Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

Three years earlier, the only other Smokers versus Non-Smokers game in history was held at Lord’s, which resulted in a nine-wicket win for the Non-Smokers. Briggs did not play in this game, but two of his Lancashire team-mates, Barlow and Pilling, were in the Non-Smokers side. Coming of age as a cricketer 38 In 1923, 36 years after the event, Lancashire CCC had been presented with the gold medal, given to Briggs by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, to mark Briggs’ achievement in making the highest individual score (33, in a low-scoring game) in the Test against Australia at Sydney in January 1887. The medal was in the shape of a shield with the royal coat of arms at the top. On an inner shield was an inscription and the initials JB, studded with seven diamonds. Between the initials was a miniature solid gold cricket bat. The medal was handed over to the club president, Oswald Lancashire, during the North v South match at Old Trafford in 1923. Seven years later, the City News revealed that the medal had been stolen.