who formed Yorkshire's successful teams of the 1890s and 1900s. In addition to drinking, the "old brigade" had a professional problem in their poor standard of fielding. In a history of Yorkshire cricket to the end of the 19th century, the author commented that the Yorkshire team was "terribly slack in the field" and their reputation, which became a joke among county players, was such that they were believed to be too polite to run anyone out. For example, W. G. Grace said of Bates that he would have been the "greatest all-rounder of his time but for his poor fielding". Hawke was determined to address both of these problems and said in his memoirs of the fielding problem that he had "never known a side do well that could not hold catches". Yorkshire finished fifth under Hawke's leadership in 1886 and he enjoyed a personal success when he scored his maiden Yorkshire century against Sussex at Hove with 144 out of a total of 284 in the first innings. Hawke also made four half-centuries and his total runs for the season, his best to date, was 831 at an average of 23.74. In 1887, Yorkshire finished third behind the strong Surrey team of the time. Peel was an early success but Hawke later recollected that "it was the only summer when Yorkshire's batting proved distinctly superior to its bowling". He had a good season with the bat himself, just missing his thousand runs with a total of 967 at an average of 24.79. He made one century and five fifties, the century being an innings of 125 against Lancashire in the Roses Match at Old Trafford. Hawke made his runs in a total of 414 which enabled Yorkshire to win by an innings and 39 runs. Yorkshire improved in 1888 to finish second behind Surrey but Hawke's contribution was modest. He played in only 10 matches and scored just 155 runs at the low average of 8.15. In 1889, Yorkshire finished last but one, in seventh place, despite an outstanding effort by Peel who was top of both the batting and bowling averages that year. Hawke himself had an indifferent season, averaging only 17.75, but his response was to dispense with the services of several players who were not up to standard. Club President Michael Ellison expressed his disapproval of the situation in an address to the Committee: "The