runs. This occurred at Lord's in 1896. In C. E. de Traffbrd, the present captain, Leicestershire possesses one of the hardest hitters and fastest scorers in England, and in Woodcock one of the fastest bowlers. Among its amateur players have been numbered, or are numbered, R. A. H. Mitchell, T. S. Pearson, H. P. Arnall Thompson, G. S. and C. Marriott, C. J. B. Wood, and Dr. R. Macdonald, and, of professionals, King, Knight, Geeson, Whiteside, Parnham, Rylott, Wheeler, Warren, and Tomlin.
The Middlesex County Club first saw the light in 1864, the year of Lancashire's birth, but, like all other counties, had played matches long anterior to that year under the style and title of "Middlesex"; in fact, in 1802 and 1803, as mentioned before, twenty-two of Middlesex encountered twenty-two of Surrey. Middlesex is as much "the county of the Walkers" as Gloucestershire is "the county of the Graces," for the name of John Walker is identified with the county as closely as are the initials V. E., R. D., and I. D. Indeed, it is to their perseverance and enthusiasm, to say nothing of their unbounded generosity, that the club ever existed or continued to exist. The first home of the club was a ground near the Cattle Market, in Islington. It then migrated to the Athletic Club's ground at Lillie Bridge, and was nearly dissolved for want of funds. A migration to Prince's ground in Chelsea helped to replenish the treasury, and a final resting-place—at least all hope it will prove to be final—was found at Lord's in 1877. It is noteworthy that in 1866, only two years
