Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

85 Later Hornby managed to defend and criticise Mold at the same time when he said: ‘I have been connected with first-class cricket over thirty years and have never seen such a disgraceful thing in connection with the game. Indeed, I was completely amazed when I saw Mold had knocked his wicket down and could hardly believe it, but when I heard the explanation and Bull admitted what he done and apologised to me, I could not blame my men. But it is not my idea of playing cricket. Under the circumstances, which I hope will not occur again whilst I am playing cricket, I think Mold was justified in his action although personally I should never agree to anything of that sort being done.’ Mold’s tactics didn’t work, Essex winning by six wickets to go top of the table for the first time in their history, although it was Lancashire who went on to win the Championship. Ironically, Frederick Bull’s action also came under scrutiny and he dropped out of the first-class game as a result of the crackdown on throwing. He later took a commercial appointment in Blackburn before turning professional. He played for the East Lancashire club among others, but after the 1910 season he took his own life. Although the Crossland and Nash matter was closed, Lancashire and Hornby were to run into another maelstrom of controversy in June 1900 when Mold was called for throwing by umpire James Phillips in the game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. Phillips had called Mold from square-leg in what was the first season that square-leg umpires were authorised to call no-balls when they thought a bowler was throwing. There is a remarkable film of Hornby and Mold, who was again no-balled 16 times in 10 overs (although the film voice-over states that he was no-balled 15 times) by Phillips in the match against Somerset at Old Trafford in July 1901. Initially, he was called by Phillips from square leg, but when Mold changed ends, Phillips continued to no-ball him from the bowler’s end. The film forms part of a unique record of Edwardian England provided by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon and which is now known as the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection. The films were found in the basement of a shop in Blackburn, (Hornby’s birthplace) and restored by the British Film Institute. The Mold controversy was a big story in its day and Mitchell and Kenyon were there to capture some of the drama. The film, which can be seen on the eponymous YouTube website, lasts for eight The Crossland and Mold throwing controversies