resumed the captaincy of Sussex. However, a succession of low scores and uncertain performances suggested that he was neither mentally nor physically fit for cricket and Simon Wilde writes that his failure to secure support in India and the continued pressure of threatened bankruptcy placed him in a difficult situation. The Australian cricket team was touring England once more, and Ranjitsinhji, having played against the team for the MCC, was selected for the first Test. However, he seemed to be nervous and struggled to concentrate, running out his captain, Archie MacLaren before he was out himself for 13. Wisden noted: "a misunderstanding, for which Ranjitsinhji considered himself somewhat unjustly blamed, led to MacLaren being run out, and then Ranjitsinhji himself quite upset by what had happened, was clean bowled". Although he scored 135 for Sussex shortly afterwards, in the second Test he was out without scoring. Over the next few weeks, Ranjitsinhji made good starts to several innings but lost his wicket to uncharacteristic lapses and leg-break bowlers continued to trouble him. He missed several matches, far more than he had missed in other seasons. However, in favourable batting circumstances he played two large innings in this period, hitting 230 against Essex and 234 against Surrey. An injury in the former game caused Ranjitsinhji to miss the third Test, lost by England, although his lack of confidence may have played a part in his decision. He returned for the fourth Test which England narrowly lost. However, he faced serious distractions from his parlous financial situation as one of his creditors presented him with a demand for payment shortly before the game. Ranjitsinhji claimed after the match, falsely, that Pratap Singh intended to pay the debt but needed approval from the India Office, but it is likely that Ranjitsinhji anticipated another petition in bankruptcy going before a court and that this affected his performance in the Test. Showing signs of nerves, and never looking comfortable while batting, Ranjitsinhji scored 2 runs in the first innings and 4 in the second. In the latter innings, when England had a relatively small target to chase for victory, he looked to have lost all confidence and could have been dismissed several times; the Australian players thought he played more poorly than they had ever seen. His lack of belief may also have contributed to the defeat, as Fred Tate notoriously dropped an important catch