Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

122 was a proud man and he knew when he was not being respected. As he told ‘Old Ebor’, ‘when I did finish [with Yorkshire] a remark was made by someone in authority, whom I shall not name, which hurt me very much. It was to the effect that they didn’t want to see me any more. It may have been meant as a joke, but it was not well put; indeed, after my long service to the county it seemed to be in bad taste, and I felt it.’ 94 Given his age on retirement – 46 – and the fact that there had been speculation about his imminent departure from the county side for several years, it is quite possible that it was simply meant in jest, but it is another indication of the sensitivities that were inevitable in a society which carefully maintained the snobbish distinction between ‘amateurs’ and ‘professionals’. In addition, there was considerable ambiguity in Emmett’s position as the wise, experienced professional. There is no doubt his views were valued. Rev. R.S.Holmes believed strongly that ‘one might pass an hour or so with advantage in his company.’ In 1902, Lord Hawke wrote in the Badminton Magazine that he had ‘taken counsel in former days with Tom Emmett and George Ulyett’. At the same time, however, there were always strong reservations expressed by influential voices in the game about the merits of such men. In 1890, the Rev. Edward Lyttleton, who appeared for Middlesex and Cambridge University in the 1870s and 1880s and was later headmaster of Eton, warned pompously that a professional bowler engaged at a school could have a ‘strange influence’ over young players which would be: very absurd were it not somewhat injurious. Not only cricket, but matters, some of them tinged with associations of low life, will the boys look at through the professional’s eyes, and it seems undesirable that this functionary should be invested with an even larger influence than the possession of a peculiar gift and of strong, though ill-balanced, opinions will inevitably secure for him. 95 In 1907, his brother, Rt.Hon.Alfred Lyttleton KC, MP referred in similar vein to Tom Emmett and George Ulyett, saying he had ‘never been associated with men who played more as gentlemen and sportsmen, but… it was one thing to play with professionals and thoroughly enjoy oneself and quite another thing to allow sport to be dominated by paid players.’ Thus, men like Tom Emmett were worth consulting, but at the same time were also regarded as a threat to the very spirit of sport that gave them their livelihood. It would have been surprising if Emmett had not felt a certain amount of resentment and confusion. Performance Whatever might be said about the quality of cricket during the period from the 1860s to the late 1880s, Emmett had an exceptional record as a bowler. He took over 1,200 wickets at an average of just under 13 for Yorkshire, starting in a period when there was a limited county programme. In all first-class cricket, he took 1,572 wickets and around 600 more for and against the touring elevens. Comparisons are difficult to make across the Personality, performance and popularity