Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

after the Leyton match, of being selected for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord’s and again of captaining the side, recognition of his contribution to the professional game over a considerable number of seasons rather than of his captaincy skills which, it has to be said, were virtually unknown. For all Frank Sugg’s reputation as a smiter, however, he had a keen appreciation of the finer points of the game. The two sides that took the field at Lord’s were packed with star players of the day, the Gentlemen’s first seven batsman being W.G.Grace as captain, A.E.Stoddart, K.S.Ranjitsinhji, L.C.H.Palairet, F.S.Jackson, A.C.MacLaren and Sir T.C.O’Brien, while the Players’ main strength was perhaps in their bowling which included Tom Richardson, Johnny Briggs, George Lohmann and J.T.Hearne. The Gentlemen scored 268 in their first innings and then dismissed the Players for only 116, Sugg scoring a creditable 33. Following on, the Players did better, scoring 373, of which Tom Hayward contributed 116 not out and J T Hearne 71. Frank Sugg scored 22, one of five victims of W.G.Grace. The amateurs hit off the 221 required for victory for the loss of only four wickets. Despite the disappointment of the result, the match was a satisfactory one for the Players’ captain. But it was to be Frank Sugg’s last appearance in the fixture. In all first-class matches in 1896 Sugg scored 1,439 runs at an average of 31.28. The total was the highest aggregate of his career by a considerable margin. It was in this 1896 season that Sugg first used a new bat manufactured and patented by his firm. It is impossible to say whether this contributed to the success he was to enjoy during the season but Wisden , whether aware of the novelty of his bat or not, had no doubt to what to attribute the improvement in Sugg’s performance: ‘Preserving his exceptional powers as a hitter to the full, he displayed, except on some notable occasions, far more control over himself than has been his custom and he met with his reward.’ Sugg was called upon to bowl a few overs in three consecutive Lancashire matches in August 1896. His 24 overs, all delivered after the regular bowlers had been toiling for a while, yielded four wickets for 77 runs, 40 per cent of the wickets he was to take in first-class cricket. His bowling average of 19.25 put him ‘technically’ third in Lancashire’s list behind Mold and Hallam but above Johnny Briggs. His best figures were two for 40 off 11 overs against Sussex when his victims included the prized wicket of Lancashire Stalwart 82