Lives in Cricket No 25 - Tom Richardson

47 bowling and the exceptionally fine batting of Abel. To praise either of the two men beyond his deserts would be almost impossible. Of the two, however, Richardson was the more indispensable to the eleven. Even had Abel – instead of surpassing all he had ever done for Surrey- enjoyed only an ordinary season, the batting of the team would have been strong, but any failure on Richardson’s part might at once have involved disaster. Up to the time of Lohmann’s return to the eleven towards the end of July, Richardson had all the weight of the bowling on his shoulders, Lockwood’s loss of form leaving him with far less support than he might reasonably have expected. However, he was more than equal to the occasion, bowling day after day on true, fast, run-getting wickets in a way that can seldom have been approached. It was feared that the hard work he had gone through with Mr Stoddart’s team in Australia might affect his pace and spin, but so far from this being the case he proved himself, if possible, an even finer bowler than in 1894. With Lohmann’s return, Richardson was naturally much better off, and it so happened that at the same time the weather broke up and the wickets began to give the bowlers the advantage. It was the crowning proof of Richardson’s exceptional excellence, however, that many of his finest performances were accomplished on wickets that afforded him no assistance. Only on one or two occasions did he show any signs of losing his form, and despite the great amount of bowling he had to do, he left off in September apparently as fresh and strong as at the beginning of the season. 105 He was now an invaluable member of the Surrey and England side, a match-winner on numerous occasions. Consequently, he was in a strong negotiating position and along with Lohmann, who had been the first Surrey player to do so in 1891, and Hayward, was able to secure a ‘star’ contract stretching beyond the usual single year and embracing regular winter pay, a concept first introduced in 1894, though there had been spasmodic instances for a decade or so before that. The contract was embodied in an agreement embracing the usual summer wages, match fees, talent money and bonus plus a lump sum for one hundred pounds to cover and include all winter pay. 106 The £100 would be reduced to £50 should winter employment elsewhere for a period exceeding two months be accepted. It was the intention that the arrangement be renewed for as long as Richardson continued to play for the Surrey Club and while the Committee could not commit its successors, a benefit match before 1900 would also be a probability… Richardson was happy to accept. 105 1896 p 3 106 Surrey C C C minutes 1 August 1895 1895...Annus Mirabilis...Surrey