Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

when he took two wickets without conceding a run, his first for the county. But it was his batting which took the eye of one of Wisden ’s contributors, who recorded that in that match at Lord’s on a wet pitch Lancashire’s success was ‘due to the excellent batting of Briggs who played the bowling of Shaw, Morley and Barnes with ease and determination’. But, still they gave him the initial ‘R’ in the scorecard! The 1882 season was another which sparked a debate about who had actually won the county championship. Cricket magazine and Wisden were in the Lancashire camp, but the Lillywhite publications begged to differ, opining that the honour should be shared by the Old Trafford club and Nottinghamshire as it had been in 1880. Whatever the merits of the respective arguments, there was no doubt that Lancashire had had another successful season, winning 12 of their 16 county games, but Briggs’ contribution was well below average. Playing in 20 first-class matches altogether, including one for a Liverpool and District side, Briggs scored only 287 runs at an average of 10.25 and took only six wickets in 77.2 four-ball overs at 21.16 each. To some, it seemed that Briggs’ ‘apprenticeship’ was taking rather longer than had been anticipated. It was almost certainly the lowest point in his career and there may well have been some on the Lancashire committee who were even questioning whether it would be worthwhile extending his contract for a further year. Briggs had started the 1882 season bowling in both innings against MCC at Lord’s, taking 1 for 20 in the second. He followed up his Lord’s efforts with 4 for 11 in 5.2 overs against Cambridge University at Fenner’s, but thereafter bowled rarely, largely because of the prior claims of senior professionals. However, he did manage to claim his first inter-county victim against Kent at Maidstone in mid-August when he had Lord Harris – a man who was later to have a big impact on Briggs’ bowling career – caught 18 From Widnes to Old Trafford Liverpool and District played fourteen first-class matches at Aigburth from 1882 to 1894. Briggs played in two of these, in 1882 and 1884, but with mediocre results to the say the least. He mustered only 40 runs in four innings for an average of 13.33 with a highest score of 23 and recorded bowling figures of 0 for 31. Other Lancashire players who appeared in first-class fixtures for the team included two men who captained the county, Sydney Crosfield and Archie MacLaren, as well as Dick Pilling, Richard Barlow and Allan Steel.