Lives in Cricket No 39 - Alec Watson

84 Beyond First-Class Cricket loosely or facetiously? In 1885 the Drumpellier Club visited Old Trafford, but no details are known except that the Scots were warmly received by the Watson family. However, Alec was back playing for Drumpellier in 1892 against a ‘United All England’ so called, who turned out to be ‘a lot of “extinct volcanoes”’, according to Thompson. They indeed lost by an innings, but Watson contributed but little to their defeat. In 1893, just after his retirement, he turned out for Louis Hall’s XI at Drumpellier against his old club’s XVI, but again he achieved little. In 1895 he again did little for his friend Hornby’s ‘Lancashire’ against ‘Scotland’ at the Grange Club’s ground at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. In the visitors’ innings victory Watson contributed 3* and took three wickets for 57. In 1895, after Cambridge and Shrewsbury, he also spent part of the summer coaching at Rugby and Marlborough Schools, Cricket remarking that his coaching services were much in demand. In Anthony’s Herefordshire Cricket (p 170) we learn that in 1896 he represented Cheshire Gentlemen against Herefordshire at Hereford; perhaps he was coaching at a Cheshire club, and appearing as a guest for the Gentlemen. Although at the age of over fifty Watson’s great playing days were obviously past, his coaching skills, possibly honed by years in charge of the Old Trafford ground staff, were still much sought after. According to Cricket of 21 January, 1898, Watson was engaged to start the new season as coach to Worcestershire. It may be a coincidence, but in August 1887 he had told the Athletic News that, when he had finished with Lancashire, ‘Why, I’ll go and qualify for Worcestershire or some of those places where they cannot rear good men.’ At any rate, by 1895 Worcestershire had become one of the leading ‘second-class’ counties, and in 1899 became first-class; so Watson’s coaching seems to have been not without effect. We do not know all his engagements in the ensuing years, though he did play for ‘The Remnants’ touring side in Dublin and Belfast in 1903. Then Watson made a surprising reappearance in competitive cricket, in the Minor Counties Championship in 1904, when on 29 and 30 July he appeared for Buckinghamshire, where presumably he had a professional or coaching post that qualified him for that county, against Bedfordshire at Wolverton. Buckinghamshire lost by an innings, Watson’s contribution being a total of six runs and two wickets for 104. That seems to have been Watson’s last match of any consequence. Unlike some of his fellow players he did not turn to umpiring, although he did umpire