Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

98 24 short of Hornby’s contribution. Derbyshire were again on the receiving end at Derby two months later when Hornby made 145 and the home side was dismissed for 48 and 59, a shortfall of 38 measured against Hornby’s effort. Hornby made the bulk of his runs before 1890 batting mainly as an opener, but post-1890 he was content to drop himself down the order to give other batsmen in the side a better opportunity, with the result that his average fell away somewhat. He certainly wasn’t interested in plumping up his average like a farmer might fatten a turkey for the Christmas market. He was also a remarkably good fielder with a total of 313 catches and occasionally kept wicket. Never a publication to damn anyone with faint praise, Wisden gave its considered opinion on Hornby’s career in its edition of 1901: The season was memorable (also) for being the first for more than thirty years in which the name of A.N.Hornby did not once figure as one of the Lancashire batsmen. At the age of fifty-three, it is not surprising that Mr Hornby has thought fit to cease active participation in county cricket but all the same it is a matter for regret that the career of so great a batsman should have come to an end. What he did for Lancashire for a quarter of a century, both as a batsman and captain, could not very well be overpraised. His determined hitting won many a match for his side, and in the matter of leadership and management of men, he has had no superior for many a long day. Happily, his health is still of the best and his interest in the game in which he has borne so famous a part remains unabated. That respected observer of Lancashire cricket, Brian Bearshaw, who covered the county scene for more than 25 years (although not in Hornby’s era) suggested that Hornby ‘proved to be the single most influential person in the history of Lancashire County Cricket Club. He transformed Lancashire into a formidable side and was captain when they won the Championship in 1881 and 1897’. Few will wish to argue with that considered assessment. Even Kent’s Lord Harris, one of his greatest rivals and a key figure in the throwing controversy that engulfed the two clubs, had this to say on learning of Hornby’s passing: ‘I suppose what he did for Lancashire only Lancashire people know, but it was evident to everybody outside Lancashire that he was the soul of that club.’ What are we to make of him?