Sussex did exceptionally well, but Surrey was again at the bottom.
I made a first appearance on four grounds that year, and scored well on all of them. At West Brompton I scored 118 in my only innings, and I do not remember having played there since. At Fenner's Ground I played for Gentlemen of England v. Cambridge University, and scored 162 in my only innings. Mr. W. N. Powys had a great reputation as a fast bowler then, and he was expected to slaughter us. He did not. Mr. C. I. Thornton, for the University, hit 20 off one over of Mr. D. Buchanan's. At Trent Bridge I scored 79 first innings and 116 second against Nottinghamshire: the latter score was the first century scored on that ground. At Maidstone I scored 81 not out first, and 42 not out second, and did not play on it again until 1890, when I scored 109 not out, and 37.
And I played my last match on the old Hove Ground, Brighton, and scored 0 first, 217 second. It was on the same ground that I scored 170 and 56 not out for the South Wales Club in 1864, and I said good-bye to it rather regretfully.
The early part of the season of 1872 was unsuitable for heavy scoring, and the bowlers had the best of it until the end of June. Snow, sleet, and frost in May did not help the grounds, and scores up to the middle of the season were smaller than they had been for years. Like other batsmen, I suffered by it, and did not do so well as the previous year. I scored the century twice in May once for the M.C.C., the other for the United South; but my best displays began on the 1st of July, for the Gentlemen v. Players, at Lord's, and during the succeeding eight days I scored at a rate that I have rarely equalled and but once exceeded in my career. In two matches for the Gentlemen v. Players.
