Famous Cricketers No 95 - P.A.Perrin

1908 Essex fell out of the top half of the table, finishing eleventh, due in part to playing on over-prepared pitches at Leyton where six of the eleven matches were drawn. At the club’s Annual General Meeting in April 1909, the chairman ‘very severely criticised’ the fielding during the season. Perrin was the leading run-scorer for Essex and he flourished in home matches, scoring 673 of his 1,077 Championship runs at Leyton. However, he converted only one of his nine fifties into a century, and Wisden thought his batting ‘variable’. It added ‘though his figures are excellent, Perrin hardly did as well as might have been expected from a batsman of his class in a favourable season.’ He finished the season just outside the top twenty in the national averages. At the start of the season, he played in only his second first-class match for MCC in seven years. In wet weather he encountered T.G.Wass and A.W.Hallam in conditions almost ideal for these two bowlers. Batting once he scored only ten. Aged 31 at the time of this match, which coincided with the date of the MCC’s Annual General Meeting, this was perhaps one of his last opportunities to bring his name before the leading figures in the game as a candidate for higher honours. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 242. MCC v Nottinghamshire, Lord’s, May (6), 7, (8) (Match drawn) [3] b T.G.Wass 10 53 65 4-1 243. Essex v Leicestershire, Leyton, May 14, (15), 16 (Match drawn) [3] not out 101† 232-3d 153 2 did not bat - 33-7 244. Essex v Yorkshire, Leyton, May 21, 22, 23 (Match drawn) [3] lbw b W.Rhodes 35 226 188 [3] c D.Hunter b J.T.Newstead 8 226-9d 210-4 1 245. Essex v Surrey, Kennington Oval, June 1, 2, 3 (Surrey won by an innings and 5 runs) [3] lbw b W.C.Smith 19 191 316 [3] c and b A.Marshal 4 120 246. Essex v Gloucestershire, Leyton, June 8, 9 (Essex won by an innings and 275 runs) [3] c J.H.Board b P.H.Ford 0 436 94 1 67 1 247. Essex v Nottinghamshire, Trent Bridge, June 11, 12 (Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 219 runs) [3] c T.W.Oates b T.G.Wass 4 50 373 [3] c J.Hardstaff b T.G.Wass 18 104 248. Essex v Sussex, Horsham, June 15, (16), (17) (Match drawn) did not bat - 2-0 298 2 249. Essex v Kent, Tonbridge, June 18, 19, 20 (Kent won by 124 runs) [3] c F.H.Huish b C.Blythe 52† 161 272 [3] b C.Blythe 38 267 280 250. Essex v Lancashire, Leyton, June 22, 23, 24 (Essex won by an innings and 8 runs) [3] c A.C.MacLaren b J.Sharp 53 363 195 2 160 251. Essex v Middlesex, Leyton, June 25, 26, 27 (Match drawn) [3] c H.R. Murrell b A.E.Trott 31 399 - - - - 432 [3] b J.H.S.Hunt 9 275 3 0 27 1 J.H.S.Hunt b 78-1 252. Essex v Derbyshire, Chesterfield, June 29, 30, July 1 (Derbyshire won by seven wickets) [3] lbw b A.Warren 4 203 328 [3] c J.Humphries b A.Warren 80† 271 147-3 253. Essex v Yorkshire, The Circle, Hull, July 16, (17), (18) (Match drawn) [3] not out 16† 42-3 254. Essex v Nottinghamshire, Leyton, July 20, 21, 22 (Nottinghamshire won by eight wickets) [3] lbw b C.C.Clifton 88† 230 - - - - 155 [3] b T.G.Wass 0 149 2 0 13 0 225-2 42