Famous Cricketers No 95 - P.A.Perrin

1896 Essex were able to arrange only twelve county fixtures and so the Championship regulations, which required at least sixteen, were amended to allow them and Leicestershire to take part in the competition. The problem arose largely because of ‘congestion’ in fixtures in the months of June, July and August, connected with the Australian tour, which involved thirty-four first-class matches. Essex finished fifth in the Championship and also gave a good account of themselves against the MCC and the tourists. Perrin, aged nineteen at the start of the season, played in all the county’s first-class matches. He batted almost throughout at number three, and was the leading run scorer for Essex. In 1895 the county had used seven players in that position: his success solved thereby a particular problem for the club. At The Oval, in the second innings of his first match, he scored 52, including six fours off the bowling of Hayward and Richardson, at the time among the ten best bowlers in the country. Cricket magazine described it as ‘a painstaking innings’. ‘Cover Point’ in The Leytonstone Express and Independent failed to notice this achievement, instead making much of Abel’s batting for Surrey in the match. The 1897 Wisden , with the advantage of hindsight, said he ‘at once gave proof of the ability which afterwards gained him so much success.’ In the season as a whole he passed fifty in six innings. His first first-class century, which included nine fours, five threes and 22 twos, was ‘a vigorous batting display’ of 139 runs in 210 minutes against Warwickshire on an ‘excellent’ Edgbaston pitch. One of his fifties was achieved at Leyton against the eventual champions Yorkshire, facing the bowling of Haigh, Hirst and Peel. In its summary of the Essex season, Wisden described Perrin as having ‘wonderful promise’. The Essex annual report described Perrin and F.G. Bull, a 21-year-old off-break bowler, as ‘most able recruits’, and added ‘We look forward to their future with great confidence.’ The Times thought Perrin had ‘much to do with the improved run-getting powers of Essex this season.’ Because of the short Essex fixture list, Perrin was available for other matches. He played against the Australian tourists alongside three other Essex players, for Wembley Park, a side initially assembled as ‘An England XI’ by T.C.O’Brien; in the Oval’s Gentlemen v Players match where Essex were represented by four other players, scoring 32 in a partnership of 47 with W.G.Grace; and in the Scarborough festival for a South of England XI, organised by C.I.Thornton. Perrin had made the transition from club to first-class cricket, and his cricketing ability had been displayed, without failure, outside the confines of the Essex County Club. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 1. Essex v Surrey, Kennington Oval, May 11, 12, 13 May (Surrey won by an innings and 20 runs) [3] b T.Richardson 1 174 2 0 8 0 430 1 [4] b T.Richardson 52 236 2. Essex v Australians, Leyton, May 14, 15, 16 (Australians won by seven wickets) [3] c J.J.Kelly b H.Trumble 35 166 223 [3] b H.Trumble 20 149 93-3 3. Essex v MCC, Lord’s, May 18, 19 (Essex won by an innings and 21 runs) [3] b J.T.Hearne 9 184 41 122 4. Essex v Leicestershire, Leyton, May 25, 26, 27 (Essex won by seven wickets) [3] b A.Woodcock 52 285 141 [3] not out 37† 82-3 225 5. Wembley Park v Australians, Wembley, June 8, 9 (Australians won by 135 runs) [4] b G.Giffen 0 65 106 [4] c J.J.Kelly b G.H.S.Trott 1 37 131 6. Essex v Yorkshire, Bradford, June 11, 12 (Yorkshire won by seven wickets) [3] lbw b E.Wainwright 40† 109 80 1 [4] b E.Wainwright 0 55 85-3 20