that the tall gentleman was no other than Fuller Pilch. I was brought up to the business of hairdressing, as was also the case with my only brother, who stuck to business and never went in for cricket. My uncle left Reigate while I was a young man, and settled down in the same line at Dorking. Like my father and other members of my family, I was very fond of music, and learnt to play well on the cornet, and fairly so on the harp. My father was much averse to my taking up cricket as a profession, and when I was selected to play for the Players v. the Gentlemen of Surrey at the Oval, he refused point-blank to supply me with any money to get there. I managed to borrow half-a-crown, however, and received 10s. and my expenses for playing in the match, so I felt quite rich when I returned home. In 1849 I was engaged by Captain Alexander of the "Auberies" in Suffolk to play in all his matches. He was a very keen cricketer, and had a ground in the park at his house. Wisden had been engaged there the previous year, and had, I believe, spoken a good word for me to Captain Alexander. A number of capital matches were played at the Auberies, and very pleasant they were. The M.C.C. and the Zingari both visited us while I was there; and I thus had to encounter such players as F. W. Lillywhite, W. C. Morse, the Hon. Robert Grimston (who sometimes played with us as well as against us), the Hon. F. Ponsonby, and others.
