Cricket 1884

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. BegieteredforXranami^ion^Abroad. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1884. PRIOE 2 d . TOM EM M E T T . T homas —no, it would be really too absurd to ad­ dress him otherwise than in the familiar title by which he is known and has been known to more than one generation of oricketers. So “ Tom Emmett,” an’ it please you, friends, countrymen, and bi others. The sprightly young professional who bears this name was born as long ago as the year 1841. You would hardly believe he was forty-threo years of age to wateh his incessant gambols on the cricket- field. His extraordinary vitality, his unceasing flow of animal spirits would possibly mislead you, but it is a fact, ’pon honour. Listen to him, too, for a moment and you will not need to be told that he is a Yorkshireman born and bred. There is no mistaking the rich roll, if not very musical dialect, of the sport - loving shiie. We have Emmett’s own authority for tha state­ ment that lie was born at Halifax on Sept. 3, 1841. The historians of cricket deserve severe censure for the lack of genuine information in respect of his early career. Indeed, the first authentic intelligence that we have of him in his Profession is that he was engaged as ground bowler to the Keighley Club in 1865. Yorkshire two decades ago only Played a few matches in the season, and in 1866 (the year in which Emmett ap­ peared for the first time in its ranks) the fixtures were confined to an out and home match with Notts and one engage­ ment with Cambridgeshire. Emmett’s debut was made in the last of the three contests against Notts at Nottingham, Wd a capital show he made, securing Slx_ of the eleven Nottingham wickets "'hich fell. In the following season against Surrey at Sheffield, in the second innings of Surrey he took six wickets for seven runs, but this was not his best Performance of the year, and for the Twenty-two of Dudley against the United Eleven he was crfdited with as many as sixteen of the twenty wickets—a rare performance against such a team. In 1868 he did another ’'^markable feat in the match between Yorkshire and Notts, at Dewsbury, aijd in the second in­ nings he was credited with all the nine wickets whioh fell to the bowlers, the tenth being run out. Even this he eclipsed in the following year at Hunslet against Cambridge, and in ad­ dition to an excellent score of forty-seven n ot out he took sixteen wickets—the largest nu ru­ ber, we believe, obtained by any bowler in a Yorkshire match. His record in tho second innings of Cambridgeshire was indeed extra­ ordinary. Niue wickets fell to his bowling and he caught out the ^tenth, so that he helped to secure the dismissal of all the ten batsmen. Bv this time his fame as a bowler had been fully established, and the season of 1869 saw him for the first time representing the Players against the Gentlemen, at the Oval. Freeman and Emmett were the chief Yorkshire bowleis in 1870, and a better pair, it is safe to say, no county has ever had. A good opening in business induoed Freeman to give up cricket as aprofession after ashort though brilliant career, Emmett, however, has ever since been actively identified with the cricket of the county, and many of its successes have been mainly due to his excellent all-round cricket. For the last four years he has been the life and soul of the Yorkshire Eleven, one of the best all-round cricketers as well as the most genuine and earnest workers the county has ever had. Emmett was a member of James Lillywhite’s team, which visited Australia at the end of 1876, and he played an excellent innings of 48 against a picked Eleven of Australia, Indeed, throughout his cricket was so good as to entitle him to be considered the best all-rouEd man in the team. Two winters later saw him again in the Colonies. Ulyett and he were the only professionals in the team commanded by Lord Harris, and they would have fared badly indeed but for Emmett, who took in all 137 wickets —more than double the number credited to Ulyett—and at an average cost of only eight-and-a-half runs. The Captaincy of the Yorkshire Eleven was entrusted to Emmett in 1878, and he did honour to the position by some of the best cricket of the Beason. Just at that time, though then close on thirty-seven years of age, he was one of the first all-round players of the day. His popularity in Yorkshire was uni­ versal, and a benefit match, Yorkshire v. Gloucestershire, that season proved this unmistakeably, resulting in a nett profit of over six hundred pounds. His two trips to the Colonies had evidently been productive of enjoy­ ment as well as profit, for the end of 1881 found him again there. Alfred Shaw was the Captain of this tour, but Emmett was