Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

8 Jackson’s Birth and Early Life thence to the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Jackson is believed to have first played for Southwell as a professional cricketer in the 1850 season although early records are sparse and the first mention of his name on a scorecard comes when he made an appearance for Twenty-Two of Newark against an All-England Eleven in a three-day match beginning on 5th August 1852. It is instructive to look at how cricket was played when Jackson was playing. The first thing to note is the generally poor quality of the grounds on which the game was played. Even at a ground like Lord’s the main instrument for keeping the grass cropped consisted of a flock of sheep which were kept in a pen in one corner of the ground. Pebbles were often found on pitches. As late as 1870 George Summers died after being struck on the head by a delivery which lifted sharply off a dodgy pitch. It was possible for good players to construct an innings on them. William Ward managed to make 278 for MCC against Norfolk at Lord’s in 1820 – a ground record that stood until 1925 when Percy Holmes made 315, but conditions were much worse on many of the grounds on which the All-England Eleven had to play where it was often impossible to distinguish the pitch from the rest of the field which made batting a hazardous pursuit, especially when a bowler of Jackson’s pace was performing. Bowling was mainly round-arm which had been legalised in 1835 although under-arm bowling was still lawful and William Clarke himself continued to take many wickets with slow right-arm leg-spin bowling and mighty effective he was too. Round-arm meant that the ball had to be delivered with the hand somewhere between waist and shoulder-height. This was to remain the legitimate delivery until 1864 although notable players, such as W.G.Grace, continued with round-arm after that. Overs were of four balls and the bowler could only change ends once during an innings. Fielding positions were broadly similar to today apart from that of long stop which was then a vital position.