James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1888

T H ECOUNTIESIN 1887. 7 5 (9) K e n tv. M i d d l e s e x. Canterbury , August 4, 5, and 6. The concluding fixture of the Canterbury week, and, like its predecessor , memorable for high scoring . The hometeam batted first , and accounted for a total of 241 , Mr. Leslie Wilson contributing 63-a first -rate innings , which com- prised noless that ten fours of these . W h e nMiddlesex wentin the Kentbowling wasagain treated in the most merciless manner. O fthe large score of 412 , Mr. A. J. Webbecontributed no less than 192 not out, and accomplished the great feat of carrying his bat through the innings . Of his manybrilliant performances in first -class cricket it is doubtful if he ever was seen to greater advantage . Mr. Stoddart (46), Mr. J. G. Walker (40) , Mr. E. H. Buckland (34) were the next highest scorers . Witha balance of 171 runs against them, and rather more than a day left , Kent had another uphill game to play . They proved equal to the occasion , however, and in the end left their opponents with 194 runs to win. Mr. W. H. Patterson played a most careful innings of 99, while Mr. L. Wilsonfollowed up his capital display on the first day with a well -hit 79. In all 1,017 runs were totalled for thirty wickets , or an average of 24 for each bats- m a n. Middlesex , 412. Kent, 241 and 364 ; total , 605 . (10) K e n tv. Surrey. Oval, August 22, 23, and 24. This match, like its three immediate predecessors at the Oval, ended in adraw. It wasabout the most interesting county match of the season , more particularly as at one period of the game the not improbable defeat of Surrey would have materially altered their position as to county honours . Winningthe toss , Surrey elected to bat on a slow wicket , andWootton being on the spot dismissed them for the small total of 136 runs. H etook seven wicketsfor57runs, cleanbowling Messrs . Shuter , Key, W. W. Read, Abel, and Lohmann. Kent, on an improv- ing wicket, headed this total by 120 runs. Surrey's second venture was most noteworthy for the remarkable stand made by Messrs . Key and W. W. Read. Alittle over three hours saw241 runs addedto the score , of whichMr. R e a d scored exactly a hundred. His partner's splendid innings of 179 runs lasted over four and a half hours , and included a six , a square -leg hit , off F. Hearne out of the ground. The other nine batsmen only managedto score 52 runs between them. Kentrequired 224 runs to win, but were content to play for the draw, and at the close still required 56 runs with four wickets to fall . Kentwere with- out G. Hearne, and Surrey minus Mr. Roller , Beaumont, and Jones . Surrey , 136 and 343 ; total , 479. Kent, 256 and 168 (six wickets ) ; total , 424. (11 ) K e n tv. Notts. Maidstone , August 29, 30, and 31 . Kentshowed up very badly in this the concluding fixture of the county season . Rain interfered greatly with the game, and the slow bowlers had it muchtheir own way. Messrs . F. M. Atkins (26 and 32) and W. H. Patterson (19and 30) were the only batsmen able to makeany show for the hometeam, For their opponents , the stand made by Shrewsbury (53) and Mr. J. A. Dixon (34) for the first wicket in their second innings was the only noteworthy inci- dent. Notts wonby 127 runs . Attewell bowled with great success , taking eleven wickets for 57 runs . Notts , 128 and 201 ; total , 329. Kent, 109 and 97; total , 206.