Cuthbert Ottaway as official as the "Scotch" players were drawn solely from those then domiciled in England). England dominated the match, played before a crowd of around 4,000 at the West of Scotland Cricket Club, but were unable to break down an obdurate Scottish defence, a failing probably attributable to the "rampant individualism" indulged by Ottaway's forwards in this early and formative period of the Association game. The game ended in a 0–0 draw. Ottaway did not play in the return fixture, arranged in London for 8 March 1873, but again captained his country in the third England-Scotland international, played once again
Cuthbert Ottaway both notched at the end of his career, while accumulating a total of 1,691 runs at an average of 27.27. "As a steady, defensive player," according to one obituarist, "he had not many superiors," and Southwick writes that he was "considered to have both the best defensive and most correcting batting action. of his day." In his best year, 1876, Ottaway stood fourth in the national first-class batting averages. Though Ottaway represented Gentlemen against Players three times (in 1870, 1872 and 1876) – the highest honour available to a cricketer in the years before the advent of Tests – he