Lives in Cricket No 39 - Alec Watson

37 31, but bowled only nine overs. The county’s season ended with a visit to Clifton where Lancashire, and Alec, failed to achieve much against Grace’s men, though he did bowl WG for 49. However, his season was not over, for he was selected for the Players against the Australians at The Oval. Then, because Edward Barratt took all ten Australian wickets in the first innings, there was little for Alec to do, and he did not bowl in the second; while Spofforth had his wicket cheaply twice. No Test matches were played by the 1878 Australians, but in his two outings against them Watson achieved little with the ball, though his opportunities were limited. Over the season as a whole his batting average declined to barely 9. He took a total of 49 wickets, little more than half of those in 1877, but still at an average of about twelve: apparently hardly good enough for him to be considered for Lord Harris’s side for Australia. Wisden makes much of the arrival of A.G. Steel as a bowler, but nothing of Watson and, as noted above, the fact that he bowled but little in a number of matches in succession suggests that he may have been carrying an injury. Lancashire’s first-class matches of 1879 began at Trent Bridge, where Watson failed to take a wicket; he seems to have been relatively unsuccessful on the Nottingham ground. In the opening match at Old Trafford he did not bowl at all as Barlow and McIntyre quickly demolished Derbyshire; sometimes even Watson was restricted in bowling opportunities as his teammates made hay. Against Kent Watson was a bit busier, with a ‘five-for’ (39- 18-42-5). In the return against Derbyshire his main contribution was with the bat, 54 for once out. Against Yorkshire Watson’s efforts were confined to four runs with the bat as Steel, McIntyre and Crossland hustled the visitors out twice. The same happened in the match against Gloucestershire, when Steel and McIntyre’s efforts again restricted Watson to one over; again Alec was facing the consequences of there being an array of strong bowlers in the side. At least he had the consolation that, although Steel was born in Liverpool, he was from a Scottish family that still farms, and plays cricket, in Dumfriesshire. Alec’s only match against a non-county side in 1879 was Lancashire’s foray to Lord’s. This time he was allowed to deliver only 22 overs in the match as other bowlers did the damage. In the return ‘Roses’ match and against Nottinghamshire his chances were again restricted by Steel’s and McIntyre’s effectiveness. Then there followed the end-of-season tour. At Canterbury the The Rowley Years