Lives in Cricket No 44 - LCH Palairet

the second day they had reached 314 for five, and the following morning the innings closed for 388, leaving Oxford 184 to win. With the score at 98 for four Cambridge had an outside chance of winning; at this point Lionel and Fry added 71 in 50 minutes. Fittingly Lionel made the winning hit as he finished on 71 which included 11 fours; Oxford had won by five wickets. The match was watched by more than 40,000 spectators over the three days. This capped a good season for Oxford as they beat three first- class counties and won the Varsity match for the first time since 1887. Lionel’s performances for the university resulted in him being selected for the Gentlemen versus Players match at Lord’s starting on July 4. This honour shows the growing reputation he had as a player. Sadly the Gentlemen were well beaten by an innings. Lionel batting at five could only make 10 and 13. He was retained in the team for the second of these games, at The Oval starting on July 11. This time he opened in both innings, faring better making 30 and 22 but again his team were well beaten by ten wickets. As with the previous two years, the end of the academic year meant he could join Somerset for the rest of the season. In a major change in the Championship, all counties played each other home and away so everyone played 16 games. At this point in the season Somerset had played four matches, with one win and three defeats. Lionel had played earlier against Middlesex without success, but he joined the team at Bristol for the match against Gloucestershire starting on July 14. Winning the toss Gloucestershire (who were without WG Grace who had a bad knee) scored 202. By the close Somerset had progressed to 125 for four, with Lionel unbeaten on 75. The Western Daily Press described his innings as, ‘hard hitting, clean and well timed and his batting was applauded each time by the home crowd’. The following morning, he completed his century, and fell shortly afterwards for 104 without giving a chance. This helped Somerset to 313; Somerset went on to win easily by seven wickets. The team’s form continued as Lancashire were then beaten by four wickets at Taunton, Lionel and Hewett making fifties in the second innings. Somerset were University and plenty of sport 32