Lives in Cricket No 13 - AP Lucas

bowled six men in 13 balls, five of them for ducks. Mead took the other wicket and the last seven fell for none. In the Essex reply, Lucas by ‘sterling cricket’ made 175 in 275 minutes with eighteen fours. It was his highest score in a county match, and at that time the highest by any Essex player. He gave no chance and only a couple of strokes were even risky. He put on 111 for the fifth wicket with Henry Taberer and 155 for the ninth with Tom Russell, who had taken over as wicket-keeper and batted splendidly for 84 not out. Kortright and Mead bowled Hampshire out for 114 and Essex won by an innings and 177. Russell told Cricket in 1897: ‘Mr Lucas is a splendid bat. Whatever I have been able to do as a bat … has been from watching Mr Lucas. I have once or twice been lucky enough to be in with him for a long time, and it has been an education to me.’ Tom’s son C.A.G. (‘Jack’) learned much from his father and on retirement in 1930 became coach at Westminster School. Thus a thread of mutual respect between amateurs and professionals – with rare exceptions a characteristic of Essex cricket – can be traced from H.H.Stephenson through Lucas and the Russells for sixty years. Essex, without Lucas, then beat that season’s champions, by seven wickets. Yorkshire scored only 44 and 127, and Lord Hawke declared that any county which could bowl his team out for under 50 should be playing in the first-class county championship. The next game at Leyton was due to be the traditional first-class one between Cambridge University Past and Present and the Australians, but Cambridge failed to raise a strong enough side so Essex took over the fixture at short notice. The match was not classified as first-class, although the quality of play was higher than in many that have been. The Australians continued to play the University itself, but the Past and Present fixture was never revived. Essex captain, 1889-1894 95 A sterling though not first-class 175, as recorded by Joe Armour, against Hampshire at Leyton in July 1893.