Lives in Cricket No 29 - AN Hornby

88 Chapter Nine The hand of Hornby? It is necessary to say quite plainly that I attribute our failure this season very largely to the unfortunate policy the committee are pursuing – Albert Henry Hornby on the Lancashire committee Throughout his life, Hornby never ran away from a fight or from an opportunity to stand up for those who played or served under him. And, sometimes, Hornby would instigate a confrontation. But it was his son Albert Henry who was at the forefront of controversy when he gave an inflammatory statement to a Manchester Guardian reporter towards the end of the 1913 county season. Like his father, A.H. attended Harrow and, according to Cambridge University Alumni 1261-1900 , failed to complete his degree – in his case at Trinity College. In 1902/3 he toured India with a team called the Oxford University Authentics which, as he was a Cambridge man, seems far from authentic. The censuses of 1901 and 1911 show him ‘living on own means’ at Parkfield with his parents. He was still there in 1925, although by then he had married Esmé Lonsdale, with whom he had three children. A.H. made his Lancashire debut in 1899 and played in his father’s last Championship match at Grace Road, Leicester, in which A.N. scored 53 and captained Lancashire to a huge win by an innings and 170 runs. A.H. became a regular in the side from 1903, and took on the captaincy in 1908. He finished with a career average of 24.58, slightly higher than his father’s 24.07, although pitches in A.H.’s day were probably better. In 1909, father and son found themselves on opposite sides when the 62-year-old A.N. captained a team of 23 Lancashire Colts against a 12-man Lancashire side led by A.H. Despite A.N.’s bold second innings declaration when the Colts were only 12 wickets down, the match ended in a draw.