Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

than Briggs. Briggs’ ability to take wickets seems to have fallen away. In one extreme example, he bowled 90 five-ball overs, taking 6 for 185, against Derbyshire, who scored 577 at Old Trafford in August when Mold was away playing in a Test. Briggs played in all 22 championship matches for Lancashire, who made a sustained challenge for the title, at one stage early in the season winning eight consecutives matches. But with only three regular bowlers, Briggs, Hallam and Mold, they were not as strong an outfit as their cross-Pennine rivals, Yorkshire, who won both Roses matches and the championship. Although Briggs’ bowling skills appeared to be on the decline in 1896, he confounded his critics the following season when his skill with the ball helped Lancashire win a close-run championship by the shortest of short heads from Surrey. Lancashire headed the table on 14 August, but Surrey were closing fast and the two teams met in what was being billed as a championship decider at The Oval, starting on 19 August. Interest was high and on the first day’s play 30,000 were present to see Richardson turn the match for the London-based side on a treacherous wicket drying under the late summer sun. Lancashire found themselves 62 behind on first innings and ended the second day on 112 for 6 in their second innings. The visitors had no answer to the fiery Richardson, who in murky conditions, laid out MacLaren, broke Ward’s bat, broke both Ward’s bat and his finger, injured Radcliffe and hit Briggs three painful blows. Johnny Tyldesley faced one over from the fast bowler in which every delivery whizzed over his head. Lancashire succumbed by six wickets with Richardson claiming 11 victims, and it looked as though the title had slipped from Lancashire’s grasp, especially as they could only draw their next game against Middlesex at Lord’s. In those days the title was decided by subtracting defeats from wins, ignoring all drawn matches, with the final order being decided by the percentage of points gained from completed matches. It meant that if a team won only one match and drew all its other games it would have a percentage of 100 and would win the title! Lancashire started their final game against Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford on 26 August, the same day that Surrey were due to begin their game against Somerset at Taunton. Lancashire won by an innings giving them a percentage of 68.42, but all Surrey had to do to stay ahead of them was to avoid defeat in the West Country and in their final match against Sussex. But 72 Bowling Lancashire to their first official title