Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

Sugg was not a serious candidate for Lord Sheffield’s party that toured Australia in 1891/92 under the captaincy of W.G.Grace, losing the series by two Test matches to one. Indeed Frank never toured overseas throughout his career. Whether or not his performances ever merited selection, the probability is that his business commitments would have prevented him accepting, had an invitation come his way. In 1892 Lancashire slipped to fourth in the championship table behind Surrey, Nottinghamshire and Somerset, winning only seven of their 16 matches. Somerset had only become a first-class county the previous year so their third place was commendable. Lancashire had the same personnel to call upon, though Hornby played even fewer games than in the previous season so that Crosfield was effectively, if not officially, the team captain. The bowling remained almost exclusively in the hands of Mold, Briggs and the veteran Watson, with Mold taking 104 wickets at 13.70 in the Championship, Briggs 85 at 13.12 and Watson 52 at 14.25. Extraordinarily, only seven wickets were taken by the other Lancashire bowlers. It was the batting that let the side down in 1892. In Crosfield’s words, ‘sometimes, for no particular reason, we go to pieces.’ 67 As always, this was certainly the case with Frank Sugg, though he did contribute more with the bat than in the previous two seasons. Despite nine innings in which he failed to reach double figures, he scored 705 runs in all first-class matches at an average of 24.31. Sugg played in all 16 championship matches, testimony to his level of fitness, and scored 646 runs at an average of 26. 91. A.P.Smith, Ward and A.C.MacLaren finished above him in the Lancashire averages but by small margins. He made one century in 1892, 107 not out out of 246 against Surrey at Old Trafford. The match was ruined by rain and Frank’s innings was spread over all three of the scheduled days – he was 22 not out at the end of the first day and 68 not out at the end of the second – suggesting that he was not always let down by failures in concentration. It is a pity that the weather took the gilt off one of Sugg’s better performances. Frank Sugg’s position in the batting order was never firmly fixed, but by 1892 he and Albert Ward were more often than not Lancashire’s preferred openers. They made a contrasting pair. Big hitting was still the defining characteristic of Sugg’s batting, Lancashire Stalwart 73 67 Quoted by Bearshaw , op.cit ., p 122.