Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

29 215 and 90 for six, Jackson’s scores being 9* and 33 At the Kennington Oval on 2 August the North began a three-day match against Surrey. The North led off with a score of 257. Surrey could only total 175 and had to follow on. They reached 253 all out, leaving the North to get 172 to win. They could only make 118, so Surrey won by 53 runs, a rare occasion of a side following on and winning a match. Jackson took five for 58 and two for 88 in a total of 78.1 overs. In an era when most hits had to be ‘run out’, E.Stephenson stayed whilst 191 runs were scored and Parr ran every run between 7 and 164. Physical tiredness must have played a part in some dismissals. A.Diver for Surrey hit an all-run 7 and an all-run 6. Surrey had an unbeaten season, having already defeated an England side by an innings and 28 runs in a match notable for being the only occasion when a batsman, William Caffyn, hit a century in an innings in which Jackson bowled at him. Jackson did bowl him in the end for 102, finishing with figures of 37-13-79-3, having bowled twice as many deliveries as anyone else, although Haygarth stated there were other versions of the bowling figures. England scored 62 and 154, Surrey 244. A first class match between the Single and the Married took place at the Kennington Oval on 9, 10 and 11 August with the Single men winning by 16 runs. Jackson played for the married men, of course, taking seven for 62 in 44.3 overs in the first innings, then four for 37 in 45.2 overs in the second thus giving him match figures of 11 for 99 in 44.3 overs in the first innings; then seven for 62 in 33 overs in the second. Haygarth commented on his very fast and straight bowling, with seven of the opposition being bowled. On 20 September a match between Nottinghamshire and a combined Durham and Yorkshire team commenced at Stockton-on-Tees, the first County match to be played north of York. It was arranged under the auspices of Mr W.Richardson, a liberal supporter of the game in Stockton. The match was drawn, with the ground being saturated and unfit for further play after 3.00 pm on the third day. At the time Nottinghamshire needed only 25 more runs to win, with seven wickets in hand. Jackson once again bowled an enormous number of overs – 34 in the first innings and 43 in the second, taking five for 54 and two for 38. The combined counties’ scores were 118 and 96, with Nottinghamshire making 140 (Jackson 15) and 51 for three. Jackson appeared twice as a given man for Kent against an England XI. A two-day match at Lord’s ended on the first day in an England victory by ten wickets as Kent collapsed despite the presence of such luminaries as Parr and Caffyn, as well as Jackson, for 33 and 41. Jackson took nine for 27 in England’s first innings of 73. When the two teams met again at Canterbury on 16, 17 August, he took nine for 35 and made 26* to help Kent lead on first innings by 19 runs (104 to 85). Kent were dismissed for 103 in their second innings and Jackson’s four for 55 in 25.2 overs could not stop England winning by five wickets. Seasons of Plenty