being the weak point. Neither Mr. W. W. Read, Mr. J. Shuter, nor Abel did so well as he had done in the past; but, fortunately Lohmann was very effective with the ball, and he was well supported by Beaumont, Bowley, and a promising colt—Sharpe.
Lancashire came out better than it had done for a year or two. Two importations, Mold and A. Ward, had qualified by residence, and valuable additions to the eleven they proved to be; Mold as a fast bowler, and A. Ward as a batsman. Briggs was as successful as ever with both ball and bat; and Watson showed that, though he had played for nearly twenty years, his bowling had lost none of its sting.
Gloucestershire was not so successful as in the previous year; but at last it possessed a ground of its own, which was admitted to be one of the best in the world, and the Committee became hopeful of improvement at no distant date. It was still lacking in first-class bowling.
Yorkshire met with disaster after disaster, and the season was the worst the county had experienced since it was formed.
Sussex had a most disappointing year also.
An English eleven sailed from England to South Africa at the end of 1888, and played till the end of March, 1889. Australia and Canada had been visited repeatedly; but this was a new departure, and indicative of how the game spreads wherever Englishmen congregate. The arrangements were conducted by Major Warton; and the team was captained by Mr. C. A. Smith, of Sussex. The team was not a representative one, but it had in it such well-known players as Abel, Ulyett, Maurice Read, and Briggs, who gave the colonists a fine illustration of all-round cricket. Abel's doings with the bat were noteworthy—22 completed innings, 1,075 runs, average 48.19; while Briggs astonished everyone
