Lives in Cricket No 25 - Tom Richardson

62 the county to see how much depended on one man. Happily the great fast bowler was in perfect health all through the summer, and did not meet with a mishap of any kind. Had he been laid aside at any time by illness or accident, Surrey would have suffered to a far greater extent than Lancashire did in August from the breakdown of Mold. The absence of George Lohmann threw a greater responsibility than ever upon Richardson, but he rose to the occasion in a wonderful way and took in county matches alone 238 wickets for something over fourteen runs each. Just at the start of the season he was scarcely himself, and fears were expressed that he was losing his spin. All ideas of this kind, however, soon proved to be erroneous. Once in form, Richardson remained at his best till the season was over, the days being very few upon which he did not come out with a good average. Considering his tremendous pace, his capacity for hard work was scarcely less remarkable than his skill. He bowled in every innings played against Surrey during the season in county matches, and when he had to be taken off, the side never seemed quite happy till he was on again. Among all his fine performances, there was perhaps nothing better than his effort in the final stage of the match against Middlesex at the Oval. With Lees and Hayward to help him, he got Middlesex out on a fairly good wicket for 88, and it is no exaggeration to say, that in the course of two hours he scarcely bowled a bad ball. A famous member of the beaten side said afterwards, that he had scarcely thought it possible for Richardson to keep up his great pace for such a length of time, in combination with great accuracy. There is no need here to go into details of what Richardson did for Surrey last season, but one can say with truth that, on hard wickets, he was so much superior to all his rivals. 143 Fifteen years later, at the end of his life, The Times was able to put the period in its historical context: … he went into the front rank, and for five seasons he remained at his very best, Indeed no fast bowler in modern days was ever so consistently successful as he was from 1893 to 1897 inclusive. Considering the excellence of the grounds on which he had to bowl, his achievements were remarkable. 144 143 Wisden 1898 pp23-24 144 4 July 1912 1897...Jubilee and Millennium