Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

69 His presence is a guarantee for a fair attendance for there are hundreds in Lancashire who will go a day’s journey to see him get 50; and more than this, he has made Lancashire cricket popular with cricketers so that now our best players are proud to be asked to play for the county. There is no doubt that Hornby welded the Lancashire side into an effective unit and that they were now a match for anyone. Before 1890 there was no agreed method of deciding the County Champions, but Lancashire, with ten wins and no defeats, were certainly the outstanding team of 1881. In 1879 and 1882 they shared the honours with Nottinghamshire, and throughout the 1880s they remained one of the stronger sides. He therefore inherited a successful team and built on that success. W.E.Howard, in his book, recalls: Having full confidence of his own opinions, which, to my mind, The Boss Hornby continued as Lancashire president until 1916 and regularly attended matches almost until his death. His portrait was an iconic image in the Long Room at Old Trafford.