James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annaul 1897

T H ECOUNTIESIN 1896. 1 2 7 S O M E R S E T S H I R E . OFFICERS FOR 1896.-President : Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, K.C.B. Committee : The President , the Vice-Presidents , the Captain, the Secre- taries , R. Bere, G. Fowler, W . H. Fowler, J. H. F o x, Rev. M. C. Good- ford, V. T. Hill , L. C. H. Palairet , F. C. J. Parsons, T. Spencer, W.Trask, J. E. W. Wakefield , Rev. A. P. Wickham, and one representative from each affiliated club . Match Committee : S. M. J. Woods(captain), Н. Е. Murray-Anderdon. Hon. Sec. L. C. H. Palairet . O F Somersetshire it can be said as of other counties relying mainly on amateurs, that they were a likely lot of run-getters with their best side . O nthe other hand, as they only wonthree out of 16matches, and lost seven, it is equally certain that their all -round cricket wanted strengthening some- where. Mr. W. N. Roe helped the side with the bat greatly whenhe didplay, which was only at the end of the season . A s usual, the eleven had to rely mainly for runs on the brothers Palairet and Mr. Woods. L. C. Н. Palairet was in brilliant form. Two promising young professional batsmen were introduced in R o b s o nand D. Smith, the formerof w h o mwasalso of service as a change bowler . Mr. Woods' bowling was handicapped by his bad leg , and Tyler had again to bear the brunt of the work . Capt . Hedley and Nichols were useful changes , but altogether , on good wickets , it was certainly not deadly enough to makesure of getting a batting side out for a moderate total. Opponents. R e s u l t so f M a t c h e s . Matches played , 17 ; won, 3 ; drawn , 7 ; lost , 7. Matches Won(3). Gloucestershire (*) Hampshire (6) Surrey... Matches Drawn(7) (2) Sussex (*) Hampshire Lancashire M i d d l e s e x (5) Sussex (*)Kent Matches Lost (7) . (1) Yorkshire (*)Middlesex (3) Surrey Lancashire Gloucestershire K e n t (4) Yorkshire E x t r aM a t c h. (7) Australians Club. Opnts Where played . Whenplayed . 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Bristol Southampton July 9,10,11 T a u n t o n Ins. Ins. Ins. Ins. W o nb y. R e m a r k s. 258 1731 5 3 155 123 runs 519 *14 262 270 8wkts.; *2w d 182 *60 172 69 9 wkts; *1 w d M a y7, 8, 9 A u g.. 27, 28 Brighton M a y28, 29, 30 424 *122 217 1525 *7 w d; 14wd,i.c . T a u n t o n J u n e15,1 6 *337 *9 wkts.d Manchester July27,28,29 367 136 338*107 *1 w k t. d T a u n t o n A u g .3,4,5 2 4 8 257 289*100*5 w k t s. d T a u n t o n A u g .6,7,8 *476 5 5 9 *6 w k t s. d T a u n t o n A u g .20,21,22 163 348 450 *36*nowkts. d T a u n t o n M a y11,12, 13 L o r d ' s O v a l 323 208 400 *132 1 7 9 1 0 6 386 5 wkts.; *5 w d Ins. & 101runs 149 110 229 *33 10wkts.; *n o w d 119 190 392 289 Ins. & 8 3runs 145 runs July23,2 4 7 8 1 6 7 251 Aug.24,25,26 219 *49 129 T a u n t o n T a u n t o n B l a c k h e a t h Dewsbury T a u n t o n M a y25,2 6 J u n e1, 2 J u n e22, 23 J u n e29,3 0 Lostby. 116 163 1 9 8 *8410wkts.; *n o w d July20, 21, 22 194 194 244 I n n s. & 6 r u n s D r a w n . *6 w d Matchesnotnumberedhavebeentreated in previous reviews.