Lives in Cricket No 39 - Alec Watson

41 The anni mirabiles This was a repercussion of events during England’s tour of Australia in 1878/79, when Lord Harris was allegedly assaulted on the field of play in the course of an apparently riotous dispute over an umpiring decision. Consequently, when the Australians arrived in England in 1880, they were not made welcome in certain quarters. As the counties were unsure whether the Australians would in fact visit, they had already arranged their fixture lists without including them. Thus only a restricted programme could be arranged at the last minute, one that did not include Lancashire. It did, however, include one against Nottinghamshire, which shed some light on the extent of player power and the remuneration of professionals at that time. The Australians, who were playing as ‘amateurs’, appeared to have received about twice as much as Nottinghamshire’s professionals in the match at Trent Bridge. Peter Wynne-Thomas in Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (p 83) notes that the professionals at the time were receiving £5 for a loss or draw in inter-county matches, and £6 for a win. They felt that for important matches, which attracted large crowds, they should be paid more. The upshot was a players’ strike in 1881. The strike was largely faced down by the Nottinghamshire committee and its honorary secretary; but other counties and their professionals would take note. Lancashire, with Surrey, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, were probably the most financially strong of the counties, and their professionals would probably have been paid much the same. This would mean that in 1880 Watson would have earned about £70 from playing for Lancashire, about midway between what a labourer and a skilled worker would earn each year. Hence any extra income from coaching, ground maintenance and ‘outside’ matches would be very welcome, as Alec now had a wife and four children to support. Watson started earning his keep straight away in 1880, in Lancashire’s opener against MCC at Lord’s when he took seven for 59 in the second innings; though the home side was not a very formidable one. Surrey returned to Old Trafford after a gap of seven years, and Watson responded immediately with innings figures of 61-47-25-6. Against the next visitors, Kent, he had twelve for 49 in the match (52.2-31-31-6 and 31-18-18-6). In another well- attended match against Gloucestershire at Old Trafford Watson took five wickets in the first innings (55-21-76-5), including those of the two Doctors Grace. Then he featured for the Players of the North versus the Gentlemen of the North, also at Old Trafford.