James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annaul 1897

T H EC O U N T I E SIN 1896. 9 1 (1) Gloucestershire v. Somersetshire. Bristol , May 7, 8 and 9. Gloucestershire had only a moderate side , while Somersetshire had not its full strength . Thelatter started badly against Roberts' bowling , but after- wardsmadea good score , thanks entirely to Messrs. Woods(108) and Stanley (79),whomadetheir runs in very different styles . A total of 258 would not havebeentoo muchfor Gloucestershire hadW. G. comeoff . Asit was, Tyler bowledhimfor 17, and as Wrathall (59 not ont) and Mr. E. L. Thomas(47) alone did very much, at the end of an innings Gloucestershire were 105 behind. Intheir second innings the Somersetshire batsmenwere mostly puzzled b y W .G.'s bowling, and Mr. Woods(52) was the only one to get over 50. A t the finish Gloucestershire had279 to win, but in spite of another fine innings of 70 byWrathall, the outside hadno cause for anxiety . Somersetshire wonby 123 runs. Somersetshire , 258 and173 ; total , 431. Gloucestershire , 153 and 155; total, 308. Tyler(Somersetshire ) Mr. W .G. Grace (Gloucestershire ) Overs. Maidens. R u n s. Wickets. 6 1 . 1 41.1 2 3 1 4 1 2 2 8 2 1 4 1 0 (2) Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire. Bristol , May 14, 15 and 16. Gloucestershire hadnot its best side , and against Yorkshire's bowling the batting wasnot strong enough for the side to have really alook in . Thebest of their two innings was the second of 158, and of an aggregate of 272 in the match Mr. W . G. Grace (30 and 70) was responsible for 100. O nthe other side eight batsmengot into double figures , although Moorhouse(51) was the only score of over 40. Though they went in second ,Yorkshire after a time had the game well in hand, and won ultimately by nine wickets . Mr, Milligan's all-round cricket was of great use to Yorkshire . In addition to his 33 not out in the first innings , he took seven wickets at a cost of less than seven runs apiece . Yorkshire , 234 and 57 (1 wicket ) ; total , 291. Gloucestershire , 131 and 1 5 8; total , 289. Mr. Milligan (Yorks) ... Overs. Maidens. R u n s. Wickets. 2 6 . 4 9 (3) Gloucestershire v. K e n t. Gravesend, May18, 19 and 20. 3 3 7 Usually arun-getting match, and this time fairly up to the average , though rain onthe first two days interfered with the wicket . Kent, whowent in first , hadmade173 for half their wickets , but only got 210 after all . Gloucestershire hada good side for runs, and all the seven first batsmengot double figures , though Messrs . Hemingway(58) and Sewell alone made over 50. Kent, who were137behind on the first innings , had to bat on a wicket spoiled by the rain , and Easby (45) and Messrs . Weigall (27) and Mason (26) alone got over 20. Gloucestershire , with 47 to win, obtained them for the loss of one wicket. Gloucestershire 347 and 48 (1 wicket ) ; total , 395. Kent, 210 and 183 ; total , 393 , Maidens. Wickets. 1 3 6 Overs. Mr. W .G. Grace (2nd inns .Kent) .. 2 9 (4) Gloucestershire v. Surrey. Oval, M a y21, 22 and 23. R u n s. 3 9 Thoughthey went in first on an excellent wicket Gloucestershire , not represented by its best side , made only a poor show against Richardson , who took seven wickets for 50 runs. W. G. Grace hadmade30 and was looking dangerous whenhe was thrown out , otherwise there was little worthy of note in their total of 125 , barring , perhaps , Wrathall's free hitting for 26. When Surrey went in Gloucestershire's score was soon passed . Hayward himself