Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

58 At the Height of His Powers Jackson’s next game for the AEE was at Basingstoke on 16 July where XXII of Basingstoke were defeated by an innings and 125 runs with Jackson taking 14 wickets although in S&B Volume VIII Haygarth stressed that there were a number of different versions of the scorecard which led him on to one of his many complaints about scoring standards – ‘the carelessness of scorers generally is to be deplored by all cricketers…. Careless scoring is continued up to the present time, those employed evidently not being under proper supervision.’ At the Chuckery Ground, Walsall the AEE beat XXII of Walsall by 11 runs in a match which began on 27 July and was notable for the performance of W.H.Moore of Walsall hitting a century against an attack consisting of Jackson, Tarrant, Willsher, Tinley and Hayward – no mean feat! Prior to this only one other batsman had hit a hundred for a local side against a professional eleven. Apart from J.Brown who made 21 no one else in the Walsall team got into double figures. Moore was given an enthusiastic reception by the 3,000 strong crowd. Jackson took only two wickets in the match, but was top scorer for the AEE with 49. The next match was against XXII of Longsight on 30 and 31 July. The AEE won by ten wickets with Jackson picking up ten wickets in the first innings before moving on to Boston Spa on 3, 4 and 5 August where the local XXII was defeated by an innings and 23 runs, Jackson taking four wickets. Haygarth made the point that so many of the best Yorkshire players were engaged by the local side that the match could reasonably have been designated AEE v Yorkshire. On 6, 7 and 8 August the AEE was in action against XXII of Ashton-under- Lyne, winning by two wickets. Jackson had an eight wicket haul. Joseph Rowbotham steered the AEE to victory with an unbeaten 31. This match was followed by a break of just over a week after which the AEE was in action again against XXII of Lawton Hall or Cheshire. Jackson took 17 wickets and once again Haygarth complained about ‘serious scoring errors’. Moving on to Harrogate on 20, 21 and 22 August the AEE met XXII of Harrogate and won by 29 runs, Jackson added a further ten wickets to his tally. This was followed by a match on 24, 25 and 26 August against XXII of Scarborough who had the assistance of several given men. The AEE was dismissed for 59 and the XXII reached 132 with Jackson taking nine for 33. In their second innings the AEE made 149 thus leaving Scarborough 77 to win but Jackson took eleven for 26 and Scarborough lost by ten runs. The Castle Ground was packed and excursion trains brought spectators into the town each morning. On 31 August and 1 September the AEE played XXII of Bristol and District at Durdham Downs in Clifton. The local team did not have the assistance of any professionals. E.M.Grace opened the batting for the locals and the 15 year-old W.G.Grace was also in the team as well as H and A.Grace. A crowd of 3,000 on the first day saw E.M.Grace – one of Jackson’s eight victims - make 87 while W.G. in his first full season made 32. Bristol were too strong for the AEE who lost by an innings and 20 runs.