CHAPTER V.
CRICKET IN MY MANHOOD—1870 TO 1877.
MOST men who have lived active mental or physical lives have had their memories taxed to remember the various incidents in them. It has been so in my case, for the doings of some years stand out more clearly than others.
The year 1870 I can remember as being one of my best; indeed, I may say it saw me almost in my best batting and bowling form. Nine times I scored over a hundred runs in an innings, the majority of them in first-class matches.
For the M.C.C. I played 12 innings, and averaged 55.6; for Gloucestershire County, who played first-class county matches for the first time that year, I played 4 innings, and averaged 91.2; for the Gentlemen v. Players I played 4 innings, and averaged 85.1; and altogether during the season I batted in 33 innings in first-class matches, scored an aggregate of 1,808, and averaged 54-26.
It will be inferred from those scores that the season was everything that could be desired in the matter of weather. And so it was. Wickets were dry and fast the greater part of it, and I scored at a great pace. My defence had grown stronger, and my hitting powers had improved also.
On the 9th and 10th of May a match, Left-handed v. Right was played at Lord's; but the Left-handed were not in it. The match was noteworthy from the fact that Carpenter, Hayward, and J. Smith again appeared
