the 1876 season, when he was top bowler with 62 wickets and achieved best bowling of 9–25, a record which lasted nearly fifty years before being bettered by Billy Bestwick. He played several matches for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and also appeared for Players and the North. At this time he found himself in an assembled team of cricketers in several Gentlemen vs. Players matches, Mycroft's fellow Players including past and future England Test representatives Arthur Shrewsbury, George Ulyett, John Selby, Tom Emmett, and Fred Morley. In the 1877 season, Mycroft took most wickets for Derbyshire with 63 and took five wickets in an innings eight times, but did even more deadly work for the MCC with 31 wickets at the extraordinary average of 7.29, and also was deadly in one innings for England against Kent and a powerful Gloucestershire team with W.G. Grace in his prime. In 1878, Mycroft played much less outside county cricket, taking only fifteen wickets, but took a career best 101 for Derbyshire. In the 1879 season he was down to 48 wickets for the club which was still the best total. He topped the wicket tally for Derbyshire in the 1880 season with 58 and took five wickets in an innings six times. In the following years Mycroft played for both Derbyshire and MCC on a regular but less frequent basis. In the 1885 season, Mycroft played his penultimate game in a match between MCC and Derbyshire at Lords. His brother Thomas, who also played for both teams, was also playing one of his last games and on this occasion Thomas took a stint of bowling instead of wicket-keeping. The main bowlers on the opposing sides were Sherwin and Shacklock. The first Sherlock Holmes story was published two years later and there is a suggestion that Arthur Conan Doyle derived the name of Mycroft the older brother of Sherlock Holmes from William Mycroft. Conan Doyle was a first-class cricketer who later played for MCC and had a respect for fast bowlers. Mycroft played his last first-class match for MCC in 1886. He umpired four first-class matches before his retirement and later umpired two more during the 1891 season. He died of influenza at the age of 53 in Derby. Mycroft's half-brother, Thomas, played for Derbyshire between 1877 and 1885. References External links Mycroft cricketers family history – includes photograph 1841 births 1894 deaths English