Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

Following in the footsteps of his brother, Frank began his schooling at Pitsmoor National School. Before the Education Act of 1870, elementary education was provided in voluntary church schools. Most were National Schools, founded by the National Society. The aim of the Society (established in 1811) was to make the Anglican (and national) religion the basis of national education and to that end to establish an Anglican church school in every parish in England and Wales. The Society provided funding for construction, teacher training and books and equipment. Between 1840 and 1860, nineteen National Schools like the one at Pitsmoor were either built or extended in Sheffield. Whatever the quality of the foundation the pupils received in the ‘3 Rs’ and in the Christian religion, organised games would not have had a place in the curriculum of a national school. Indeed, in many schools like Pitsmoor, there would have been no facilities for play of any sort, organised or unorganised. For most children, it was in the streets that they played their games. George Ulyett, born in 1851, had been a pupil at the Pitsmoor National School before the Suggs. By the time of Frank’s enrolment in the school, George Ulyett was making a name for himself in the Sheffield area as a cricketer and footballer of great promise. He had made his first appearance for the Pitsmoor club in 1866 as a sixteen-year-old and his first-class debut for Yorkshire followed in 1873. A powerfully built man with a great sense of humour and love of practical jokes, Ulyett soon established himself as an outstanding allrounder, a fast if somewhat erratic bowler, an enthusiastic fielder and above all a hard-hitting batsman whose huge drives made him a great favourite with the crowds. ‘Happy Jack’ Ulyett made 25 appearances for England, 23 of them against Australia. He was the obvious role model for the young Frank Sugg. Frank must have dreamed of emulating Ulyett’s feats in the first-class game. But he could hardly have imagined, as he struck his own straight drives in Pitsmoor Woods, that one day he would find himself in the same England team as ‘Happy Jack.’ Sadly, George Ulyett died suddenly in 1898 when only 47 years old. His funeral in Burngreave Cemetery, close to the Suggs’ early family home, attracted a crowd of around 4,000 people. After the local school, Frank attended Sheffield Free Grammar School. Founded in 1603, the school had led a somewhat nomadic and chequered existence over the following two hundred years, and by the early nineteenth century had fallen on hard times. With 16 Family Background and Early Days