Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

40 At the Height of His Powers wickets. The Eleven made 130 and 57 with R.C.Tinley taking seven for 35, a vital and match-winning contribution, given the low-scoring nature of the game. Jackson bowled heroically for 40.1 overs to take eight for 62 and give England a lead on first innings as the XIV were dismissed for 128, but Tinley’s response left the XIV needing only 60 to win, and they made these for the loss of five wickets, despite Jackson taking another three for 30 in 25 overs. In a match at the Kennington Oval on 30 and 31 July the North beat Surrey by an innings and 14 runs with Jackson and Tinley the only bowlers the North needed to use in the Surrey innings of 51 and 106. Jackson took seven for 57 in 56.2 overs, but he was outshone by Tinley who took twelve for 93. The North scored 171. Bad weather severely interfered with the return match between the two sides at the Broughton ground in Salford with only one hour’s play being possible on the second day. Jackson took eight for 54 in 37 overs in Surrey’s first innings of 113, and five for 46 as they made 123 for eight at the second attempt. The North scored 108 in their only innings. Rain also disrupted the match at the Kennington Oval between England and Surrey on 6, 7 and 8 August. The third day was washed out completely and the game abandoned as a draw.Jackson scored 17 and took one wicket. At Canterbury on 13 and 14 August XVI of Kent beat England by an innings and 48 runs. Jackson took nine for 34 in Kent’s 152, but E.Willsher of Kent did even better, taking eight for 16 in 41 overs and three for 14 in 20 overs, while England could only score 64 and 40. Haygarth described Willsher’s bowling as ‘something wonderful’. Jackson’s other first-class engagement this season ended in a victory for the North over the South by 53 runs. The match was played on 17 and 18 September at Sleaford in Lincolnshire, a neutral venue if ever there was one. The North scored 127 and 63, and the South were dismissed for 90 and 47. Jackson bowled 48 overs in the match, taking eight wickets for 57. Haygarth noted that the South were missing such players as Caffyn who had an injured leg, and Lockyer who was ill. John Jackson took part in 14 of the AEE matches against odds in 1860. He batted 22 times with two not outs and scored 161 runs at an average of 8.05. He bowled 507.3 overs, less than half the number he bowled in 1859, which is somewhat indicative of the wet summer which rendered his pace less effective. He still took 110 wickets at a cost of 445 runs, however, not a bad return at all, and he took ten wickets or more in an innings five times, and fifteen wickets in a match once. His most devastating performance came on 18, 19 and 20 June at the New Ground, Nettleham Road, Lincoln in the shadow of the magnificent cathedral. He took ten wickets for 20 in 40 overs in the first innings of XXII of Lincolnshire, and twelve for 19 in the second innings in 32 overs, as the locals were bowled out for 60 and 34, with only three double figures recorded out of 44 innings by the Lincolnshire batsmen. Sadly it did not result in a win for the AEE as the two professional bowlers, R.C.Tinley