in each of the four seasons that he played at the university, and in 28 first-class matches for the side he claimed 190 wickets at an average of 14.93, taking five wickets in an innings on 19 occasions, and ten wickets in a match seven times. In contrast to his sporting excellence, he struggled academically, and left Cambridge without a degree. County cricket Entry into County Championship After Somerset's achievements in the previous season, they were granted first-class status and admission to the County Championship in 1891. This resulted in Woods playing more first-class cricket than in any previous season. He continued to bowl well throughout the season, and finished as Somerset's leading wicket taker in the Championship in 1891, claiming 72 of his 134 wickets for the county. He took ten wickets, and scored a half-century in the match against Yorkshire at Park Avenue, Bradford, and in so doing reached 100 first-class wickets in a season for the first time. Later in the same month, Woods opened the Somerset bowling alongside Ted Tyler against Gloucestershire. The pair claimed five wickets each, bowling Somerset's local rivals out for 25 runs from just 14.2 overs. The total was the lowest score Gloucestershire had made in an innings to that point, and remains their third lowest total. Woods claimed a further three wickets in Gloucestershire's second innings, and Somerset completed an innings victory on day two of the match. Lord Hawke led the first of his cricketing tours following the conclusion of the 1891 English cricket season, taking a small party of English amateurs to play eight matches in North America. The first match of the trip was a first-class contest against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia, and the tourists lost by eight wickets. Woods blamed the defeat on being too soon after arriving, claiming the team "had hardly found our land-legs." The loss was considered something of an embarrassment to English cricket, and prompted a number of letters to be written to Lord Hawke expressing dismay at the result. Wisden primarily attributed the loss to the poor performance of Woods, whose four wickets came at an expense of 124. He fared significantly better in the second match, having apparently found his 'land-legs'. He collected 15 wickets for 86 runs against the same opponents, and the visitors won by four wickets. A third, deciding, match was proposed between the two sides, but could