Lives in Cricket No 25 - Tom Richardson

... no one made any stand against Richardson’s bowling and the match ended soon after five o’clock on Tuesday in an easy win for Surrey by 195 runs. Richardson who was born and has lived all his life in Mitcham 43 made a very successful debut for Surrey. He is a fast right handed bowler with a high delivery. He gets up quickly off the pitch and as he comes back at times a good deal he bids fair to be of use. 44 His figures of 17-7-45-6 and 19.3-5-55-6 compare more than favourably with those of Essex speed merchant Charles Kortright’s 8-1-26-3 and 14.2- 5-45-2 and he turned out to be rather more than ‘of use’. A first-class début against Cambridge University produced an undistinguished one for 94 across the two innings in a match which Surrey lost by 80 runs. Before the end of June, however, Tom had made his presence felt with 30-8-67-7 and 30.1-6-63-5 in another non-first-class fixture at Derby. Richardson’s bowling was quite one of the best features of the match. Altogether he took twelve Derbyshire wickets for less than eleven runs a-piece. Chatterton received a blow on the head from a ball of Richardson, and had to retire when he had made sixteen, though he was able to finish his innings. 45 On his Championship début against Gloucestershire he had five for 43 in the second innings, the first of 200 ‘five-for’s in a distinguished career, 43 Not so – see Chapter One 44 Cricket 19 May 1892 45 Cricket 23 June 1892 23 1892-94 Surrey…and England Cricket on the Lower Green, Mitcham, 1895. [London Borough of Merton Local Studies Library]