# Somerset County Cricket Club in 1892

In the 1892 season, Somerset County Cricket Club played their sixth season of first-class cricket, and participated in the County Championship for the second season. They finished third in the competition, two positions higher than in the previous year. Their captain, Herbie Hewett, completed the season as the club's leading run-scorer, topping 1,000 runs in the Championship. The all-rounder Sammy Woods took the most wickets for the county, with 85. A match was also played against Oxford, which was won by the student team.

## County Championship

Playing their second season as members of the County Championship, Somerset played sixteen matches, of which they won eight and lost five. Each of the final three matches of the season were curtailed by at least a day because of rain, and ended in draws. Their performances were enough to rank them third among all counties in the standings, and in his history of Somerset cricket, David Foot describes it as the season that led to Somerset being taken seriously as a club. He praised the leadership of the club's captain, Herbie Hewett, who picked players on merit, rather than "the strength of his social charm and ability to drink into the early hours." Despite their general success, the county did suffer a heavy defeat to Lancashire in early August. After no play on the first day due to rain, Somerset lost the match on the second day, being bowled out twice for fewer than 100 runs. Against another northern county, they set a new record partnership for the first wicket in first-class cricket; Hewett and Lionel Palairet scored 346 runs together in three and a half hours against Yorkshire.

### Season standings

Note: Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, D = Draws, Pts = Points.
Notes: Team marked (C) won the County Championship.

### Match log and statistics

Match log :
| No. | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result |
| 1 | 2–3 June | Surrey | Kennington Oval, London | Lost by 179 runs |
| 2 | 6–7 June | Middlesex | Lord's, London | Lost by 112 runs |
| 3 | 20–21 June | Kent | Private Banks Sports Ground, Catford | Won by 4 wickets |
| 4 | 23–25 June | Nottinghamshire | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Lost by 6 wickets |
| 5 | 14–16 July | Gloucestershire | Ashley Down Ground, Bristol | Won by 7 wickets |
| 6 | 18–20 July | Lancashire | County Ground, Taunton | Won by 4 wickets |
| 7 | 21–22 July | Sussex | County Ground, Taunton | Won by 6 wickets |
| 8 | 25–26 July | Kent | County Ground, Taunton | Won by 8 wickets |
| 9 | 8–9 August | Lancashire | Old Trafford, Manchester | Lost by 8 wickets |
| 10 | 11–12 August | Yorkshire | Bramall Lane, Sheffield | Won by 87 runs |
| 11 | 15–17 August | Surrey | County Ground, Taunton | Lost by 186 runs |
| 12 | 18–19 August | Nottinghamshire | County Ground, Taunton | Won by an innings and 122 runs |
| 13 | 22–23 August | Middlesex | County Ground, Taunton | Won by 70 runs |
| 14 | 25–27 August | Yorkshire | County Ground, Taunton | Drawn |
| 15 | 29–31 August | Gloucestershire | County Ground, Taunton | Drawn |
| 16 | 1–3 September | Sussex | County Ground, Hove | Drawn |
Batting averages :
| Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Highest score | 100s | 50s |
| Herbie Hewett | 16 | 27 | 1,047 | 40.26 | 201 | 1 | 9 |
| Lionel Palairet | 13 | 21 | 659 | 32.95 | 146 | 2 | 3 |
| Coote Hedley | 13 | 20 | 446 | 26.23 | 102 | 1 | 3 |
| John Challen | 11 | 17 | 335 | 22.33 | 72 | 0 | 1 |
| Gerald Fowler | 12 | 17 | 309 | 20.60 | 54 | 0 | 2 |
| Vernon Hill | 10 | 13 | 224 | 18.66 | 93 | 0 | 1 |
| Sammy Woods | 16 | 24 | 322 | 15.33 | 76 | 0 | 1 |
| Qualification: 200 runs. Source: CricketArchive. ||||||||
Bowling averages :
| Player | Matches | Balls | Wickets | Average | BBI | 5wi | 10wm |
| George Nichols | 16 | 2,208 | 51 | 15.47 | 5/24 | 2 | 0 |
| Coote Hedley | 13 | 1,244 | 36 | 15.83 | 4/18 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Tyler | 16 | 2,765 | 81 | 16.03 | 9/33 | 4 | 1 |
| Sammy Woods | 16 | 2,896 | 85 | 16.43 | 8/51 | 9 | 2 |
| Qualification: 30 wickets. Source: CricketArchive. ||||||||

## University match

Other matches :
| No. | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Ref |
| 1 | 9–10 June | Oxford University | University Parks, Oxford | Lost by 7 wickets | |