Gentlemen were left with 54 to win. A little over an hour sufficed to finish the match next day, on a difficult wicket; the Gentlemen winning by 8 wickets.
There was no need to complain of the weather on that occasion. From beginning to end it was perfect; but, as Lillywhite said in his summary of the year, "the wickets were decidedly bad even for Lord's ground."
The return match between the Gentlemen and Players was spoiled by the weather, and could not be completed; but it will be memorable for the finely-played innings of 107 not out—in the second innings—by Mr. A. Lubbock, the hard-hit 71 of my brother E. M., and the wicket-keeping of Mr. J. Round. But I took no part in it, or in any match for over six weeks.
On the 14th of July I was laid up with scarlet fever, and was unable to play until the end of August, and I did not feel very fit then. It was a bitter disappointment to me; for while my bowling efforts had been quite up to my expectations, I had not scored so heavily as I had desired, and I was hoping for better things before the season ended. That was my most successful bowling year. I bowled faster than I do at present now and then putting in a slower one, which often deceived the batsman.
The year was a great one of individual performances with both bat and ball; 200 runs in an innings was scored by Messrs. E. B. Rowley, E. M. Grace, and H. Clement, though not in first-class matches; and 100 runs was scored 171 times, but only eleven of them against first-class professional bowling. Mr. W. Townshend scored 100 runs twice in a match for Rossall School. But, undoubtedly, the great batting performance of the year was Mr. Lubbock's, who scored over a hundred runs three times two of them in
