Lives in Cricket No 25 - Tom Richardson

123 Appendix A Career Statistics Statistics and milestones are relevant only within the context of the situation of the game. Otherwise the compilation of hundreds and five-fers is pointless because it becomes an end in itself, oblivious to those playing and watching. It demonstrates a lack of respect, which is surely at the heart of what is called the Spirit of Cricket. 1 All very true. In Richardson’s case it was a question of hundreds of five-fers (well, two anyway) rather than hundreds and five-fers and although there may have been a few in ‘dead’ or festival matches, the vast majority were achieved in pursuit of victory for Surrey, England or any representative team in which he featured. Trans-generational comparisons can be futile because of very different playing conditions. In the nineteenth century the usually uncovered pitches were less friendly to batsmen and tail-enders were not expected to contribute much with the bat. Consequently totals were lower and there were many instances of an opening bowler (often both) being kept on through a much shorter innings with the result that the proportion of wickets taken, compared with those taken by change bowlers was higher than it is today. Given those caveats and recognising that although statistics never reveal everything it is rare that they reveal nothing and some of Richardson’s are so spectacular that they stood out in his own generation and remain memorable today. 1. Test Matches O M R W BB Ave 5wI 10wM 1893 67.4 (a) 20 156 10 5-49 15.60 2 1 1894-95 291.2 (b) 63 849 32 6-104 26.53 4 - 1896 175.1 (a) 58 439 24 7-168 18.29 4 2 1897-98 255.5 (b) 50 776 22 8-94 35.27 1 1 243 (a) 547.1 (b) 191 2220 88 8-94 25.22 11 4 Economy Rate 2.96 (per 6 ball equivalent) Strike Rate 51.11 All First-class Matches O M R W BB Ave 5wI 10wM 1892 234.3 (a) 77 602 29 5-43 20.75 1 - 1893 993.4 (a) 288 2680 174 9-47 15.40 20 7 1894 933.4 (a) 291 2024 196 10-45 10.32 22 11 1 Mike Atherton The Times 7 July 2011