Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

72 although even that [rule] was suspended one year – but every other hit had to be run and occasionally a ball would be hit among the spectators, who would open to let it pass through them, but often close again immediately. Fieldsmen frequently found it difficult to get through the crowd to the ball. On one occasion Mr A.N.Hornby was out in the long-field at Lord’s when a ball was driven among the spectators. As everybody knows, the Lancashire amateur was a very energetic fieldsman and as he dashed after the ball he scattered the crowd in all directions. One poor old gentleman, not being sufficiently alert to get out of the way, was thrown on his back and rather severely hurt… as a result a boundary line was instituted. Hornby was never afraid to take on board new ideas and was almost certainly the first captain in this country to dispense with the services of a long-stop. It happened in the North versus South fixture at Lord’s in 1878 when Hornby, who was captaining the North, asked the Yorkshire wicket-keeper George Pinder (also known as George Pinder Hattersley) if he could keep without a long-stop. Pinder agreed and, in the event, conceded only four byes. In his book, The History of Yorkshire Cricket , published by Christopher Helm in 1989, former ACS member Anthony Woodhouse claims that Pinder was the first wicket-keeper to stand up to fast bowling. A.A.Thomson, in Cricket my Happiness , writes: To Pinder it was a sore point that the great Australian prince of wicket-keepers [Blackham] should regularly be credited with the honour of being the first wicket-keeper to function without a long-stop. ‘I was the man,’ said Pinder. The game was a North v South match, and A.N.Hornby, who was captain, asked him if he could keep wicket without a long-stop. ‘Well, you know sir’, said Pinder, ‘every time it passes me it’ll be four.’ Hornby seemed willing to take the risk and when one flyaway ball, probably from Tom Emmett, did go to the boundary, he was not alarmed. The experiment was regarded as successful. However, the Australians will argue that their keeper, Jack Blackham, was the first to operate without a long-stop when playing for the touring team in the same year. Blackham used to become really angry when his captain insisted on a long- The Boss