Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

34 Seasons of Plenty where he had been the club professional in the early 1850s. He showed his liking for the wicket by taking fourteen for 18, and seven for 22, bowling a total of 71.3 overs. He dismissed one of the Ipswich openers with a ‘Terrifier’ (local paper). At Sleaford the local XXII were disposed of by Jackson and Heathfield Stephenson with more ‘Terrific’ bowling, Jackson’s 56 overs in the match bringing him twenty wickets for 40 runs. Fifteen of Jackson’s victims were bowled which gives some indication of his consistent accuracy. At Derby he starred with the bat, scoring 31 in the first AEE innings of a drawn match in which he also took eight wickets, although the bowling analysis is incomplete. The next AEE game in which Jackson appeared was at Oakham in Rutland on 7 and 8 July, where 4,000 attended each day, with excellent entertainment being provided by a brass band. Jackson destroyed the local side’s batting once again, taking twelve for 21 in 39 overs in their first innings, and seven for 32 in 41.1 overs in their second. Jackson then appeared at Sleaford where he had match figures of 20 for 40 in 56 overs. This was followed by an eight wicket haul against XXII of Derbyshire. There were 18 more wickets in a match at Oakham against XXII of Rutland. This form continued into August at the Edge Hill ground in Liverpool where Jackson took sixteen wickets for 71 in 70 overs in another hostile display, and in the next match, at Cambridge where he bagged ten for 40 and ten for 28 in 94.1 overs, besides taking five catches. This was followed by figures of seven for 24 and ten for 22 against XXII of Grantham. Moving on to Devizes Jackson proceeded to decimate XXII of North Wiltshire, taking eleven for 20 and six for 27 in a total of 55.3 overs. Then on 22, 23 and 24 August it was down to Hove to play XXII Gentlemen of Sussex where Jackson sealed an AEE victory with ten for 59 in the second innings of the Gentlemen. Rain at Bradford on 30 and 31 August offered the AEE some welcome time off. There was no play at all on the first day and only 30 minutes on the third. Jackson took six for 11 in 21 overs with Haygarth again complaining that there were other versions of the bowling figures about. In the AEE’s final match of the season against XXII of Rochdale, the Lancashire locals suffered badly at Jackson’s hands, the great fast bowler taking ten for 25 and nine for 25 in the course of bowling 75.1 overs. He must have heaved a sigh of relief that all the hard work was over. If, however, Mahala hoped to see more of him now that cricket was finished for the season, she was sadly mistaken. The first English overseas tour was about to take place and her husband must have been one of the first names to be selected for it.