were bowled out for 23, with six players scoring ducks, and he took five for 30 in the second innings. Fothergill was once more Somerset's leading wicket-taker during 1883, taking 27 of his 37 first-class wickets for the county that year. His bowling average of 14.72 was his best during an English season. During the following season, Fothergill only appeared once for Somerset, in a match against Kent early in the season. He took four for 87 in the match, which was his final first-class appearance for the county. Fothergill was again selected to play for the South against the North, but bowled just three overs in the match, without taking a wicket. The remainder of his notable appearances that season were made for the MCC, though few were considered first-class. He performed well in matches against Wiltshire and Leicestershire, taking eleven wickets in each match, including seven for 62 in the second innings against Leicestershire, but neither match had first-class status. In 1885, he enjoyed his best match for the South, taking four wickets in each innings as the North were defeated by nine wickets. The majority of his cricket from 1884 until 1886 was made for the MCC, although he did appear four times in 1886 for Somerset, which had been stripped of its first-class status. In contrast, in 1887 and 1888, he played almost exclusively for the county, appearing just three times for the MCC. Somerset, who had relied on the bowling of Fothergill in the early 1880s, were spearheaded by E. W. Bastard, Ted Tyler and Sammy Woods in the late 1880s, and Fothergill was rarely needed to bowl many overs. Despite this, he was presented with a bat during 1888, a reward usually given to batsmen who had scored a century. Test cricketer During the English winter of 1888–89, the MCC sent a touring team to South Africa. Organised by Major Gardner Warton, the original itinerary only featured "odds" matches, in which an 11-player MCC team faced opposition sides including 15, 18 or 22 players, depending on their perceived strength. In his book, A History of Cricket, Harry Altham describes that the quality of the touring party "was about that of a weak county." Fothergill was selected as part of the side, despite not having played a first-class match since May 1887. The majority of the wickets during the tour were taken by Lancashire's spinner,