Page:Cricket, by WG Grace.djvu/410

 Club enabled him to develop his bowling powers. Two years later he took up his residence in Manchester, and from 1872 down to the present Lancashire has had no harder worker or more conspicuous bowler.

He has rarely been far from the top of the first-class bowling averages, and the amount of wear and tear he has gone through has been something remarkable. When he bowled first for the county his pace was slower than it is to-day, and very often the batsmen ran out and hit him. He quickly put an end to that by increasing the pace without sacrificing much of his break from the off. He keeps a very good length, and the ball travels very low after it pitches; and he can go on like a machine for hours. Very few bowlers have the knack of delivering shooters so often, and he is very quick in finding out a batsman's weakness. Unfortunately, his reputation has suffered by a slight suspicion in his delivery. He is an excellent field at short-slip, rarely allowing anything to pass that he can touch, and he used to keep wicket in a very efficient way; and he can bat too. His best bowling performances have been, for the North of England v. Australians on May 31st, June 1st, 1886, when he bowled 27 overs, 18 maidens, 12 runs, 6 wickets; and for Lancashire v. Sussex, at Manchester on the 3rd of July, 1890, when he took 5 wickets for 7 runs first innings, and 4 wickets for 6 runs second.

His best bowling years have been:


 * 1873 || 279 || 92 || 446 || 48 || 9.14
 * 1876 || 534 || 248 || 650 || 51 || 12.38
 * 1877 || 1089 || 548 || 1233 || 96 || 12.81
 * 1878 || 535 || 280 || 586 || 49 || 11.47
 * 1880 || 881 || 455 || 946 || 84 || 11.22
 * 1881 || 879 || 512 || 812 || 69 || 11.53
 * 1882 || 924 || 495 || 953 || 76 || 12.41
 * 1883 || 940 || 463 || 1135 || 96 || 11.79
 * 1886 || 1188 || 701 || 1109 || 99 || 11.20
 * 1887 || 1532 || 937 || 1482 || 100 || 14.82
 * 1889 || 850 || 438 || 1139 || 90 || 12.59
 * 1890 || 1041 || 561 || 1331 || 81 || 16.35
 * }
 * 1882 || 924 || 495 || 953 || 76 || 12.41
 * 1883 || 940 || 463 || 1135 || 96 || 11.79
 * 1886 || 1188 || 701 || 1109 || 99 || 11.20
 * 1887 || 1532 || 937 || 1482 || 100 || 14.82
 * 1889 || 850 || 438 || 1139 || 90 || 12.59
 * 1890 || 1041 || 561 || 1331 || 81 || 16.35
 * }
 * 1889 || 850 || 438 || 1139 || 90 || 12.59
 * 1890 || 1041 || 561 || 1331 || 81 || 16.35
 * }
 * 1890 || 1041 || 561 || 1331 || 81 || 16.35
 * }