Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

16 Early Career, Marriage and Family Two of Newark against the AEE on 26, 27, 28, July in a match got up by the Mayor of Newark, Mr W.Ragsdale, who was a generous and liberal supporter of the game. Newark won the match by 49 runs, helped by Jackson taking seven wickets for 11 runs in the AEE second innings. This match was typical of the low scoring matches of the era. E.Willsher took twelve wickets for 14 runs in the Newark second innings of 37 all out in which twelve wickets in succession fell without any addition to the score. The AEE was then bowled out, mostly by Jackson, for 35 runs which meant that thirty-one wickets had fallen for just 72 runs. Jackson’s next match took place at the racecourse ground at Stamford where he played as a ‘given’ man for a Stamford and District Twenty-Two against the AEE in a match which began on 30 July and ended in a draw. Brass bands were in attendance to entertain spectators during breaks in play and around the ground there were numerous tents and marquees surmounted with flags. The Mayor of Stamford presided at a dinner for 100 which took place at 3.00 pm on the second day, play being badly interrupted by rain. In the play that was possible Jackson made a fine contribution scoring 37 (top score) in Stamford’s first innings and 18 (run out) in the second. With the ball he captured five AEE wickets for 72 runs. It is clear from the fact that Jackson played as a given man at Stamford that he was now beginning to develop a reputation. This is confirmed by his debut for the All-England Eleven which came on 2 August 1855 when he played for the Eleven against Twenty-Two of Spalding, Lincolnshire. The Twenty-Two were outclassed by the professional Eleven and beaten by an innings. Jackson opened the batting for AEE, scoring 6. His bowling was not needed much as Willsher took seventeen wickets for 23 and twelve for 19 in the match. Jackson was only on long enough to take two for 13 in the second innings. The local paper reported the large gathering of ladies who attended the match in their gay attire and waxed lyrical about the flags gently waving in the breeze, the white tents and the natural beauty of the setting. A visit from the AEE was clearly a big event. On 16 August Jackson made his first-class debut at Trent Bridge, the home of Nottinghamshire cricket in a match between Nottinghamshire and an England XI got up by William Clarke from amongst his All-England players. Over the years Jackson was to play for Nottinghamshire in 37 matches in first-class cricket. He took three wickets for 28 and none for 18, held a catch and scored 8 and 10. A total of 601 runs were scored in the drawn game for the loss of thirty-three wickets. Haygarth complained that no bowling analyses for this match could be found in Bell’s Life or indeed the AEE scorebook. It is worth noting at this stage that Haygarth’s Scores and Biographies which I have used as my Bible for Jackson’s cricket career contains many references to there being alternative versions to the score given, and that often even the official scorebooks did not agree. It is hard therefore to compile the definitive bowling career for Jackson. Clearly statistics did not mean very much in those early cricketing days. Jackson’s next match was at Dudley on 20 August where he played for the All-England Eleven in an exciting match against Twenty-Two of