Lives in Cricket No 44 - LCH Palairet

in the second, hitting seven fours and making only one faulty stroke. One newspaper described it as ‘an excellent innings full of style’. Despite this Oxford were beaten by six wickets. The final match of the season for Oxford was the annual Varsity match at Lord’s. Oxford were clear underdogs. Among the Cambridge team was the captain Sam Woods, a Somerset teammate of Lionel’s and at this time one of the best fast bowlers in the country. He had already played Test cricket for Australia and would later appear for England. Francis Ford, as mentioned, was a highly destructive batman and a former captain of Repton. Gregor MacGregor, Scottish born, was one of the best wicketkeepers in the country. Digby Jephson was a lob bowler but also a capable batsman who would later captain Surrey; and Stanley Jackson a fine all-rounder would later captain England. Frederic Thesiger won the toss for Oxford and elected to bat. The side was bundled out for a paltry 42, Woods (four for 25) and Edward Streatfeild (five for 14) being almost unplayable, only Ernest Smith (22) able to cope with the bowling. Lionel was bowled for nought by Woods. To Oxford’s credit they bowled well; Cambridge could make only 97. Going in a second time Oxford again struggled posting only 107, Lionel making 17, Cambridge easily reached the 54 required early on the second morning, winning by seven wickets. This brought Lionel’s first class record for the Oxford season to a close. He scored 285 runs at an average of 19, and this put him fourth in the university’s batting averages; he also took 12 wickets at nearly 29. This was not the end of the season for him, as he was now free to play for Somerset. The team had already won their opening two matches of the season. His first game against Leicestershire started at Taunton on July 14 in dull weather. After electing to bat Herbert Hewett took Lionel in to open with him (for Oxford he had generally been at six to eight in the batting order). The pair opened in brilliant style adding 115 for the first wicket before Hewett was bowled. George Nichols came in at three and the pair carried on hitting the bowling to all parts; 150 was added before Lionel was bowled for 158, he was at the wicket for three and a quarter hours and hit 20 fours and ten threes. Apart from a hard chance to the keeper his innings was University and plenty of sport 21