Lives in Cricket No 43 - John Jackson

80 Last Full Season entertained by the Waterhead Amateur Brass Band and the marching of the Blue Coat Schoolboys as well as some lively hitting in an innings of 53 by John Smith of the AEE who sent one ball flying over the pavilion, along with some other mighty blows. Having won seven matches in a row with Jackson in the team, the AEE now moved south to the Spa Ground in Gloucester on 15, 16 and 17 July where they lost to the local XXII which containing the 16 year-old G.F.Grace, by nine wickets. The bowling of Shaw and Jackson was much admired, with Jackson taking twelve wickets in the match, but the AEE collapsed to 37 all out in their second innings. Three run outs did not help their cause, including that of John Thewlis for 4, top scorer in the first innings. Rain frequently held up proceedings on the first day and the band of the Artillery Company was on duty from 2.00 pm to 7.00 pm each day. A stand was erected for spectators who chose to pay 6d extra. This was a picturesque ground with horse chestnut, lime and elm trees making a fine backdrop to the cricket. A statue of Queen Anne had her back to the actual play. She clearly did not know what she was missing. In the next match at Bolton on 18 July, although Jackson took three wickets, the AEE lost by twenty wickets to a Bolton & District XXII before crowds so large that the professionals admitted they had not performed in front of larger crowds at a cricket match anywhere other than in Australia. At least 10,000 spectators watched each day’s play, including 2,500 ladies. Proceeds amounted to £350 with 4,500 spectators paying 6d each to watch the play. Special buses brought the crowds from the local railway station. Jackson took three wickets in the game which Bolton had won early on the third day, but to entertain the crowd they batted on until 5.00 pm by which time twenty of their wickets had fallen. The AEE were beaten in their next match too, by XXII of Sutton-in-Ashfield on 22 July, a match played for the benefit of Thomas Heath who had played in the Nottingham Eleven as long ago as 1828. Richard Daft was dismissed by the first ball he received in both innings, an unusual lapse by such a fine batsman. The match excited huge interest with a crowd of 6,000 present on the second day. Jackson took three wickets and Tarrant, Tinley and Shaw shared the others. The next match on 29 July saw the AEE visit Bishop’s Stortford again where they gave an efficient display to beat a local XVIII by an innings and 26 runs. Shaw was their most effective bowler with eighteen wickets; Jackson took the wickets of just three tail-enders in the second innings. The locals were handicapped when their highest scorer, G.A.Vandermeulen, dislocated his shoulder when 26* in his first innings and could not bat a second time. The AEE began August 1867 with a 44 run victory over XXII of Ashton- under-Lyne, with Tarrant taking nineteen wickets and Tinley taking fourteen. Jackson only took one wicket, but John Smith’s batting really won the match as he made 57 against deliveries ‘which kicked fearfully on the hard and dry ground’. Eighteen of the 44 Ashton-under-Lyne batsmen who went to the crease came back without troubling the scorer.