Famous Cricketers No 95 - P.A.Perrin

29. Essex v Yorkshire, Huddersfield, July 22, 23, 24 (Essex won by 1 run) [3] c J.T. Brown b G.H.Hirst 10 139 135 [4] c A.Bairstow b F.S.Jackson 9 294 297 30. Essex v Sussex, Hove, July 29, 30, 31 (Match drawn) [3] c F.W.Tate b J.C.Hartley 8 475 219 380-5 31. Essex v Leicestershire, Grace Road, Leicester, August 2, 3, 4 (Essex won by six wickets) [3] run out 18 333 167 [3] b A.Woodcock 2 58-4 221 32. Essex v Lancashire, Leyton, August 5, 6, 7 (Essex won by six wickets) [3] c J.Ellis b W.R.Cuttell 67 290 168 [3] c C.Smith b W.R.Cuttell 17 131-4 251 33. Essex v Surrey, Leyton, August 12, 13 (Surrey won by ten wickets) [3] c R.Abel b T.Richardson 31 143 264 [3] b T.W.Hayward 16 130 10-0 34. Essex v Hampshire, Leyton, August 23, 24, 25 (Match drawn) [3] c W.Andrew b H.Baldwin 101† 315-5d 115 125-4 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct County Championship 16 26 2 937 153 39.04 2 5 7 Other Essex match 1 2 0 27 23 13.50 - - 1 Season 17 28 2 964 153 37.07 2 5 8 Career 34 60 4 1772 153 31.64 3 10 19 Bowling O M R W BB Ave County Championship (5b) 4 0 17 0 - - Career (5b) 7 0 26 0 - - 1898 Essex approached their fifth season as a first-class county with great confidence. Cover Point in The Leytonstone Express and Independent , said that ‘everything points to a successful season.’ The fixture list was extended by the inclusion of home and away matches with Gloucestershire and Kent, clubs which had previously thought Leyton too far below the salt. In the event, Wisden described the outcome, fifth in the Championship, as ‘not as good as they had hoped’ and ‘not quite commensurate with the merits of the eleven.’ Perrin struggled at the start of the season on low, slow wickets at Leyton. He played in all the Essex matches, usually batting at three, scoring only 257 runs in May and June, but followed up with 816 in July and August. He reached one thousand first class runs for the season for the first time in his twenty-first and last match of the season, at Hove. This was the first time an Essex player had reached the target. His ‘twin’, C.P.McGahey, reached four figures for Essex later in the same match. Two long partnerships with McGahey in mid-season greatly enhanced the twins’ reputations. These were 195 against Derbyshire at Derby, and 191 against Lancashire at Manchester, particularly the latter which was in the fourth innings of the match. The first match between Essex and Gloucestershire, at Leyton in July, was a famously ill-tempered affair. Early on the first day, Perrin was dismissed caught and bowled by W.G.Grace, when the Doctor, diving forward, caught a poorly played defensive shot from Perrin on the bounce, persuading umpire George Burton with the remark, ‘Not bad for an old ‘un’. The local newspaper was sure ‘the ball touched the ground before it reached Grace’s hands.’ After a series of incidents, the match was won by the visitors by one wicket, despite C.J.Kortright taking 7 for 57 for Essex, aiming quite a few of his deliveries at the Gloucestershire batsmen. Perrin’s innings of 104 against Derbyshire at Leyton came to a humorous end when he essayed, but missed, a mighty 23