Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

104 The Record That Never Was, and Other Fascinatng Facts The Cricket Statistician’s editor, Philip Bailey, commented that perhaps the ten runs comprised the separate shots 4, 2, 4 off Street’s over. The ten-off-a-ball feat was achieved 27 years later, in May 1900, by Samuel Wood off Cuthbert James Burnup for Derbyshire against the MCC at Lord’s. Wood’s achievement is mentioned in The Ultimate Cricket Fact and Quiz Book , which was published in 1999, and was at one time included in the Guinness Book of Records . Wood was helped by the use of netting, which was brought in by MCC and abandoned after a short trial. It was described as a ‘perverse reward system’ by Andrew Ward in Cricket’s Strangest Matches published in 1990. If a batsman hit the ball into the netting it might have been possible to run ten as in those days fielders had only moderate long-throwing ability. It is conceivable that, if they thought the ball was going for four, they might amble to the boundary to collect it, whereupon it might have been caught up in the netting and by the time they eventually reached it the batsmen might have run eight, nine or ten. Wood was plain unvarnished Wood until changing his name to Hill-Wood by Royal Consent in 1912. He had a baronetcy conferred on him in 1941 and four of his sons played for Derbyshire. One, Wilfred William was known as Whisky and Water, while another, BS, was nicknamed Brandy and Soda, according to The Official History of Derbyshire Cricket Club by John Shawcroft. Roy Webber’s The Book of Cricket Records (1961 revised edition) states that there have been nine instances of batsmen scoring nine off one delivery between 1841 and 1946, which, of course, covers the Hornby era. Hornby did manage eight off one ball, including four overthrows, playing for MCC against Derbyshire at Lord’s in June 1885. ***** HORNBY was involved in some strange goings-on when playing for the United South of England against Twenty-Two of Stockport at Cale Green, Stockport, which began on August 31, 1876. For a start the game was originally scheduled for two days but was extended to three. The Stockport Advertiser reported that W.G.Grace, opening the batting for the United South team, retired hurt without scoring after suffering a split finger. On the final day Grace was seemingly over his injury problem, but had made