James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1886

T H EC O U N T I E SIN 1 8 8 5. 6 9 G L O U C E S T E R S H I R E . OFFICERS FOR 1885.-President , Duke of Beaufort , K.G. Vice - President , Lord Fitzhardinge . Treasurer , W. H. Harford. Captain , W. G. Grace, Secretary , E. M. Grace . Committee , Earl Bathurst , H. W. Beloe , J. A. Bush, S. H. Brookes , Sir W m. V. Guise , Bart., Henry Grace, William Henry Miles , R. Fenton Miles , T. G. Matthews , Rev. C. H. Ridding , F. Townsend, Rev. T. A. Southwood, J. A. Ware, Capt. J. S. Warren, A. P. Wetherman, W. D. L. Macpherson, Colonel A. H. Versturme, E. J. Taylor. The Gloucestershire eleven , on the whole, showed decidedly better form thanin the s u m m e rof 1884. It is true that in the twelve matchesin whichthey took part as manyas seven resulted in defeats ; on the other hand, the county w a snotin thebest of luck throughoutthe season in moreways thanone. T n somefixtures it wasnot able to place the best eleven in the field ; in nonewasit able to secure the valuable services of Dr. E. M. Grace-a great loss ; and, in addition , in eight of the twelve fixtures , it was unfortunate enough to lose the toss. Still , there was no lack of good cricket , and the double victories over Surrey and Middlesex were excellent performances , the result of capital all- round play, particularly that at Lord's over Middlesex , the finish of which was highly creditable to the Gloucestershire eleven . The chief feature of the season wasthe exceptionally fine batting of Mr. W.G. Grace. During the latter part of the season , in particular , he batted in a style worthy of his best days, and his innings in the return with Middlesex , whenhe carried his bat through for 221 , w a sthesecondbest record of the kindin the season. Thestrength of the county, as hasbeenthe case of late years , was in its batting , and in this respect it was, when properly represented , particularly strong . The brunt of the bowling fell on Mr. W . G. Grace and Woof, and, considering the unusually dry season ,and the consequent easy character of the wickets , their figures are distinctly creditable . Withtheir exception , though, the bowling at the disposal of the Gloucestershire captain has been only of a moderate order , and the want of reliable change has been, morethan anything else , prejudicial to the prospects of the county eleven . R e s u l t so f M a t c h e s . Matches Played , 14 ; Won, 6 ; Drawn, 1 ; Lost , 7. (1) Surrey *M i d d l e s e x (7) Somersetshire (11) Surrey (1 2) Middlesex (13) Somersetshire (5) Yorkshire W h e n Club. Opnts. Where played . played . 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1 Ju11,12,13 129 *129 166 ,, 18,19,20 250*180 91 Mretn-in-MshAug.3,4,5 448 100 80 Cheltenham 2 02122 277 *38 و د ود 9 wks; *1 w d inns& 5 r u n s 9 wkts; * 1 w d Opponents. W o nb y Matches Won(6) . O v a l L o r d ' s 308 119 2 wkts; *8 w d 8 wkts; *2 w d inns& 268r u n s 198 116 Clifton ,, 24,25,26 348 1 1 0 238 T a u n t o n 27,28 242 *110 105 246 MatchesD r a w n(1). R e m a r k s. B r a d f o r d J y27,28,29 287*170 236 325 *3 wd Matches Lost (7). (2) Sussex Brighton (4) Notts (3) Yorkshire (6) Lancashire (8) Notts (9) Lancashire (10) Sussex Clifton C h e l t e n h a m * SeeReviewofM.C.C. Ju15,16,17 227 172 401 Gloucester Jy16,17,18 153 222 379 Nottingham ,, 23,24,25 142 123 291 OldTrafford ,, 3031 Ag1 128 104 324 Clifton A u g .6,7,8 7 6 91 167 3,13,14,15 117 110 183 85 41 runs ,, 17,18,19 159 376 300 *239 4 wkts; *6 w d inns& 2 r u n s inns& 4 runs inns& 26 r u n s inns& 9 2r u n s *3 10wkts; *n o w d Lostb y