Famous Cricketers No 95 - P.A.Perrin

50. Essex v Leicestershire, Grace Road, Leicester, August 1, 2, 3 (Essex won by an innings and 71 runs) [3] c J.P.Whiteside b A Woodcock 77 515 288 1 156 51. Essex v Lancashire, Leyton, August 4, 5 (Essex won by nine wickets) [3] lbw b J.Briggs 24 288 119 [3] not out 17 43-1 211 52. Essex v Warwickshire, Edgbaston, August 8, 9, 10 (Match drawn) [4] not out 36† 107 187 [3] not out 51† 91-3 189-6d 53. Essex v Gloucestershire, Clifton College, Bristol, August 15, 16 (Gloucestershire won by an innings and 8 runs) [3] c W.G.Grace, jun. b G.L.Jessop 5 105 260 [3] b G.L.Jessop 37† 147 54. Essex v Kent, Tonbridge, August 22, 23, 24 (Kent won by seven wickets) [4] b F.Martin 10 135 281 [4] c A.Hearne b F.Martin 19 265 121-3 55. Essex v Sussex, Hove, August 29, 30, 31 (Essex won by five wickets) [3] c P.H.Latham b F.W.Tate 65† 185 178 [3] c W.L.Murdoch b F.W.Tate 12 91-5 95 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct County Championship 20 33 5 1028 106* 36.71 2 7 4 Other Essex match 1 2 0 45 38 22.50 - - 1 Season 21 35 5 1073 106* 35.76 2 7 5 Career 55 95 9 2845 153 33.08 5 17 24 Bowling O M R W BB Ave County Championship (5b) 13 3 36 1 1-4 36.00 Career (5b) 20 3 62 1 1-4 62.00 1899 With the club now out of debt, the Essex Annual General Meeting in April was conducted in very confident tones. In their first match of the season, the club sensationally beat the Australians by 126 runs, because of some fine bowling by Mead and Young, and with a tiny contribution from Perrin. Despite this, the season as a whole was a disappointment for Essex and they finished only sixth out of fifteen, largely because they lost five of their ten home Championship matches at Leyton, some on poorly prepared pitches in a generally dry season. The club’s committee was ‘very dissatisfied’ with the pitch provided for the home match with Surrey, in which Perrin scored 7 and 0: it later transpired that E.C.Freeman, the groundsman, had overdosed it with liquid manure. Following his indifferent start against the tourists, Perrin had an outstanding season, batting almost throughout at first wicket down. He scored nearly 1,500 runs for Essex, just over 20% of all the county’s runs in the season; this total was easily a new club record. He led McGahey, his nearest rival, by almost five hundred runs, and finished ninth in the national averages. Wisden agreed with Cover Point in The Leytonstone Express and Independent that A.J.Turner, who was two years younger than Perrin, was the ‘best bat in the side, when he was free of his military commitments.’ The Essex annual report, however, recognized Perrin as ‘by far the most successful batsman.’ Much of Perrin’s success came in away matches. At home in the Championship he scored 506 runs at 31.62: away he scored 980 runs at 70.00. His six centuries included 144 when Essex beat Yorkshire, including Rhodes, Hirst and Haigh at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in June where Wisden thought he batted ‘with exemplary care and finish’ in an innings lasting 310 minutes. There was a more dashing 168* at Southampton against 25