achieve second place in the national batting averages, but his consistency never matched that of his earlier years and he was frustrated by his form. He played more regularly for Sussex and missed just two matches but displayed a reduced commitment to the club and resigned the captaincy in December, Fry assuming the role. After a slow start, Ranjitsinhji found his form and made large scores against the leading counties until a pulled muscle affected his form in July. The difficult pitches forced him to play more defensively than usual and on a couple of occasions, crowds jeered him for slow scoring. The press also criticised his decision to prolong one Sussex innings until he had completed his own double century, adversely affecting his team's chances of victory. In separate matches, Len Braund and Walter Mead, bowlers who had troubled him in previous years, both took his wicket before he had scored many runs. Ranjitsinhji was not considered for the MCC tour of Australia that winter, despite the unavailability of several leading amateurs; instead, he returned to India. There, he made further inquiries regarding the succession to the Nawanagar throne and met British officials. Loans from an acquaintance from his school days, Mansur Khachar, as well as from the Nawab of Junagadh, allowed him to return to England for the following season. In 1904, Ranjitsinhji led the batting averages for the fourth time, scoring 2,077 runs at 74.17. In a ten-week sequence between June and August, he scored eight hundreds and five fifties, including innings against strong attacks and the leading counties. This included a highest score of 207 not out against Lancashire where Wisden reported that "From the first ball to the last in that superb display he was at the highest pitch of excellence, and beyond that the art of batting cannot go." However, he missed eight Sussex games in total, suggesting his commitments had begun to lie elsewhere. Furthermore, many of his runs came in less important matches, away from the pressure of the County Championship. Not initially invited to play for the Gentlemen at Lord's, he was a last minute replacement and subsequently captained the team. His innings of 121, regarded by some critics as one of his best innings, helped the team to score an unlikely 412 runs in the final innings to defeat the Players. When the season ended with a series of festival