Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

the form book went out of the window at Taunton and Somerset beat Surrey to record only their third win of the season. The Sussex game at Hove became academic – it ended in a draw with Sussex in a fairly strong position when rain intervened and prevented any play on the final day – and after starting the final two games with a percentage of 70, Surrey ended the season on 61.90 and had to settle for the runner-up spot, despite having beaten Lancashire twice. It was the first time Lancashire had finished on top in the official competition. Briggs’ bowling was a key factor in Lancashire’s success. He was the county’s leading wicket taker with 140 at 16.38 and finished second in the championship bowling averages. He was helped by the fact that for the first time in several campaigns, Lancashire were able to avail themselves of the services of four regular bowlers with Briggs and Mold being augmented by Hallam and Willis Cuttell, then aged 32, a slow right-armer from Nelson. The latter pair did their fair share of the work, bowling more than 900 overs, capturing 90 and 102 wickets respectively. Briggs came to the fore when the pressure was on – as was his wont. He held the Lancashire bowling together when Mold was injured, taking 25 wickets in the last four games for a Lancashire side which was badly handicapped by injuries which kept wicket-keeper Smith and batsman Frank Sugg out of the team for a time. But for all his accuracy, Briggs did have occasional off days and against Sussex at Manchester in July he came in for a fearful hammering in both innings. Mold was away playing in a Test match, so Briggs sent down 66 five-ball overs in the first innings and another 60 in the second. But he went almost unrewarded. He took 2 for 174 in 66 overs in the first innings and returned 2 for 132 in 60 overs when Sussex batted a second time. Despite the punishment he was receiving, Lancashire captain MacLaren kept Briggs on for over after unproductive over. The situation descended into such farce that the crowd cheered ironically every time Briggs walked up to start a fresh over. One newspaper commented: ‘To the jollying of the crowd, he [MacLaren] was as impervious as a stone wall; ironical cheering whenever he fielded a ball had no effect. Altogether the affair resolved itself into a demonstration of cheap dignity on the part of the Lancashire captain in which he was the solitary loser.’ Another newspaper dubbed MacLaren, who compounded the felony by dropping his Bowling Lancashire to their first official title 73