James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1892

T H ECOUNTIESIN 1891. 6 9 S O M E R S E T S H I R E . OFFICERSFOR 1891. -President , Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, Bart. Com- mittee , The President , the Vice -Presidents , the Captain , W. H. Fowler , J. Howard Fox, Rev. M. C. Goodford , F. J. Parsons , C. J. Robinson , G. H. Rogers, S. E. Butler , R. Bere, jun. , W. Trask, T. E. W.Wakefield , Rev. A. P.Wickham, and one representative from each affiliated club . Match Com- mittee , H. T. Hewett , Captain ; T. Spencer , Haygrass , Taunton , and H. Murray-Anderdon , Henlade , Taunton , Hon. Secs . T H Eelevation of Somersetshire to the first rank, and the consequent increase of the first -class counties to the mystic numberof nine , in no waydisappointed the expectations of those who had looked forward with interest to seeing the Westerners confirm their remarkable all -round form of 1890. At first , indeed , they shaped in disappointing fashion , sustaining severe defeats at the hands of Surrey and Lancashire . But no sooner did the close of the cricket seasons at Oxford and Cambridge permit of them putting their full strength into the field thanSomersetshire quickly proved their right to the proud title of first -class county. That is to say, at the close of the summerthey could only boast five winsagainst six defeats , but then the victories were gained over several of the mostformidable of their opponents , notably over Surrey , at Taunton, in August. This, of course , was the great success of the year. Mr. L. C. H. Palairet , the Oxonian, it will be seen, heads the batting with the good average of 31, and he played manybrilliant innings , notably against Gloucestershire . Of the rest , Mr. Challen alone secured an average of over 20, though the younger Palairet-- w h oshould with practice become a really first -class batsman-the captain , Mr. Hewett, and Mr. S. M. J. Woods, were often seen to advantage . The latter supplemented his useful batting by somefine bowling , and he, with Nichols and Tyler, bore the brunt of the hard work in this department . Thougheach of themwere inclined to be expensive , the figures will showthat all , especially Mr. Woods, got through a lot of hard work. Somersetshire has a couple of reliable wicket-keepers in Mr. A. E. Newtonandthe Rev. A. P. Wickham, one of w h o m should generally be available for some time to come, Resultsof M a t c h e s. Matches Played , 12 ; W o n, 5 ; Drawn, 1 ; Lost , 6. Club. Opnts. *K e n t W h e n Opponents. Where played . played . 1 s t2 n d1 s t 2 n d inn, inn. inn. inn. W o nb y MatchesW o n(5). M a i d s t o n e T a u n t o n July13, 14 2 1, 2 2 و و B r a d f o r d T a u n t o n Aug. 6, 7 ,, 13,14,15 C h e l t e n h a m ود 1 7,1 8 255 Lord's 10wkts; *nowd 6 wkts; *4 wd 130runs 25 100 *1 3 2 *Gloucestershire (3) Yorkshire (4) Surrey *Gloucestershire M a t c hD r a w n(1). *M i d d l e s e x MatchesLost (6). (1) Surrey *Lancashire (2) Yorkshire *K e n t *Lancashire *Middlesex. *M.C.C. & Ground O v a l T a u n t o n T a u n t o n T a u n t o n 218 *50 106 160 5 wkts; *5 w d 236 *1 94 142 201 *91 175 116 194+331 154 241 My18,19,20 137 June1, 2 3 73 7 4 4 9 July 9, 10 128 132 210 *51 ,, 23,24,25 220 124 291 315 30,31 101 189 96 *198 ود Manchester A g10,11,12 156 92 215 *34 ,,24,25,26 172 124 254 *43 T a u n t o n ExtraMatch(1) T a u n t o n * See previous reviews . Aug. 21, 22 228 *28 114 140 + Innings declared , inns. &130 runs R e m a r k s. *9 wd Lostby inns. & 375r u n s 9 wkts ; *1 w d 262 runs 4 wkts; *6 w d 8wkts ; *2 w d 9 wkts ; *1 w d W o nby 6 wkts ; *4 w d