Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

65 Chapter Nine Still at the Top John Jackson had missed the start of the season and he now spent two weeks at home in Retford with his family who may well have forgotten what he looked like! His first match of the new season was for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord’s on 27 and 28 June, a game in which eight of the English party that had toured Australia appeared in the Players’ side. The Players made 187 with W.Mortlock of Surrey hitting 71, and this score was enough to win the match by an innings and 68 runs. Jackson’s bowling was surplus to requirements as the Gentlemen were skittled out for 60 and 59 by Tarrant and Willsher, who bowled unchanged in both innings. The Gentlemen batted for only 90 minutes in the first innings and 65 in the second. This was the Players’ eighteenth successive win over the Gentlemen. Despite his late start to the season Jackson appeared in six Nottinghamshire matches. He played against Yorkshire and Surrey in home and away fixtures, against Cambridgeshire at Lord’s and against Kent at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham. The first match against Yorkshire was at Trent Bridge starting on 30 June with Yorkshire winning by 99 runs. Jackson took four for 72 in 56 overs in the match. If William Caffyn was the only man to claim a first-class hundred against a bowling side including John Jackson, then George Anderson of Yorkshire nearly became the second as he was left on 99 not out at the end of Yorkshire’s second innings. By coincidence this was the final margin of Yorkshire’s victory. Yorkshire made 125 and 236, and Nottinghamshire 124 and 138. In scoring 35 and 34, the highest score in both innings for Nottinghamshire, George Parr suffered injuries to his hand, so bad that he was unable to play again in 1864. The return match took place at Bradford on 4, 5 and 6 August, and Nottinghamshire won by seven wickets. This time Yorkshire’s Anderson was hit on the hand by Jackson after scoring 5 in his second innings; he had to retire hurt although he did return for Nottinghamshire’s second innings and took a catch. Yorkshire’s G.Atkinson was also injured after getting in the way of a hard drive from Richard Daft. He retired hurt and was unable to bat in the second innings, so the Midland County only needed to take eight wickets. Jackson bowled 54 overs in the match, taking three for 74, but his most important contribution was to score 52 in Nottinghamshire’s first innings when he helped Daft, who made 80, secure a handy first innings lead. Yorkshire scored 183 and 112; Nottinghamshire 263 and 33 for three. The first match against Surrey was played at Kennington Oval on 4 5, 6 July and saw two of the Surrey batsmen, H.H.Stephenson with 119 and