the press and public had great expectations of success for Gilligan and Tate on the forthcoming tour of Australia. At the beginning of July, Gilligan played for the Gentlemen against the Players at the Oval. In the first innings, he was struck heavily over his heart by a delivery from Frederick Pearson; it was obvious that he was hurt, and he was out shortly afterwards. Although the Gentlemen v Players match at the Oval was less prestigious than its Lord's counterpart, and generally mattered less to participants, Gilligan chose to bat the next day despite his injury and scored a century batting at number 10. Even so, the Gentlemen lost the game by six wickets. Gilligan was never again as effective a cricketer, and he later conceded that batting in the second innings was a mistake. It is likely that the strain of the innings did as much harm as the original blow, although Gibson later wrote that Gilligan's subsequent long life suggests that he was not too badly hurt, and that it is unlikely too much damage was done. Nevertheless, Gibson concludes "there is no doubt that he was badly shaken up, and whatever the reason, the magic departed". Gilligan played in the next Test match, without much success, and for the Gentlemen at Lord's. The effects of the injury then forced him to rest in the following weeks, and he missed the fourth Test. When he returned for the final Test, he did not take any wickets and finished the Test series with 17 wickets at an average of 18.94, placing him second in the England bowling averages behind Tate. He batted just three times in the series, scoring 77 runs at 25.66. England won the series 3–0, and although South Africa had not proved to be a strong team, several England players—including Gilligan—had impressed commentators. Gilligan continued to take wickets in the latter stages of the season, but was less successful than before his injury. At the end of the season, he had 103 wickets at 19.36 and 864 runs at 21.07. By mid-July, Gilligan had been named as captain of the MCC team to tour Australia at the end of the English cricket season and was expected to be one of the leading bowlers. He had, however, faced some criticism of his captaincy. After being underused in the first Test, Cec Parkin wrote an article highly