Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

24 £20,000 in 2012 values – towards the laying out of the ground at Alexandra Meadows, which had previously been in use as the regiment’s parade ground. The ground was named to mark the wedding of Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who married Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, on 10 March 1863, becoming Princess of Wales. It was ready for use by the summer of 1864. Cricket had been played in Blackburn at least as early as 1831, when Blackburn Cricket Club played Preston on a field near The Fox and Grapes public house. By 1849, the club had moved to Daisyfield, where East Lancashire were later to play their first match. East Lancashire challenged the Blackburn club to a match at Daisyfield on 3 July, 1863 [some reports suggest the match was played on 23 July]. The new club proved popular with the locals and attracted around 200 members, soon appointing its first groundsman, William Lucas, on a wage of 18 shillings (roughly the equivalent of £40 in 2013) per week. Things were moving apace and there were already two professionals, Luke Greenwood and Joseph Kaye, both from across the Pennines in Yorkshire. Greenwood played more than 50 games for Yorkshire, and captained them in 1874. A new professional, John Smith, appeared on the scene in 1864. He was paid £2 10s (£110) a week, but results were only moderate. Prior to the formation of the Lancashire Cricket League in March 1892 friendlies were played against teams like Preston, Great Harwood, Cheetham Hill, Church, Bolton, Burnley, Stonyhurst and Clayton-le-Moors. Hornby was showing some promise at a decent level, and eventually made his debut for East Lancashire at Burnley on 10 June, 1867. He opened the batting in East Lancashire’s first innings and carried his bat for nine not out in a total of 17; in the second innings he was again undefeated, making 20 out of 56. Four Hornbys played for East Lancashire against Preston, helping the side to an innings victory. A.N. scored 56, C.L. made 33, E.K. contributed 15 and W.H. just managed to reach double figures, scoring ten. In 1870 Hornby scored his second double hundred, this time an unbeaten 214 for East Lancashire against Accrington. It was in that game that East Lancashire amassed a mammoth 423 for six, but they took so long to reach that total that they left their opponents Born with a silver spoon