Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

128 on appearing on the field. Later, Charlie Ullathorne told ‘Old Ebor’ about his time in Switzerland in 1891-92 (an unusual engagement for a professional), where he met many cricketers and, among them, a man who mentioned Tom Emmett. ‘Just at that time a letter was handed to me, and it proved to be from Emmett himself. I told the gentlemen what it was, and showed him the letter. He at once offered me five francs for the signature. I tore off the signature, and gave it to him, with the remark that he might have it for nothing and welcome. He insisted, however, on my accepting the five francs. I think I could get him a lot of signatures at that price.’ When he reappeared at Scarborough in the late 1890s, he was warmly applauded, the sight of Louis Hall and Tom Emmett umpiring together stirring memories of past days amongst many older spectators. Emmett was seared into the fabric of Yorkshire cricket. Emmett also appealed to sports writers, and he was one of those performers whose personality and character were mused over and magnified by the media of the day. The expanding Victorian sporting press loved ‘Tom’, reported his doings, and increasingly repeated his stories, many of which were embellished and exaggerated time and again. Books by ‘Old Ebor’, Grace, Ranjitsinhji, Lyttleton and others published in the 1890s – often serialised and syndicated in provincial newspapers to give them an even wider readership – ensured Tom Emmett stories were repeated endlessly and given new life. Interviews with the press also gave glimpses of his sense of fun. In 1887, an Athletic Journal interview with Emmett has him giving his opinions in relaxed manner. At one point, the reporter indicates that Billy Bates had intimated (presumably not seriously) that he is interviewing the best-looking man in the Yorkshire team. When another player disputes that, Emmett and his opponent toss a coin for the accolade, which Emmett wins. For a while, no story seemed too trivial for the press to print to illustrate Emmett’s wry sense of humour and sharp reposts. A publication called Sports , for example, reported in 1896 that he had visited a newspaper office nearly 20 years previously, where he was intrigued by the machinery: Tom had seen nothing of the kind before, and was especially interested and pleased with the dexterity of the compositors in what is technically known as ‘picking up stamps’. After carefully watching one expert operator...the “irrepressible” said, with a profound sigh, “That’s summat ah can’t dew wi’ me left ha-and.” Emmett’s name also cropped up long after he had disappeared from public view in very tangential ways. In April 1899, for example, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported on a burglary at The Grange, Ovenden, Halifax, and could not resist noting that the entrance to the carriage drive at The Grange ‘will always be dear to the memory of Tom Emmett...for he there was instructed in the first rudiments of cricket.’ Tom Emmett stories and aphorisms lived on for many years after his death in numerous newspaper columns. In 1909, for example, when referring to a very lively wicket in a game between Yorkshire and Surrey, Personality, performance and popularity