room together at Jesus College for two years, and on the field MacGregor proved himself capable of standing up to the wicket against Woods' bowling. Teammate Digby Jephson described their partnership as having "machine-like precision ... the faster Sam bowled, the nearer the sticks stood Mac." After the conclusion of the university term, Woods played five further five-class fixtures, as well as a number of matches for Somerset. He performed well, but without much note in the two Gentlemen v Players fixtures in London, claiming three wickets in an innings twice, but both games resulted in victories for the Players. Four appearances for Somerset in August brought him more wickets, although the cricket was not first-class; he took five wickets in an innings three times, and totalled 33 wickets in the matches. He continued this wicket-taking form into his next two matches, both first-class, taking seven wickets in the second innings against I Zingari for the Gentlemen of England, aggregating eleven wickets in the match, and a few days later he claimed ten wickets in a match for the Marylebone Cricket Club against Yorkshire. He completed his second full season of first-class cricket with 74 wickets, at a bowling average of 16.74, roughly equivalent to his figure from the previous season. Third year Woods took on the captaincy of the university side during his third year, a role he had taken up twice before in 1889. In the first match of the season, he put in the best bowling display of his career; in his third annual match against CI Thornton's XI, Woods took five wickets in the first innings, and after his teammates had built a 62 run lead, he then proceeded to claim all ten of the opposition's wickets in the second innings, bowling seven of them. His figures of ten wickets for 69 runs were his career best in an innings. Woods was troubled by strains throughout the summer of 1890, and so despite playing as many matches as the previous season, he bowled over 30% fewer deliveries. When he did bowl, he was still effective, claiming 59 wickets at an average of 13.13, his best during an English season. In the matches leading up to the fixture against Oxford, Woods' Cambridge side won three, loss three and drew one of their seven games, and were considered to be a stronger side than their rivals. Rain prevented