A round-arm fast-medium left hand bowler, who skilfully varied his speed off a run of merely two paces,[2] Wootton was exactly suited to the rough Lord's wickets of the 1860s.

[6] Wootton's low delivery allowed him to bowl, according to contemporaries, even more shooters than such terrifying bowlers as Jackson, Tarrant and George Freeman.

He also established himself as a regular for the Players and other representative elevens, though he did little apart from six for 24 on a Kennington Oval pitch spoiled by rain where the Gentlemen came back and won well.

[13] 1867 was Wootton's most successful season ever with 142 wickets in just nineteen games; though he again failed against the Gentlemen where Alfred Lubbock and E.M. Grace made large scores, he was more terrifying than ever elsewhere until August.

A few deadly games in 1872 suggested he was still capable of terrorising batsmen at Lord's, but around this time Wootton showed an interest in giving up cricket for a career as a farmer, which he did following a benefit in 1873.