Lives in Cricket No 44 - LCH Palairet

his dismissal, with the game in the balance, George Gill (64) and some tail contributions ensured a two wicket victory for Somerset. This brought Somerset’s and Lionel’s season to an end. Somerset had a fairly good season winning seven and losing seven as they finished a creditable joint seventh, with Kent the champions. The main success was down to Braund and Cranfield as they both easily passed 100 wickets for the county. For Lionel it had been a difficult season; it took him until the last couple of matches to really find his form and he failed to score a century for the first time since 1897. He finished the season with 1,119 runs at 30.24, with only five half centuries to his name. Despite this he was offered a place on the 1902-03 tour to Australia but turned it down for family and business reasons. In November he was elected President of Taunton Athletic Club. At Somerset County Cricket Club’s annual general meeting, the club announced a profit thanks largely due to the visiting Australians. By spring of 1903 Lionel was elected as Vice-President of Taunton Vale Foxhounds. He was like his father becoming an important member of many sporting bodies. These, with his work and family commitments, would start to limit his time for playing for the county. The year 1903 would be the first real indication that work came before cricket. He warmed up for the first county game with two minor matches in poor weather; his only innings for Somerset Stragglers ended with him bowled for six. The first county game of the season brought the visit ofYorkshire; yet again Somerset beat the northern county, this time by six wickets with Lionel contributing 43 and 11, Braund with 47 and 14 plus ten wickets having a major say. Against Middlesex Lionel made 56 in the first innings adding 96 with Braund, but an indifferent second innings batting effort resulted in a 112-run defeat. Lionel followed this with a duck against Lancashire in a drawn game badly affected by the weather. On June 20, an interview with him appeared in the Dundee Courier . In the article (some comments by Lionel are strange), he starts by comparing hunting to cricket. He also complains that drawn cricket matches are a disease and advocated that all 1902 and one more good season 87