Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

73 The Boss stop being employed. Blackham claimed, in an article in The Referee published in 1915, that he was definitely the first to keep without the safety net of a long stop, saying he did so when playing for East Melbourne before the 1878 tour. He was convinced that the English copied what was an Australian innovation. Whoever was first to ban the long-stop, Hornby or the Australian tourists of 1878, the fielding position hasn’t been seen much since apart from in schools and junior cricket. Hornby was an austere captain, but that is not to say he didn’t have a sense of humour. As Wisden reported: ‘A characteristic tale of the famous batsman concerned the Gentlemen and Players match at The Oval in 1881, Hornby and W.G.Grace had given the amateurs a capital start when, from a powerful drive, Hornby was magnificently caught high up in the long field by William Gunn, who stood some 6ft 3in in height. ‘Bad luck, Monkey,’ said a friend as Hornby passed into the pavilion. ‘Yes,’ answered Hornby, ‘no one but a damned giraffe would have got near it.’ There are few – if any – captains who can claim to have led sides who have bowled out Australia twice in the same match for fewer than 50. Hornby achieved this distinction when skippering the North against Australia at Old Trafford in 1886 when the visitors were bowled out for 45 in their first innings and 43 in the second. This 1888 photo was taken at Canterbury in front of the famous old lime tree, which was blown down in 2005. Standing: G.R.Baker, F.H.Sugg, F.Taylor, R.G.Barlow, E.E.Steel, G.Yates. Seated: S.M.Crosfield, A.N.Hornby, R.Pilling, J.Eccles. On ground: A.Watson, J.Briggs.