Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

course of the whole game. Despite the excuse of a sub-standard pitch, Frank must have returned to his Derbyshire colleagues chastened by his experience of The Demon and his Australian teammates. The rest of the season was to prove no more rewarding for his county or himself. All nine remaining county matches were lost, several by wide margins. Sugg’s highest score in these matches was 61 in the second innings against Kent at Gravesend when Kent won by an innings and five runs. The match against Kent at Derby early in the season was notable in that it was the first first-class match in which Frank and Walter Sugg appeared in the same side. Also noteworthy was the match against Sussex at Hove when Sugg kept wicket for the first time for Derbyshire. Derbyshire also had a match against the touring Australians at Derby. The visitors won a one-sided encounter by an innings and 40 runs. Spofforth again was the main destroyer with returns of seven for 31 and five for 52. Frank scored 52 in the first innings, a splendid knock, but was out for a duck in the second. Derbyshire’s only victory in the 1884 season was against MCC at Lord’s, by seven runs in a closely fought match. Frank scored only five and nought. Arnold Rylott, the bowler who had dismissed Frank on his first-class debut for Yorkshire against MCC in 1883, had a hat-trick at the beginning of Derbyshire’s second innings, with Frank and Walter two of his victims. In his 26 innings in 13 first-class matches in 1884, Frank Sugg scored 439 runs at a disappointing average of 16.88 and with a top score of 73, achievements indistinguishable from those of many other journeyman players. He must have had second thoughts at the season’s end on the wisdom of his decision to leave Yorkshire in favour of his native county. Despite the appearance for the England XI, he had made little impact on the wider cricket world outside Derbyshire. The limited fixture list of his county did mean that he had plenty of opportunities to play club cricket during the 1884 season, mainly for clubs in the Sheffield area. He made some big scores, including 213 for Sheffield against Hull Town, 114 for Wednesday against Eckington and 125 for Pitsmoor against Armitage Bridge in successive innings. Frustrated by his relative lack of success with Derbyshire, Frank no doubt relished the opportunity to chance his arm against club cricketers. He was never one to ease off in minor matches. Playing for Yorkshire and Derbyshire 36