­ nary average of over 80runs for twelve innings, with a highest score of 318 not out, the largest ever made for a county, and only once exceeded in a first-class match, and that by himself. The performances of the Gloucestershire Eleven during 1877 will be too fresh to need recapitulation, and moreover their deeds are fully recorded in a later portion of this work Our object here has been merely to present a brief history of the rise of Gloucestershire, during the eight years of its career, as a Cricket County. The last season showed 2